Where Am I and What Do I Need to Say Today?

Don't people pay any attention to what she says in other places?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

It Has Possibilities

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

After Clinton "Wins" the Nomination

What should Bernie do?  He says he'll support Hillary.  And what about all of his supporters who don't want to support her?  Are they just pawns?

That's precisely what Bernie should do.  A Stein/Sanders ticket would surely bring in enough votes to give the Green Party the chance of a serious move to chisel away at the two-party fixed political system we have now.  A notice to the duopoly that democracy might actually take hold in this country.

He won't.  But he should.  Perhaps Stein wouldn't even want him as a running mate.  But she should.

If he would run as an independent, he should tag Elizabeth Warren for his VP.  

Two possible paths to changing the sytem for the better.  

The post-campaign fate of Sanders’ list — his 2016 crown jewel, and the backbone of the Vermont senator's online fundraising juggernaut — is the topic of frequent conversation among operatives working with the Democratic Party committees, down-ballot candidates and a variety of liberal interest groups. Some have already begun strategizing about how to access the list through informal conversations with people close to the Sanders campaign.

[...]

Sanders’ recent move to share some of the love by sending three fundraising emails for House candidates in early April sparked a new rush of interest in the data.

[...]

“There’s this view among the Washington consultant class that these members are an ATM and you throw some words at them and they’ll give you money no matter what,” said Neil Sroka, a former Obama 2008 campaign aide now working as communications director of Democracy For America, which has endorsed Sanders. “Everyone in the Democratic Party is going to want Bernie Sanders’ seal of approval and a chance to share their message with the people on his email list."

  Politico

What will Bernie do?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Very Interesting - Torture Lawsuit to Go Forward

A CIVIL SUIT against the architects of the CIA’s torture program, psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, will be allowed to proceed, a federal judge in Spokane, Washington, decided on Friday.

[...]

What’s so unprecedented is that this is the first time opponents of the program will have the chance to seek discovery evidence in the case unimpeded by the government.

  The Intercept

I'll believe it when I see it.

The three plaintiffs are Suleiman Abdullah Salim, Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, and the estate of Gul Rahman, who died at a CIA black site known as the “Salt Pit.” Each was kidnapped and subjected to extreme physical and psychological torture and experimentation, though none was ever charged with a crime.

[...]

Mitchell and Jessen’s proposed framework for “enhanced interrogation” involved trying to drive detainees to a state of “learned helplessness” through unbearable suffering, to the point they would be willing to totally comply. The theories behind the tactics were drawn from the psychologists’ experiments on dogs decades prior.

Sick bastards.

The only thing that concerns me is the name of the Judge: Justin Quackenbush.  I'll get over it.

Virginia?!?

The Democrat said restoring the rights of felons to vote and run for office will help undo the state's long history of trying to prevent African-Americans from fully participating in our democracy.

"This is the essence of our democracy and any effort to dilute that fundamental principle diminishes it, folks, for all of us," McAuliffe said on the steps of Virginia's Capitol, before a crowd of more than 100 people that included many felons. Left-leaning advocacy groups were there as well, handing out voter registration forms.

[...]

Constitutional scholar A.E. Dick Howard, who presided over the most recent rewrite of the Virginia Constitution 45 years ago, said McAuliffe has broad discretion in restoring civil rights, and has now ended one of the last remaining legacies of an earlier constitutional convention that was "committed to white supremacy."

"The last ghost of the 1902 convention was buried today," Howard said.

[...]

"Terry McAuliffe wants to ensure that convicted pedophiles, rapists, and domestic abusers can vote for Hillary Clinton," said Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Ryan T. McDougle.

  Big Story AP

Those sound like Trump fans to me.

This is shaping up to be the most exciting November of our lives.

That, Or a Secret Government Experiment

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Do You Trust Anyone?

The Norwegian chapter of writers’ rights organization PEN International is suing its own government in an attempt to make it safe for Edward Snowden to accept in person the prestigious Ossietzky Prize — without fear of extradition to the United States.

  Tech Crunch

I'd get on that plane only if it were a private charter from PEN. And even then...I don't know.

