It has been another long day. Besides waking up at 4 am and being unable to sleep again until about 6:30, I had physio, then taught my ESL student and finally I was home about 5 pm. My student's 4 year old daughter sees me as grandma and came to me crying after a tiff with her 8 year old sister. She usually comes to me in such situations just to be cuddled. When I was much younger, I did not want to have children. I can't change my decision, nor do I wish to, but sometimes I wonder if child rearing should be left to older people who have developed patience and wisdom. Don't get me wrong, her mum is a wonderful mum to all her kids but it is tough when there are 6. There is something to be said for a closeknit, multi generational family.
Puzzle — Today’s took me 2:45 (average 5:13). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.
Short Takes
Well. this is what I think h/t Joanne D
This is common sense, but it isn't as common as one might hope.
Politicususa — Jeb Bush is probably well aware that there is little direct political cost to ignoring American Indian concerns. Few Native Americans vote Republican, and if Bush can get some mileage out of mocking indigenous people to shore up his support from White racists, so be it.
Ah, the Republican bigotry raises its ugly head once again!
Mother Jones — The US government kills a lot of people who aren't military targets. War is an inherently deadly exercise, but the whole point of using armed drones, theoretically, is to minimize US military deaths and offer a more precise way to attack targets so that innocent people don't get killed. And while it's been known for some time that many innocent people die in US drone strikes, much of the information came from independent sources. The Intercept's package adds internal US military data to the conversation, putting into stark reality just how bad the accidental killing problem has been: Between January 2012 and February 2013, US drone strikes in northeastern Afghanistan killed more than 200 people, only 35 of whom were the intended targets.
It seems that human beings are overly occupied with killing each other, and drones are another way to try to "sanitise" killing. The saying "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes.", generally attributed to General Prescott at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 because his troops were low on ammunition, is a perfect example of NOT sanitising the war In other words, don't waste your shot; make it count even though you could get hurt. You can read the entire Drone Papers through The Intercept but it is long.
My Universe —
Friday night without a date can be depressing!
12 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 17/10/2015”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Great find Joanne.
Bigots do show their stripes like tigers (sorry tigers).
Thanks Lynn for using the data that shows the extremely high error rate for high risk of killing other than targets–an error rate unacceptable for research in any field (health, social services, etc.) and in all other fields, the rate for unintended death is miniscule compared to error rates allowed for other unintended consequences. Unconscionable.
4:39 (5:14) Sugar high!
I want to share this petition regarding encryption.
https://savecrypto.org/?r=fftf&t=dXNlcmlkPTUyMjIzNDcwLGVtYWlsaWQ9MTAwMzc
There is some background at the petition site, but this sentence was only in the cover email: "This past summer, my stomach turned as I read1 about vulnerabilities in over 500,000 cars (!)that let hackers disable engines and brakes, remotely, anonymously, over the cellphone network. Security researchers are barely able to keep us safe as it is; a ban on strong encryption all but guarantees catastrophic attacks."
Well – Of course there is a lot of temptation/motivation for rape culture to muddy the waters of something which is really very simple. This does a nice job of cutting through all of that. So clearly anyone could understand.
Politicsusa – Isn't it amazing how a bigot can turn normal bigotry into something far more disgusting by making a joke out of it!
MoJo – or it's also possible that many of the "unintended" targets were in fact intended but that is not for the record. I can hardly believe it has come to the point where I am thinking that, let alone saying it. I am generally pretty good at finding ways to understand behavior that looks bad – but in this case – I just can't.
Universe – But be sure you have kitty's consent to pet or pick up. There are claws. and minds can change.
Think: A very clever ad! "Consent is everything".
Pol USA: We cannot allow Jeb "dumya" Bush anywhere near the White House!
Mother: Collateral damage and the little ones who survive those drone attacks grow up to become terrorists and hating USA.
