Monday, June 24, 2013
Barker's Newsbites: Monday, June 24, 2013
Good morning Vietnam...!
(And everyone else!)
Busy weekend! Spent part of it debating the nature of... er... reality... with two separate in-laws on two separate topics. Always fun!
Pizza and beer on Friday... Sangria and live music on Saturday... more beer - and home-made anisette - at Cousin Jo's on Sunday... (not to mention one hell of a Sunday meal)!
And today... Body Pump at 10:45 a.m. - probably hit the pool after that!
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http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/23/u-s-government-disappointed-hong-kong-let-snowden-leave-country/
As the international manhunt for alleged NSA leaker Edward Snowden spanned continents on Sunday, U.S. officials struggled to explain how the 30-year-old former intelligence contractor slipped an extradition request, reportedly to seek asylum in Ecuador.
* "SLIPPED...?!?!" SNOWDEN DIDN'T "SLIP" SHIT! THE FEDS LET HIM LEAVE THE COUNTRY. CHINA AND RUSSIA HAVE NO RESPECT FOR OR FEAR OF OBAMA SO THEY COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT OUR TOOTHLESS THREATS. THIS IS SIMPLY BUSINESS AS USUAL IN AMERICA 2013 - THE AGE OF OBAMA!
“The U.S. is disappointed and disagrees with the determination by Hong Kong authorities not to honor the U.S. request for the arrest of the fugitive, Edward J. Snowden,” a Department of Justice spokesperson said on Sunday evening.
* WOW... WE'RE "DISAPPOINTED..." HOW'BOUT SUBSTITUTE "DISAPPOINTED" FOR "IMPOTENT." (*SNORT*)
Authorities in Hong Kong, where Snowden had been hiding out since he leaked documents on NSA surveillance programs to media outlets, said on Sunday that they found the extradition request insufficient...
* IN OTHER WORDS, A BIG "FU" TO OBAMA. (*SHRUG*)
...a finding a Department of Justice spokesperson said the U.S. finds “particularly troubling.”
* "TROUBLING," HUH? THAT'S GREAT... JUST GREAT... (WHAT'S HOLDER GONNA DO TO STRIKE BACK - SHIP AUTOMATIC WEAPONS TO THE TRIADS?) (*SNORT*)
A senior Administration official delivered a terse statement to Hong Kong on Saturday about Snowden, saying, “If Hong Kong doesn’t act soon, it will complicate our bilateral relations and raise questions about Hong Kong’s commitment to the rule of law.”
* THESE PEOPLE ARE FUCKING PATHETIC.
National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden issued a strongly worded statement early on Monday criticizing Hong Kong authorities as well as the Chinese government for allowing Snowden to flee the country.
* YEAH... I BET THE CHICOMS ARE SHAKING IN THEIR BOOTS... (*SNICKER*)
* HEY... FOLKS... RECALL FROM PREVIOUS NEWSBITES... OBAMA HAS HAD THE NAVY DOING JOINT "COOPERATIVE" NAVAL EXERCISES WITH THE CHINESE! SO MUCH FOR OBAMA DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVES, HUH?!
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NEIGHBORHOOD_WATCH?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-06-24-09-42-41
George Zimmerman's defense attorneys can use the neighborhood watch volunteer's claim that he was screaming for help moments before he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Judge Debra Nelson made the ruling Monday shortly before opening statements in Zimmerman's second-degree murder trial.
* WOW... (*SNORT*)... HOW "JUDICIAL" OF HER... ALLOW ZIMMERMAN TO TELL HIS STORY...
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic...
* FUCKING AMAZING...!!! (FOLKS... THIS IS THE ASSOCIATED FRIGGIN' PRESS!)
Circuit Judge Debra Nelson ruled last week prosecutors will be able to use the word "profiled" in their opening statements, as long as their description isn't limited to racial profiling. Prosecutors will be able to describe Zimmerman as a "wannabe cop" and "vigilante" and will be able to say Zimmerman confronted Martin.
