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"What does the US have to do with how Egypt treated it's people?"
How about fact that USA sponsored Mubarak's regime (among other things providing tear-gas used to surpress protests and generally giving 1.3bln $ anually for Egyptian military)? And it is not only one dictatorship helped up by USA, but I digress.
Do you still claim that USA have nothing to do with this?
"you are sounding like a raving lunatic"
Yes, sure, only raving lunatics do not like best and most free country in world, USA. ZSRR sang same tune - and my country know this music very well, being under Reds from IIWW to '89.

ABC News said the total would be $200 million over 5 years, which sounds more plausible. I quote:

"The raw data for the map comes from roughly 1,650 Internet service providers — primarily phone, cable and wireless companies — across the country. The NTIA awarded grants to government agencies or non-profits in every state to collect, confirm and package the data to go into the nationwide map, which was then compiled by the NTIA and the FCC. The total price tag of the map, which will be updated twice a year, comes out to $200 million over five years."

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=12943817&page=3

According to a report by ABC News, the National Academy of Science just released a report saying he may not have actually done it.. That's after the Feds had accused a previous scientist who didn't cooperatively kill himself.

Also, Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, codenamed "Curveball", admits he made up the WMD story so Bush would attack Saddam Hussein, and says he'd do that again (in spite of how well it worked out for everybody..)

Bad enough that I have to watch The Comedy Channel to get TV news, but now I have to read FARK to get the updated stories on the causes of the Iraq war.

The Supreme Court has long held (since the 1800s) that searches at international borders don't require a warrant.

In addition, the courts have repeated ruled that national security warrantless wiretaps are legal, such as this recent ruling:

Intelligence Court Releases Ruling in Favor of Warrantless Wiretapping
The judges ...concluded that the government's protections and restrictions included in the 2007 procedures were appropriate. "Our decision recognizes that where the government has instituted several layers of serviceable safeguards to protect individuals against unwarranted harms and to minimize incidental intrusions, its efforts to protect national security should not be frustrated by the courts," Selya wrote in the 29-page opinion.

He added that requiring a warrant in such cases would probably "hinder the government's ability to collect time-sensitive information and, thus, would impede the vital national security interests that are at stake."

And here are just a few recent examples of why they might need to do so:

Daniel Boyd pleads guilty to US terrorism charges -9 February 2011
Domestic Terrorist 'Jihad Jane' Pleads Guilty to Four Charges - Feb 2, 2011
Stockham requests new attorney - February 05, 2011
          Note: This individual is apparently an American Sunni Muslim who tried to attack a Shia Muslim Mosque.
Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in Arizona Desert - January 27, 2011
Baltimore man accused of plotting to blow up military recruiting station in Md. - Thursday, December 9, 2010
Oregon Bomb Suspect Mohamed Osman Mohamud Wanted "Spectacular Show," - November 29, 2010
Faisal Shahzad: 'War With Muslims Has Just Begun' - Oct. 5, 2010
2 MN women charged with aiding Somali terrorists - Aug 5, 2010
U.S. links 8 to Somali terrorist group - November 24, 2009
And here's one for the Canadians that could easily spill across the border: Converts Who Kill

The national security wiretaps are legal, and not an abuse of human rights.

They do them because people either in the US, or who come to the US, keep trying to conduct attacks. Just a few recent examples (there are many more):

Daniel Boyd pleads guilty to US terrorism charges -9 February 2011
Domestic Terrorist 'Jihad Jane' Pleads Guilty to Four Charges - Feb 2, 2011
Stockham requests new attorney - February 05, 2011
          Note: This individual is apparently an American Sunni Muslim who tried to attack a Shia Muslim Mosque.
Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in Arizona Desert - January 27, 2011
Baltimore man accused of plotting to blow up military recruiting station in Md. - Thursday, December 9, 2010
Oregon Bomb Suspect Mohamed Osman Mohamud Wanted "Spectacular Show," - November 29, 2010
Faisal Shahzad: 'War With Muslims Has Just Begun' - Oct. 5, 2010
2 MN women charged with aiding Somali terrorists - Aug 5, 2010
U.S. links 8 to Somali terrorist group - November 24, 2009
And here's one for the Canadians: Converts Who Kill

You forgot "Think of the Children."

Well, that's maybe where we differ. I think we need to be adults and think of everybody, especially if Al Qaeda is successful in getting nuclear weapons, which they already have permission to use.

But, if it will make you more comfortable, for the moment lets forget about the children, and see where we stand. We can recap, and maybe you could point out what is actually wrong instead of in essence saying "I don't like it".

I pointed out that the courts have ruled against your assertion that the government's national security wiretapping is illegal, and a human rights violation: Intelligence Court Releases Ruling in Favor of Warrantless Wiretapping

Even the page you linked to noted the EFF defeat on the legal question:

EFF Plans Appeal of Jewel v. NSA Warrantless Wiretapping Case
Court Rules That Mass Surveillance of Americans is Immune From Judicial Review
San Francisco - A federal judge has dismissed Jewel v. NSA, a case from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on behalf of AT&T customers challenging the National Security Agency's mass surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans' phone calls and emails.

I also pointed out just a handful of the many active terrorism investigations and court cases going on inside the US. This points to a genuine, current, dangerous threat of people being killed by militant Muslim extremists. I assume you don't debate that they are genuine.

