July 23, 2013

Rush and O’Reilly: Race hustlers, Inc.

Limbaugh, Hannity, Bill-O and other right-wing white-grievance mongers are stoking racial tension for cash

This is the new right wing racket. Well, it’s not entirely new – race baiting is an old racket on the right – but the extent to which conservatives are now comfortable telling white people they’re the new victims, in danger of being unfairly prosecuted like George Zimmerman when they should actually be thanked for ending slavery, is unique and brazen and dangerous. We need more Republicans, as well as more media figures, to call it what it is: a race hustle.

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/23/rush_and_oreilly_race_hustlers_inc/

July 19, 2013

Real-Life Repercussions Of Snowden Leaks: Al Qaeda Changing Tactics, Making Plot Detection Harder

(B)ut as some cheer Mr. Snowden as a hero, and demonize the government and the programs he impacted by his actions, it might be wise to look beyond the pumped fists and waving flags to consider the bigger picture. If, indeed, his actions endanger the safety of anyone in the intelligence arena, American citizens in their homes or offices, or any human being who might find themselves in the wrong place and time should a terrorist attack occur that might have been preempted but wasn’t, the real-life repercussions will go beyond “whistleblowing” and “liberties,” right to matters of life and death. Easier or harder to draw lines in the sand then? We’ll all have to decide.

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/06/27/real-life-repercussions-of-snowden-leaks-al-qaeda-changing-tactics-making-plot-detection-harder/

July 17, 2013

Confirmed: US drone strike killed key al-Qa'ida leader Saeed al-Shihri in Yemen

Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner was hit last year but Yemen branch has just announced death

The Yemen-based branch of al-Qa'ida confirmed today that the group's No. 2 figure, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, was killed in a US drone strike. The announcement, posted on militant websites, gave no date for the death of Saudi-born Saeed al-Shihri.

The confirmation was significant, however, because al-Shihri had twice before been reported dead but the terror group later denied those reports.

His killing is considered a major blow to the Yemen-based al-Qa'ida branch, known as al-Qa'ida in The Arabian Peninsula. Yemeni security officials said al-Shihri died of serious injuries sustained when a drone strike targeted him in November last year.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/confirmed-us-drone-strike-killed-key-alqaida-leader-saeed-alshihri-in-yemen-8713944.html

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July 16, 2013

New Picture of Snowden in Russia Emerges

July 16, 2013

Putin Urges Snowden to Leave Russia

MOSCOW—President Vladimir Putin said he hopes Edward Snowden, the U.S. National Security Agency leaker, will leave Russia as soon as possible and reiterated that he doesn't want the situation to damage relations with the White House.
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Mr. Putin noted that Mr. Snowden remains in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport only because the U.S. has prevented the fugitive from reaching his desired final destination in Latin America.

The comments Monday highlighted Mr. Putin's delicate maneuvering. Though Mr. Snowden's arrival has presented an opportunity for the Russian president to burnish his American-defiant reputation at home and abroad, Mr. Putin isn't seeking a major blowup in ties with Washington. Such a collapse in relations would imperil a high-profile September meeting that Mr. Putin has planned with President Barack Obama in Russia—an event the Kremlin doesn't want to derail.

Russia declined the White House's request to expel Mr. Snowden in part because the U.S. would be highly unlikely to expel a Russian asylum-seeker at the Kremlin's request. But that doesn't mean Mr. Putin views Mr. Snowden sympathetically. The former KGB apparatchik, whose inner circle comprises security-service loyalists, views whistleblowing activities with skepticism and hasn't expressed support for Mr. Snowden's plight or cause.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323394504578607911467319492.html

July 15, 2013

Der Spiegel: Snowden gave out information that could endanger the lives of NSA workers

"SPIEGEL has decided not to publish details it has seen about secret operations that could endanger the lives of NSA workers."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/secret-documents-nsa-targeted-germany-and-eu-buildings-a-908609-3.html

So basically this guy is now betraying US agents in the field by giving their names to foreign entities. And he is cloaking all of this with concern for the privacy of American citizens. Wow, he just keeps on adding to his list of crimes. He has pretty much assured that he will spend the rest of his life in a federal supermax prison.

July 15, 2013

message to floridians

"In any altercation, however minor, the best way to avoid criminal liability is to kill the counter party"

http://mobile.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/07/zimmerman_acquittal_blame_florida_for_trayvon_martin_s_death.html

July 15, 2013

in a self defense claim, is it unusual for the defendant to decline to testify

is it a peculiarity of Florida law that the burden of justifying his taking of a life is not on the accused?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/07/how_much_is_about_florida_law.php?m=1

July 14, 2013

So when does Zimmerman start making money off of this?

You know, book deals, NRA speaking fees, etc. This is why a successful civil suit by the Martin family is so crucial. Not just the wee bit of justice it will bring but the prevention of his profiting from his crime.

July 14, 2013

If the exact same evidence had been presented by the exact same prosecutors against the exact same

defense lawyers to the exact same jury, but the victim had been white and the defendant black, there would have been a 2nd degree murder conviction