Random News Stories

[Triple Zero]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/08/12/every-important-person-in-bitcoin-just-got-subpoenaed-by-new-yorks-financial-regulator/

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Who didn't see THIS  coming?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

 

[Junkenstein]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/08/12/every-important-person-in-bitcoin-just-got-subpoenaed-by-new-yorks-financial-regulator/

Hey Trip, You may also find laughs here:
http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php/topic,34414.0.html

[Junkenstein]

Wow:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/08/overthrow-the-generals/

Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis doesn't have faith in Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno.

Or the rest of the U.S. Army's generals, for that matter.

Writing in the August issues of The Armed Forces Journal ("Purge the generals"), Davis argues that it's high time to sack the Army's senior leaders for what he sees as an institutionalized epidemic of astonishing failures that not only go unreported, but are typically rewarded. All of it, he says, is creating a self-perpetuating culture of abysmal performance that won't go away until the generals do.

"Over that past 20 years, our senior leaders have amassed a record of failure in major organizational, acquisition and strategic efforts," Davis writes. "These failures have been accompanied by the hallmarks of an organization unable and unwilling to fix itself: aggressive resistance to the reporting of problems, suppression of failed test results, public declaration of success where none was justified, and the absence of accountability."

Davis, a seasoned Army colonel who has already earned a reputation for being something of a whistleblower by tracking leadership failures from the field in Afghanistan, describes a system where underserving leaders "received prestigious medals, promotions to higher ranks, and plum follow-on jobs; others retired and went to work for defense contractors, often with companies that had profited from the failed acquisition effort."

Just a few of those failed acquisition efforts total nearly $35 billion dollars.

I do not see a long a prosperous retirement for Davis. A sudden, suspicious and unlikely end would be about right.

Tons more links and good stuff buried in the article.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Wow:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/08/overthrow-the-generals/

Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis doesn't have faith in Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno.

Or the rest of the U.S. Army's generals, for that matter.

Writing in the August issues of The Armed Forces Journal ("Purge the generals"), Davis argues that it's high time to sack the Army's senior leaders for what he sees as an institutionalized epidemic of astonishing failures that not only go unreported, but are typically rewarded. All of it, he says, is creating a self-perpetuating culture of abysmal performance that won't go away until the generals do.

"Over that past 20 years, our senior leaders have amassed a record of failure in major organizational, acquisition and strategic efforts," Davis writes. "These failures have been accompanied by the hallmarks of an organization unable and unwilling to fix itself: aggressive resistance to the reporting of problems, suppression of failed test results, public declaration of success where none was justified, and the absence of accountability."

Davis, a seasoned Army colonel who has already earned a reputation for being something of a whistleblower by tracking leadership failures from the field in Afghanistan, describes a system where underserving leaders "received prestigious medals, promotions to higher ranks, and plum follow-on jobs; others retired and went to work for defense contractors, often with companies that had profited from the failed acquisition effort."

Just a few of those failed acquisition efforts total nearly $35 billion dollars.

I do not see a long a prosperous retirement for Davis. A sudden, suspicious and unlikely end would be about right.

Tons more links and good stuff buried in the article.

Naw.  We have a way of dealing with mouthy colonels and generals.  Google "Smedley Butler".

[Junkenstein]

I just did.

Now I have 3 dozen Wikipedia pages open.

I hope you're fucking HAPPY.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I just did.

Now I have 3 dozen Wikipedia pages open.

I hope you're fucking HAPPY.

It's some good reading.  I highly recommend Butler's book, War is a Racket.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/08/12/130812fa_fact_stillman?currentPage=all

Tons and tons of FUCKED UP regarding civil forfitures.

Examples:

By the time Boatright and Henderson spoke with Guillory, he was already acquainted with what he refers to as "the Tenaha operation." Several months earlier, he'd received a call from a plump-cheeked twenty-seven-year-old man named James Morrow, who worked at a Tyson plant in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, slicing chicken strips for prepared foods. "He told me a pretty startling story," Guillory recalls. In August, 2007, Tenaha police pulled Morrow over for "driving too close to the white line," and took thirty-nine hundred dollars from him. Morrow told Guillory that he was on his way to get dental work done at a Houston mall. (The arresting officers said that his "stories of travel" were inconsistent, as was his account of how much money he had; they also said they detected the "odor of burned marijuana," although no contraband was found in the car.) Morrow, who is black, was taken to jail, where he pleaded with authorities to call his bank to see proof of his recent cash withdrawal. They declined.