Daniel Boyd pleads guilty to US terrorism charges -9 February 2011
Domestic Terrorist 'Jihad Jane' Pleads Guilty to Four Charges - Feb 2, 2011
Stockham requests new attorney - February 05, 2011
Note: This individual is apparently an American Sunni Muslim who tried to attack a Shia Muslim Mosque.
Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in Arizona Desert - January 27, 2011
Baltimore man accused of plotting to blow up military recruiting station in Md. - Thursday, December 9, 2010
Oregon Bomb Suspect Mohamed Osman Mohamud Wanted "Spectacular Show," - November 29, 2010
Faisal Shahzad: 'War With Muslims Has Just Begun' - Oct. 5, 2010
2 MN women charged with aiding Somali terrorists - Aug 5, 2010
U.S. links 8 to Somali terrorist group - November 24, 2009
And here's one for the Canadians: Converts Who Kill

I then pointed out that this current turmoil started with Al Qaeda's 9/11 attacks, and that according to Bin Laden, he won't stop trying to a

All the actions of our government over the last few years are those of a governement afraid it's own people will rise against it, not one worried about our safety from terrorists, should be clear to almost anyone by now.

No, it's terrorists - that's pretty clear given the limited actions they've taken domestically along with the fact that we continue to change our government with elections, have a free press, free speech, 2nd Amendment rights, are free to work and travel largely as we please (even if there is the nuisance of security checks prior to flights). I'd love to see your version of how this somehow isn't the case.

To the extent they've stopped even a single credible terrorist plot (I haven't noticed they have prevented a single one) all they've managed is to deny me some good clean fun on moving target practice -- it's a total lose-lose.

Not hard to find... really....it's not. I'm guessing you've never looked.

(Just a sample - there are many, many more.)
Daniel Boyd pleads guilty to US terrorism charges -9 February 2011
Domestic Terrorist 'Jihad Jane' Pleads Guilty to Four Charges - Feb 2, 2011
Stockham requests new attorney - February 05, 2011
          Note: This individual is apparently an American Sunni Muslim who tried to attack a Shia Muslim Mosque.
Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in Arizona Desert - January 27, 2011
Baltimore man accused of plotting to blow up military recruiting station in Md. - Thursday, December 9, 2010
Oregon Bomb Suspect Mohamed Osman Mohamud Wanted "Spectacular Show," - November 29, 2010
Faisal Shahzad: 'War With Muslims Has Just Begun' - Oct. 5, 2010
2 MN women charged with aiding Somali terrorists - Aug 5, 2010
U.S. links 8 to Somali terrorist group - November 24, 2009

The US is the only one allowed to use this tech to abuse human rights, and it really doesn't want to risk losing its lead in technology used for spying on citizens.

You are completely wrong. First off, it's legal, and not an abuse of human rights. (And no, this isn't the first time a court has made a similar finding.)

Second, it's necessary because some American citizens, immigrants, and visitors don't want to live in peace, but have taken up the cause of extremists. (Just a sample - there are many, many more.)
Daniel Boyd pleads guilty to US terrorism charges -9 February 2011
Domestic Terrorist 'Jihad Jane' Pleads Guilty to Four Charges - Feb 2, 2011
Stockham requests new attorney - February 05, 2011
          Note: This individual is apparently an American Sunni Muslim who tried to attack a Shia Muslim Mosque.
Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in Arizona Desert - January 27, 2011
Baltimore man accused of plotting to blow up military recruiting station in Md. - Thursday, December 9, 2010
Oregon Bomb Suspect Mohamed Osman Mohamud Wanted "Spectacular Show," - November 29, 2010
Faisal Shahzad: 'War With Muslims Has Just Begun' - Oct. 5, 2010
2 MN women charged with aiding Somali terrorists - Aug 5, 2010
U.S. links 8 to Somali terrorist group - November 24, 2009
And here's one for the Canadians: Converts Who Kill

And how did this get started? September 11 attacks

If you bother to read bin Laden's 'letter to America', you will see that in order for him to call off his minions, Americans will have to convert to his flavor of Islam, give up the constitution, implement Sharia law (which will mean cutting off hands of thieves, stoning adulterers, no more alcohol (prohibition again), drugs, porn, executing homosexuals, etc., etc., etc.), and many other odious demands.

Ultimately this is about various factions of Islam trying to extend their power by force. It won't go away soon. I suggest you get used to it.

Dreaming of Al-Andalus

By the way - the Muslim Brotherhood is not helping.

no i agree. government involvement is a pandora's box of problems. however, it's still better than nothing at all (example: haiti)

we have people in the usa, who genuinely believe that if you don't have health insurance, you should be turned away from the hospital if you can't pay. this is barbaric and cruel, like sharia law. its social darwinism, and its evil

while brazilian public healthcare may suck, as you say, its still better than no healthcare at all. its also proof that at least brazilians have enough simple human morality and simple human decency that they agree everyone should have healthcare, even though the execution of the idea sucks. you don't have in your country this potent ignorant vile force that thinks "hurry up and die already" is a valid political philosophy for the poor. it's a disgusting and shameful aspect of my country that so many assholes in my country believe this evil:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/News/arizona-transplant-deaths/story?id=12559369

The app wasn't to make confessions anyway, but to assist Catholics in the confession process. From the original article: "So, how does the app work? It leads you through an 'Examination of Conscience' to help you figure out what your real sins are -- and not just by retreading your run of the mill 10 Commandments. The sinful suggestions the app offers are inventive and even age appropriate."

I've read elsewhere that one of the priests who designed it, had a parishioner show up in the confession box with it, and used the app during confession to help remind him of his transgressions.

So this is just grandstanding by the Papacy. The app was never meant to replace "personal dialogue between penitents and their confessor." This is like saying Google Maps is bad because it somehow replaces the actual travel you're intending to take. Uh, no.

But nowhere have I seen any evidence whatsoever that Sarah Palin, or anyone else on the right wants to use force to "quell speech that she doesn't like".

It's amazing what you can manage to not see when you keep your eyes shut, isn't it?

Palin has suggested violence against Julian Assange, saying "Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?". Several others pundits -- mostly on the right, though I wouldn't be surprised if hear the same nonsense were to come from one or two people on the left -- has made similar calls for violence against Assange, but Palin's is particularly delicious because she then went on to make use of the leaked data to criticize the Obama administration's policy towards Iran.

