Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Fire Walk With Me
Fire Walk With Me's Journal
Fire Walk With Me's Journal
July 29, 2012
Livestream from Syrian city under attack
Basically the sound of sporadic gunfire and shells.
http://bambuser.com/v/2863252
July 28, 2012
TEL AVIV (The Borowitz Report)—The Mitt Romney Gaffe Express pulled into a new station today, leaving its conductor’s hopes of proving himself to be a nimble statesman in tatters.
Mr. Romney’s troubles began in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to whom he presented gifts of a HoneyBaked ham and a wheel of cheddar cheese.
After Mr. Netanyahu ordered both gifts removed from his residence and destroyed, Mr. Romney went on to address the Knesset, where he congratulated the Jewish people on building the pyramids.
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2012/07/romneys-gaffes-worsen-in-israel.html#ixzz21wGKn0i5
Borowitz Report: Israel: Romney visits West Bank, attempts to deposit $10 million
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2012/07/romneys-gaffes-worsen-in-israel.htmlTEL AVIV (The Borowitz Report)—The Mitt Romney Gaffe Express pulled into a new station today, leaving its conductor’s hopes of proving himself to be a nimble statesman in tatters.
Mr. Romney’s troubles began in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to whom he presented gifts of a HoneyBaked ham and a wheel of cheddar cheese.
After Mr. Netanyahu ordered both gifts removed from his residence and destroyed, Mr. Romney went on to address the Knesset, where he congratulated the Jewish people on building the pyramids.
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2012/07/romneys-gaffes-worsen-in-israel.html#ixzz21wGKn0i5
July 28, 2012
On December 21, 2012 Coca Cola will be officially banned in Bolivia. The announcement comes from Foreign Minister David Choquehuanaca, who stated that his Government is supporting the beginning of a new era free of capitalism and embracing "the culture of life" and "community spirit".
With the support of President Evo Morales by his side, Choquehuanaca said December 21 is "the end of egoism, of division. December 21 has to be the end of Coca Cola, and the beginning of mocochinchi (a traditional Bolivian soda)".
Coca Cola is one of the world's most recognised brands and can be found in just about every corner of the earth. Currently only three countries continue to be coke-free: Cuba, North Korea and Myanmar. But even the latter of those is about to see waves of the drink return to shelves and fridges after 60 years of US investment sanctions.
Coca Cola Booted From Bolivia
http://au.smallbusiness.yahoo.com/article/-/14344893/coca-cola-booted-from-bolivia/On December 21, 2012 Coca Cola will be officially banned in Bolivia. The announcement comes from Foreign Minister David Choquehuanaca, who stated that his Government is supporting the beginning of a new era free of capitalism and embracing "the culture of life" and "community spirit".
With the support of President Evo Morales by his side, Choquehuanaca said December 21 is "the end of egoism, of division. December 21 has to be the end of Coca Cola, and the beginning of mocochinchi (a traditional Bolivian soda)".
Coca Cola is one of the world's most recognised brands and can be found in just about every corner of the earth. Currently only three countries continue to be coke-free: Cuba, North Korea and Myanmar. But even the latter of those is about to see waves of the drink return to shelves and fridges after 60 years of US investment sanctions.
July 28, 2012
SEATTLE — Seattle officials agreed to an independent monitor and court oversight of the city’s police department as part of an agreement announced Friday with the Justice Department following a damning report that found officers routinely used excessive force.
City and federal negotiators were involved in tense talks over the scope of a deal for months, and Justice Department lawyers had threatened to sue the city if a deal was not reached by July 31.
“It’s no secret there were a few bumps in the road to get here,” Mayor Mike McGinn said. “We do have a lot of work in front of us.”
Feds, Seattle to announce police reform agreement following critical report about force
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/feds-seattle-to-announce-police-reform-agreement-following-critical-report-about-force/2012/07/27/gJQAG1LCEX_story.htmlSEATTLE — Seattle officials agreed to an independent monitor and court oversight of the city’s police department as part of an agreement announced Friday with the Justice Department following a damning report that found officers routinely used excessive force.
City and federal negotiators were involved in tense talks over the scope of a deal for months, and Justice Department lawyers had threatened to sue the city if a deal was not reached by July 31.
“It’s no secret there were a few bumps in the road to get here,” Mayor Mike McGinn said. “We do have a lot of work in front of us.”