"They impounded my car, and they impounded me, too," Morrow told me, recalling the night he spent in jail. When he finally agreed to sign away his property, he was released on the side of the road with no money, no vehicle, and no phone. "I had to go to Wal-Mart and borrow someone's phone to call my mama," he recounted. "She had to take out a rental car to come pick me up." For weeks, Morrow said he felt "crippled," unsure of what to do. He says that a Tenaha officer told him, "Don't even bother getting a lawyer. The money always stays here."

The public records I reviewed support Rulli's assertion that homes in Philadelphia are routinely seized for unproved minor drug crimes, often involving children or grandchildren who don't own the home. "For real-estate forfeitures, it's overwhelmingly African-Americans and Hispanics," Rulli told me. "It has a very disparate race and class impact." He went on to talk about Andy Reid, the former coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, whose two sons were convicted of drug crimes in 2007 while living at the family's suburban mansion in Villanova. "Do you know what the headline read? It said, 'the home was an "emporium of drugs." ' An emporium of drugs!" The phrase, Rulli explained, came directly from a local judge. "And here's the question: Do you think they seized it?"

Much more in the link, it's quite a long piece but worth a read. Expect to see more of this kind of thing.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/us/tsa-expands-duties-beyond-airport-security.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

TSA appears to have been freed from the shackles of airports. Violations coming to you soon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/us/tsa-expands-duties-beyond-airport-security.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

With little fanfare, the agency best known for airport screenings has vastly expanded its reach to sporting events, music festivals, rodeos, highway weigh stations and train terminals. Not everyone is happy.

T.S.A. and local law enforcement officials say the teams are a critical component of the nation's counterterrorism efforts, but some members of Congress, auditors at the Department of Homeland Security and civil liberties groups are sounding alarms. The teams are also raising hackles among passengers who call them unnecessary and intrusive.

"Our mandate is to provide security and counterterrorism operations for all high-risk transportation targets, not just airports and aviation," said John S. Pistole, the administrator of the agency. "The VIPR teams are a big part of that."

Some in Congress, however, say the T.S.A. has not demonstrated that the teams are effective. Auditors at the Department of Homeland Security are asking questions about whether the teams are properly trained and deployed based on actual security threats.

Civil liberties groups say that the VIPR teams have little to do with the agency's original mission to provide security screenings at airports and that in some cases their actions amount to warrantless searches in violation of constitutional protections.

"The problem with T.S.A. stopping and searching people in public places outside the airport is that there are no real legal standards, or probable cause," said Khaliah Barnes, administrative law counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington. "It's something that is easily abused because the reason that they are conducting the stops is shrouded in secrecy."

T.S.A. officials respond that the random searches are "special needs" or "administrative searches" that are exempt from probable cause because they further the government's need to prevent terrorist attacks.

Terrorists. Terrorists Everywhere.

If they happen to find the odd roach clip or dodgy DVD, then I'm sure that will justify the exercises and expense. After all, drugs and piracy create bombers.

[Junkenstein]

Aha
AHAHA
AHAHAHAHA
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23691146

A gun instructor in the US state of Ohio has accidentally shot a student in the arm in a class for people seeking permits to carry a concealed firearm.

Terry Dunlap, 73, was demonstrating a .38-calibre pistol when it went off and struck Michael Piemonte, 26.

He and his wife were taking the day-long class in order to carry guns for their own safety, he told local media.

But yes, Violence can only be prevented by moar gunz.

[Cramulus]

                       Stand your ground
                                 /

[The Good Reverend Roger]

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/14/20024025-pentagon-announces-same-sex-spouse-benefits-for-military-couples?lite

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/08/12/130812fa_fact_stillman?currentPage=all

Tons and tons of FUCKED UP regarding civil forfitures.

