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People here say "what happens when the elite no longer need the little people" but they're thinking small. What happens when the machines no longer need the elite people?

We haven't even reached the first scenario yet

Actually, we have. The majority of "little people" - including me* - work in jobs to either produce products or provide services for other little people. While the elite collect the profits of the sales of these products and services, they profit more from providing financial services to each other.

5 years ago, we had a politician lamenting that other politicians lacked the guts to let the little people "wither and die" - https://www.upi.com/Top_News/U... . While no politician might be (publicly) saying that now, we have increasing numbers of politicians working to undermine the services that help the little people.

What happens when the most disadvantage people "wither and die"? Fewer little people are needed to produce products and services for little people. It's a downward spiral for the little people.

Even though my daughter is very very likely to keep herself useful to the elites, she has decided it would be irresponsible for her to have children of her own.

---

* I work for a company that makes products for the little people. My job title is "Lead Product Development Engineer". (Of course, I am looking for a new job with a company that makes "toys" for the elites.)

Boeing saves their triple redundant failure-proof systems for
really important systems. No sense wasting this stuff on passengers who have already paid for a ticket.

I think it's equally important to recognize that both NASA and the astronauts are putting the mission first.

But how does the poor maligned suit feel about that? It's just not good enough without help and is now embarrassed about it. Mission smission, it's only LOOKING GOOD that counts!

"equally important" -- no, it's MORE important. Who does it is unimportant, that it gets done safely and properly is of prime importance. And that includes the tools and support staff. There's always a slight risk no matter what, but you minimize those to the best of your ability.

(Challenger, anyone?) Wiki, NASA, UPI

This is all a bit beyond my detailed understanding but when I read that our current knowledge of horizontal gene transfer between species is quite rudimentary it is concerning. It seems like a possible worst case situation where we wipe out all mosquitoes but how completely can it be discounted. Invasive species of the past are a prime example of humans moving before understanding the ramification. https://www.upi.com/Science_Ne...

The Electoral College's sole purpose is to disenfranchise urban areas in favor of rural areas. is rejected wholeheartedly by anyone below the age of 40 due to extremely obvious reasons.

no idiot. the point is to promote the interests of the minority and less densely populated areas over the majority and high dense population centers. There are plenty of reasons why the rural areas of the country need their voice protected over city mono-thought. You are just looking at your bubble and extrapolating a false reality.

I don't understand why you use the phrase "stack the court"

If you can't win elections just have the courts intervene!

You simply haven't paid attention. It will all become more obvious once you enter high school, as you have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that you still are in middle school at best.

of course diversity is only skin deep. of course those that disagree with me are ignorant bigots. of course my reality and my facts that are backed by my bias and my narrative is true. what kind of ass hole disagrees with me? I am awesome! look how i love the smell of my own farts.

It happens both ways, so I think it's a wash. https://www.upi.com/Report-iPh...

GM CEO Mary Barra said the company is "still hiring people with expertise in software and electric and autonomous vehicles, and many of those who will lose their jobs are now working on conventional cars with internal combustion engines," reports Dallas News. "Barra said the industry is changing rapidly and moving toward electric propulsion, autonomous vehicles and ride-sharing, and GM must adjust with it."

Those car plants will probably be retooled over the span of a year or two and start producing Electric and Autonomous vehicles and the jobs that they couldn't automate will come back. The real losers here will be all the mechanical engineers that will be replaced with electrical engineers because those jobs are not coming back once the transition to electric cars is complete. This sucks but such is the cost of progress.

"It is very surprising to visit monumental baobabs, with ages greater than a thousand to two thousand years, which seem to be in a good state of health, and to find them after several years fallen to the ground and dead," Adrian Patrut, a researcher at Babes-Bolyai University, told National Geographic. "Statistically, it is practically impossible that such a high number of large old baobabs die in such a short time frame due to natural causes."--source

These trees are also a type of succulent, like a cactus, that evolved to store water within its trunk in order to be better drought resistant. A few years of reduced rainfall would seem to be a 'natural cause' this researcher would be willing to rule out.

While I'm not arguing that stress from environmental factors could not have caused the complete collapse of these trees, I have to have some cynicism towards the people who were in contact with these trees are also making the claim. If they introduced a pathogen into the tree or the soil due to negligence on their part, that resulted in the death of specimens that were also considered notable landmarks, would they take responsibility for it?

Either way, I want to see more evidence before leaping to the conclusion this is climate change related.

Nope, Germany uses QWERTZ.

And you've got it backwards on French letters... Half of young people do not use condoms for sex with new partner High rate of condom use in France

"Seriously, how is this joke of a company still allowed to do business?"

Some links, if you haven't been following the story:

Equifax hired a music major as chief security officer and she has just retired.

Equifax Faces Mounting Costs and Investigations From Breach.