July 27, 2012
British police arrest 182 "critical mass" bicyclists near olympics
Updated title to reflect past-tense and number of arrests
https://twitter.com/OurOlympics/status/228962053333856257/photo/1/large
OurOlympics ?@OurOlympics
Kettle tightened at #criticalmass and now being told to leave at west end. No one clear what's happening. Arrest or freedom?
Michael ?@_cypherpunks_
MORE: Met police confirms arresting 'large number of people' during #criticalmass, assaults reported
http://on.rt.com/wt0an4
#olympicceremony
Policeman assaulting and pepper-spraying a disabled man on a tricycle
July 27, 2012
In the spring of 2010, I did some readings for ASAH members.
The archives appear to not contain the relevant thread. I am wondering if a few of those who may have had positive experiences could please say so? I would appreciate it...even just that it happened/was real/not possible otherwise. Here's hoping every one who asked got something positive from it. Peace! There are some new folks in my life who were not there to see that or my multiple correct earthquake and other predictions come to pass, and who cannot believe uneditable posts made beforehand.
Why not simply make new predictions? Because right now, things are...uncontained and volatile and not altogether pleasant to look upon. And because they have tested me well beyond my request to not do so.
PS: 2012 predictions are happening as expected/stated although "outcome" is in flux as it is our choice moment by moment. Please get your gardens growing and learn to preserve food.
July 27, 2012
So this global crisis has resulted in uprisings all around the world from the Middle East to Europe, to Greece. So the US government is paying a very careful attention to this knowing that here in the United States where people here are suffering a deep economic crisis that a protest movement here a vibrant protest movement that can force this government to make drastic changes or do away with the current government altogether is a possibility and this is why we saw when the Occupy movement happened here, when it was the Arab spring, as they say, coming to the United States even though there have been many other upsurges and protest movements in the US in recent years.
When the Occupy movement here started and we know now because a great law from Partnership for Civil Justice has uncovered hundreds of thousands of pages of documents from Homeland Security and from local law enforcement that showed when the Occupy movement started, there is a nationally coordinated surveillance and spying effort directed at people who are protesting and not only that, there is a nationally coordinated violent crackdown, illegal crackdowns on peaceful protests all around the country with the intent of scaring people from ever protesting again, with the intent of smashing the movement that was raising legitimate demands, simple demands about the need for jobs and the deep student debt that college students are living with.
And so what we have seen is that this country that tries to lecture the rest of the world about democracy and free speech and freedom of assembly tries to use these things as excuses to sanction and attack other countries around the world that this country itself, the right to free speech, the right to freedom of assembly that are supposed to be the most cherished rights under the constitution and the one that the US government brags about all the time and uses to lecture to other countries, in fact instead of aiding the constitutional rights of people who are protesting, used all the power and technology and minds of the state to try to smash that protest movement which has actually succeeded in doing to a large part because they have destroyed the Occupy encampments and they have intimidated hundreds of people from coming into the streets again.
'US government is scared of Occupy movement'
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2012/07/27/252995/us-govt-scared-of-occupy-movement/So this global crisis has resulted in uprisings all around the world from the Middle East to Europe, to Greece. So the US government is paying a very careful attention to this knowing that here in the United States where people here are suffering a deep economic crisis that a protest movement here a vibrant protest movement that can force this government to make drastic changes or do away with the current government altogether is a possibility and this is why we saw when the Occupy movement happened here, when it was the Arab spring, as they say, coming to the United States even though there have been many other upsurges and protest movements in the US in recent years.
When the Occupy movement here started and we know now because a great law from Partnership for Civil Justice has uncovered hundreds of thousands of pages of documents from Homeland Security and from local law enforcement that showed when the Occupy movement started, there is a nationally coordinated surveillance and spying effort directed at people who are protesting and not only that, there is a nationally coordinated violent crackdown, illegal crackdowns on peaceful protests all around the country with the intent of scaring people from ever protesting again, with the intent of smashing the movement that was raising legitimate demands, simple demands about the need for jobs and the deep student debt that college students are living with.