Examples:

By the time Boatright and Henderson spoke with Guillory, he was already acquainted with what he refers to as "the Tenaha operation." Several months earlier, he'd received a call from a plump-cheeked twenty-seven-year-old man named James Morrow, who worked at a Tyson plant in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, slicing chicken strips for prepared foods. "He told me a pretty startling story," Guillory recalls. In August, 2007, Tenaha police pulled Morrow over for "driving too close to the white line," and took thirty-nine hundred dollars from him. Morrow told Guillory that he was on his way to get dental work done at a Houston mall. (The arresting officers said that his "stories of travel" were inconsistent, as was his account of how much money he had; they also said they detected the "odor of burned marijuana," although no contraband was found in the car.) Morrow, who is black, was taken to jail, where he pleaded with authorities to call his bank to see proof of his recent cash withdrawal. They declined.

"They impounded my car, and they impounded me, too," Morrow told me, recalling the night he spent in jail. When he finally agreed to sign away his property, he was released on the side of the road with no money, no vehicle, and no phone. "I had to go to Wal-Mart and borrow someone's phone to call my mama," he recounted. "She had to take out a rental car to come pick me up." For weeks, Morrow said he felt "crippled," unsure of what to do. He says that a Tenaha officer told him, "Don't even bother getting a lawyer. The money always stays here."

The public records I reviewed support Rulli's assertion that homes in Philadelphia are routinely seized for unproved minor drug crimes, often involving children or grandchildren who don't own the home. "For real-estate forfeitures, it's overwhelmingly African-Americans and Hispanics," Rulli told me. "It has a very disparate race and class impact." He went on to talk about Andy Reid, the former coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, whose two sons were convicted of drug crimes in 2007 while living at the family's suburban mansion in Villanova. "Do you know what the headline read? It said, 'the home was an "emporium of drugs." ' An emporium of drugs!" The phrase, Rulli explained, came directly from a local judge. "And here's the question: Do you think they seized it?"

Much more in the link, it's quite a long piece but worth a read. Expect to see more of this kind of thing.

Oh, I'm sure it's just a few bad apples, though, most of the people in drug enforcement are in it for the right reasons, all the statistics and textbooks are wrong, etc. etc.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/us/tsa-expands-duties-beyond-airport-security.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

TSA appears to have been freed from the shackles of airports. Violations coming to you soon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/us/tsa-expands-duties-beyond-airport-security.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

With little fanfare, the agency best known for airport screenings has vastly expanded its reach to sporting events, music festivals, rodeos, highway weigh stations and train terminals. Not everyone is happy.

T.S.A. and local law enforcement officials say the teams are a critical component of the nation's counterterrorism efforts, but some members of Congress, auditors at the Department of Homeland Security and civil liberties groups are sounding alarms. The teams are also raising hackles among passengers who call them unnecessary and intrusive.

"Our mandate is to provide security and counterterrorism operations for all high-risk transportation targets, not just airports and aviation," said John S. Pistole, the administrator of the agency. "The VIPR teams are a big part of that."

Some in Congress, however, say the T.S.A. has not demonstrated that the teams are effective. Auditors at the Department of Homeland Security are asking questions about whether the teams are properly trained and deployed based on actual security threats.

Civil liberties groups say that the VIPR teams have little to do with the agency's original mission to provide security screenings at airports and that in some cases their actions amount to warrantless searches in violation of constitutional protections.

"The problem with T.S.A. stopping and searching people in public places outside the airport is that there are no real legal standards, or probable cause," said Khaliah Barnes, administrative law counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington. "It's something that is easily abused because the reason that they are conducting the stops is shrouded in secrecy."

T.S.A. officials respond that the random searches are "special needs" or "administrative searches" that are exempt from probable cause because they further the government's need to prevent terrorist attacks.

Terrorists. Terrorists Everywhere.

If they happen to find the odd roach clip or dodgy DVD, then I'm sure that will justify the exercises and expense. After all, drugs and piracy create bombers.

I look forward to my patriotic anal cavity probes next time I try to enter the mall.