The Equifax Breach Was Entirely Preventable

Equifax's data breach sins live on to this year's tax season

Equifax, Fox, NFL top report of most-hated U.S. companies

You Can't Fire Equifax, but Your Employer Can. Mine Just Did.

Senators want 'massive' fines for data breaches at Equifax and other credit reporting firms

Thanks to Equifax, the risk of fraud is higher this tax season

This Will Make Equifax Think Twice About How They're Protecting Your Data
"If this policy had been in place during the Equifax breach last year, Equifax would have paid at least a $1.5 billion penalty, half of which would be returned to consumers affected by the breach."

Saying he was 'allowed to leave Sweden' is overstating things. He skipped the country on an unknown date with dozens of missed calls from the prosecutor saying they wanted to haul him in for arrest

http://www.scribd.com/doc/4946...

13. I have not heard from Mr Assange and do not know whether he had been told, by any source,that he was wanted for interrogation before he left Sweden. I do not know whether he was uncontactable from 21st - 29th September and if that was the case I do not know why. It would have been a reasonable assumption from the facts (albeit not necessarily an accurate one) thatMr Assange was deliberately avoiding interrogation in the period before he left Sweden. Some witnesses suggest that there were other reasons why he was out of contact. I have heard no evidence that he was readily contactable.

14. I am sure that constant attempts were made by the prosecuting authorities to arrange interrogation in the period 21 st - 30 th September, but those attempts failed. It appears likely(transcript p.107) that enquiries were made by the authorities independent of his lawyer. The authorities believed Mr Assange would be in Sweden to give a lecture in early October. They asked Mr Hurtig to be available on the evening of 6 th October. It appears that either the rumours were false, or Mr Assange changed his mind. In any event he was not apprehended or interrogated then.

15. Mr Hurtig said in his statement that it was astonishing that Ms Ny made no effort to interview his client. In fact this is untrue. He says he realised the mistake the night before giving evidence. He did correct the statement in his evidence in chief (transcript p.83 and p.97).However, this was very low key and not done in a way that I, at least, immediately grasped as significant. It was only in cross-examination that the extent of the mistake became clear. Mr Hurtig must have realised the significance of paragraph 13 of his proof when he submitted it. Ido not accept that this was a genuine mistake. It cannot have slipped his mind. For over a week he was attempting (he says without success) to contact a very important client about a very important matter. The statement was a deliberate attempt to mislead the court. It did in fact mislead Ms Brita Sundberg-Weitman and Mr Alhem . Had they been given the true facts then that would have changed their opinion on a key fact in a material way.

The fact that know one knows what date he left means he didn't go through a passport check at immigration - because if he had have done that he'd almost certainly been arrested given that the police had a warrant out for him. I.e. he used ignored all the calls telling him was wanted and left the country in such a way that he didn't talk to any immigration people.

He got away with it because of the rather lackadaisical approach the Swedes have towards the criminal justice system. In a normal country if the police want to arrest you they don't leave messages on your voicemail for 8 days saying "Umm it's the cops here. Please come in to be arrested", they kick your door down at 3am and haul you off to the clink.

But the Swedes don't realise that the genteel system they have won't work if they let in mad dog immigrants like Assange who don't respect it and follow its rules.

The same document also accuses his lawyer Bjorn Hurtig of misleading the court. Which caused Hurtig to be investigated in Sweden

https://www.upi.com/Assanges-S...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 2 (UPI) -- The Swedish Bar Association said it was investigating WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's lawyer after a British judge said the attorney misled the court.

In his ruling last week that Assange should be extradited to Sweden, District Judge Howard Riddle accused attorney Bjorn Hurtig of deliberately misleading the court,

This sort of factual advertising is worthless. It just makes smoking look edgy and glamorous to teens - it's really making tobacco companies promote their products.

The effective anti-smoking ad by the FDA go used Brooke Shields go. It featured a pimple-faced unattractive loser of a boy with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and a real porker of an unattractive girl with a dangling cigarette dropping ashes, then Brooke came on with "Smoking is so cool" and rolled her eyes back in her head. The tobacco industry was outraged and got their congress critters to make the FDA kill the ad because "Brooke Shields was an unsuitable role model."

Bias disclaimer: I have lost my two dearests college friends to cigarettes, both smokers, the wife from lung cancer, the husband now dying from COPD. I've also lost a very dear grandfather figure to cigarettes (lung cancer.) I can almost believe/hope-for a literal Hell because of the tobacco industry and their paid political lackeys.

Brooke Shields defends anti-smoking ads [1981]

It never said that "women can't do X because biology" but they have different interests and motivations and a gender gap may very well be explained without gender based discrimination. We should treat people as individuals not as groups. It also said that political biases will make it difficult to talk about the issues that diversity programs may cause such as treating individuals as a group.

