Slashdot Mirror

"The game has been causing huge controversy since it was first released in 1993. And at Bethesda's big E3 event last night, it unveiled the new version of the game, which is likely to cause its own scandal once again." ref

There won't be any evidence offered, because this event is almost certainly a work of fiction. A careful reading of the articles and simply thinking things through will reveal colossal, gaping holes in the story the British government is peddling.

Firstly: we know beyond doubt that this story is at least partly fictional. We know this because the anonymous government sources (i.e. civil service officials) keep contradicting each other. We see for example this quote in the Independent, "However, despite a senior government official was quoted by the paper as saying that Snowden had "blood on his hands", Downing Street confirmed that there was “no evidence of anyone being harmed” as a result of his leaks". Different versions of the same story contradicting each other is a good sign that what we're being fed is a story: things always grow in the telling, especially when we're hearing a third or fourth hand account of what happened. The way US officials contradicted each other in the wake of the bin Laden assassination is a good example of that.

Secondly: this story asks us believe several extraordinary and completely implausible things.

In the UK foreign spying with people is the mandate of MI6, a separate agency to GCHQ, which handles signals intelligence only. It's like the split between the CIA and the NSA. Yet in several years of Snowden reporting there has never been any mention of documents from MI6. There has in fact only been a single mention of MI6 in the GCHQ/NSA documents, and that was a joint presentation about spying on climate change conferences! So the UK government is asking us to believe that journalists like Greenwald (who hates the UK because of the holding of his partner at Heathrow) would have a large cache of documents from an entirely separate agency and yet find nothing newsworthy in them at all ..... indeed, apparently MI6 is so boring that the existence of such documents isn't even worth mentioning? Apparently the UK has never done anything even embarrassing in many years of engaging in foreign HUMINT? That stretches the bounds of credulity beyond breaking point.

But it goes on. We are asked to swallow a second utterly ridiculous idea. Apparently the Russians and Chinese suddenly got access to a wealth of information on British spies, information so detailed it allowed them to be targeted:

The newspaper quoted a senior Home Office source as saying: “Putin didn't give him asylum for nothing. His documents were encrypted but they weren't completely secure and we have now seen our agents and assets being targeted.”

What normally happens when spies are caught? Well, they are normally arrested and tried, or at minimum thrown out of the country. Yet Downing Street is telling us that there was "no evidence of anyone being harmed". In short, we're being asked to believe that Russian and Chinese counter-intelligence suddenly found themselves with information so detailed that it amounts to a brain-dump of MI6, including lists of foreign agents ...... yet they walked away from the biggest gift in counter-intel history with nothing at all. Not a single arrest, not a single trial.

That the KGB and Chinese counter-intelligence are so incompetent defies belief - indeed, it is literally unbelievable.

There's a third totally implausible thing about this story. It asks us to believe that there is a cache of encrypted Snowden documents out there .... somewhere ..... and the Russians/Chinese were both able to obtain this cache, yet they could not obtain the accompanying password. So where did this cache come from? Again, the civil service is asking us to believe something utterly stupid: "Putin didn't give him a

Interesting link with some info about that: http://www.independent.co.uk/v...

(It's about TTIP, which seems the same as TPP but aimed at the EU). The article claims NAFTA caused the loss of around 1 million US jobs, as opposed to the promised gain of hundreds of thousands of extra jobs.

Self parking car runs over pedestrians because "owner" didn't pay for "pedestrian detection"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

http://www.independent.co.uk/l...

The most amusing part is the dullard just stood there when it is evident the vehicle is going to fast to stop.

RTFA and you might then understand the issue.

What they don't clearly say is the real reason they dropped the bans is because the bans would likely not be legal if TTIP were implemented.

TTIP removes the ability of the gov't and EU to protect people and the environment in many ways. ISDS allows companies to sue governments if some new law causes them to lose profits. In effect, new laws to protect people can not be written if they impinge on some corporations TTIP given right to make profit at any expense.

TTIP is insanely bad, it is undemocratic, written by The Commission and corporations in order to help corporate profits at the expense of jobs, health, public serivces and the environment.

