Joe Lieberman is concerned that not enough of other people's children may die bloody deaths in the future, so he's linking arms with fluke onetime Senator Scott Brown and a prominent Likudnik swindler to monger a little war from the private sector.

"This wasn't an idea that was Scott Brown's or mine, but it's a good idea," he told me. "I worry that there is a growing drift away from internationalism in segments of both political parties. And there's not an organized bipartisan [PAC] that is prepared to both educate or advocate to the public why America's continuing international leadership role is so important to our freedom ... and why it should be bipartisan."

   

You know what? Fk you, you pious sack of old sins. You've got enough blood on your hands for 10 men. The Iraq War, the biggest godd@mn foreign policy blunder in 100 years, was "bipartisan" thanks to the idiot likes of you. It took a while but the public saw through the war, and it saw through the idiot likes of you, too. Now, you want to freelance a little propaganda, get yourself another little war on, and you're using a crook to bankroll the con. link

Vol. 49

Vol. 50

In yet another boost for gay rights, a federal judge in Michigan has blocked the state from enforcing a 2011 law that bans public employers from offering benefits to same-sex couples, concluding the law is discriminatory toward the gay community.

"The historical background and legislative history of the Act demonstrate that it was motivated by animus against gay men and lesbians," U.S. District Judge David Lawson wrote in his 51-page ruling. "... Looking to the history and text of Public Act 297, it is hard to argue with a straight face that the primary purpose­ - indeed, perhaps the sole purpose­ - of the statute is other than to deny health benefits to the same-sex partners of public employees."

Lawson issued an injunction barring Michigan from enforcing the 2011 law two days after the U.S. Supreme Court held that married same-sex couples were entitled to federal benefits -- a ruling that Lawson cited in his opinion, noting the high court offered him guidance in reaching his conclusion

Commanders will still appoint their SHARP officers though, it will be a job swapped around like safety officer and supply officer.  They are being very strict about who CAN have the job though.  You can't have any history of having bad judgement without a waiver.  Speeding tickets even need a waiver granted to hold the position.  Zero family violence and any history of anything sexually questionable.

Being the advocate for rape victims though requires a few distinctive somethings, an extra special empathy too.  I do not expect rape to be any easier to prove in the military than it is in the civilian world, even with an improved attitude and system.  Most of the victims will have to rely on a good support system to heal and live well beyond it.  That just isn't something as interchangeable as your shoes or your supply and safety officer.

INSIDER THREATS
Combating the ENEMY
within your organization

That's right.  Too many white men.

Why?  Because, according to Bloomberg, if you look at who's committing the crimes, it's not the white men, it's the blacks and hispanics.

I will refrain from suggesting that, given the large amount of crime perpetrated on Wall Street by Bloomberg's investment banker and broker customers (whose usage of the Bloomberg terminal and therefore their interests and market plans have been assidulously tracked and analyzed by his company, giving him a unique window into their activities, legal and illegal - what a crime-fighting oppportunity!) it would be appropriate to start targeting yuppies - of whatever religion - for stop and frisk, of themselves, their phones and internet, and their bank accounts.

We may never know all the details of the mass surveillance programs, but we know this: The administration has justified them through abuse of language, intentional evasion of statutory protections, secret, unreviewable investigative procedures and constitutional arguments that make a mockery of the government's professed concern with protecting Americans' privacy. It's time to call the N.S.A.'s mass surveillance programs what they are: criminal.
...................................................................
The two programs violate both the letter and the spirit of federal law. No statute explicitly authorizes mass surveillance. Through a series of legal contortions, the Obama administration has argued that Congress, since 9/11, intended to implicitly authorize mass surveillance. But this strategy mostly consists of wordplay, fear-mongering and a highly selective reading of the law. Americans deserve better from the White House -- and from President Obama, who has seemingly forgotten the constitutional law he once taught.

The administration has defended each of the two secret programs. Let's examine them in turn.

Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contract employee and whistle-blower, has provided evidence that the government has phone record metadata on all Verizon customers, and probably on every American, going back seven years. This metadata is extremely revealing; investigators mining it might be able to infer whether we have an illness or an addiction, what our religious affiliations and political activities are, and so on.