And so what we have seen is that this country that tries to lecture the rest of the world about democracy and free speech and freedom of assembly tries to use these things as excuses to sanction and attack other countries around the world that this country itself, the right to free speech, the right to freedom of assembly that are supposed to be the most cherished rights under the constitution and the one that the US government brags about all the time and uses to lecture to other countries, in fact instead of aiding the constitutional rights of people who are protesting, used all the power and technology and minds of the state to try to smash that protest movement which has actually succeeded in doing to a large part because they have destroyed the Occupy encampments and they have intimidated hundreds of people from coming into the streets again.
July 27, 2012
The FAA has authorized the use of remote-controlled Predator drones in the airspace above nearly 10,000 acres in North Dakota. As of this fall, unmanned military aircraft will use lasers to aim at ground targets from nearly 2 miles above the earth.
Grand Forks, North Dakota — the third largest city in the state — will host a domestic training facility for the military’s unmanned aerial vehicles starting in October. Several times a week pilots will remotely guide robotic drones through the sky at altitudes as high of 9,999 feet above sea level and zone in on ground targets with the use of dangerous lasers.
"People may hear airplanes flying above, but there will be no lights visible and no explosions," Col. Rick Gibney, commander of the 119th Wing of the North Dakota Air National Guard, tells the Grand Forks Herald. The lasers the drones will be equipped with are reported by the Herald to help pilots practice on designating targets for bombing and missile launching missions overseas.
Predator drones to start operations over North Dakota
http://rt.com/usa/news/predator-north-dakota-ground-243/The FAA has authorized the use of remote-controlled Predator drones in the airspace above nearly 10,000 acres in North Dakota. As of this fall, unmanned military aircraft will use lasers to aim at ground targets from nearly 2 miles above the earth.
Grand Forks, North Dakota — the third largest city in the state — will host a domestic training facility for the military’s unmanned aerial vehicles starting in October. Several times a week pilots will remotely guide robotic drones through the sky at altitudes as high of 9,999 feet above sea level and zone in on ground targets with the use of dangerous lasers.
"People may hear airplanes flying above, but there will be no lights visible and no explosions," Col. Rick Gibney, commander of the 119th Wing of the North Dakota Air National Guard, tells the Grand Forks Herald. The lasers the drones will be equipped with are reported by the Herald to help pilots practice on designating targets for bombing and missile launching missions overseas.
July 27, 2012
KTLA News
9:05 a.m. PDT, July 27, 2012
ANAHEIM, Calif. (KTLA) -- Police in Anaheim opened fire on a burglary suspect Friday morning -- the third officer-involved shooting in the city in less than a week.
The latest incident happened around 3:15 a.m. after officers were called to investigate a burglary alarm at a new development called Colony Park.
Responding officers found a washer and dryer outside a model home and spotted one suspect, who took off running.
Edit:
[UPDATE: COMPLAINT MADE WITH ANAHEIM PD] Was There a Police Plant at the Anaheim Protests Who Threw Bottles at Officers to Incite a Riot?
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/07/anaheim_police_riots_plant.php
Anaheim Police Open Fire on Burglary Suspect
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-anaheim-officer-shooting,0,2628822.storyKTLA News
9:05 a.m. PDT, July 27, 2012
ANAHEIM, Calif. (KTLA) -- Police in Anaheim opened fire on a burglary suspect Friday morning -- the third officer-involved shooting in the city in less than a week.
The latest incident happened around 3:15 a.m. after officers were called to investigate a burglary alarm at a new development called Colony Park.
Responding officers found a washer and dryer outside a model home and spotted one suspect, who took off running.
Edit:
[UPDATE: COMPLAINT MADE WITH ANAHEIM PD] Was There a Police Plant at the Anaheim Protests Who Threw Bottles at Officers to Incite a Riot?
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/07/anaheim_police_riots_plant.php
July 27, 2012
http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/07/government-files-brief-opposing-permanent-injunction-in-hedges/
Government Files Brief Opposing Permanent Injunction in (Chris) Hedges
By Benjamin Wittes
Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 9:32 PM
The government has filed its brief in opposition to the plantiffs’ motion for a permanent injunction—and seeking dismissal of the case. The brief opens as follows:
Defendants Barack Obama,Leon Panetta, and the Department of Defense (collectively, the “government”) respectfully submit this memorandum in opposition to plaintiffs’ request for a permanent injunction against the operation of a portion of section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, Pub. L. 112-81, 125 Stat. 1298 (Dec. 31, 2011) (the “NDAA”), and in support of the government’s request that the Court enter final judgment in its favor.