No one is arguing that women can't do X but rather because of biological differences the average can create a gender gap even when the individual is an exception.

Yeah, you tell 'em brother, because nothing like that would ever happen in the United States. No religion would carve out its own enclave in this country or force women to submit to its "teachings". Nor would they harass girls or demand their religious take precedence.

Hiring free market, limited government judges.

But only 2 judges have been confirmed, and 15 more have been nominated even though there are 132 federal judicial vacancies.

Relaxing burdensome regulations - coal mine opening (and no the coal is not used for heating or electricity but for the production of steel)

But a lot of those regulations were issued in late December, so he's just revoking regulations that weren't in place very long anyway.

Pushing for (instead of against) the Keystone Pipeline

Sure, I'll grant you that.

Pushing for (instead of against) fracking

Pushing for (instead of against) off-shore drilling

I'm not sure there's actually much of a difference from Obama's policies. For instance, environmental groups were upset that the Obama administration approved 1500 offshore drilling and fracking applications from 2010 to October 2014 and oil production boomed under Obama.

Getting out of the TPP

That's different than what Obama pushed for, but Bernie Sanders, and eventually Hillary Clinton, both came out against the TPP. I'll grant you that it is a change in policy from the previous administration, though.

Getting out of the Paris Treaty

Yes, I agree that he did do that.

And, as you mentioned, increased funding and activity on illegal immigration.

But even that's a mixed bag. ICE arrests were up, but deportations were down during the first 100 days of Trump's presidency compared to the previous year.

But back to the subject of the article. The closure of federal data centers started before the Trump administration, and it seems as though he's now trying to take credit for it.

Not to mention that he's gotten no major legislation through. So I really do believe he's not very effective.

No, actually, the ACLU has fought for the KKK to get parade permits.

The ACLU should fight for American Civil Liberties. It is in the name. Their work is even more precious now than ever. Civil liberties does not mean just protecting causes you like.

Where Trump and his ilk can never ever be forgiven is not a freedom of speech or protest issue. He has the freedom of speech. His supporters have the right to protest and all the rest. We dare not take either away.

What can not and must not ever be forgiven is the attack on truth and the press and all rational voices of reason. To Trump nothing matters but winning. How doesn't matter. The subject matter doesn't matter. Do you think he cares about health care, that it is the cause of his life? Please, he doesn't appear to care at all beyond using it as a piggy bank to finance tax cuts that likely benefit himself disproportionately.

He manipulated the media to keep their eyes on him. He treated his much more qualified opponents like children by calling them childish names, and wouldn't you know it, I think almost every attack he made was something he himself was guilty of. Lying Ted. Crooked Hillary. He frequently and repeatedly accused experts of being complete and total morons, while saying only he knew the secret plan, and people bought it and still buy it. Hell a guy just body slammed a reporter and many of Trump's supporters think that is just and right.

Many seek the Road Map to Peace for the Israel Palestine conflict, but make no mistake people, with Trump we have our own Journey and I rather fear it will be more like a Nature Trail to Hell. Trump's bravado has already failed on North Korea, and if anything actually accelerated their efforts. That alone is an almost unsolvable problem. Bravado won't fix it. Our invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan probably precipitated their faster development. A military solution might be required. The key is to somehow make China comfortable with a reunited Korea and then maybe announce a plan to take back the land over a period of 30 years or something and I have no idea how to do that. If you could manage that, then If every move was careful, and you didn't threaten North Korea's current leaders you might survive a game of brinkmanship, maybe, but I sure as hell would not want a President Trump involved in such a mess. I'd rather have any of the other republicans first, well except Cruz. Clinton would also have worked.

Seriously, problems on the scale of North Korea are what our president _Must_ handle, and this guy just isn't qualified or capable. Twitter seems the extent of his talent. You can't just make a deal with North Korea since they are not trustworthly, or at the very least any deal must be heavy on the verify.

Hell, even if the US could make a deal with North Korea or any part of the world, it is nearly impossible now that we have Don the Con as president. Seriously, unless it is backed up with legislation from the Congress, who is going to trust us? One of the main German newspapers is calling for his impeachment and the new leader of the free world Angela Merkel has just said he can't be trusted.

The _only_ chance he has to salvage his presidency is to somehow have some epiphany, then turn over his taxes and all the rest and start cooperating with the investigations fully. If he did that and just stopped lying, the American people would probably forgive him and reelect him. We are stupid like that.

No, actually, the ACLU has fought for the KKK to get parade permits.

http://www.upi.com/Archives/19...

Sanctuary cities do not exist and nobody on the Progressive left talks about the need for them. Right?

Actually, they don't exist, especially not in the form that the Regressive right insists on falsely portraying them. They're pretty much just a straw-man where the right makes up false claims about lawlessness and crime in order to whip up a frenzy of hysteria.