“A prosecution against Snowden under the US Espionage Act constitutes a political offense within the meaning of Norwegian and international law. Accordingly, the lawsuit asserts that extradition of Edward Snowden would be contrary to law, and that the court should so declare,” reads the press release.

[...]

He was also the winner of the Bjørnson prize in 2015, and despite a petition asking the Prime Minister to guarantee Snowden free passage, he ended up accepting the award via trademark Snowden video chat.

Probably gonna have to go that route again.

The Carl von Ossietzky Prize has been awarded yearly by Norsk PEN since 1994 for exceptional work promoting freedom of speech. It’s named after a famous German pacifist who exposed the country’s illegal rearmament and faced charges of high treason — so he and Snowden would have had a lot to talk about.

It probably won't be done, but just in case, Ed must know it's a risky business. I suggest he get a plane-load of well-known public figures to travel with him.  And maybe some Blackwater mercenaries.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Open Season on Civilians

Since last fall, the Pentagon has delegated more authority to the commander of the war, Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, to approve targets when there is the risk that civilians could be killed. Previously, authority for missions with the potential to kill innocents had been made by the higher headquarters of U.S. Central Command. Seeking approval from above takes time, and targets of fleeting opportunity can be missed.

Six Defense Department officials, all speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to describe how Islamic State targets are selected and attacked, described a sliding scale of probable civilian casualties based on the value of the target and the location. For example, a strike with the potential to wound or kill several civilians would be permitted if it prevented ISIL fighters from causing greater harm.

Before the change, there were some limited cases in which civilian casualties were allowed, the officials said. Now, however, there are several targeting areas in which the probability of 10 civilian casualties are permitted. Those areas shift depending on the time, location of the targets and the value of destroying them, the officials said.

  USA Today

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Only Three? We're Good

The 173rd Airborne Brigade is investigating what went wrong during an airborne drop that resulted in three Humvees free-falling to their destruction, as depicted in a widely-shared online video.

[...]

About 150 supply bundles, vehicles, communications equipment and indirect weapons systems were dropped, according to Army spokesman Maj. Juan Martinez. But three Humvees slipped from their rigging as their parachutes deployed. plummeting hundreds of feet to the earth. Martinez said no one was hurt.

"The specific malfunctions that occurred on this day are under investigation," Martinez said in an email to Army Times. "There were multiple rehearsals and inspections of the equipment prior to mission execution. We cannot speculate on what went wrong until the investigation is complete."

Martinez also hinted at the severity of the issue, writing in a subsequent email that "this investigation will receive the highest priority."

  ArmyTimes

Video here - shows them dropping and exploding. The videographers are audible and having a great time. I'd say if anybody is going to be in trouble, it's them.

Couldn't Get a Better Deal?

The FBI paid about $1.3m for software to hack into the iPhone of San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook, director James Comey told a London audience on Thursday.

  Guardian

Holy shit. But, let's not fool ourselves. The FBI didn't pay that much. We did. Taxpayers.

When asked Thursday how much the FBI paid for the exploit, Comey replied: “A lot.”

What’s a lot? “More than I will make in the remainder of this job, which is seven years and four months,” Comey said.

The FBI director makes $180,000 a year. That means the FBI paid at least $1.26m, not counting the four months.

Oh! Okay, not "about" $1.3m, but somewhere OVER that amount.

“It was, in my view, worth it,” [Comey] said.

Really?!? Then you need glasses, asshat,because word has it, you got nothing from it.

April 13: A law enforcement source tells CBS News that so far nothing of real significance has been found on the San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone, which was unlocked by the FBI last month without the help of Apple.

It was stressed that the FBI continues to analyze the information on the cellphone seized in the investigation, senior investigative producer Pat Milton reports.

[...]

FBI Director James Comey said last week that the bureau has not decided whether to share details with Apple about how it hacked into Farook's iPhone 5c. "If we tell Apple, they're going to fix it and we're back where we started," Comey said. "As silly as it may sound, we may end up there. We just haven't decided yet."

  CBS News

I'll tell you what sounds silly - that you think it was worth $1.3 million.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.