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Post by wulf on Sept 14, 2012 16:02:23 GMT -5
I saw yesterday some pictures of Libyans taking to the streets with signs saying that he had been a friend to all Libyans and how this is not what Islam is supposed to be about. The only reason that this doesn't happen in the U.S. with fundamentalist Christians is that there would be people to stop it. No way would a mob of people be allowed to overrun an embassy on American soil.
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Post by loverofbeers on Sept 16, 2012 13:51:28 GMT -5
Credit Ryan Gallagher at Slate.com. House Votes To Renew Warrantless Wiretapping Bill, but No One Knows How Many Americans Are Spied OnNo one knows exactly how many Americans’ communications are being intercepted by the National Security Agency. But despite that startling knowledge gap , the House of Representatives voted 301-118 on Wednesday to renew controversial amendments contained in the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act, more commonly known as the Warrantless Wiretapping Bill.
The vote was an important step toward giving the federal government five more years of broad spying powers. Particularly contentious clauses contained in FISA allow the warrantless interception of Americans’ international communications. So great is the secrecy around FISA and its application that James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, has even declined to tell a group of senators roughly how many Americans have been monitored under the law, saying it was “beyond the capacity” of the NSA to keep tabs on the numbers.
Originally enacted in 1978, FISA was amended in 2008 to allow intelligence agencies to gather what it vaguely terms “foreign intelligence information.” The law was conceived as part of a bid to detect and prevent future attacks on the United States being plotted by foreigners. However, the nature of electronic surveillance and the sketchy language used in FISA mean it can be used to gather huge quantities of communications, some of which inevitably comes from American citizens. The NSA can apply to a secret FISA court for a single surveillance order that permits the warrantless surveillance of countless individuals’ communications. This could feasibly include emails and phone calls exchanged between the United States and countries of particular foreign policy interest, such as Russia or Iran.
The 2008 amendment to FISA came after the 2005 New York Times exposé on the warrantless wiretapping program enacted by George W. Bush. In an rare candid speech in Michigan last week, former NSA Director General Michael Hayden said that the 2008 amendment retrospectively "legitimated" everything Bush had authorized the NSA to do regarding the domestic wiretapping of communications and "gave the NSA a great deal more authority to do these kinds of things." Exactly what “these kinds of things” are includes, according to Reuters’ sources, “sifting through masses of communications between foreigners that are transmitted via servers or telecommunications links that pass physically through the United States.”
Prior to Wednesday’s vote in the House of Representatives, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., proposed that the FISA court be made to publish unclassified summaries of its decisions. She also co-sponsored an amendment to shorten the extension of the law. However, no floor debate was allowed on either of these proposed provisions. As a result, Schakowsky later issued a fairly scathing statement in which she warned that “this legislation could negatively affect American constitutionally-protected rights to privacy, free association, and free speech.”
But the controversial FISA amendments have not been approved for another five years quite yet. The matter is now in the hands of the Senate, where it is unlikely to receive such swift passage. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has placed a hold on the bill in an attempt to force the government to disclose details about how many Americans have been spied on. In July, Wyden was one of 12 senators who unsuccessfully requested answers about FISA from James Clapper. “We are concerned that Congress and the public do not currently have a full understanding of the impact that this law has had on the privacy of law-abiding Americans,” the senators wrote.
Whether they have the power to collectively force any kind of public disclosure remains to be seen. Not least because it’s far from clear whether the government itself has a clue how many American citizens it’s spying on.
A Cheers! to Representative Janice Schakowski and Senator Ron Wyden.
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Post by wulf on Sept 17, 2012 1:21:33 GMT -5
I would rather live under the threat of terrorism than with their brand of "safety". I never thought I would be nostalgic for those care free days of the cold war.
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Post by loverofbeers on Sept 17, 2012 15:11:30 GMT -5
I know what you mean. I'm not being glib here, but I remember the most that I thought about the Cold War, back when I was riding the bus to grade school, so between 1983-1986, well, I was on the back of the bus contemplating a nuclear strike. El Paso is home to Fort Bliss. It was a Soviet tactical strike target.
Fearing a nuclear winter only being reigned in by the Mutually Assured Destruction Doctrine is good times compared to watching the militarization of police departments and 1984 unraveling in front of your eyes in your own home, with the majority of sheeple sleep walking through the theft of their liberties, fearing paper and phantom enemies.