Instead, what they are, is municipalities deciding that the Federal Government needs to be accountable, and forced to behave in a manner compliant with the law, by a policy of adherence to the strictures of law informing them that the cities won't knuckle under to their capriciousness. Not new, but a lingering problem for a supposed agency enforcing the law.

Of course, I'm old enough to remember when Janet Reno was demonized for returning Elian Gonzalez to his father. The mishandling of policies on Cuba is bad enough, but apparently we're supposed to decide parental rights on a whim?

So it's hypocrisy too. Even ignoring the other protests against the federal goverment, the silence on the failures of the immigration system is very telling.

Oh, I guess you are just another AC who's full of shit. Brave enough to hide in anonymity while claiming that I am being watched, as if you are a threat.

You're confused again, there's no threat to being judged, you're merely being observed, and recognized, for what your public behavior happens to be. It's called responsibility. You should recognize that as a natural consequence of communication. You spea

Ford just announced 1.2 billion USD of investment in 3 plants in Michigan; maybe you're full of shit

That's 130 new jobs. Whee!

The company will invest $150 million and create 130 jobs at an engine plant in Romeo for several vehicles, including Ranger and Bronco, at Romeo Engine Plant in Michigan.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/03/28/Ford-to-invest-12B-in-Michigan-factories/2981490716741/

http://www.upi.com/Archives/19...

He turns over a truckload of puppies.

We've know for quite a long time about the titanium. Here's a story from 2011: http://www.upi.com/Did-DB-Coop...

It hasn't been relevant for a long time, the guy walked off with $200k and may or may not have survived. In the mean time, a small band of cyber criminals has been hacking banks and ATM's for the last decade without ever being caught despite still being active, having been tied to close to $1B in losses worldwide.

If I were developing, deploying and operating multi-million dollar drones in an area currently under a great deal of military and economic tensions, I'd be loading that drone with every type of sensor, (active and passive) that I could possibly fit in its hull.

The drone was worth $150,000.

It's just sabre rattling.

It's gonna be Not Very Fun At All to be a illegal alien in the US for the next couple of years.

As if it's been nothing but roses and daisies up until now...

What actual evidence do you have that Trump will attack minorities?

His comments about latinos. His history of discrimination against blacks. His comments about muslims. His support of white supremacists.

Guess who has two thumbs and refuses to read stories on sites that want me to disable an ad blocker or answer a poll question.

Here's another site hosting the same article which doesn't mind ad blockers.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/20...

Cue old man rant on ads being vectors.

I'm amazed someone claiming they follow this news carefully isn't aware of the countless infringements. They're relatively regular and, well documented:

http://www.ibtimes.com/despite...

https://theaviationist.com/201...

http://www.baltictimes.com/rus...

http://www.upi.com/Business_Ne...

http://sputniknews.com/europe/...

http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Art...

http://uawire.org/news/media-r...

The fact is that Russia is a hostile nation, it's invaded Ukraine, and it's invaded Georgia, it can't pretend it's an innocent bystander that's merely hard done by as you're implying it is.

Russian aircraft are allowed to fly over this airspace if they obtain permission. However when a military aircraft, many of which are armed, enters foreign airspace unannounced, and typically with transponders off as is the case in most these incursions, then that can only be seen as a provocative act.

Russia isn't the only nation that does this, the US does it too in Asia, but two wrongs don't make a right. You're arguing that no harm may come of a Russian aircraft entering sovereign airspace of other nations, in your view, does that remain true even when they actually launch weapons as in Ukraine and Georgia? Given that they have done this, do you seriously still think it's a sensible argument to suggest that armed Russian aircraft entering airspace unannounced should always be considered benign?

It sounds like you're making an awful lot of excuses for Russia over things that simply cannot be excused. The idea that Russian pilots can't navigate a 5km gap making incursion into Finnish or Estonian airspace with armed warplanes with transponders off acceptable is utterly laughable, and pointing out that you can't pass through the English channel without infringing British or French airspace is relevant why? you also can't pass over Moscow without infringing Russian airspace, so what? The fact that the channel is joint sovereign British/French air space is entirely meaningless other than to distract from the fact Russia is a persistent and aggressive violator of sovereign airspace.

There is genuinely no issue with Russian aircraft sticking to international airspace, avoiding civilian airline routes, or announcing routes and flying with transponders on. There's not even any problem with it passing through sovereign airspace of other nations with permission. But that's not what's happening is it? Russia is violating sovereign airspace proper with armed aircraft, flying transponders off, and flying in civilian flight paths unannounced and outside the control and hence potential awareness of air traffic control. It's doing this in the context having recently used such subversive tactics of pretending to be not Russian military to annex sovereign territory of another nation.