What is TTIP? And six reasons why the answer should scare you - Comment - Voices - The Independent

UN calls for suspension of TTIP talks over fears of human rights abuses | Global | The Guardian

New trade deal with U.S. will open the door to inferior food pumped with growth hormones and pesticides warns Jamie Oliver | Daily Mail Online

TTIP will cost one million jobs: official | War on Want

Email MEP (not mp) (sorry UK only)

This capitulation is very much proof that there will be a race to the bottom with regards to standards, there will be a corporate orgy of cost-cutting at the expense of our health and product quality. All of this cost-cutting will of course cost jobs.

Stop TTIP, sign the petition

I took the time to sift through the responses here.

There were only three or four which didn't get pulled into the tar ball debate over whether execution is morally okay. -Which actually paused to question the media and the official story.

What is it with Slashdotters? Why do so many take the news at face value, like it's an actual representation of truth? Even the most cursory investigation leads to ample reason to doubt the official version. Heck, it stinks to high heaven!

It could be that it's not really as bad as it seems; after all, this whole thread is awash in Anonymous posts spurring this idiotic debate over whether to execute or not, which silently asserts that the base assumptions are correct. Herd instincts definitely have the effect of compelling people to go along with the prevailing bullshit when enough sheep are perceived to be bleating, -and on such a momentous day as the announcement of absolute guilt and a pending execution, you can be sure the CIA and other letter-soup agencies with skin in this game will be using their licensed copies of "manage a bunch of sockpuppet social media accounts to sway public opinion" software to the max. They'd be fools not to, albeit evil fools.

For the rest of us with working grey matter, here's a look at some of the problems with the official story:

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2...

Also, the dude was sick; hearing voices. Assuming he acted without being handled by agents, (Hahaha, right, but let's assume), are we saying that we're into executing mentally ill people now?

http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

the snows of Kilimanjaro were supposed to all have melted by now

Are you referring to this:
http://www.independent.co.uk/e... ?

Which says: "If current climatological conditions are sustained, the ice fields atop Kilimanjaro and on its flanks will likely disappear within several decades,". That study was done in 2002, and at that time, about 80% of the ice pack was already gone, and the remainder was still shrinking. There's still a few years left until the prediction, and even if it misses it by a few years, that's not what's important here.

I haven't heard of a plane that has crashed twice, usually once will do the job.

I believe in the US... once a plane crashes, it is going out of commercial service permanently, as it would need a total overhaul --- even if the body of the plane survives, they are not going to risk the potential liability of flying equipment that might not be 100%.

However... in New Zealand, there was a time when a plane crashed twice in one day; it crashed again after the supposedly minor damage from the first crash was repaired.

I do not believe this kind of scenario would play out on a commercial flight with passengers on board ---- again, too risky for the airlines to allow a crashed plane back in service after "minor" repairs. No amount of inspection will clear up the political faux pas, if a plane brought back in service after an initial crash does crash again, and passengers are injured in the 2nd crash.

Oh and damn slashdot for not letting posts be edited

How's that snowless winter prediction working out ?

http://www.independent.co.uk/e...

oh you aren't in the UK fair enough

It found a dramatic “step-like” drop in snowfall at the end of the 1980s which has never recovered, New Scientist magazine reported.... In some years the amount that fell was 60 per cent lower than was typical in the early 1980s, said Christoph Marty, from the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos, who analysed the records.

”I don’t believe we will see the kind of snow conditions we have experienced in past decades,” he said.

-2008

There is the Swiss.

So when you say the climate models are very good you mean not at all ?

Being a nationalist requires that you view yourself and people of your group to be superior to other groups, else there would be no point in it because the national identity being defended would cease to be meaningful.

This probably explains why you think the Ukrainian people are incapable of seeing other ex-soviet states like Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and so forth look west after the collapse of the USSR and see how much they've gained in terms of wealth and freedom then decide they want that for themselves. It explains why you view Ukrainians as some kind of inferior human that couldn't possibly want the things that most people want by themselves like increased wealth or greater freedom, without CIA interference.