You can't fight for your liberties or freedom oversees, only at home. Sadly, these are sad times.
A Mexican cerveza Cheers! to you and yours Wulf, Old Boy.
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Post by wulf on Sept 18, 2012 17:18:22 GMT -5
We had the runways for Otis Air Force base a couple hundred yards from our house growing up so it was almost comforting to know it would be over before we even new it was happening. A Sam Adams Hazel Brown to you and yours.
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Post by loverofbeers on Sept 20, 2012 22:12:40 GMT -5
The end is fucking nigh.
A cold cerveza Salud! to the further decline of human civilization.
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Post by loverofbeers on Sept 21, 2012 1:26:56 GMT -5
Jim Hightower is one of my favorite Texans and a champion for common sense, progressive thinking, and American values. He has a weekly column in progressive weekly newspapers across the nation. And I have bought him a beer on at least two occasions. He is a local who appreciates craft beer. A very good man, I tell you what. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_HightowerCredit The Hightower Report this week. The Hightower ReportOur Robotic OverlordsA message from our corporate-governmental-media establishment: Your future is on Mars.
They're referring to Curiosity, NASA's lovable robot that's now probing and analyzing the Red Planet with humanlike dexterity and abilities. Meanwhile, back on Earth, 128 similarly sophisticated robots are making electric shavers for Philips Electronics – work that would take 10 times as many humans.
A New York Times article marveled that the robot's arms "work with yoga-like flexibility ... well beyond the capability of the most dexterous human." Plus, exclaimed the Times, "They do it all without a coffee break – three shifts a day, 365 days a year."
Corporations have hundreds of fully robotized manufacturing plants already in operation or planned, and Philips' manager says, "[With these robots] we can make any consumer device in the world." Indeed, Apple's iPhone maker in China plans to install more than a million robots to displace untold numbers of workers. Likewise, robots are now assembling Boeing's wide-body jets, packing California lettuce in shipping boxes, making Hyundai and Tesla cars, and operating our nation's largest grocery warehouse. The Times says flatly: "This is the future."
Oh? So, what are millions of displaced human workers to do? No one knows. Worse, no planning for or even thinking about the human future is under way. Instead, we're getting balderdash and BS about how "This is the march of progress" that'll "make America more competitive."
"More competitive" for whom and to what end? Too often, we've seen the power elites wave the flag of "progress" as they march right over the well-being of the many. Now is the time to start a national discussion about their autocratic and avaricious reach for robotic profits, making them address the crucial human issues involved.
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Post by wulf on Sept 21, 2012 15:43:13 GMT -5
I agree with everything except comparing curiosity to assembly robots. Nothing used on an assembly line comes even close to the sophistication or performing an equally historic feat. That's like comparing Alan Shepard to the russian test monkeys.
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Post by loverofbeers on Sept 22, 2012 21:31:56 GMT -5
Well put Wulfie, but I think he was editorializing a NYT article's words of wonder and awe toward the nifty new breed of robots that are already replacing our unemployed workforce, and the lack of delving into that aspect of the story.
He hasn't delved into robots before, this is a first I believe, but regardless he is correct about the impact this is having at home.
He is all about American citizens and the working class, preserving and expanding the middle class, environmental issues and abuses, the militarization of America at home, modified foodstuffs, political highjinks from the political class, corporations running rampant, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution, keeping it local, economic justice and a truly living wage, and many other populist and level-headed American ideals with a Texan flavor and twang.
Jim Hightower is a great American and forward thinker. I hope to buy him a third beer someday. A Modelo Cerveza Especial Salud! to America, apple pie, and Mom.
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Post by loverofbeers on Sept 24, 2012 22:53:49 GMT -5
Gentlemen (and ladies, any ladies out there? This place is like the old ECW), our next war will be starting in the next six or so months with Iran, and that is regardless of who is in the White House. The dogs of war are howling, I don't know exactly how this will start, but Iran is about to get our undivided attention. Tick, tock.... Credit Reuters. In New York, defiant Ahmadinejad says Israel will be "eliminated"By Louis Charbonneau
NEW YORK | Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:54pm EDT
(Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday Israel has no roots in the Middle East and would be "eliminated," ignoring a U.N. warning to avoid incendiary rhetoric ahead of the annual General Assembly session. Ahmadinejad also said he did not take seriously the threat that Israel could launch a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, denied sending arms to Syria, and alluded to Iran's threats to the life of British author Salman Rushdie.