Also, "Back in 1996, when she first became mayor, Sarah Palin asked the city librarian if she would be all right with censoring library books should she be asked to do so." -- Anchorage Daily News

And when you broaden it to "anyone else on the right", it would be pretty amazing if you hadn't heard about the mass arrests at the 2004 Republican convention. Or about Rand Paul supporters stomping a protester's head.

Nesbitt's job, as the official public voice of NASA going out to the world during the launch, was to provide a running stream of information. The data came from what today seems like an amazingly primitive source — a single black and white, 9-inch monitor with lines of numbers and cryptic letters scrolling across constantly.

On a piece of paper in front of him Nesbitt also has the mission timeline, a listing of what was supposed to happen second-by-second with the shuttle. "About every 15 seconds there was a new milestone coming in on the timeline," he says.

Nesbitt was focused on the 9-inch computer screen in front of him, reading off numbers. The only actual visual of the launch he could see was a small television off to his left but he couldn't watch it and the computer so he wasn't looking at it.

Sitting next to him was the Navy flight surgeon for the launch, a young captain. "I heard her say 'What was that?' " Nesbitt remembers.

He finished reading the numbers off the screen and then looked over at the TV screen. "At that point there was just the trail of smoke. And I thought 'Oh, crap. There's something not right.' "

Note: Mission control may get a different video feed than the cross-cut CNN feed that we are all familiar with. Also, they are in a windowless concrete bunker a thousand miles away from the actual launch. The telemetry and the video feeds from the various tracking cameras are all they've got to go on.

There's a 15-second pause between his last words, "seven nautical miles," and the next ones. Neither Nesbitt nor anyone in the room knew what had happened. "I'm not hearing anyone in Mission Control saying 'The spacecraft just disintegrated.' No one's saying anything," he says.

Something was horribly wrong, he knew that. But he had no idea what it was, what had happened to the spacecraft and, most importantly, what had happened to the crew.

What Nesbitt did know was that it was his job to explain to the public what they were seeing on their TV screens. "I had this feeling 'I've got to comment on what's happening,' but I didn't have any information."

So the next words he uttered were the now famous quote: "Flight control is here looking very carefully at the situation, obviously a major malfunction."

Some at the time expressed surprise that his voice never changed during the next hour as the full extent of the tragedy became evident. But that wasn't Nesbitt's job: It was to give accurate information as quickly and smoothly as he could.

Nesbitt did an amazing job in my opinion. Sadly, sometimes no matter what you say it is the wrong thing to say.

"I can see Russia from my backyard." -- Palin (R) Alaska

You're either misattributing that quote, or you're intentionally lying about what she said in an attempt to discredit her - a task which, to be fair, she does adequately without requiring misquotes to do so. I'll be charitable and assume it's the former, and FTFY:

"I can see Russia from my backyard." -- Fey (Comedian), Saturday Night Live

Now, if you're interested in what Ms. Palin actually had to say in her interview with Charlie Gibson, then that quote would read:

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

Ms. Palin's actual answer to his question was vague, uninspired, and showed no grasp of the issue he was quizzing her on, but if you're going to sling around quotes with your insults, at least get the fucking quote right.

I agree to an extent on the tablet front, except for one small bit:

HP currently offers Slate 500's with Windows 7 on it, and has been doing so since October. The specs are roughly that of an HP Mini netbook in a tablet form factor. Mind you, it costs $800 a pop, and has a smaller screen. OTOH, it has everything that folks assert businesses are gagging for, since it has Windows 7 on it. Given that Microsoft hasn't exactly been bragging on it, I'm thinking it probably isn't selling all too well.

Meanwhile, stories abound of companies buying up iPads like the product was made of solidified cocaine. (mind you, they were quoting Apple as one of their sources, but when they're naming names, and those names are those of some pretty big corporations...)

In the face of that, I'm not so sure that Outlook (especially now that competitors like iOS and Android can connect to it too) is the biggie anymore. iOS has Office-like apps that are apparently more than sufficient for the platform - after all, it's not like you're going to type a novel on a tablet...)

Here!

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/State_of_the_Union/state-of-the-union-2010-president-obama-speech-transcript/story?id=9678572

What does that do to your post?

Wasn't there a case where someone called into a McDs pretending to be a cop and had the manager strip search one of the workers? ahh here it is. What a dumb manager. http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2684890&page=1

Suggesting it "failed" suggests that there is only one possible outcome, and it's the one you want. And that's not diplomacy.

Suggesting it "failed" means there is an outcome agreed upon by many nations as being unacceptable that at this point still seems almost inevitable. It is the outcome that they want to avoid, and have offered many alternatives and incentives to avoid. It is still diplomacy until shooting starts - thats how you tell the difference.

State Sponsors: Iran

Hassan Nasrallah in the Late 1980s: Lebanon Should Become Part of the Greater Islamic Republic Ruled by Leader of Iran, Who Should Appoint all Islamic Rulers

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit Warns That a Nuclear Iran Would Force the Arabs to Join the Nuclear Race

Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi of the Iranian Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution: By 2022 - Maybe Much Earlier - Israel Will Be Annihilated

Former Senior IAEA Official Yousri Abu Shadi: Iran Is Capable of Producing Nuclear Bombs in Less Than Two Years

Al-Siyassa: Iran Will Have Three Nuclear Bombs by 2013; One Will Go to Hizbullah

Iranian TV: Swine Flu - A Zionist/American Conspiracy

General Commander of the Iranian Army Ataollah Salehi: It Will Take Us 11 Days "to Wipe Israel Out of Existence"

French Comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala tells Iranian TV about His New Children's Song "Holocaust Pineapple" and States: Most Slave Traders Were Jews; More Freedom of Speech in Iran Than in France

EXCLUSIVE: Iraq Weapons -- Made in Iran?
Intelligence Officials Say Weapons Responsible for Increasing U.S. Deaths in Iraq

U.S. Says It Will Release Nine Of 20 Iranians Captured in Iraq - Wednesday, November 7, 2007

All 20 detainees are known or suspected members of Iran's elite Quds Force, the arm of the Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for Iran's foreign operations and recently sanctioned by the Bush administration as a supporter of terrorism, the officials said. ...