I find it rather odd however that you describe yourself as an American nationalist whilst serving the propaganda goals of Russia and hence necessarily damaging American interests and ideals. You talk of the far right in Ukraine, but the people who have the most to fear from that viewpoint recognise what an absolute lie that idea is:

http://www.jta.org/2014/06/02/...

Meanwhile, we have Russia hosting the far right, and involving British neo-Nazis like Nick Griffin in his election whitewashing:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/...

We have Putin pouring money into France's far right:

http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

And in fact, just supporting the far right right across Europe in general:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/...

But it's not just support of course, it's the way Putin acts against minorities, using gay people as a hate target just as Hitler and King Edward I did with the Jews:

https://www.truthwinsout.org/p...

Or simply silencing anyone who hates having their territory illegally annexed resulting in concerned 3rd party nations who are typically Russian allies like India to report on the fact that Turkey is having to send in monitors to make sure it doesn't escalate further than the level of ethnic cleansing that Putin has already carried out:

http://zeenews.india.com/news/...

http://www.aljazeera.com/indep...

Of course, I don't expect any of this to matter to you. I've seen you post here before and I know you're normally incapable of consideration of alternative viewpoints, I know that you have your CIA/Koch brothers conspiracy theories and wont believe anything else. But I've made a point here, a point of linking to news sources in Europe, Russia, India, the Middle East to show you that the things I've pointed out aren't controversial, that the only people that wont accept them are Putin and his supporters. So if you do as you normally do, and refuse to believe what is evidenced in front of you, you at very least must stop pretending you're not just parroting the pro-Putin viewpoint - because as the Moscow Times articles show, even moderate Russians themselves disagree with you - this isn't about Russians vs. non-Russians, this is about Putin apologists as you have been in this conversation so far, against reality.

So you've really a choice, you can wake up and stop parroting long discredited RT propaganda word for word, or

Your flatulence is destroying our climate. To the dinosaurs with you, stinkers!

Except that he's not a creationist. Read it for yourself here. The reason people are getting modded down is because they're saying things that are factually untrue with regards to his stance on evolution and creationism. Hell, a significant portion of the work on advancing the science of evolution has been done by some very prominent Catholics over the years.

Your non sequitur about other issues is irrelevant to the topic at hand so you'd be better off leaving that one out of the discussion.

Ahhh.... nope.

The same people that want to stick Gaia in everyone's face seem to have no problem ignoring this:

James Lovelock: Nuclear power is the only green solution
We have no time to experiment with visionary energy sources; civilisation is in imminent danger

maybe this report about "Exorcists warn Vatican over 'beautiful young vampires' and satanic yoga" also scared them http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

Also off topic, I'm reminded of the fact that some people don't approve of green traffic lights and their local council requires a significant budget to replace them. Maybe they should try bluer shades of green since blue would be an acceptable colour to the local populace.

Sadly, that doesn't appear to have been published on April 1st.

Also off topic, I'm reminded of the fact that some people don't approve of green traffic lights and their local council requires a significant budget to replace them. Maybe they should try bluer shades of green since blue would be an acceptable colour to the local populace.

Erm...

1) Somalia is cut off from global trade networks. Cutting off trade substantially hurts a country's economy.

2) Somalia is not libertarian, it is anarchic (with the end result that the guy with the biggest gun gets to be a fascist)

3) Reason (publication in TFA) actually published an article about economic freedom in Somalia recently. Perhaps you should go and read what they have to say before throwing around straw men. (tl;dr: western interventionism prolongs war delivers nothing for most residents of Somalia, Somali traditional social structure provides the most effective economic and judicial systems in the country)

4) While Al Shabaab are certainly not libertarians, they're not quite an IS-style anarchic group either.

To conclude: A country where you can bomb, maim and murder without consequence is not libertarian.

Rapists should get tougher sentences. Of course, tougher sentencing schedules do little when it's so rare for a rapist to be convicted.

Those drones hovering around the reactors were a warning.