The fact is that America is no longer a conservative country. For example, for the first time in history there are more "nones" (people with no religious affiliation) than any other voting block. That statistic is never going to go back down, ever. That's clearly not the sign of a conservative country.

I'm not sure that this is the best metric of a "conservative country," but where do you get this data from??

Here's the history of Gallup polls on religion for example. According to them, in 2015, 38% of people identified as Protestant, 23% as Catholic, 9% as other Christian... that's 60% Christian right there. The "None" only accounted for a measly 17%. Pew polls put the number more at 70% Christian in 2014, with only 23% unaffiliated.

Moreover, when you start looking down that Gallup Poll list, you find stuff like, "Do you believe in God?" 1944 - 96%, 2016 - 89%. A downtick for sure, but hardly the sign of lack of religious belief.

"Do you believe in heaven?" 1968 - 85%, 2011 - 85%
Hell - 1968 - 66%, 2011 - 75%

Belief in angels is still up there in 2016 at 72%, which is a little lower than it was in the early 2000s, but about the same as it was back in the 1970s.

And heck, 73% of Americans believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, including about 1/3 of your "unaffiliated" no-religion group.

Now, there are other polls that put the numbers a little lower. The Harris Poll for example only puts belief in the virgin birth at 57%, with 68% saying he is the Son of God.

Religious belief and attendance is down more than ever before in history. There are fewer churches and places of worship in this country than ever before in history. Religion is dying off here, both figuratively and literally.

Is church attendance down? Yes. And the percentage of folks who say religion is "very important" in their lives is down (though still the MAJORITY of Americans, according to polls). But given that the majority of Americans still seem to strongly subscribe to religious beliefs, including significant numbers of your "unaffiliated" folks, I'd hardly say it's "dying off" yet.

I have absolutely no idea where you get your idea that there are more "nones" than any other voting block. It may be true that the majority of Americans no longer attend church every week, but it's still a highly religious country.

the fact is that America is slowly but steadily moving towards more liberal social and political systems, not away from them. It's been doing this since the late 50's, but has sped up a bit considerably the last decade or so.

I agree with this, though to go back to your previous point -- the number of people identifying as "Evangelical Christians" has been fairly constant over the past few decades. It hasn't even declined as much as the other general religion numbers. So... it's not like the true "conservatives" (in terms of religion) are going away... it's more like the people in the middle are becoming less concerned about religious values holding sway over their lives. But there's still a rather huge contingent of people with far right values (certainly larger than your "none" contingent), and that block isn't going away anytime soon.

Pot is now fully legal for recreational use in multiple states with more coming (count on it). That's not the sign of a conservative country.

We MIGHT just be getting back to the level of acceptance of recreational/medicinal drug use enjoyed in the 1900-1930 era or so. If that's "liberal" and "progressive" to you... well, gosh, that's great!

Using the no-fly list to keep bad guys from guns is a terrible idea, here is why:

• 1. The government can place anyone on the no-fly list for any reason at any time. They could easily just place everyone on the no-fly list banning everyone from buying/owning guns. Only the bad guys will have guns.
• 2. You say that won't happen? Innocent people are placed on that list all the time, and you cannot be removed:
  1. Woman on no-fly list.
  2. 8 year old American on no-fly list.
  3. 6 year old Canadian on no-fly list.
  4. Others including Cat Stevens and Senator Kennedy.
• 3. I could be placed on the no-fly list for writting this, chilling free speech. You could be placed on it for having read it. Don't believe me?
  1. Reporter writing a story about Homeland Security has home raided by the Coast Guard, seizing guns and her research/work at 4:30AM in body armor, weapons drawn.
  2. CIA uses 3 degrees of separation when spying on terror suspects.
• 4. What exactly is the no-fly list for? To keep foreign bad guys out of the country, or to keep bad guys from blowing up planes? What does either of those things have anything to do with gun control? It is already against the law for non-resident aliens to possess firearms and ammunition. What does blowing up a plane have anything to do with guns? So the only reason to use the no-fly list as a means for gun control would be to keep American citizens from possessing.

  None of the shooters in any of the mass shootings were on the no-fly list.

It's just a bad idea that can and will be abused to keep law abiding citizens from possessing guns, which the federal government has no legal power to do.

If you actually want to solve the mass shooting problem, and not just use fear to remove freedoms from individuals with thunderous applause, this is what I propose:

Let guns be in schools. As part of P.E. or even on its own, students will be in a firearm safety course. They will be target practicing. They will be tearing their guns down. They will be cleaning their firearms. They will be using hand guns, and rifles, and shotguns, etc. They will be taught that they are tools just like the circular saw or the welder in shop class, or knives and scissors in art class and home economics. They will take this class every year they are old enough to hold a weapon safely.

