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US Dismantles Forensic Science Commission (washingtonpost.com)
hondo77 writes a report via Washington Post: Thought the Trump Administration's war on science was just about climate change? Think again. "Attorney General Jeff Sessions will end a Justice Department partnership with independent scientists to raise forensic science standards and has suspended an expanded review of FBI testimony across several techniques that have come under question, saying a new strategy will be set by an in-house team of law enforcement advisers," reports Washington Post. The National Commission on Forensic Science, "jointly led by Justice and the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has prompted several changes," including "new accrediting and ethical codes for forensic labs and practitioners" and the FBI abandoning "its four-decade-long practice of tracing bullets to a specific manufacturer's batch through chemical analyses after its method were scientifically debunked." "The availability of prompt and accurate forensic science analysis to our law enforcement officers and prosecutors is critical to integrity in law enforcement, reducing violent crime, and increasing public safety," Sessions said in the statement. "We applaud the professionalism of the National Commission on Forensic Science and look forward to building on the contributions it has made in this crucial field."
Surprising nobody, one of Donald Trump's many Russian controlled handlers is under investigation as an agent of Russia.
Trump's advisor is a Russian secret agent.
Is everyone still too stupid and complacent to see that Russia's KGB controls our federal government through its agent Donald Trump.
Open your fucking eyes, morons.
I declare this news as fake, on the grounds it's too absurd to be real. Please let this be fake.
I'm ashamed to be an American.
How can we even speak of reform, when the hands of every judge in the Empire are soaked and dripping with blood?
and two-bit crooked real estate salesmen are now running the US government.
IN unrelated news the FBI formed a Divination unit that applies forensic goat entrails reading to predict future crimes. Jeff sessions was quoted as saying, "Liberal Judges have long prevented the proven science of witch drowning as a standard of guilt. Everyone knows Witches float, it's so simple to prevent occult crimes. Now we can."
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Statement from National District Attorney Association
http://www.ndaa.org/pdf/NDAA%20Statement%20on%20Expiration%20of%20National%20Commission%20on%20Forensic%20Science.pdf
The Commission lacked adequate representation from the state and local practitioner community,
was dominated by the defense community, and failed to produce work products of significance for
the forensic science community. Very few of the recommendations from the Commission were
adopted and signed by the previous Attorney General during its existence. Those that were signed,
such as universal accreditation, had already begun to develop organically within the forensic science
community as accepted best practices, thus replicating ongoing work and wasting taxpayer dollars.
This does relate to the old slogan of the website as quoted above. However, as usual, most of the comments (including ACs) are taking the side of Trump here, "fuck science", and so on.
Most of you likely aren't "nerds", unless you think sitting in your room or parents basement posting pro Trump comments all day and attacking everyone else qualifies as you as a "nerd".
No this is just some biased news reporting as usual.
From the article:
In a statement Monday, Sessions said he would not renew the National Commission on Forensic Science, a roughly 30-member advisory panel of scientists, judges, crime lab leaders, prosecutors and defense lawyers chartered by the Obama administration in 2013.
First, they do not "dismantle" the commission, they just don't renew its mandate. Second, it was a mostly idle project launched 4 years ago by Obama, it's not a long-standing institution of law enforcement.
lucm, indeed.
I think all this would be a lesson not only for the US and the RF, but for the whole humanity that a regime change from outside is not a good thing. No matter how much one dislikes an incumbent, a nation should be let to have its own history, revolutions, etc.
Now the free market can do it 1000 times better on its own without a subsidized competitor.
Sessions isn't "dismantling" anything. The commission was created in 2013 and was supposed to do its job by 2017. It apparently has done that, Sessions has thanked them. The Trump administration is now deciding what to do next.
Calling this "ordering the Justice Dept. to end forensic science commission" or "dismantling forensic science commission", as if Trump or Sessions had taken extraordinary steps to kill the commission, is tendentious, politically motivated b.s. that reflects badly on the Washington Post and the submitter.
And Stone coordinating his campaign with hacker Guccifer, Manasfort? Millions of dollars putting Putin agents in power in democracies.
Even Kushner sneaked the Russian ambassador into Trump tower, shortly followed by a director of VneshEconomBank (a Putin controlled bank previously known for bailing out Putin projects and funding legal defenses of Russian spies)... but it's all innocent, VneshEconomBank says it was just a commercial meeting regarding Kushners property interests (which would be an illegal violation of sanctions). Kushner says its totally innocent meeting with VneshEconomBank in his role as temporary acting State Dept, making connections to Putin. (i.e. he's totally aware the bank is a Putin front!). Neither story adds up.