...Or the charger!

"College Humour entertainer Jake Hurwitz dresses up as Apple CEO Tim Cook and says: “The new MacBook charger does the exact same thing as the old charger. The only difference is now you cannot borrow a friend’s when you forget yours. “Instead, you will ask ‘do you have the new Macbook charger?’ and they’ll say some s*** like ‘I have the new one, but not the new new one.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/l...

Meanwhile, Russia flies its planes (and sails its ships) wherever it dang well pleases, even if that means cutting a few international airspace/waters corners into territorial airspace/waters, only getting a friendly scrambling+escort while they fly about responding to no hails (radio / visual signals)

http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

https://www.google.com/search?...

I'm sure similar events take place the other way around, which makes this completely orchestrated and observed flight only worthy in mention because of how rarely those happen.

http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

Here's a small bit of research:

http://www.independent.co.uk/l...

At this point I think you need to provide us with an example where it failed with paired links so we have a better idea of what you're looking for.

I am not a particularly involved student of this field, so my links would be of the popular kind, for which I apologize in advance. But here it is:

1. In 2000 Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia, predicted that "Children just aren't going to know what snow is". It is now 2015 and there has not been a snow-free winter in the UK since. Some were particularly snowy: 2014-15, 20122010-11.
2. In 2004 there was a prediction, that "Scottish ski industry will cease to exist within 20 years". We are now half-way through that prediction, so it might still come to pass. But in 2014 Scotland had its snowiest winter in 69 years and the skiing industry is striving.
3. In 2007 BBC published a prediction of ice-free Arctic on or before 2013 by an American climate scientist stating (repeated by Al Gore in 2008). 2013 came and went, but there has not been a single ice-free summer in the Arctic ocean.

Now, I'm not prepared to argue the validity of the above claims — all you asked for were samples of what I'm looking for.

Of course, your samples would have to be valid — because you want me (and the rest of humanity) to change our way of life. The burden of proof is thus on you.

I wonder where the idea that weather = climate comes from? Could it have been that it was used to promote global warming stories? http://www.independent.co.uk/e... Don't cry when the same people who were fed crap stories about snow never happening due to global warming turn around 15 years later and laugh about it. Do try and understand that when you have been actually paying attention (and not just wringing your hands and worrying) to the 'message' and what climate change is attributed to have caused, for 15+ years it's pretty obvious to see the hyperbole and just plain stupidity when it comes to global warming - sorry climate change, where it is never wrong, the science (which was settled) never changes unless there is a pause and then it changes to match the data and it was settled and now it's settled again. Or you know when we say there is an el nino when the criteria to actually announce that is a hard coded science flowchart requiring 5 months of elevated readings of which we only have 4 currently (assuming NOAA's data for this month is also elevated) - but you know that'd be using actual science to question why the rush to breathlessly declare el nino when it's not certain yet. That is really the question.

Heres an article from 2009 which talks about similar things happening in Dubai.

http://www.independent.co.uk/v...

Not necessarily - Wilko Johnson, a famous guitarist,was diagnosed with terminal and apparently inoperable, pancreatic cancer and decided to basically go out with a show - he refused chemo and organised a farewell tour.. and then a doctor got in touch to say he could cure it, and he now is. Which is good news, apart from the farewell tour not being a farewell any more.

http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge, UK. Give them a call, you never know.

Tredinnick's a nut who has form for this kind of statement.

Still. At least he's not on the House of Commons Health Committe or anything. What's that? Oh...

Ah, yes, that gospel of truth, The Daily Mail.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/...
http://www.independent.co.uk/n...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foo...
http://www.standard.co.uk/news...
http://www.theguardian.com/lif...
http://www.news.com.au/enterta...

First sue Samsung over Microsoft' Android-related patents, then get them to bundle MS apps in return for dropping the lawsuit. Tony Soprano would be embarrassed.