For those of you who want videos to understand the Drone Wars & Papers, here are the videos from the author himself with his additional staff support in Democracy Now:
Full Broadcast:
Drone War & Papers begins at 12:53 into the video
http://publish.dvlabs.com/democracynow/360/dn2015-1016.mp4
Drone War Exposed: Jeremy Scahill on U.S. Kill Program's Secrets & the Whistleblower Who Leaked Them
Video & Text: http://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/16/drone_war_exposed_jeremy_scahill_on
"The Drone Papers" Reveals How Faulty Intel & Secret "Kill Chain" Mark Suspects, Civilians for Death
Video & Text:
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/16/precisely_wrong_faulty_intelligence_drives_civilian
Universe: Too old and boring to worry about a date on Friday nights… lol…
3:33 I stopped to nibble on the cookies along the way. It was worth it. They were good.
Tea Consent: Wonderful, gentle reminder of wanting tea or not. I liked this, and passing on too.
Politicususa: I never found his musings or 'jokes' funny. He just needs to go away. Far away.
MyUniverse: Aww…the cat's expression says it all. Sweet kitty.
Hope you get some much needed rest, thanks, Lynn.
Jeb is an ass. He fits, perfectly, into the John Cleese piece about FauxNews being "Too stupid to knw that they (he is) are stupid!
"Tea Consent." said beautifully!
The "Consent as Tea" video is brilliant!
Sorry about your Friday night – but how about commiserating with either Sam Cooke or Cat Stevens for Saturday night?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i98_Lqcryp8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLeWB3C2cLo
That song has Bad News & Good News for me:
Bad News: It's over four decades old, and I still remember the lyrics (God, I'm old)
Good News: It's over four decades old, and I STILL remember the lyrics!
Your good news and bad news fit me, too. I always loved both these singers.
Short Takes: That is a wonderful video and should be mandatory viewing on all college campuses today!
Politicususa: Once again, he shows who woefully unprepared he is for the job of President. He enforces the attitudes the Republican party shows towards non-whites and poor people over and over again. The only good thing about Trump leading right now is that Jeb is far far away from the White House.
Mother Jones> This is wrong, wrong, wrong. The latest incident where a hospital was hit is a prime example of why the drone program needs to be reined in, and more control placed on the military commanders who initiate these strikes. We will probably never be told the whole truth.
My Universe: I think there are days when we all feel that way.
Lynn, there is a lot to be said for older people rearing children. They are more patient, usually, and give more time to the kids than younger parents have time to do.
A lot of people make better grandparents than parents, or at least enjoy it more. That because , as you say Lynn, they have more patience and wisdom, but also, at the end of the day, they do not have the responsibility any longer and they get to go home to get some peace and quiet 😉
Tea Consent: Sounds sensible enough, but then most people (why don't they say "men"?) don't get offended if people don't want their tea now or don't like their particular brand of tea or even just don't like tea in general and not many people get pleasure out of forcing their tea down other people's throat especially not when they are unconscious.
Politicususa: I remember saying the exact same thing a few weeks ago here in a comment.
Mother Jones: I'm a tad annoyed now, though certainly not with you Lynn. The first article I ever posted on Care2 834 days ago US Drone Strikes More Deadly to Afghan Civilians Than Manned Aircraft attracted exactly 4 notes and (recent) comment. True I was new to posting and didn't know how to alert people to an article, but it is telling that no one picked up on it at that time and only progressive American media dare to mention "the collateral damage" when soldiers sit behind a TV screen, often on the other side of the ocean, and play yet another war game, this one without the risks of losing points or losing the game.
My Universe: How did you get my cam to make a picture of me AND read my thoughts, Lynn?
Just a comment re. The Cuban missile(Rubio). His comment re. America beingthe greatest country in THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD
HOW SAD!.I guess that history was NOT his best subject. eg. The Romans built better Roads!
My family is Native American and you can bet your last dollar that there will be NO one voting for any kind of SHRUB in our house!