* FINE! LET 'EM MAKE THE CLAIMS! THEN MAKE THEM PROVE THEM... BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT!
Two police dispatch phone calls will be important evidence for both sides' cases. The first is a call Zimmerman made to a nonemergency police dispatcher as he followed Martin walking through his gated community. At one point, the dispatcher tells Zimmerman he doesn't need to be following Martin. The second 911 call captures screams from the confrontation between Zimmerman and Martin. Martin's parents said the screams are from their son while Zimmerman's father contends they belong to his son.
Nelson ruled last weekend that audio experts for the prosecution won't be able to testify that the screams belong to Martin, saying the methods the experts used were unreliable.
* "UNRELIABLE," HUH? IN OTHER WORDS... THE PROSECUTION TRIED TO PULL A FAST ONE...??? (I'D LIKE SOME FURTHER CLARIFICATION ON THIS...)
http://washingtonexaminer.com/new-amendment-adds-jobs-bill-to-gang-of-eight-immigration-plan/article/2532293
Opponents of the Gang of Eight immigration bill have spent the weekend looking for hard-to-find changes in a piece of legislation that was substantially re-written by the Hoeven-Corker amendment.
* LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION, DEAR READER: SHOULD EVEN "SUPPORTERS" WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S ACTUALLY IN THE FUCKING BILL...???
* FOLKS... UNDERSTAND... FEW IF ANY MEMBERS OF THE SENATE ARE GONNA ACTUALLY READ THIS FUCKING BILL BEFORE VOTING ON IT!
But there’s one big change that’s right out in the open — impossible to miss, in fact:
The original Gang bill ended with a section designated Title IV, which was headlined REFORMS TO NON-IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAMS.
The Hoeven-Corker version of the bill added a Title V, with the headline JOBS FOR YOUTH.
The measure would provide $1.5 billion in the next two years to provide jobs for Americans between the ages of 16 and 24.
* OH... MY... FRIGGIN'... GOD...!!! WE'RE BROKE AND THIS IS YET ANOTHER "STIMULUS" PACKAGE! AND BEYOND THAT... I GUARANTEE YOU THAT THE "GRANTS" WILL BE GOING MAINLY TO ORGANIZATIONS ON THE LEFT... RUN AND STAFFED AT THE PROFESSIONAL LEVEL BY MAINLY PARTISAN DEMOCRATS. FOLKS... THIS IS YET ANOTHER RAID ON THE TREASURY FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES... DEMS STEERING PUBLIC MONEY TO OTHER DEMS.
It was originally pushed by Democratic Sen. Bernard Sanders...
* WHILE SANDERS CAUCUSES WITH THE DEMOCRATS, HE'S ACTUALLY AN "INDEPENDENTS" WHO REFERS TO HIMSELF AS A SOCIALIST.
* FOLKS... THE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT IS NOT TO BORROW MONEY FROM CHINA TO TEMPORARILY EMPLOY AMERICANS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 16 AND 24 AND IN ANY CASE WHAT'S THIS HAVE TO DO WITH A BILL SUPPOSEDLY DEALING WITH IMMIGRATION REFORM...?
In the few days of Senate debate over the Gang of Eight bill, Sanders delivered several floor speeches that were almost bitterly critical of the legislation’s economic effects. The bill will cost jobs and reduce the standard of living of millions of low-skilled Americans, Sanders argued. His was the most vocal and persistent criticism of the bill from the Left.
* AND HE'S RIGHT! THE QUESTION IS... IS HIS VOTE FOR SALE - BECAUSE THIS IS A NAKED $1.5 BILLION ATTEMPTED BRIBE.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/illegal-immigrants-who-commit-crimes-face-lesser-punishment-than-u.s.-citizens/article/2532306
According to Sen. John McCain, a member of the Senate’s Gang of Eight, criminals will not be legalized under the proposed bipartisan immigration bill. “Anyone who has committed crimes in this country is going to be deported,” the Arizona Republican declared on the Senate floor last week.