In Baghdad, the U.S. military also briefed reporters on about 5,300 weapons caches discovered by U.S. and Iraqi forces this year -- twice the number found in all of 2006 and much of the material from Iran, Smith said. The caches include roadside bomb components, rockets, mortars, C4 explosives, land mines and rocket-propelled grenades.

The person making the prediction (being asked the question) in this case may not be a client scientist, but he has a track record of accurately describing temperature in the future.

Citation needed. Googling the guy's name turns up stories like this -- from ESPN, for cryin' out loud, not from some site with a climate agenda:

Bastardi markets private forecasting services to corporations by boasting of his correct calls but saying nothing of his failed forecasts. For instance, Bastardi praises himself for predicting that Tropical Storm Humberto would grow into a hurricane in 2007, while neglecting to note that his primary hurricane forecast for 2007 was "the U.S. Gulf Coast is at much higher risk of destructive tropical weather" than in past years. Instead, 2007 hurricane activity on the Gulf Coast was far lower than in 2004 and 2005.

On Jan. 20, 2014 — five years to the date after Bush left office — citizens will be able to request access to his administration's archives through the Freedom of Information Act.

What would be nice is to see all this information available through searching online, but as I understand it, request will need to go through the National Archives for processing :(.

Wow, several months late in their less than timely follow through. Wikileaks has gone on the record as saying they were going to donate $50,000 to Manning's defense. Does it surprise anyone that when it came time to follow through they fell through? All told they've raised at least $150,000 just from the heavily edited helicopter video alone. Of which they can only be bothered to spend $15,000 on his behalf. Take the $150,000 from the video and $50,000 pledge and you get a $185,000 profit for Wikileaks on those two items alone, not counting everything they raised from the cables.

Look, I know that fifteen thousand and fifty thousand both start with 'fift', but that doesn't mean they are anywhere near the same amount. I don't know about in Europe, but in America raising money for a cause and refusing to use it for a cause is considered a pretty serious felony fraud. This of it this way, less than 1 dollar in 3 that was pointedly raised for his defense was actually donated. Consider all the other money wikileaks has gotten from the rest of Manning's contributions and you'll see just how badly Wikileaks hung Manning out to dry. On a personal level, considering his treasonous actions could result in anywhere from 52 years in prison up to the death penalty, it's nice too see wikileaks living up to it's potential and hanging him out to dry.

Now that you put it that way, I can see the burning cars and places of worship all across France in my mind right now. ;)

That's nothing new.

Why 112 cars are burning every day

France's New Year's Tradition: Car-Burning

Anti-Semitic Violence Sweeps France

France: Thickening Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism seen rising among France's Muslims
 

"Cutting taxes" sounds fine, until you have to face the fact that you will no longer enjoy those things that those taxes provided.

Like that $578-million-dollar school they opened in August in LA?

I mean Christ Almighty, Elon Musk has a damned private space program for less money than that.

Intriguingly, when you see the notes of batshit-crazy bimbo Jenny McCarthy's "treatment regimen" for her "autistic" son, one of the major things they did is switch him to a gluten-free diet .

Of course, this nutjob also threw every new-agey piece of crap nonsense therapy anyone suggested at the kid, so who knows.

But telling in her case is that first, the doctors were thinking epilepsy; then she got a "second opinion" from someone who has a financial interest in diagnosing as many kids with "autism" and "adhd" as possible.

Not being a doctor, but following from basic first aid training, it's quite probable that McCarthy's unfortunate son (unfortunate in his condition as well as the misfortune to be born to that batshit insane nitwit) was actually suffering from allergy-related seizures that were - no surprise - cleared up when she switched him to a gluten-free, dairy-free diet. The rest of his "symptoms" are also consistent with other cases involving developmental delays due to undiagnosed food allergies.

It's just sad that her boob-to-brain-mass ratio is so large that she's completely incapable of grasping this simple concept, and instead goes around convincing parents to kill their kids by not vaccinating.

The larger problem is, the recidivism rate is drastically increased by the treatment of those who serve their sentences when they get out. This applies not just to "sex offenders" but just about all of the population.

Can't find a job, can't get a home? Increased recidivism rate. Yet how many jobs ask for a background check and whether you've served jail time in the past X years when you apply, and won't hire anyone with any record at all?

Sex offenders get it really bad because of problems like this. Imagine you're a "sex offender" whose only option, thanks to the "exclusion zones" getting bigger and bigger and overlapping all over, is to live in a shack under a fucking bridge. Now imagine you can't find work because any commute takes you through an "exclusion zone" even if you could find a job. Fuck, even "low income" or manual-labor jobs like construction are out of the question; you are actually under more restrictions than the illegal aliens even if you're desperate enough to work for illegal-alien, under-the-table slave wages.

Step one is reforming the prison system to work more towards rehabilitation and less to "throw them all in a dang pit and forget about it." In this, the Republicans really can be called Retardicans, because they're the ones calling for ever-increasingly-tough "punishments" constantly until the punishments massively outstrip the crimes and tend to serve not to rehabiitate, but forever debilitate the incarcerated so that they'll never be able to reform and rejoin society, ever. Retardicans are responsible for the fact that today's prisons are places where violent gang criminals are taught to be even nastier.

Step two is making sure that, once people get out and reenter society, they're given a chance to actually reintegrate and become productive members. Our current system of "exclusion zones" may help somewhat, but it's far too onerous and makes it impossible for those caught in its web to survive. "Instant GPS phones the cops" is going to mean "fuck, he clipped the edge of it trying to get food in a grocery store" for these amazingly huge zones - a 2500 radius exclusion zone is 5 city blocks' radius.

