News Stories

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Here is something different:

Marine faces boot for anti-Obama Facebook posts
Sgt. Gary Stein said he respects the office of the president but does not agree with Obama's policies

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46820717...news-security/

This is really interesting. On one hand, it's good to see that (some) service members aren't blindly following orders and that they are concerned with the legality. Being unwilling to follow illegal orders is commendable.

On the other hand, this is clearly a partisan issue. What illegal orders were issued? It seems that this marine dislikes Obama, and for that reason alone he is stating that he won't follow orders. It's a bit worrying to think that the partisan divide has extended to the military to such an extent that people would be unwilling to follow orders...

[Kokukirin]

Originally Posted by Urzu 7

Between this and the Gulf oil spill, some conservatives in the U.S. still want the XL pipeline? Really? Maybe many of them just support it because their republican leaders do.

Mind you, the oil spill in Brazil last year was very small. The measures worked as designed when leak occurred. None of the oil reached the shore. Virtually all of the leak were cleaned up. I think Chevron drilled deeper than was allowed, but the actual damage was very limited.

It's also a bit silly to oppose new source of oil too. Alternative energy is still quite far away from replacing fossil fuels. Meanwhile, China and other rapidly developing countries have ever higher demand for oil. That means new, reliable source of oil is of great interest for the US. You still need offshore drilling and new pipelines for the time being.

But of course, environmental concerns are very real and serious. The oil industry already shows a tendency to do the minimum possible and become insensitive to the risks. They have to be more seriously and effectively monitored.

Keystone pipeline looks very dangerous though. Polluting the ocean is bad enough. Polluting drinking water that millions depend on can be many times worse.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

This is really interesting. On one hand, it's good to see that (some) service members aren't blindly following orders and that they are concerned with the legality. Being unwilling to follow illegal orders is commendable.

On the other hand, this is clearly a partisan issue. What illegal orders were issued? It seems that this marine dislikes Obama, and for that reason alone he is stating that he won't follow orders. It's a bit worrying to think that the partisan divide has extended to the military to such an extent that people would be unwilling to follow orders...

The concern seems to be that NATO military authorities may want to try the US soldier? I'm assuming that's how they handle NATO troops in general. The Marine seems to think he's a constitutional scholar on that topic.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Urzu 7

If you have any interest in this Trayvon Martin case, I highly recommend watching this video (where the people in the video tear apart some BS posted on Glenn Beck's website 'The Blaze'). I do agree, if you know enough about this case, have heard the audio tapes, and heard eyewitness reports of this event, and then you defend the shooter and also try to paint the unarmed 17 year old as a bad guy, there is something wrong with you.

The shooter should go to tria, that's clear but not only that, they should also look a bit closer to the work of the cops ( self defence my ass) and rewrite that ''stand your ground'' law in the very short term. I wouldn't be surprised if there was more than a fews other ''Trayvon Martin''since they passed that law.

[MrTerrorist]

Whitney Houston's toxicology report came out.

Whitney Houston drowned after cocaine use, says coroner

[Urzu 7]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Here is something different:

Marine faces boot for anti-Obama Facebook posts
Sgt. Gary Stein said he respects the office of the president but does not agree with Obama's policies

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46820717...news-security/

My take on this: Recently, a person from the armed forces said that he wouldn't follow a command from President Obama. He got backlash, but then (basically) said "I meant to say, if he issued an unlawful command, I wouldn't follow it". So he is trying trying to save his neck. This guy with the facebook page probably took inspiration from this other fellow. He probably really wants to say "I wouldn't follow commands from President Obama (because he really doesn't like Obama)", but he is saying "unlawful commands" so he can essentially express himself on this without really getting in big trouble. That is what I think is the case.

It really is terrible how rude and terrible some people are to Obama. Obama ain't a perfect president, but he is not as terrible as some try to make him out to be, and he is, overall, better than Bush, and Obama gets a lot of hate like he did. We know what it is...the 'race thing'. Sure, some people dislike/hate Obama because of his policies and how he is doing in office now and are also not racists, but there is just too many people who hate him primarily because of, well; it is the 'race thing'.