The United States quickly dismissed the Iranian president's comments as "disgusting, offensive and outrageous."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted Israel could strike Iran's nuclear sites and criticized U.S. President Barack Obama's position that sanctions and diplomacy should be given more time to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Iran denies it is seeking nuclear arms and says its atomic work is peaceful and aimed at generating electricity.
"Fundamentally we do not take seriously the threats of the Zionists," Ahmadinejad, in New York for this week's U.N. General Assembly, told reporters. "We have all the defensive means at our disposal and we are ready to defend ourselves."
Ahmadinejad is due to speak at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met Ahmadinejad on Sunday and warned him of the dangers of incendiary rhetoric in the Middle East.
Ahmadinejad, who has used previous U.N. sessions to question the Holocaust and the U.S. account of the September 11, 2001, attacks, did not heed the warning and instead expanded on his previous rejection of Israel's right to exist. Western envoys typically walk out of Ahmadinejad's U.N. speeches in protest at his remarks.
"Iran has been around for the last seven, 10 thousand years. They (the Israelis) have been occupying those territories for the last 60 to 70 years, with the support and force of the Westerners. They have no roots there in history," he said, referring to the founding of the modern state of Israel in 1948.
"We do believe that they have found themselves at a dead end and they are seeking new adventures in order to escape this dead end. Iran will not be damaged with foreign bombs," Ahmadinejad said, speaking through an interpreter at his Manhattan hotel.
"We don't even count them as any part of any equation for Iran. During a historical phase, they (the Israelis) represent minimal disturbances that come into the picture and are then eliminated."
In 2005, Ahmadinejad called Israel a "tumor" and echoed the words of the former Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, by saying that Israel should be wiped off the map.
WHITE HOUSE: COMMENTS DISGUSTING
In Washington, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Israel's security.
"President Ahmadinejad's comments are characteristically disgusting, offensive and outrageous," he said. "They underscore again why America's commitment to the security of Israel must be unshakeable, and why the world must hold Iran accountable for its utter failure to meet its obligations."
The United States also officially linked Iran's state oil company to the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a move that enables Washington to apply new sanctions on foreign banks dealing with the company.
Attending what will likely be his last U.N. General Assembly as he nears the end of his second term next year, Ahmadinejad also spoke at a high-level U.N. session on the rule of law, prompting a walkout by Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor.
"Ahmadinejad showed again that he not only threatens the future of the Jewish people, he seeks to erase our past," Prosor said in a statement. "Three thousand years of Jewish history illustrate the clear danger of ignoring fanatics like Iran's president, especially as he inches closer to acquiring nuclear weapons."
Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a brigadier general in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was quoted on Sunday as saying that Iran could launch a pre-emptive strike on Israel if it was sure the Jewish state was preparing to attack it.
Ahmadinejad said the nuclear issue was ultimately between the United States and Iran and must be resolved in talks.
"The nuclear issue is not a problem," he said. "But the approach of the United States on Iran is important. We are ready for dialogue, for a fundamental resolution of the problems, but under conditions that are based on fairness and mutual respect.
"We are not expecting a 33-year-old problem between the United States and Iran to be resolved in a speedy fashion," Ahmadinejad said. "But there is no other way besides dialogue."
Obama will underscore his commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and address Muslim unrest related to an anti-Islamic video in his speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday, the White House said.
'BULLYING COUNTRIES'
At the meeting on the rule of law, Ahmadinejad said states should not yield to rules imposed "by bullying countries."
Ahmadinejad said on Monday that conditions in Iran, which is under U.N., U.S. and European Union sanctions over its nuclear program, were not as bad as portrayed by some and the country could survive without oil revenues.
Britain, France and Germany called for fresh economic sanctions on Iran in a letter to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, a top French official told reporters.
"If we want to reach a diplomatic and peaceful solution to Iran's nuclear program, then we must increase the pressure," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.
Western sanctions on Iran tightened markedly this year with an EU ban on crude oil purchases from Iran and U.S. sanctions targeting banks that deal with Iran's central bank. Those sanctions have not yielded tangible progress toward a diplomatic solution.