"Microsoft sues Samsung over Android patent payment dispute"

The twitter dude was much funnier. But then of course, we all know who the republicans work for. All part of the show

I'm not entirely against showing these type of images or media, but I am absolutely of the mind that the publisher must censor the individual's identification

And how would you meaningfully do that, when every other media is publishing the same story naming the pilot being burned alive? Add 2+2. For example I saw the video of the execution - murder is too kind a word - of Ahmed Merabet, how could you not end up knowing who he is? While I sure you mean well, I think you're asking for something that isn't practically possible.

Are people actually considering putting him on the ballot? Is this any way to run a circus? And then you wonder why the rest don't vote...

If they want to protect us... http://www.independent.co.uk/v...

Wouldn't it make much more sense to devote some effort and expense to promoting the values of the enlightenment?
The CIA did that with modern art.
Modern art was CIA 'weapon' ( 22 October 1995) http://www.independent.co.uk/n...
"the CIA fostered and promoted American Abstract Expressionist painting around the world for more than 20 years."

In which way has the theory been falsified? Has AGW failed to predict that this past year would be warmer than the others before? Quite obviously NOT.

First of all, you are just answering to a random bloke who says some random idiocy pulled out of his ass. Where is the peer-reviewed evidence of all these "discrepancies ? I see it only among you climate deniers repeated as a mantra to see if it somehow becomes reality. None of you ever checks anything, Of course not: Knowing that half of you guys including your Gurus like Jimy Inhofe or Ted Cruz are Young Earth Creationists gives already a good idea of the quality of your judgements.

And meanwhile in Greenland:
http://www.independent.co.uk/e...

Not accurate at all.

The editorial cartoons created a lot of stir, which attracts a lot of eyeballs, and therefore money. After the initial thrust by the editors, it became a pissing contest -- a reality show -- that crossed the line of common sense.

Delfeil adds: “I believe that we are fools who took an unnecessary risk. That’s it. We think we are invulnerable. For years, decades even, it was a provocation and then one day the provocation turns against us.

“He shouldn’t have done it, but Charb did it again a year later, in September 2012.”

There are changes when you have kids, I suspect women change more than men:
http://www.theatlantic.com/hea...
http://www.livescience.com/363...
http://www.independent.co.uk/l...

The other thing is men can have kids at an older age, and many of these "brilliant" ones don't have kids till later if at all. If women wait till later to have children, many of them end up not being fertile enough or have problems finding a mate (coz more males prefer the prettier younger more fertile ones, while females seem fine with higher status older and uglier males).

"seriously...compare France and England...England is practically Saudi Arabia...a really high culture progressive Saudi Arabia." - so you are an avid watcher of Fox News. http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

"I really just don't understand why England doesn't ditch their monarchs completely." - because the monach has no power, they are just window dressing that attract a load of tourists and sycophants

The people of East Germany faced the same tracking if they had ideas about getting to the West or protesting.
In the end all the files did was link the 2nd and third hops connecting informants in groups to each other.
The other aspect is a rapid expansion in the numbers of informants and the security officials needed to handle them and their flow of information.
A huge boondoggle for contractors and government employees trying to keep the data useful, filter existing data set and add more data.
The other aspect is people now know that all the equipment was not for the Soviet Union or Russia. People now understand collect it all, the tame brands, junk encryption and data kept for generations in a searchable NSA "lock box".
The time spent trying to shield or having to discover and then undo the tracking of informant and undercover staff becomes a huge task.
In the past paper work at a regional and local level could ensure the perfect cover for an informant or staff deep undercover .
Now with local records been networked all data is open to all investigators at a State and federal level. Will that name and date of birth linked to a web 2.0 account hold up at a State level? Who is that person? A good fake identity? Undercover for ten years? A spy? Cult member? A rich foreigner who paid cash 20 years ago for a very good set of documents? Sooner of later entire teams have to protect entire sections of the wider population from unrelated State and federal database searches that find life story inconsistencies.
Facial recognition from a city or private CCTV network?
The "papers please" and scope creep will find a lot of interesting paperwork :) The UK is facing just that issue.
Half of all undercover police officers in UK are ‘off the books’ and not on national database (Tuesday 14 October 2014)
http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

Insulting the prophet does not carry the death sentence as during his life he was insulted, and worse. These attackers had Islamic precedent to draw from and had they looked it up, would not use the cartoons as justification. I submit to you that there is another reason behind this: http://www.independent.co.uk/v... There is no justification for the murders, but we can grasp to understand the underlying issues.