Perhaps you think I'm kidding, but no, this is sadly true:
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/27/politics/kushner-meeting-russian-banker-tied-to-putin/index.html
Flynn? Secret meetings with Russian ambassadors, was to have fulfilled Putin's promise to Erdogan on extraditing a US cleric to Turkey. The go-to man for the smaller deals.
But I think you're rather missing the bigger picture. Look at their recent earnings declarations. Kushner is claimed to have assets of 750 million, yet income of 100k. That doesn't make sense. When I dig through their public accounts none of the numbers add up. They are 2 orders of magnitude out of best estimates. Trump still hasn't release his tax returns, only leaking a two page sheet from 2005, which was probably the last time the numbers looks plausible.
So Trump is a conman, and he'll take apart forensics, he'll take apart accounting standards bodies, he'll undermine ethics groups. It's not that Trump is some string puppet of Putin's. It's more that he's a crook, and Putin is a fellow crook, and there is a mutual interest.
Look at the raid in Syria. Russian was pre-informed about it, they in turn warned Assad, all the fighter jets were removed, there were two helicopters placed in the center of the runways for the photo-op, but those helicopters aren't normally parked blocking a runway! Trump blows up some tarmac and some concrete. Who the fuck would do that? Why would you do that? You know there will be zero useful assets to destroy if you inform Putin, yet you inform Putin.
Is that the go to talking point being spread around The Donald? I see the exact same comment made elsewhere in this thread.
I see. When two people make similar comments that do not support your preconceived opinion, it's a conspiracy.
lucm, indeed.
From the article:
The commission jointly led by Justice and the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has prompted several changes.
You:
mostly idle
Your bias is showing.
Those 30 people have made a total of 20 recommendations since 2013. Here's the latest one:
The Attorney General should direct the Bureau of Justice Statistics to create a proposal for the development of a nationally representative survey to determine forensic capabilities for those who write reports and offer testimony within federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies and for medical examiner and coroner offices. The survey instrument should be developed in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders organizations by the next commission meeting.
1/2 page.
You want more? Here's the 2nd latest recommendation, made ONE YEAR before.
Proficiency testing is required of all accredited FSSPs. As a recognized quality control tool, it is the view of the Commission that proficiency testing should also be implemented by nonaccredited FSSPs in disciplines where proficiency tests are available from external organizations.
That's it. The entire corpus of that immensely valuable recommendation spans 7 pages; of those 7 pages, 4 are an appendix describing terms like "Accreditation".
That commission is a big joke. See, there's a webcast of their meetings.
https://www.nist.gov/topics/fo...
Huge waste of time.
lucm, indeed.
So "measured" that the base that was attacked was back to normal operations on the same day.
I don't think "strong" is the word. "Dramatic" maybe. I think you are describing a warning shot badly.
This suggestion is hillarious. Instead of Russian cronies, you prefer a crone?
Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
I'm not pro-law enforcement at all. The point here is that calling the end of this commission "war on science" is, at best. dishonest.
lucm, indeed.
Mama does not want justice. She wants QUIET.
Put another way--the courts need only dispense sufficient justice that most of us STFU and GBTW.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
Like most science opponents, your argument is that the research takes too long to bear fruit. Science doesn't happen overnight.
That's a commission. They don't do research.
lucm, indeed.
On the plus side, illegal immigration is at the lowest it's been in 2 decades
Not just illegal immigration, people are avoiding traveling to the US in general (Interest in travel to the US has "fallen off a cliff" since Donald Trump’s election - https://www.theguardian.com/tr...) Good! There are enough people here, we don’t need anymore, we’ll make that tourist money up in other ways. Silicon valley tech companies are avoiding letting employees travel to outside the US for fear they won’t be able to get back in. Good! show them with actions it’s better to only hire US workers. I mean what have immigrants ever done for silicon valley and the US anyway?! https://www.nytimes.com/2017/0...
the economy is up by 20%
%20? sure, I follow you brother no citation needed. Either way, great, nothing wrong there. ("Any improvement for the consumer will be balanced out by the higher value of the dollar," Mr. Payne forecasts. http://www.csmonitor.com/Busin...)
and we made a strong-but-measured move in Syria which has garnered praise from many world leaders.
Yes, strength! (Trump's Syria Strike Was Unconstitutional and Unwise - https://www.theatlantic.com/po...)