There will be high-level side meetings on Iran's nuclear program and the Syrian conflict during the General Assembly but U.N. diplomats do not expect either issue to be resolved soon.
Ahmadinejad's annual visits to New York, a city with a sizable Jewish population, are routinely met with protests against his anti-Israel rhetoric. United Against Nuclear Iran, a U.S. group that opposes Iran acquiring an atomic bomb, protested at the Iranian official's hotel with a banner reading "Out of the Warwick, out of New York, out of the U.N.!"
'WE SEEK PEACE IN SYRIA'
Ahmadinejad rejected charges by the United Nations and Western officials that Iran is sending arms to pro-government forces in Syria fighting rebels trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad. "The so-called news that you alluded to has been denied vehemently, officially," he said to a question.
"We see both sides as equally our brothers," he said. "The intervention and meddling from outside have made conditions that much tougher. We must help to quell the violence and help ... (facilitate) a national dialogue."
Ahmadinejad also was asked about a move by an Iranian religious foundation to increase its reward for the killing of Rushdie in response to a California-made anti-Islam video called "The Innocence of Muslims" that has sparked anti-American protests around the Muslim world.
"Where is he now?" Ahmadinejad asked of Rushdie. "Is he in the United States? If he is, you shouldn't broadcast that for his own safety.
Rushdie, an Indian-born British novelist who has nothing to do with the video, was condemned to death in 1989 by Khomeini, Iran's late leader, because of his novel "The Satanic Verses," saying its depiction of the Prophet Mohammad was blasphemous.
Ahmadinejad appeared to reject Washington's position that while it condemns the video's content, freedom of expression must be upheld. "Freedoms must not interfere with the freedoms of others," Ahmadinejad said. "If someone insults, what would you do? ... Is insulting other people not a form of crime?"
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick and John Irish; Writing by Michelle Nichols and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Will Dunham and Bill Trott)
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Post by loverofbeers on Oct 22, 2012 16:43:27 GMT -5
A sad day last week in Texas. Credit The Dallas Morning News. Electrical fire destroys Big Tex, State Fair's folksy icon since 1952 By ERIC AASEN Big Tex, the beloved 52-foot-tall cowboy who's watched over the State Fair of Texas for decades, caught on fire Friday morning and was quickly burnt to a crisp.
He was 60.
Big Tex is toast. The tallest talking Texan will no longer say "Hoooowwwdy Folks!" at this year's fair, which ends Sunday. But State Fair officials say the icon will be rebuilt in time for next year.
Hundreds gathered in Big Tex Circle to watch the big guy go up in flames. Many stood in tears. Others snapped pictures with their smartphones, spreading the news online as quickly as the fire spread up Big Tex. They reminisced about the good-lookin' folksy fair mascot who first arrived at Fair Park in 1952.
No one was injured.
State Fair officials say the fire was caused by an electrical short that started in his right boot. Flames and smoke shot up his body, which acted as a chimney, said Sue Gooding, a State Fair spokeswoman.
Gooding happened to walk by Big Tex when the fire started around 10:15 a.m. She spotted white smoke emerging from his collar.
"I didn't know Big Tex smoked," a fairgoer was overheard saying.
He doesn't. Firefighters were sent to Fair Park by an unusual report from a Dallas Fire-Rescue dispatcher over the radio: "Got a rather tall cowboy with all his clothes burned off."
"Big Tex was done in about 10 minutes," said Allen Ferrell, who was visiting the fair with a church group from North Richland Hills.
The fire consumed Big Tex's 75-gallon hat. It ate off his fiberglass face, which once flashed perfectly straight teeth. It burned through his boots, his five-pocket denim jeans and his 23-foot-long belt.
All that remained were his charred three-ton steel skeleton and his hands, sleeves, belt buckle and bits of burnt clothing.I wish I was holding a Texas-cold Lone Star beer. In a pinch, PBR will have to do. R.I.P. Big Tex, an icon as big as the Lone Star State. Salud! And like the legendary and fiery Phoenix, may Big Tex rise up from his ashes! Cheers!
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Post by loverofbeers on Oct 30, 2012 1:06:23 GMT -5
Credit Politico and the Associate Press. N.J. nuclear plant on alertBy ASSOCIATED PRESS | 10/29/12 10:54 PM EDT Updated: 10/29/12 11:41 PM EDTThe nation’s oldest nuclear power plant, already out of service for scheduled refueling, was put on alert late Monday after waters from Superstorm Sandy rose 6 feet above sea level.