* MCCAIN IS A FUCKING LIAR. PERIOD.
[A]s Washington Examiner columnist Byron York recently reported, “the bottom line is an immigrant could have more than three misdemeanor convictions in his background check and still qualify for legalization.”
* MCCAIN IS A FUCKING LIAR. PERIOD.
Furthermore, the following chart...
http://wordpress.washingtonexaminer.com/beltway-confidential/files/2013/06/FAIRchart.png
...published June 21 by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nonprofit organization that opposes liberalization of immigration law, compares the consequences for an array of crimes and discovered that while illegal immigrants might be exonerated and legalized, U.S. citizens and legal immigrants face years of incarceration or temporary expulsion from the country.
The Gang of Eight’s bill would allow illegal immigrants who entered the country before Dec. 31, 2011, and committed up to three misdemeanor offenses including but not limited to assault, battery, identity or document fraud, tax evasion, to remain eligible for Registered Provisional Status. Meanwhile, U.S. citizens and persons who entered the country legally could incur up to $100,000 in fines,15 years of imprisonment, or be prohibited to reenter the country for up to 10 years.
* OF COURSE THEY COULD ALSO GET SLAPS ON THE WRIST... BUT THE POINT IS THAT ON THE FACE OF IT JOHN MCCAIN IS A FUCKING LIAR!
“What it [the Gang of Eight bill] indicates is this is more than just an amnesty, it’s an amnesty for all kinds of violations,” said FAIR’s media director, Ira Mehlman. “We say nobody is above the law, but apparently illegal immigrants are.”
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/06/23/chesney-concert-ends-with-fights-arrests/
The excitement over Kenny Chesney Saturday proved to be a little too much for some people with the night ending with several fights and numerous arrests.
* MOSTLY - AND PERHAPS ALL - WHITE.
* YEP... YOU ALL KNOW WHAT I'D BE SAYING IF IT WERE A RAP CONCERT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT.
He’s the most lucrative act on tour and his appearances on the North Shore are daylong events. And as they’ve grown, so have the problems.
Police say 49 people were arrested inside Heinz field during the concert, with another 24 arrests taking place near the venue on the North Shore. Police say most of the arrests were for disorderly conduct, public intoxication and aggravated assault.
* HERE'S THE THING: WE'RE TALKING WHITE ANIMALS FIGHTING AMONGST THEMSELVES; WE'RE NOT TALKING RIOTING OR "WILDING" IN THE SENSE OF THE INCIDENTS THAT DRIVE ME TO DISTRACTION.
Additionally, police say at least 10 large fights broke out and 150 people were treated for various medical needs. Another 45 people were taken to medical facilities as well.
* AND AGAIN... I'M GUESSING MOSTLY - PERHAPS EVEN 100% - WHITE HOOLIGANS. (YES... "HOOLIGANS.")
Kenny Chesney fans also left a wake of trash following the concert. Large groups of tailgaters left behind a sea of debris in the Heinz Field parking lot. “The Kenny Chesney crowd is the most difficult crowd for our staff to work with of any of the events of the year,” says Merril Stabile, president of ALCO Parking. In fact, the Chesney crowd has earned such a reputation that even police were hesitant to face the mess. “We had a hard time getting police — a lot of police didn’t want to work this event,” Stabile said.
* THEN I SUGGEST TURNING CHESNEY DOWN THE NEXT TIME HE TRIES TO THROW A CONCERT HERE. (*SHRUG*)
And problems started long before the concert, with the “No Shoes Nation” arriving before the lots were supposed to open, leading to lots of traffic on the highways.
* LET'S NOT GET PETTY... (*SNICKER*)
“You probably could say 80% to 90% of the people there are acting responsibly, but even 20% of 50,000 people getting out of control is pretty bad,” Stabile said.
* INDEED! NO DOUBT!
The mess on the North Shore almost defies description and even Monday, you could still smell the remnants of Saturday. “It smells horrible, you can smell the beer and the urine,” said Harletta Walker of Ross Township. “They cleaned up the trash, but they should have run the street sweeper through here, it’s horrible.”