And I hate it when some Obama haters say "I'm sick of people bringing up the race card in regards to Obama". You know what? It is there and it rings loud and clear. I say we have a right to bring it up. We'll throw it in the faces of the racist Obama haters, too.

[Ithekro]

What iI get is that this Sargent created a Facebook page "Armed Forces Teaparty", which suggests a poitical ideology in conncetion with his military career. That is likely against the Code of Conduct. His earlier expression of dislike for the President's health care system was removed after he got a warning from his superiors....though he may have put it back up, and thus also potentially going against the Code of Conduct. However the statement that he would not follow and illegal order from the President, is not exactly against the Code of Conduct as that is a requirement of the Oath all servicemen swear in entry into military service.

The rest of it would likely be enough to get him reduced in rank and not allowed to reup. If it doesn't get him court marshalled.

Though it does show the point I made some time ago about why I think the military will defend us if our government goes bad...they do remember that their oath is to the Constitution first, and will question illegal orders. because "i was only following orders" is not a defense that holds in court.

[Urzu 7]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

The shooter should go to tria, that's clear but not only that, they should also look a bit closer to the work of the cops ( self defence my ass) and rewrite that ''stand your ground'' law in the very short term. I wouldn't be surprised if there was more than a fews other ''Trayvon Martin''since they passed that law.

I read an article on Trayvon, and the author said that after the "stand your ground" law came into effect, the amount of times people killed and claimed 'self defense' "ballooned". Something like over three times the amount. Surely, many of those instances weren't really a matter of self defense.

[Ithekro]

Can someone give me a short version of what happend around this ''Trayvon Martin''? I've not been following this one at all.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Can someone give me a short version of what happend around this ''Trayvon Martin''? I've not been following this one at all.

Crime - walking while being black
Sentence - Shot in the chest by self appointed neighborhood watch CAPTAIN.
Where - Florida with the Stand Your Ground Law.
Meaning - Shoot anyone you want and can get away free by claiming self defense.

[Ithekro]

So there was no trespassing or breaking and entry involved?

[Vexx]

Even worse... the self-appointed watchman (not voted on by the neighborhood) stalked him, disregarded police orders to stay in his car, approached the young man, quite likely scared him enough he made some move that the twit (who had prior record of violent behavior) then shot him.

And nope, the boy had broken no law, was on public ground, not near the guy's house, you name it, the checklist item was unchecked.

I'm all for self-defense and gun ownership - but this is the kind of jackass that makes it hard not to want a sanity check on basic requirements for gun ownership and self-defense laws not written by dumbasses.

(For a facepalm, google the legislator's "we didn't intend for it to be used like this" foot in mouth... another jackass but one who fails at legal language.)

(also, the police basically failed in multiple ways as well...) which is why the DoJ is now investigating.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

So there was no trespassing or breaking and entry involved?

nope, but he was arm a hoodie, skittles and a can of ice tea. very dangerous weapons.

[synaesthetic]

Both sides of the "guns dilemma" are completely nuts.

The left does nothing but pass pointless feel-good legislation that does nothing to stop the black-market arms trade while making it harder/impossible for normal people to own guns.

The right wants to throw off the lock to the armory and let everyone take as much as they can carry. Unless they're brown people.

[Ithekro]

Means they might have to let him go by that law, and then repeal that law as they would have found a flaw in it. They can't try the man again for the same crime...unless they can make a different charge (Civil court or something...remember O.J. Simpson getting two long ass trails...one for murder and one for something else. He got off for murder, but was guilty of something else that stripped him of pretty much everything he ever owned or will own).

[synaesthetic]

Yeah, if the psycho somehow gets a not-guilty verdict, a wrongful death civil suit could still win and basically ruin his entire life without prison.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Means they might have to let him go by that law, and then repeal that law as they would have found a flaw in it. They can't try the man again for the same crime...unless they can make a different charge (Civil court or something...remember O.J. Simpson getting two long ass trails...one for murder and one for something else. He got off for murder, but was guilty of something else that stripped him of pretty much everything he ever owned or will own).

repeal? you are dreaming the Florida legislature are own lock, stock and barrel by the NRA. There aren't even any talks to fix it much less repeal.