> This is so much hyperbole it is not even funny.

Right, because we've never executed people for this sort of thing before. And, even though we'd put innocent US citizens in Gitmo, there's no way we'd do that to someone who isn't even a US national, neatly sidestepping all that "fair trial" nonsense by labeling him as some kind of "enemy combatant" or whatever.

And, even though we have politicians calling for Julian Assange to be assassinated, there's no way that anyone would ever even think of taking them seriously. Ever.

That's total hyperbole, right? Nobody here is that crazy... right?

Yeah, and ask Mathew Shepard [wikipedia.org] about Christian tolerance. It's easy to find the exception that proves the rule, but the reality is that Christians are hardly better than Muslims in that respect. They just have better PR.

How about if I ask you since he is dead? Could you provide some actual evidence that Christianity played role in his murder, or are you simply engaging in casual libel as a result of unenlightened views or ignorance? From what I see, there doesn't seem to be any evidence of Christian practice or belief involved, quite the contrary. A gay man who took drugs was killed by two drug users/dealers, one of whom was apparently a bisexual. I realize that make the narrative a bit messy, but please, enlighten us.

Former Laramie Police Detective Ben Fritzen, one of the lead investigators in the case, also believed robbery was the primary motive. "Matthew Shepard's sexual preference or sexual orientation certainly wasn't the motive in the homicide," he said.

"If it wasn't Shepard, they would have found another easy target. What it came down to really is drugs and money and two punks that were out looking for it," Fritzen said.
New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder

O'Connor says he never heard McKinney express any anti-gay attitudes. In his interview with Vargas, O'Connor reveals his belief that McKinney is bisexual. "I know of an instance where he had a three-way, two guys and one gal," he said. "Because he did it with me."

O'Connor added, "I know he's bisexual. There ain't no doubt in my mind. He is bisexual."
New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder

Asked directly whether he targeted and attacked Shepard because he was gay, McKinney told Vargas, "No. I did not. ... I would say it wasn't a hate crime. All I wanted to do was beat him up and rob him."

But if the attackers were just trying to rob someone to get a drug fix, why did they beat Shepard so savagely?

Rerucha attributes McKinney's rage and his savage beating of Shepard to his drug abuse. "The methamphetamine just fueled to this point where there was no control. It was a horrible, horrible, horrible murder. It was a murder that was once again driven by drugs," Rerucha said.

Dr. Rick Rawson, a professor at UCLA who has studied the link between methamphetamine and violence, tells "20/20" the drug can trigger episodes of violent behavior.

"In the first weeks after you've stopped using it, the kinds of triggers that can set off an episode are completely unpredictable. It can be: you say a word with the wrong inflection, you touch someone on the shoulder. It's completely unpredictable as to what will set somebody off" Rawson said.
New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder

If they were doing meth, they were probably doing pot too.
Long-Time Marijuana Use Linked to Psychosis in Young Adults

Another widely held belief about the case is that McKinney and Shepard had never met before their fateful encounter at the Fireside Lounge. But a number of sources tell "20/20" the two were not strangers.

"Everybody knew Matt Shepard was a partier just like Aaron, just like the rest of us," said Bopp.

In fact, Bopp said he had seen Shepard and McKinney together at parties. "Aaron was selling [drugs] and him and Matt would go off to the side and they'd come back. And Matt would be doing some meth then," he said.

Though they frequented the same party scene, McKinney maintains he had never met Shepard before the night of the crime and wonders why people might

Yeah, and ask Mathew Shepard [wikipedia.org] about Christian tolerance. It's easy to find the exception that proves the rule, but the reality is that Christians are hardly better than Muslims in that respect. They just have better PR.

How about if I ask you since he is dead? Could you provide some actual evidence that Christianity played role in his murder, or are you simply engaging in casual libel as a result of unenlightened views or ignorance? From what I see, there doesn't seem to be any evidence of Christian practice or belief involved, quite the contrary. A gay man who took drugs was killed by two drug users/dealers, one of whom was apparently a bisexual. I realize that make the narrative a bit messy, but please, enlighten us.

Former Laramie Police Detective Ben Fritzen, one of the lead investigators in the case, also believed robbery was the primary motive. "Matthew Shepard's sexual preference or sexual orientation certainly wasn't the motive in the homicide," he said.

"If it wasn't Shepard, they would have found another easy target. What it came down to really is drugs and money and two punks that were out looking for it," Fritzen said.
New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder

O'Connor says he never heard McKinney express any anti-gay attitudes. In his interview with Vargas, O'Connor reveals his belief that McKinney is bisexual. "I know of an instance where he had a three-way, two guys and one gal," he said. "Because he did it with me."

O'Connor added, "I know he's bisexual. There ain't no doubt in my mind. He is bisexual."
New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder

Asked directly whether he targeted and attacked Shepard because he was gay, McKinney told Vargas, "No. I did not. ... I would say it wasn't a hate crime. All I wanted to do was beat him up and rob him."

But if the attackers were just trying to rob someone to get a drug fix, why did they beat Shepard so savagely?

Rerucha attributes McKinney's rage and his savage beating of Shepard to his drug abuse. "The methamphetamine just fueled to this point where there was no control. It was a horrible, horrible, horrible murder. It was a murder that was once again driven by drugs," Rerucha said.

Dr. Rick Rawson, a professor at UCLA who has studied the link between methamphetamine and violence, tells "20/20" the drug can trigger episodes of violent behavior.