When picking battles, it usually helps to know context of why things occur the way they do. The Charlie Hebdo attack did not come out of the ether, there is a long historical narrative behind it. This article will help. As usual, these things have less to do with religion and more to do with exercises in power and oppression. http://www.independent.co.uk/v...

the slavery trade

You utter ignorant fuckwit.

http://english.alarabiya.net/e...
http://www.independent.co.uk/n...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...

When anybody not even excuses, but merely explains rape by the victim's "slut-like" clothing or suggestive behavior, we tend to get (justly) outraged by such blame-the-victim attitude.

Why should attempts to explain murders by the nebulous "being treated like shit" by the victims be treated any different?

The cause of rape and sexual violence against women is a misogynistic culture. Clothing is not an explanation. I am all in favour of discussing modes of dress as a means of not drawing undesired attention, but that must be within a context that clearly states that it is not the woman's fault. If clothing is an "explanation" for rape, you are stating it is the cause, and if it is the cause, then you are stating it's the woman's fault. No -- it's the man's fault. I have been on beaches where women were sunbathing topless, and I didn't rape a single one of them. Surely if there's an such thing as slutty dressing that causes rape, wearing nothing but a thong and oiling your skin then spreading yourself out on the group is "asking for it"...? No.

The cause of rape is rapists. The cause of terrorism is terrorists.

But rapists are made by society, just as terrorists are made by society. Dealing with that root cause isn't about absolving the criminals of their responsibility. We can continue to jail both rapists and terrorists while simultaneously working to remove the circumstances that made them what they are.

You took the words out of my mouth. I'm surprised that the Slashdot editors didn't jump on the opportunity to continue the witchhunt and pin this on gamers. Or at least shift the blame to the dreaded mysoginistic White Man, who, of course, is the root of all evil. If all else fails, we could always blame the jews, or has that been declared sooooo 2014 by the Tumblerists?

Anyway, concerning the US media, have they reported at all on the 5 muslim attacks in France last month?
http://www.independent.co.uk/n...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...

Concerning French victories, they kicked some very nasty people out of Mali recently.

Does that justify this behavior? Of course not.

When anybody not even excuses, but merely explains rape by the victim's "slut-like" clothing or suggestive behavior, we tend to get (justly) outraged by such blame-the-victim attitude.

Why should attempts to explain murders by the nebulous "being treated like shit" by the victims be treated any different?

http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

when you open the latest gadget, it's black boxes, nothing that you can see working, or replace without just desoldering a chip.

Prof George knows this of course:

"All of these things in our home do seem to work most of the time and because they don't break we just get used to them. They have almost become like Black Boxes which never die. And when they do we throw them away and buy something new."

The Daily Telegraph, knowing its readership (traditionally rather conservative and not exactly in the first flush of their youth) has chosen to emphasise the 'young people are lost generation' angle, which is reflected in the summary. But the message she's putting across in the Christmas Lectures is much more positive - the talks are intended for a general audience, especially kids, and she wants to get them excited about using everyday technology in creative ways, in the spirit of the Maker community.

Nice article here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

If you have a UK IP address or VPN, the Lectures are available here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programme...

They're part of a series goes back to the time of Faraday, and has featured many eminent scientists (including several Nobel laureates). They've just been broadcast on national TV, as they have been since the 60s (I suspect quite a few of us who ended up being scientists in the UK got early inspiration from one or more of these lectures).

There hasn't even been a spike in "disappearances" of people or content online.

I know it isn't what you were getting at, but here's a thing you may find amusing..in a country allegedly obsessed with surveillance.
Missing Britons and this is from 2009.
At this point I should punt you in the direction of the works of Robert Rankin..
For the US, try here for a start.