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

Yeah, if the psycho somehow gets a not-guilty verdict, a wrongful death civil suit could still win and basically ruin his entire life without prison.

or someone could be feel threaten if this guy was walking toward them and shoot him.

[Urzu 7]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

So there was no trespassing or breaking and entry involved?

Trayvon was walking back to his home with a bag of candy and some soda. He was unarmed. He weighs 140 pounds, and about 100 pounds less than the shooter. The shooter is a self appointed neighborhood watch dog captain. A 911 call said there was someone suspicious in the neighborhood, and the shooter found the 17 year old walking around the streets and apparently he was the suspect. The shooter called in to an authority with the police, but he was told not to get out of his car and pursue the person in question.

He got out of the car, brought his handgun, and pursued Trayvon. People called in to 911 with concerns of someone screaming for help. There are several 911 calls about this, and in some of the audio recordings of the calls (they are on the net), you can here a teenage boy (Trayvon) screaming for help and saying things like "No...no!". In at least one 911 recording, you hear a racist thing being said (He makes a remark about Trayvon being a "fucking coon").

Eventually, Trayvon is shot in the chest and dies shortly afterwards. The shooter, who pursued the "threat" , an unarmed teenager; pursued him with gun in hand, who wrestled with the 17 year old who ways about 100 pound less, claimed he shot in self defense.

Trayvon died, and this gunman was never arrested.

[sa547]

Originally Posted by Urzu 7

Read the article. It struck me as really sad. His poor family members. The guy is very sick, for sure. Lock him up for the rest of his life. Since that is Texas, he'll probably be put to death. I just wonder how much of him is evil and how much of him is just mentally ill. Sometimes you don't know when it is a person that has severe mental issues and when it is just "an evil person" (I try not to view people who are horrible as 'evil', I try to look at things as them being delusional and very ignorant of morally straight ways).

Things like this (as well as other things) make me very concerned about America.

What is frightening and sickening is that this incident, in a string of others (including the guy who crossed into Canada and was arrested for his manga, among other things) and helped by sensationalist yellow journalism, have the potential to seriously damage fan credibility in the eyes of the non-fan public, especially those who are leading normal lives... and already just last year the H-game industry got too much flak from a Brit politician who picked up an obscure title and presented it to the world as the greatest threat to civilization and its children.

[Ithekro]

Sigh....

I wonder how many generation it will take for that behavior to correct itself? It seems like it got worse after the end of slavery and again as a reaction to the Civil Rights movement. Sure the blacks were slaves before the first one, but one treats your own slaves well enough so they work for you (normally, such as with servants), and middle era segrigation things seems to be more or less calm....in the period of say the 1920s or 1930s. No it was not ideal...and of course there was racism. But the violence didn't seem to be there as much. It seemed like the Northern cities had more racism in those days than in the South. But after the Second World War and the progressive ending of segrigation...things got worse, and worse, and worse. The knee jerk reaction to humans being equal seems so stupid to me sometimes. But I guess I get that because I've lived in California my whole life...where we've been more or less intergated for longer than I've been alive.

In more recent times there has been what I guess is a reverse discrimination from time to time. Anything that is White's Only is racist, but if there is anything else that is Color X or Race X Only, it is perfectly fine. (We kept wanting to try that in High School with the club system just to see the reaction...as we had pretty much everything else in the school. An African Americans Club, and Muslim Club, and Filipino Club, and Chinese Club, a Native America Club, and I think a Indian Club (Hindu, if I recall). We probably would have been called out if it was an English Club (nationality as oppose to the language), or a German Club, or even an Italian Club...though I'm not sure if they would have called us on a Irish Club) Laws in place to make sure minorities could gain positions they wouldn't have had access to prior due to descrimination get turned around to use quota against other races. It is starting to rebalance out, but there has been damage to both sized.

There is a minority President. Most said there would be one before we'd have a woman as president and they were right. Personally I would have rather had General Collin Powell as the first one. But I'm really glad it wasn't the Rev. Jesse Jackson.