Just like at 16, when they are given a license to operate a tool that "kills" on average 3,287 people per day, at 18 they will take a test and if passed they will get a concealed carry license issued by their state of residence. The CCL will be valid in every state and territory of this nation. All of our children will be taught to not fear guns, and if they so chose they will be armed. That way the next time someone decides to bring a semi auto rifle to a night club to kill innocent people, that person would potentially be staring down a hundred barrels of trained good guys.

There will be no fear for the government to use to tighten gun control. People will not fear guns and will know how to use them. There will not be a gun control problem. Who knows, if everyone is armed, perhaps people may be more respectful to each other.

union busting? I can't support that.

Unions are organizations, which openly and blatantly work coordinate to maintain and raise the prices of what their members are selling — their labor. Their official goals are to have 100% of each profession belong to their respective union so that no employer — a buyer of labor — would be able to buy from any other supplier. Cartels — or wanna-be cartels.

When goods-manufacturers or service-providers try the same collusion with each other, we — rightfully — apply trust-busting laws to them. When, for example, Staples tried to merge with Office Depot, the government blocked the deal on the grounds, that the resulting entity would have a monopoly power in the office supplies market. Why, then, would we not only allow, but encourage monopoly in the healthcare, firefighting, law-enforcement, construction, education and other labor markets?

The same trust-busting laws and monopoly-prevention rules ought to apply to all. But it gets worse — when the union-members use blatantly illegal methods to fight for their monopoly, they are handled with soft gloves and their crimes are investigated individually (if at all). Instead, of course, anti-racketeering laws ought to apply — because the crimes are committed on behalf of a corrupt organization.

I've been out of work for months and months (in the past, even years at a time). there is no one to speak for me

Maybe, you just need counseling. Maybe, you are an entitled prick, who believes, the rest of the world owes you a living. Whatever it is, your personal sob-story makes no argument — speak for your own self.

a practice also done by previous secretaries of state (including ones working for Bush)

No, no previous secretary of state has ever run their own email server.

UPI: Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice got classified email on private accounts
Guardian: Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice used private accounts for classified emails
NBC: Condoleezza Rice Aides, Colin Powell Also Got Classified Info on Personal Emails

Here's a quote: "Powell, who served as secretary from 2001 to 2005, said he used a personal email account because State's email system was slow and cumbersome. Powell is credited with modernizing State's computer infrastructure, which did not at the time allow each employee to have the internet at their desks. "State's system at the time was inadequate," he said."

...The practice was illegal at the time that Hillary started as SofS.

Wrong again.

Addressing the Federal Records Act, NPR's Scott Horsley reported last month on the question of whether Clinton's exclusive reliance on a private email account violated it. Here's some of what he reported: "A State Department spokeswoman says Hillary Clinton did not break any rules by relying solely on her personal email account. Federal law allows government officials to use personal email so long as relevant documents are preserved for history." The law was amended in late 2014 to require that personal emails be transferred to government servers within 20 days. But that was after Clinton left office. Watchdog groups conceded that she may not have violated the text of the law, but they argue she violated the spirit of it.

and that some e-mails on that server were later reclassified as classified information.

No, HUMINT is classified as TOP SECRET//HCS from the source, and is at no time permitted to be UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO.

Sorry. The emails in question were classified later. In fact, the .gov address wouldn't have been secure, either. Here's probably the best discussion: http://www.politifact.com/trut...
"To send classified information electronically, the State Department has a secure, closed system. So even if Clinton had used a state.gov email address, this would not have been secure enough to transmit classified information. Procedurally, emails would get a label marking them as containing classified information. Clinton has said she viewed classified information in hard copy in her office. If she was traveling, she used other secure channels. Some of the emails released this month actually show Clinton’s team talking about how they can’t email each other classified information."

Incidentially, that is what happened with Rice's aide's and Powell's email accounts: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us...

https://www.google.com/search?... (pick whatever source you don't disbelieve..)

Wow, pages of links to blogs and unreliable sources that contain speculation but no real information. Scrolling down to the first one I found that even comes close t

I simply disagree.

Well, duh. That doesn't make you not relying on racist assumptions.

I don't see it that way. Instead the problem is that I see the leaders of the black community supporting and encouraging that behavior, and they are leaders because the people follow them.

Exactly how many of their leaders do you see? How many can you identify even in your own community?

When was the last time you ever talked to someone like Clementa Pickyney?

So it IS a culture problem, among people who happen to be black.

You believe it is one, but you have not proven it. Good luck doing that anthropological research.

It is not a problem of their race, there are exceptions to the rule (I provided one, Collin Powell), but they are exceptions.

A fine credit to his race, eh? An exception? That's a level of patronizing you might want to avoid.