Hey don't forget it's not just Syria, we are showing our strength all over the world! (civilian deaths - more than 1,000 in March alone - that have come directly as the result of the Trump administration’s other reckless military campaigns across the Middle East over the past few weeks. - https://www.theguardian.com/co...) Yes, this is great! The heavy handed tactics accusations thrown at Hillary which would lead us into war, well now Trump has done them so it’s ok, yeah! We’re #1 we’re #1!
positive effect on relations and negotiations with Iran, N. Korea, and China.
Yes, for sure because they respect a useless reckless show of force over keeping their trade deals in tact.
Limiting illegal immigration should eventually bubble up into more jobs
Yup, I’m pretty psyched, I’m preparing for my new job! It’s at a nice outdoor location in sunny fields actually. Purportedly it reaches about 100F so I should get a good tan out of it to boot! The hours will be refreshing, I will be working from 5AM to 6PM and I’m working with nature, picking fruit, I think I can have a radio with me and I’m making $15 per hour! Great, looking forward to it! The other benefit is I'll be able to take some fruit home in my bag since I won't be able to afford it anymore at the supermarket.
Or is it just another example of government waste?
Yeah, i think it was one of those stupid "Obama liberal biased" attempts to help brown people not get railroaded by local law enforcement practices, good riddance I say!
The words "before its term ends April 23".
"set to expire"
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/ru... (April 10, 2017) "The department will instead appoint an in-house adviser and create an internal committee to study improvements to forensic analysis, Sessions said."
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
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...said no one with half a brain. Seriously, you should be required to pass an exam before you can legally revoke funding or change policies. That way, no politician can claim ignorance when hell breaks loose. Your typical political, science hating, Conservative: "Gawd got me here, and all I need is Jesus to whisper into my ear to affirm what Facebook friends, spam, advertisements and Twitter tell me and my church congregation that the Liberals, with their Satanic Latin "ology" slang (God speaks only country twangy KJV English), that they are out to ruin His great nationnnnnahh! His word is to be taken literally up until it's no longer convieniant. New Testament, new rules, new Covenant, except for Gays. And we all know statistics are tools of the Devilah! Your feelings never lie because the heart is where Gawd lives." ~The End~ Fun fact: early humans believed that your thoughts came from your heart before they knew what the brain was actually for, hence the huge amount of its ideological references to, including Christianity. But, that's a fact backed by history, psychology, and medical science and not ignorant (there's a difference between ignorance and stupidity) gut feelings, so I guess if it doesn't meet the 50+ politician criteria. Therefore, I'm wrong. We are all just no match for all those science classes Republican businessmen and preachers have to take.
His administration hasn't had much of an effect, the fact that he was elected president on a platform of slowing illegal immigration and reducing regulation has had a profound effect. People are reacting to what they think he will do, not what he has done.
2) All that's being up 20% is stock markets. It has only indirectly to do with economy. Stock markets are bets on the future of publicly traded companies. Those are purely speculative. They are not productivity, exports, disposable income, or gross domestic product, which normally measure economic health.
No. "US" didn't. Trump and his incompetent embarrassment of an administration did. Just one more step on their way to becoming cartoon villains. Don't put this on the more than half of us that never wanted him or his minions anywhere near the levers of power.
Yeah, yeah, and evolution is just a theory...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
You said nothing for years while Obama was bombing Syria.
Now all of a sudden you think its, and I quote, "Unconstitutional and Unwise" to bomb Syria.
The other guy has it right. Your attitude is exactly why the Democrats got murdered last election.
You can sit there cherry picking all the things that you have an issue with on a daily basis, but that falls apart when you arent consistent. A politician can get away with some flip-flopping, but you guys are all over the place constantly.
"His name was James Damore."
You know, it is physically possible to *find out* what a program *actually does*.
In this case your post is ironic because we're talking about a program which debunks faith in stuff just because it's called "science".
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Yes, when you're $19 trillion in debt, you have to forego some luxury items.
-Styopa
For a site specializing in STEM, there sure is a lot of partisan bullshit being posted.
To get rid of this editor?
I tend to rant.
Posting here to undo accidental mis-moderation.
Check out my novel.
NATIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION
Date: April 10, 2017
National District Attorneys Association Applauds Expiration of National Commission on Forensic Science
ARLINGTON, Virginia – The National District Attorneys Association (NDAA)
supports the announcement this morning by United States Attorney General
Jeff Sessions that he will not renew the charter for the National
Commission on Forensic Science, allowing the Commission to officially
expire. NDAA also appreciates the creation of a Subcommittee on
Forensics as part of the Attorney General’s Task Force on Crime
Reduction and Public Safety.