"In the first weeks after you've stopped using it, the kinds of triggers that can set off an episode are completely unpredictable. It can be: you say a word with the wrong inflection, you touch someone on the shoulder. It's completely unpredictable as to what will set somebody off" Rawson said.
New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder

If they were doing meth, they were probably doing pot too.
Long-Time Marijuana Use Linked to Psychosis in Young Adults

Another widely held belief about the case is that McKinney and Shepard had never met before their fateful encounter at the Fireside Lounge. But a number of sources tell "20/20" the two were not strangers.

"Everybody knew Matt Shepard was a partier just like Aaron, just like the rest of us," said Bopp.

In fact, Bopp said he had seen Shepard and McKinney together at parties. "Aaron was selling [drugs] and him and Matt would go off to the side and they'd come back. And Matt would be doing some meth then," he said.

Though they frequented the same party scene, McKinney maintains he had never met Shepard before the night of the crime and wonders why people might

Yeah, and ask Mathew Shepard [wikipedia.org] about Christian tolerance. It's easy to find the exception that proves the rule, but the reality is that Christians are hardly better than Muslims in that respect. They just have better PR.

How about if I ask you since he is dead? Could you provide some actual evidence that Christianity played role in his murder, or are you simply engaging in casual libel as a result of unenlightened views or ignorance? From what I see, there doesn't seem to be any evidence of Christian practice or belief involved, quite the contrary. A gay man who took drugs was killed by two drug users/dealers, one of whom was apparently a bisexual. I realize that make the narrative a bit messy, but please, enlighten us.

Former Laramie Police Detective Ben Fritzen, one of the lead investigators in the case, also believed robbery was the primary motive. "Matthew Shepard's sexual preference or sexual orientation certainly wasn't the motive in the homicide," he said.

"If it wasn't Shepard, they would have found another easy target. What it came down to really is drugs and money and two punks that were out looking for it," Fritzen said.
New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder

O'Connor says he never heard McKinney express any anti-gay attitudes. In his interview with Vargas, O'Connor reveals his belief that McKinney is bisexual. "I know of an instance where he had a three-way, two guys and one gal," he said. "Because he did it with me."

O'Connor added, "I know he's bisexual. There ain't no doubt in my mind. He is bisexual."
New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder

Asked directly whether he targeted and attacked Shepard because he was gay, McKinney told Vargas, "No. I did not. ... I would say it wasn't a hate crime. All I wanted to do was beat him up and rob him."

But if the attackers were just trying to rob someone to get a drug fix, why did they beat Shepard so savagely?

Rerucha attributes McKinney's rage and his savage beating of Shepard to his drug abuse. "The methamphetamine just fueled to this point where there was no control. It was a horrible, horrible, horrible murder. It was a murder that was once again driven by drugs," Rerucha said.

Dr. Rick Rawson, a professor at UCLA who has studied the link between methamphetamine and violence, tells "20/20" the drug can trigger episodes of violent behavior.

"In the first weeks after you've stopped using it, the kinds of triggers that can set off an episode are completely unpredictable. It can be: you say a word with the wrong inflection, you touch someone on the shoulder. It's completely unpredictable as to what will set somebody off" Rawson said.
New Details Emerge in Matthew Shepard Murder

If they were doing meth, they were probably doing pot too.
Long-Time Marijuana Use Linked to Psychosis in Young Adults

Another widely held belief about the case is that McKinney and Shepard had never met before their fateful encounter at the Fireside Lounge. But a number of sources tell "20/20" the two were not strangers.

"Everybody knew Matt Shepard was a partier just like Aaron, just like the rest of us," said Bopp.

In fact, Bopp said he had seen Shepard and McKinney together at parties. "Aaron was selling [drugs] and him and Matt would go off to the side and they'd come back. And Matt would be doing some meth then," he said.

Though they frequented the same party scene, McKinney maintains he had never met Shepard before the night of the crime and wonders why people might

Who ate what? "Gulf Bacteria Quickly Digested, Spilled Methane." -- Yum... (poot!)

Anyhow, this isn't really surprising. I hear those Gulf Bacteria will eat anything, Even Flesh!

Woot! A new freak! And an idiot to boot!

"Bring a gun to a knife fight" is just a reference to bringing overwhelming force against opposition. If your opponent has a knife, you bring a knife and have roughly equal odds of survival. You bring a gun and remove all doubt. Your opponent spends $1 million on his campaign, you spend $100 million on yours. If you want to win, leave no doubt. Get it? Or did you really think Obama was talking about carrying a gun?

As for crosshairs? How about this? Personally, I can see the difference between the symbolism of marking someone with crosshairs as a target for "defeat" as opposed to one that needs to be shot. Some nuts, obviously, can't. While I don't believe that anyone was calling for anyone's death, I will point out that whoever releases these images should realize that they hold some accountability for how people will interpret them. Personal accountability has never been a strong part for politicians though.

Also, interestingly, your 3rd link at verumserum calls out the media for getting all worked up over Palin's crosshair. The EXACT SAME LOGIC could be applied to your chest-thumping about how some Democrats put bullseyes on maps. On top of that, those bullseyes were just on a map; they weren't crosshairs superimposed over an actual person's face.

And, finally, how many are dead now due to violence from the left?

--Jeremy

I said it was almost to the point where it feels that way. Intentional hyperbole aside, I think it's clear that dissent of all flavors (particularly against actual government positions and actions) are slowly being vilified. Refer to recent Napolitano (and others) quotes over the last two months as an example of where they're headed.

Anyway, I'll see your Islam and raise you an Atheist.

+ Atheists are the least electable persons in the country (source: 2007 Gallup poll).
+ Atheists are the least trusted people in America (source: UMN study).

Ninety percent of respondents thought whites and blacks could share their vision of society. About 80 percent said the same of Hispanics, Jews and conservative Christians. More than 70 percent said it of immigrants, and 64 percent said it of Muslims. Atheists had the lowest rating at 54 percent.