Example: If white leaders people were supportive of what Timothy McVeigh did, then other people would right to blame white people for the violence. Instead, white leaders denounce the violence, denounce blaming others for such problems. Going further back, we denounce the use of slavery, it was wrong, we won't do it again.

These would be better assertions if right-wing militia violence did not still continue (see Neveda and Oregon for recent examples), or if segregation had not been practiced after the Civil War, as well as the effective abandonment by the North of the concept of Civil Rights in the South. Great, they ended slavery. Then what? Shit carried on.

Same with Timothy McVeigh, there's plenty out there who are still going on about Birth Certificates and FEMA camps, and other such touchstones of the faith.

Going to clean up your house? When can we see you undertake it?

If someone like Jesse Jackson were to stand up and say "my fellow African Americans, put down the guns, renounce violence, renounce blame of race, accept the apology for slavery, lets move forward together as once race, equal rights for all, no special treatment for anyone, all lives matter", I'd go march with him in a heartbeat.

As it stands, I don't respect him because he doesn't do that, instead he has used the race issue to divide Americans and further his own ambitions.

Why? Can't you march with him when he opposes gang violence? The drug problem? Why won't you support him until he meets all your demands? Why must you treat him as your enemy?

Why should he respect you, when you refuse to do anything unless he meets your conditions? When you already write him off, without a care in the world?

I don't see a whole lot of leaders within that community screaming from the mountain top "stop the violence, this is unacceptable, you will NOT get 72 virgins, you will go to hell for killing civilians, what you are doing is WRONG"

Have you called CAIR and asked?

I don't imagine you're on their mailing list, but I'm sure they can add you.

If both American Muslims and Middle Eastern nations would like to avoid WWIII, they need to start doing that, and loudly. The perception, right or wrong, is that secretly they DO want WWIII as the next holy war. What happened this week in Brussles is a good example of what should be followed by loud, continous, and harsh condemnations from Muslim leaders around the world, telling their followers that this is not acceptable and must stop, and to please report on your fellow Muslims who are thinking of doing this.

Power company spokesman Gary Mehalik said the 16-foot pipe has a concrete cap suspended near the ocean opening to cut down on the suction and prevent fish from being sucked in as well as divers, but Lamm said it obviously does not work.

and

Mehalik said there also is a buoy nearby marking the pipe. Lamm said he saw it but didn't know what it meant.

While Le Cun’s terrifying experience may seem one-of-a-kind, a similar event actually happened at the same power plant in 1989, according to UPI

Hardly "often", but judging by the description of the buoy and foreign matter filter in the older UPI article, probably something that Florida Power and Light needs to beef up a bit more - it's clearly insufficiently tamper/idiot proof.

Yup. http://www.upi.com/Archives/19...

Oh, just to show how common these things are, look here. "...623 power disruptions caused by squirrels, 214 by birds, 53 by raccoons, one by a Hannah Montana balloon, and a handful of other incidents caused by everything from snakes to slugs."

(Improperly and irreverently cited from this story)
AGING MIDDLE SCHOOL SHUT DOWN BY UNSAFE MILEY CYRUS BALLOON, NUCLEAR POWER TO BLAME

MIAMI, Nov. 11 2008 (UPI) -- Authorities blamed a 'Hannah Montana' balloon and some birds for causing a power outage for hours around a Miami middle school. "That's just like them," an anti-nuclear demonstrator in front of the school quipped. "It's a whitewash fronted by corrupt corporate interests intended to convince the public that nuclear energy is safe, when we all know it isn't. No amount of balloons or birds will ever convince us."

A helium balloon bearing the image of young "Montana" star Miley Cyrus collided with some power lines near Jose De Diego Middle School at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, scaring away a flock of birds, WFOR-TV Miami reported Tuesday. The sudden weight shift from the fleeing birds caused the electrical lines to dislodge and fall to the ground, electrifying a nearby fence. The school ran on a backup generator while officials shut down the power grid, but dozens of residents lost power for a period of hours. Nuclear skeptics hope this is the wake-up call they've been waiting for. "These things don't just happen. Where did the balloon come from? And it had to be a Miley Cyrus balloon too, didn't it? Do they think we're stupid? What were the birds really fleeing from? Never mind falling electrical lines hitting a fence next to a school, things like that happen all the time. What we need to realize, though, is that if it were not for people like us who speak their minds nuclear energy might some day power the whole world, and things like this will happen all the time."

When asked how things like this happening all the time would be any different if they should happen all the time, he replied, "Are you trying to trick me? It won't work. We know what we stand for."

The anti-nuclear demonstration had been organized because the school had been in the news several times recently due to plumbing problems, which also plague nuclear energy, which is a death sentence for the planet. None objected when the National Guard was mobilized last year when it was discovered that a small amount of urine had leaked into the surrounding environment. "It's just a precautionary measure," the Governor explained. "The amounts are measurable but hardly significant, actually less than the background urine we are exposed to all the time. If you wash your hands every day you have nothing to fear."