* AGAIN... FUCKING ANIMALS... WHITE ANIMALS.
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/351819/epa-plants-story-jillian-kay-melchior
Never has backpedaling been such an effective form of transportation.
Far be it from the Environmental Protection Agency to admit it was wrong — but late last week, it subtly withdrew from a once-flashy investigation regarding whether hydraulic fracturing contaminated groundwater in the tiny town of Pavillion, Wyo.
* HERE'S THE STORY:
In December 2011, the EPA released a draft report of a study it conducted in Wyoming, eliciting a furor of media attention. The New York Times reported that “chemicals used to hydraulically fracture rocks in drilling for natural gas in a remote valley in central Wyoming are the likely cause of contaminated local water supplies, federal regulators said.” The Financial Times ran a story headlined “EPA blames fracking for Wyoming pollution.” National Public Radio announced that “for the first time, federal environmental regulators have made a direct link between the controversial drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing and groundwater contamination.” And the Salt Lake Tribune ran an editorial subtitled “EPA report shows water poisoned.”
In reality, the study conclusively proved no such thing.
(*SMIRK*)
The research was fundamentally flawed...
* WHICH IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU POLITICIZE SCIENCE.
For starters, the EPA’s study was released in preliminary form, and it was never peer-reviewed.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD IN DISGUST*)
In fact, the EPA went out of its way to ensure that Wyoming’s governor and state agencies didn’t have a chance to look it over before it became publicly available.
* SON OF A BITCH...
[W]hen the study was released, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the Wyoming Bureau of Land Management both expressed significant concerns about the EPA’s conclusions. Had professional scientists had a chance to review the EPA’s preliminary study before it hit the headlines, they doubtless would have complained that only four samples were examined — not nearly enough to be scientifically definitive. Also, the EPA had failed to find contamination in the existing water sources in Pavillion, so it drilled its own wells — but went far deeper into the earth, into natural hydrocarbon-bearing foundations.
(*SNORT*)
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)
As Encana, the developer, wrote at the time, “Natural gas developers didn’t put the natural gas at the bottom of the EPA’s deep monitoring wells, nature did.” So when the test results showed hydrocarbons, that said nothing about fracking and much about the EPA’s scientific sloppiness.
* FOLKS... IT'S THE DISHONESTY... (*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Furthermore, the methods and materials used to drill the EPA’s sample wells may well have introduced chemical contaminates. And different labs reached contradictory conclusions about the small samples the EPA collected. One lab even reported that the “blank” sample used solely for comparison purposes was tainted. But the details of how recklessly the EPA conducted its study were omitted in many of the sensational reports that followed the draft report’s release.
* WHAT A SURPRISE... (*SNORT*)... I AM SHOCKED! SHOCKED I TELL YOU! (*SNICKER*)
And the few journalistic accounts that acknowledged the study’s problems were dismayed about the implications of its very public debut. Wyoming’s Casper Tribune wrote in an editorial: “You think Pavillion water is a mess? Try setting the record straight if the EPA’s report is eventually changed or discredited after scientific review. . . . The EPA may have poisoned the public debate by releasing its [preliminary] report.”
* HA! HA! HA! RE-READ THAT, FOLKS! WHAT THE TRIBUNE IS SAYING IS "DAMN THEM FOR TELLING THE TRUTH!}"
(*GUFFAW*)
That assessment is proving prophetic. EPA reps said this week that although the agency “stands behind its work and data,” the study won’t be finalized, and the Obama administration won’t rest on the report’s conclusions. That’s a nice talking point, but if the Pavillion study could actually stand up to scrutiny, you can bet the EPA would be using it to act — and to act boldly.
* ONE... WOULD... THINK... (*SHRUG*)
But in the end, it didn’t matter much whether fracking had actually contaminated Wyoming’s water; having the public think it did sufficed for the EPA. So go the cynical politics of an agency with an agenda.
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