Asked whether they would disapprove of a child's wish to marry an atheist, 47.6 percent of those interviewed said yes. Asked the same question about Muslims and African-Americans, the yes responses fell to 33.5 percent and 27.2 percent, respectively. The yes responses for Asian-Americans, Hispanics, Jews and conservative Christians were 18.5 percent, 18.5 percent, 11.8 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively. (source)

I would certainly hesitate before letting anyone get the idea that I was an atheist. I probably wouldn't mention it to my neighbors. I wouldn't mention it to a girlfriend's family. I absolutely would not mention it to an employer or colleague or would avoid inadvertently giving the impression that I was. People react viciously and with great prejudice toward it and it is not a stretch to imagine that a "believer" would can your ass for it. Or at least, treat you with great disfavor within the work place.

And, no, I don't necessarily buy that being associated with Islam makes you the most likely to be disappeared within this country. I steadfastly assert that it's anyone voicing too much dissent that crosses the attention of the wrong official. Now, you might be accused of ties to Islam or some terrorist group as part of the justification of harassing or disappearing you (like the guy in Portland a few years ago and several others in the last half decade), but that's more a scapegoat than a reason.

I believe the ORIGINAL suggestion was to hire x military. NOT have the people from here do the sniping.

And the military DOES have a PROVEN history of being able to take out pirates from a moving ship.

Navy SEALs' Simultaneous Headshots on Somali Pirates Were Procedure

Taking this a step further, following the original suggestion of x military personnel being the snipers.

\

Let's carry this further shall we? How many troops have served in Afghanistan and Iraq? Collation troops, not just American. Snipers are a very active part of that. You telling me nomadic that these shipping companies couldn't entice x military snipers to guard their ships?

So basically.

• 1. Your reading comprehensive skills are shit.

• 2. Your knowledge of current events are worse then your reading skills.

You really should take time to think about your posts

It's not like that belief isn't parroted *all over the internet*. I'm sure if you bothered to look you could find a few hundred such references here, here, here, and here. Concentrate your searching to the time when gun laws were being liberalized.

No, actually, it isn't.

People waiving the flag of false equivalence are intellectually corrupt. Violent rhetoric is not coming from both sides of the political spectrum, it's coming from the Fox News right..

Really? Here is a quote from an ABC News article:

In the YouTube profile, the account holder, identified as Loughner, lists "The Communist Manifesto" and "Mein Kampf" among his favorite books.

Would someone from the "Fox News right" list "The Communist Manifesto" as one of his favorite books (Of course, you'll say "Mein Kampf" is required reading at Fox, so I won't even ask about that one)?

The point I'm trying to make here is that you said "Violent rhetoric is not coming from both sides of the political spectrum, it's coming from the Fox News right." Well, this guy is not from the Fox News Right and he's the one killing people.

So, um... It would appear that you are wrong and making shit up to try to score political points. Yes, you are trying to use a shooting rampage where a 9-year old girl died to put down those who disagree with you politically, and you are even doing so dishonestly.

Actually it's China that has injected billions of dollars into the US. There Communism is what has been keeping the US's Capitalism alive. China is also a very fast growing economy, not a 'dead economy'.

You don't seem to realize that all this has only happened in the last 3 decades. Yes, China's government has given our government a bunch of loan money, but their government got all the money with which to give us loans from our private sector. Not their private sector. Their private sector has no fucking money. It's their government that has money. Their economy doesn't have any money, our economy is giving them money. And their government (and the government-controlled and government-controlling coporations) keep it all (and loan it back to us).

Their economy was completely stagnant before we started producing fucking everything in China 30 years ago, and without us it would return to its sorry state, because they don't know how to survive without us. They don't have any innovation of their own. They only know how to control their people and use the money that they get from us.

Yay Communism!

Actually it's China that has injected billions of dollars into the US. There Communism is what has been keeping the US's Capitalism alive. China is also a very fast growing economy, not a 'dead economy'.

Fine, Dr. Steven Rayle (real guy in Tucson look him up), told ABC news this as well. He's the same guy that told Gawker. He was an eyewitness at the scene. Gawker sucks, but I think they can take down an eyewitness statement like anyone else. Where are people reading that he yelled something foreign? I haven't seen that anywhere but here.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rep-gabrielle-giffords-shot-grocery-store-event/story?id=12571452 [go.com]

"Eyewitness Steven Rayle told ABC News a man approached Giffords and shot her before turning his gun on other people randomly.

Rayle described the shooter as a Caucasian male in his 20s wearing dark clothes."

When it is -30C, Russians take their towels and beach umbrellas, drill a hole in the ice and go swimming.
When it becomes -65C they cannot find any water in liquid state, so someone came up with this bright idea to drill a hole to an ancient lake, just so they can have a pool in winter.

All it does play on human frailty to suck money out of the lower- to middle-class. The worst is sports gambling where once the dollars get big enough bribing players becomes viable. With legalization, a shady character has enough money in the pot to finance throwing enough money at a player, ref, or coach to overcome morality barriers and entice millionaires. And, yes it can and does happen even in the biggest sports. You'll still have gambling if it's illegal, but because gambling/casinos requires such a large infrastructure to support, you limit the scope just by telling people they can't do it. Sure, Vinny and Tony are still going to run numbers in the back of the pub, but that's not like a $50 million dollar riverboat with doors wide open.

Oddly enough, I think we should legalize most drugs. Go figure. The difference in my mind is that people are going to do drugs illegal or not. We've seen that prohibition does a lot to slow down gambling, but not drugs.

So our 12 billion in bailout money goes to invest a company that maybe makes a few million dollars of profit on at a least half a billion dollars in revenue.

Goldman Sachs doesn't owe the government a dime:

In June 2009, Goldman Sachs repaid the U.S. Treasury's TARP investment, with 23% interest (in the form of $318 million in preferred dividend payments and $1.418 billion in warrant redemptions). Goldman Sachs

The 23% return in interest on a loan of $10 billion is not half-bad.