Plaintiffs present a truly extraordinary claim in this action. They seek to enjoin the operation of a statute enacted by Congress and signed into law by the President, a statute that codifies a longstanding Executive military-detention authority that has been upheld by the courts, and therefore enjoys the endorsement of all three branches of the government. While that alone would be an ambitious endeavor, plaintiffs reach even further, and claim that they, as journalists and activists, may obtain an injunction to invalidate the statute on its face, to apply worldwide, and, most unusually, to prohibit certain uses of the military detention authority exercised by the United States and the Commander-in-Chief during an ongoing armed conflict. Any one of those facts should cause extreme hesitation by the Court; taken together, they require the most exacting scrutiny to ensure that if the judicial power is to be exercised in such a far-reaching manner it is clearly within the Court’s jurisdiction to do so. Yet plaintiffs cannot come close to establishing that jurisdiction, as they cannot carry their burden of demonstrating even the basic elements of standing. They claim they fear military detention, based on an erroneous interpretation of the statute that would extend its scope in direct contradiction of the statute’s words, and with no regard for the context that gives it meaning. They persist in asserting that interpretation even though it is contravened by over a decade of history; they cannot point to a single example of the military’s detaining anyone for engaging in conduct even remotely similar to the type of expressive activities they allege could lead to detention. And they continue to seek unprecedented injunctive relief despite already obtaining assurance from the government in this case that based on their allegations they are not detainable under this statute. Plaintiffs therefore have fallen far short of meeting their burden to show they have been injured by the statute; their complaints are the types of generalized grievances of allegedly unlawful government conduct that have been repeatedly held insufficient to support standing.
(More at the link)
Is this confirmed? USA haughtily blows off little people's claim against NDAA, indefinite detention
If you don't know about the NDAA and section 1021, please search for it and consult your favorite, trusted source.http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/07/government-files-brief-opposing-permanent-injunction-in-hedges/
Government Files Brief Opposing Permanent Injunction in (Chris) Hedges
By Benjamin Wittes
Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 9:32 PM
The government has filed its brief in opposition to the plantiffs’ motion for a permanent injunction—and seeking dismissal of the case. The brief opens as follows:
Defendants Barack Obama,Leon Panetta, and the Department of Defense (collectively, the “government”) respectfully submit this memorandum in opposition to plaintiffs’ request for a permanent injunction against the operation of a portion of section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, Pub. L. 112-81, 125 Stat. 1298 (Dec. 31, 2011) (the “NDAA”), and in support of the government’s request that the Court enter final judgment in its favor.
Plaintiffs present a truly extraordinary claim in this action. They seek to enjoin the operation of a statute enacted by Congress and signed into law by the President, a statute that codifies a longstanding Executive military-detention authority that has been upheld by the courts, and therefore enjoys the endorsement of all three branches of the government. While that alone would be an ambitious endeavor, plaintiffs reach even further, and claim that they, as journalists and activists, may obtain an injunction to invalidate the statute on its face, to apply worldwide, and, most unusually, to prohibit certain uses of the military detention authority exercised by the United States and the Commander-in-Chief during an ongoing armed conflict. Any one of those facts should cause extreme hesitation by the Court; taken together, they require the most exacting scrutiny to ensure that if the judicial power is to be exercised in such a far-reaching manner it is clearly within the Court’s jurisdiction to do so. Yet plaintiffs cannot come close to establishing that jurisdiction, as they cannot carry their burden of demonstrating even the basic elements of standing. They claim they fear military detention, based on an erroneous interpretation of the statute that would extend its scope in direct contradiction of the statute’s words, and with no regard for the context that gives it meaning. They persist in asserting that interpretation even though it is contravened by over a decade of history; they cannot point to a single example of the military’s detaining anyone for engaging in conduct even remotely similar to the type of expressive activities they allege could lead to detention. And they continue to seek unprecedented injunctive relief despite already obtaining assurance from the government in this case that based on their allegations they are not detainable under this statute. Plaintiffs therefore have fallen far short of meeting their burden to show they have been injured by the statute; their complaints are the types of generalized grievances of allegedly unlawful government conduct that have been repeatedly held insufficient to support standing.
(More at the link)
Profile Information
Gender: MaleCurrent location: Los Angeles
Member since: Sat Apr 9, 2005, 09:20 PM
Number of posts: 38,893