Conditions were still safe at and around Oyster Creek, a plant in Lacey Township, N.J., and at all other U.S. nuclear plants, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees plant safety. No plants that had been up and running before the storm were planning to shut down.
Read more: www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/83034.html#ixzz2Al9EnL9t High water levels at the plant in Southern New Jersey, which generates enough electricity to power 600,000 homes a year, prompted safety officials to declare an “unusual event” around 7 p.m. About two hours later, the situation was upgraded to an “alert,” the second-lowest in a four-tiered warning system.
The plant’s owner, Exelon Corp., said power was also disrupted in the station’s switchyard, but backup diesel generators were providing stable power, with more than two weeks of fuel on hand.
A rising tide, the direction of the wind and the storm’s surge combined to raise water levels in the plant’s intake structure, the NRC said. The agency said that water levels are expected to recede within hours and that the plant, which went online in 1969 and is set to close in 2019, is watertight and capable of withstanding hurricane-force winds.
The heightened status at Oyster Creek aside, most nuclear plants in the Sandy’s path were weathering the storm without incident.
Inspectors from the NRC, whose own headquarters and Northeast regional office was closed for the storm, were manning all plants around the clock. The agency dispatched extra inspectors or placed them on standby in five states, equipped with satellite phones to ensure uninterrupted contact.
Nuclear power plants are built to withstand hurricanes, airplane collisions and other major disasters, but safety procedures call for plants to be shut down when hurricane-force winds are present at the site, or if water levels nearby exceed certain flood limits.
At the Salem and Hope Creek plants in Hancocks Bridge, N.J., which together produce enough power for about 3 million homes per day, officials were watching for sustained winds of 74 mph or greater that would trigger taking the plants offline. The nearby Delaware River posed another hazard if water levels exceed 99.5 feet, compared with a normal level of 89 feet.
Joe Delmar, a spokesman for Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., said that only essential employees had been asked to report to work but that current projections were that the plants would not have to close. One of the units at Salem had already been offline due to regular refueling and maintenance.In Lusby, Md., the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant was operating at full power - enough to power more than 1 million homes. Additional staff, both onsite and off, were called in to prepare for the storm. Safety officials there will take the plant offline if sustained winds exceed 75 mph or water levels rise more than 10 feet above normal sea level.
Seventy-five was also the number at Indian Point in Buchanan, N.Y., where officials said they were fully prepared to withstand surging water levels from the Hudson River. At Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna plant in Salem Township, officials were ready to activate their emergency plan, a precursor to taking the plant offline, if sustained winds hit 80 mph.“Our top concern is ensuring that the plants are in a safe condition, that they are following their severe weather procedures” said Diane Screnci of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She said that even though the agency’s headquarters and regional office had been closed, its incident response center was staffed, with other regions ready to lend a hand if necessary.
At the Millstone nuclear power complex on Connecticut’s shoreline, officials said they were powering down one of the two reactors to 75 percent of maximum output to maintain stability of the electric grid. Millstone spokesman Ken Holt said the grid’s stability could be affected if the unit was operating at 100 percent and suddenly went offline, which isn’t expected to happen.
Some 60 million people in 13 states plus the District of Columbia get their power from PJM, the largest regional power grid in the U.S. Contingency plans call for power to be brought in from other areas to replace power lost if a nuclear plant reduces output or goes offline.
“It’s done instantaneously,” said Paula DuPont-Kidd, a spokeswoman for the grid. “Even if multiple plants go offline at the same time, we’d have to see how adjustments would be made, but for the most part we plan for that scenario.”
In August 2011, multiple nuclear plants shut down due to Hurricane Irene, with others reducing power.
Although nuclear plants are built for resilience, their operations get more complicated when only emergency personnel are on duty or if external electricity gets knocked out, as often happens during hurricanes.
“When external power is not available, you have to use standby generators,” said Sudarshan Loyalka, who teaches nuclear engineering at University of Missouri. “You just don’t want to rely on backup power.”
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Post by loverofbeers on Oct 30, 2012 3:21:49 GMT -5
Hey Wulfie, stay dry and safe. A Devil's Backbone Cheers! to you and yours.
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