Of course Ted Cruz is trying to kill the net neutrality rules. He's the fucking Zodiac Killer.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/20...

What's amazing to me is when the government tries to pass policy "in the name of" victims who they use to create a propaganda framework for the policy... who then resist and speak up against the proposed policy...

The classic examples of bogus narratives for propaganda include Pat Tillman and his family as well as Jessica Lynch. The military tried to use both to help bolster support for the war. In both cases, there was resistance from the very people being "used" for that purpose, and it turns out that these people were more patriotic, strong, heroic, and complex than their "handlers" expected.

Can anyone think of other examples of this propaganda-backfires phenomenon?

Here's an example of China being upset.

Even if some Marine Lieutenant Colonel writes a memo advocating actions to take during nuclear war or mass insurrection, that doesn't either make it national policy or legal. It is nonsense.

Report says North authored plan to suspend Constitution

Reached by telephone Sunday at his home in northern Virginia, Brinkerhoff denounced as 'ridiculous' the report involving him and the Marine now at the center of the Iran-Contra scandal.

Saying he left government in 1982, Brinkerhoff added, 'There never was a plan to install martial law or martial rule. The whole purpose of emergency preparedness is and was to maintain civil rule.

'A lot of memos and lot of plans were written. We have a responsibility to plan for mobilization in case of emergency or war. As far as some evil plot ... it simply is untrue.'

The missing idea is known as MILITARY SUPPORT TO CIVIL AUTHORITIES: THE ROLE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE IN SUPPORT OF HOMELAND DEFENSE

That's not martial law.

They've done an excellent job on other occasions when they published names. Case in point, outing the KKK.

No, I'm pretty sure they got that one totally wrong in the first take, and then partially wrong and just full of outdated info and bad geusses in the second attempt.
Recent article, one of many that explain this: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US...

Those who believe Wikipedia is anything other than a steaming pile of shit where anyone can post anything thrive on the confusion caused by misinformation.

You could go directly to the source. but unfortunately for you, the source says "This year’s maximum was the sixteenth highest in the 35-year record."

So...

1. Antarctica gaining ice mass.
2. Antarctica ice extent has reached a new maximum
3. Arctic sea ice extent at a 35 year high.

Yeah, because GG called in bomb threats on themselves:
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US...

Sounds more plausible than the journalists calling in a bomb threat on themselves.

Really, so you are saying that the Florida police evacuated the convention center due to GamerGate, and that they then didn't investigate the bomb threats? What are you smoking, you should be passing that shit around.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US...

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US...

Perhaps you should stop wishing and realize that there are investigations of the harassment.

Yeah, because GG called in bomb threats on themselves:
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US...

That is patently false. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US...

This smells of another government attack on encryption, ALL encryption. It seems governments all over are so intent on surveillance that they will break anything to get it.

And so, what could possibly go wrong with this deprioritization of encrypted traffic?

- No chance of your banking app sensing problems with traffic and either terminating or restarting sessions? I know, there are few reasons to do that, and none technically sound. Assume, for the moment, that your bank has control over how their app works. Now assume you cannot know if 'your'* government has forced them into adding in some interesting quirks. Not outright decryption or backdoors, but perhaps reducing the encryption level in response to "network load". Your ISP is in on this, with a FISA order to deprioritize well-encrypted packets. No matter the source or destination, and certainly no matter the actual network status.

- In the midst of an industry-wide effort to get everyone with a site that uses credentials to go https, this is contrary. But reversing that trend sure gives 'your'* government an opportunity to capture your credentials to all sorts of sites, from the mundane to the actually important (to you). What's the big deal? Well, if 'your'* government would like to keep tabs on your online presence, such as posts to pro-freedom sites, etc, it sure is easier if they can ascertain your identity, and having your login credentials is helpful in that effort. Why would they want to do that? Are you keeping up with US Justice Department instituting the 'Domestic Terrorism Counsel'.

Trust no one, certainly not 'your'* government.

* 'your' government isn't yours any more if it considers you the enemy.

Sure there isn't one such system, and sure these systems don't have predictive power. But the systems exist, and astrologers use systems to guide predictions. Thus I would call it systematic. Scientists in the same field and in the same lab have different individual systems for collecting and analyzing data. Their work is no less systematic. There are always more controls to do. Checking every variable under the sun is not possible. But your description of economics is spot on: it's mostly collecting money from dupes and tailoring the usual vague stuff to a person's expectations. Hey, it works. http://www.upi.com/Science_New... https://www.wsws.org/en/articl...

Hrm... none of my guns have gone off with out having a booger hook on the bang bang lever... but then, I don't own a Remington 700 http://www.upi.com/Business_Ne...