The Village Voice | June 28, 2013
The Peggy Lipton Affair Brings Down Another Mogul - "New York's pension fund scandal, starring former Mod Squad actress Peggy Lipton, claimed another victim last week, and this time it was a wealthy Republican from California. This proves that the most volatile affairs do not have to involve sports idols and sexy cocktail waitresses. The only victims in the Tiger Woods episode, for instance, are an SUV and the golf star himself, possibly due to a few swings on a nine-iron by his gorgeous wife. Compare that paltry disabled list to the lethal fallout produced after a schlubby late-middle-aged political hack from Queens fell hard for Lipton, the aging but still charming TV starlet. Lovestruck Jack Chartier was chief of staff to the New York state comptroller with influence over billions in state pension funds. The result has been financial scandal history."

"...There has been no suggestion or testimony that Trayvon Martin was doing anything wrong the night that George Zimmerman caught sight of him and grew wary of him, pursued him and came into contact with him."

But the sad fact remains that Trayvon wasn't doing anything wrong. He was walking and talking to his friend on his cellphone.

Hong Kong has also informed all airlines that they can't bring Snowden back.

An initial report on the IRS targeting scandal this week by Daniel Werfel, the IRS principal deputy commissioner, led to the disclosure that IRS workers flagged both liberal and conservative groups when assessing their eligibility for the tax break available to social welfare organizations.

IRS screeners used conservative-themed criteria such as "tea party" on "Be on the Lookout" or BOLO lists to determine if groups underwent further review for political activity that would make them ineligible, according to Werfel and the inspector general who first revealed the targeting.

Another category of the BOLO lists also had liberal-themed criteria including "progressives," but that category didn't set off the automatic extra scrutiny for political activity faced by conservative groups, according to a letter to the panel this week by Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George.

Under tough questioning Thursday at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, Werfel acknowledged that the different BOLO categories meant liberal groups avoided the extra scrutiny cited by the inspector general that included processing delays and extensive questions perceived by conservatives as political intimidation.

And, in that letter, dated June 26th, the IG gave the stats:

Based on the information you flagged regarding the existence of a "Progressives" entry on BOLO lists, TIGTA performed additional research which determined that six tax-exempt applications filed between May 2010 and May 2012 having the words "progress" or "progressive" in their names were included in the 298 cases the IRS identified as potential political cases. We also determined that 14 tax-exempt applications filed between May 2010 and May 2012 using the words "progress" or "progressive" in their names were not referred for added scrutiny as potential political cases. In total, 30 percent of the organizations we identified with the words "progress" or "progressive" in their names were processed as potential political cases. In, comparison, our audit found that 100 percent of the tax-exempt applications with Tea Party, Patriots, or 9/12 in their names were processed as potential political cases during the timeframe of our audit.

1. the most obvious link is a link to the photo of attn. West and his daughters having ice cream;
   
2. there is a page which is supposed to bring you the 5th day of the trial . . .

Interesting three paragraphs in the middle of this Friday NYT article.

The chance that Russia will turn him in has all but vanished, as evidenced by Thursday's television programs, which were almost certainly produced under Kremlin orders and have a powerful effect on public opinion. Officials here have signaled an openness to granting him political asylum, and each passing day would seem to narrow Mr. Snowden's options, giving the United States time to negotiate with Ecuador and Venezuela, other countries that may grant him asylum.

"I think the main thing for him right now is to guarantee his security," said Igor Korotchenko, a former specialist in Russia's top military command who now edits the magazine National Defense. "Already he cannot live his former life. The United States of America will look for him all over the world in order to punish him as an example to potential traitors and so that the political elite in Washington will be satisfied. They want his blood."

"Whose protection does he want: Ecuador, Venezuela or Russia? It is hard to judge right now," Mr. Korotchenko said. He added, "In Russia, he will find a country capable of guaranteeing his security because I think in Latin America the United States would find much opportunity to solve the problem, so to say."