The Commission lacked adequate representation from the state and local
practitioner community, was dominated by the defense community,
and failed to produce work products of significance for the forensic
science community. Very few of the recommendations from the Commission
were adopted and signed by the previous Attorney General during its
existence. Those that were signed, such as universal accreditation, had
already begun to develop organically within the forensic science
community as accepted best practices, thus replicating ongoing work and
wasting taxpayer dollars.
Now more than ever, an Office of Forensic Science (OFS) under the
Department of Justice (DOJ), and in consultation with the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), should be created. DOJ
has a vested interest in maintaining the overall integrity of the
criminal justice system while NIST has a role in the innovation of
forensic science.
“An Office of Forensic Science will ensure forensic science progresses
in the courtroom to not only aid in the prosecution of the guilty, but
exonerate the innocent,” said NDAA President Michael Ramos.
We can no longer afford to sit back and wait for the advancement and
support of forensic science. An OFS needs to happen now to guarantee
its effective future in the criminal justice system. NDAA agrees with
the Attorney General that the majority of forensic science in the field
is conducted by state and local crime labs, and then used by state and
local prosecutors in the courtroom. That reality must be a central focus
as we advance forensic science in the field.
The National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), www.ndaa.org, is the
oldest and largest prosecutor organization in the country, representing
2,500 elected and appointed District Attorneys across the United States,
as well as 40,000 Assistant District Attorneys.
Contact: Nelson Bunn, Director of Policy and Governmental Affairs, National District Attorneys
Association nbunn@ndaajustice.org.
The commission did nothing that people actually used. Talk about two-bit crooks, what about the people that got paid taxpayer money to do nothing worthwhile?
The people that are running the government now are adults, absent after a long departure and pissed off at the way the country has been trashed.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
You are the epitome of why your side got murdered this election;
Wait so something about chicken plants is why the dems lost due to an artefact of the election system despite getting a lot more votes?
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Last fiscal year, the US Federal Government spent $1.423 trillion more than it brought in (source: US Department of Treasury). There are approximately 140 million taxpayers. This represents a DEFICIT spending $10,160 per taxpayer - spending above and beyond income. It is more than all the Federal Income tax paid! We would have to literally more than double the current Federal tax rate for all taxpayers to cover our deficit spending...
Or, we start cutting things that are outside the domain of the Federal Government, and scale back on spending. It's either increase revenue or cut spending - but it has to be done. We cannot keep blowing over $4 billion dollars a day in deficit spending (that is $29 per day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, per taxpayer).
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
I disagree with that assessment. It was the Democrats who changed Senate rules to get around filibusters (which, to be fair, the GOP is now abusing as well). The Democrats have gerrymandered and are trying to subvert the Electoral College at the state level by getting states to pledge their votes to the winner of the popular vote instead of the vote in their state, because that is to their advantage.
Regardless of your feelings on our institutions, it's clear that both parties will abuse or subvert them when it suits them to do so. You think the Democrats are loyal to institutions overall because you like the particular institutions they defend.
Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
That is a lie. You marked me as foe last year after the primaries.
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t "They should accept it or they are racist!" is what caused the dems to be slaughtered.
What you are saying is that blue collar workers are too stupid to distinguish between a few wingnuts online and the Democrat party, yet it's democrats fault for not assuming they're idiots?
SJW n. One who posts facts.
You're confusing having a different view of the country with being against the country. Lots of people think the Electoral College never did serve its intended purpose (aside from giving slave states an advantage) and should be abolished for the good of the country. I've found that lots of people as patriotic as I am have different ideas of what's good for the country.
So, it takes something like the Republican-controlled congresses in Obama's terms to make me think they're going over the line. Currently, Trump isn't putting party over the good of the country, but rather his business interests, which is no better.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
No, that's what I was accusing the AC of doing. Especially when they specifically mentioned "our democratic institutions", which I would argue includes the EC and filibuster rules.
I think most Americans do want their country to get better, but as you said, that means something different to everybody.
Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
So Babu Yaga is now the gold standard of forensics in the USA. Great.
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
Lie of omission: the Democrats changed the rules because Republicans were routinely blocking nominees and legislation from coming to a vote, for purely partisan reasons.
So? It's still an assault on our democratic institutions.
That word, gerrymandered. It doesn't mean whatever it is you think it means.
Those are two different things. The Democrats engage in gerrymandering, and the Democrats are trying to subvert the EC. I know what it means just fine; it's your reading comprehension that needs work.
Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.