In 2010 Goldman Sachs stage-managed $554.5 billion dollars worth of mergers and acquisitions. Goldman Sachs Returned to M&A Top Spot in 2010

I work for Motorola in Poland. I visited the Chicago facility (actually 2 of them) about 2 years ago, maybe a little more. At the time, there was this Chinese national arrested at O'Hare, she had a one-way ticket to China, a ton of cash, and something like 4 suitcases of Motorola confidential high-tech documents & source code.

Watch the video here: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6228552

Apparently companies like Google & Microsoft are extremely concerned about loss of IP from their Chinese offices. This story (in the video above) indicates that it can even happen with Chinese employees planted in American companies. God only knows what's walking out the door from the Beijing office.

I work for Motorola in Poland. I visited the Chicago facility (actually 2 of them) about 2 years ago, maybe a little more. At the time, there was this Chinese national arrested at O'Hare, she had a one-way ticket to China, a ton of cash, and something like 4 suitcases of Motorola confidential high-tech documents & source code.

Watch the video here: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6228552

Apparently companies like Google & Microsoft are extremely concerned about loss of IP from their Chinese offices. This story (in the video above) indicates that it can even happen with Chinese employees planted in American companies. God only knows what's walking out the door from the Beijing office.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/amazon-removes-pedophilia-book-store/story?id=12119035

After defending sales of a self-published book on pedophilia, online retail giant Amazon last night reversed course and pulled the book from its Kindle store.

The electronic book, "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct," by Philip R. Greaves II, went on sale on Oct. 28 and cost $4.79 to download.

that was november 11. to amazon's credit, it initially defended the selling of this book. but it caved under pressure and bad publicity, and now the internal politics of amazon seems to have shifted course, and amazon has proactively started cutting other books that amazon doesn't want to be associated with, for whatever reason. it's a sea change. before october 28, amazon's policy seemed to have been "publish whatever". now, it's "publish whatever doesn't make amazon a target for bad pr"

Despite the story's GO AMERICA slant, a lot of material is going straight to Japan, where most of it is consumed in the first place. Like to Hitachi: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BK5PL20101221

Oh look. They also signed deals with Sumitomo and Mitsubishi: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T101219002181.htm

They got huge piles of cash from Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, and Hitachi...which is why it's hilarious to hear the CEO of Molycorp waving American flags in various quotes. Oh, and Molycorp's stock has shot up since their IPO in July: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-28/molycorp-s-ipo-aims-at-chinese-grip-on-smart-bombs.html

Also, how interesting that the EPA announces cleanup plan of Molycorp site just a few days ago: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12460111

The EPA said contaminated material from the Molycorp site includes about 328 million tons of acid-generating waste rock, more than 100 million tons of tailings and acid-rock drainage at the mine and seepage at the tailings facility.

Anyone want to place bets on whether or not the US government will press environmental regulations on Molycorp this time, now that national security interests are involved?

This smacks of isolationism and ignorance as to how economics work. My guns and butter are more valuable being sold to Japan than in America, then sell to Japan. I get more money out of it, Uncle Sam gets more taxes out of it, my American employees get paid for creating the product, and I don't have to worry about Japan suddenly stockpiling MY products in order to stifle trade. It's literally the biggest amount of Win/Win that can occur. China made mining in America not as profitable as importing it. Now that that is over, the mine is reopening. It's as simple as that. That radioactive waste water snippet did raise my eyebrow though.

Despite the story's GO AMERICA slant, a lot of material is going straight to Japan, where most of it is consumed in the first place. Like to Hitachi: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BK5PL20101221

Oh look. They also signed deals with Sumitomo and Mitsubishi: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T101219002181.htm

They got huge piles of cash from Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, and Hitachi...which is why it's hilarious to hear the CEO of Molycorp waving American flags in various quotes. Oh, and Molycorp's stock has shot up since their IPO in July: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-28/molycorp-s-ipo-aims-at-chinese-grip-on-smart-bombs.html

Also, how interesting that the EPA announces cleanup plan of Molycorp site just a few days ago: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12460111

The EPA said contaminated material from the Molycorp site includes about 328 million tons of acid-generating waste rock, more than 100 million tons of tailings and acid-rock drainage at the mine and seepage at the tailings facility.

Anyone want to place bets on whether or not the US government will press environmental regulations on Molycorp this time, now that national security interests are involved?

You mean Disneyworld. It's the guys at Vandenberg that have to avoid the nuns and orphans on their way to Disneyland (still no picnic).

You mean Disneyworld. It's the guys at Vandenberg that have to avoid the nuns and orphans on their way to Disneyland (still no picnic).

The question is how you choose the teams to play. Take a look at the two top 25 lists on this page. Notice that while they contain mostly the same teams, the order does vary a bit. The many historic conferences (see here vary quite a bit in difficulty - and since a large part of your schedule necessarily consists of in-conference teams, the difficulty of the schedule can vary quite a lot. For example, 6 of the 12 teams in the Southeastern Conference and 5 of 12 in the Big 12 are in the top 25; only 1 of 12 in Conference USA is. Going strictly by win/loss record doesn't account for this.

The question is how you choose the teams to play. Take a look at the two top 25 lists on this page. Notice that while they contain mostly the same teams, the order does vary a bit. The many historic conferences (see here vary quite a bit in difficulty - and since a large part of your schedule necessarily consists of in-conference teams, the difficulty of the schedule can vary quite a lot. For example, 6 of the 12 teams in the Southeastern Conference and 5 of 12 in the Big 12 are in the top 25; only 1 of 12 in Conference USA is. Going strictly by win/loss record doesn't account for this.

There is no such rule in Islam. Rather if you rape a lady or a child you are punished by death. Not the raped person. In some pathetic tribes such things might exist but not in that religion.

Not necessarily death, it might be just a prison sentence and a public whipping. Pathetic tribes indeed.