[An Nahar] A U.S. military judge convicted Bradley Manning of espionage Tuesday, leaving him facing a lengthy jail term despite clearing him on the most serious charge that he 'aided the enemy.'
Colonel Denise Lind found Manning guilty of 20 of 22 counts related to his leaking of a huge trove of secret U.S. diplomatic cables and military logs to the WikiLeaks website.
She said she would begin sentencing hearings on Wednesday, at the Fort Meade military base outside Washington where the trial was held.
If Lind decides to impose penalties in the higher ranges permitted under the charges, the now 25-year-old Manning could face a de facto life sentence of more than 100 years in jail.
"On charge one, court finds you not guilty," Lind told the hearing, before reading the long list of lesser counts on which Manning was found guilty of breaching the espionage act or disobeying orders.
The court was silent and Manning, a boyish young man in an army dress uniform and round glasses, showed no emotion before the live feed to the press room was cut.
Some freedom of information activists will welcome the news that he was at least cleared of knowingly aiding U.S. foe al-Qaeda by leaking secrets to be published on the Internet.
But there have been warnings that the case, and the harsh penalties Manning could still face, could deter whistleblowers and have a chilling effect on future media investigations.
A few dozen protesters had gathered outside Fort Meade to support Manning and WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy group set up by Australian cyber-activist Julian Assange, expressed fury at the verdict.
In a Twitter message, the WikiLeaks group said the court's decision reflected "dangerous national security extremism" on the part of US President Barack Obama I inhaled. That was the point... 's White House.
It also said the conviction of Manning set a "very serious new precedent for supplying information to the press."
WikiLeaks is also working with a second American leaker, civilian former intelligence technician Edward Snowden, who is seeking asylum in Russia after revealing vast U.S. electronic surveillance programs.
His supporters have cited Manning's trial as proof that Snowden was right to flee abroad with his leaks rather than face trial at home.
The best known U.S. rights group, the American Civil Liberties Union, gave a measured response to the verdict, but reiterated its concern about the use of draconian anti-spying laws to curtail government whistleblowers.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/31/2013 00:00 ||
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Can't aid enemy - we don't acknowledge HAVING any enemies.
#3
He'll be in Leavenworth or someplace similar for 136 years, according to the BBC. That's certainly good enough for going on with.
Besides, he didn't give it to an enemy, as such. He arranged to have it splashed across the universe, where anyone, including enemies and little green aliens in their shiny round spaceships could see it.
#4
1 and 2 above nailed it! My first thought when I heard the verdict, a political decision. Now if someone could just get MAJ Nadal Hasan to shave and get into the correct uniform [never happen].
Ethel and Julius, will we have to dig them up and..... apologize ?
#5
Given that the official position of the administration is that the only real enemies are the Tea Party, the internet, veterans*, Netanyahu, and the 15th hole at the Palms, why would you find the result surprising?
I'd make a good bet that the Rosenberg's pardon is on the one's desk. Party members are taken care of in this administration.
* by Venn diagram of those three, Rantburg must be on the daily list of NSA/HS watch list.
#8
prison for Breanna is like a budget Match.com setup
At Match.com one can choose among the options, Frank. I suspect that in prison the choice will not be in Mr. Manning's hands.
About NSA/HS observation: certain Washington, DC IPs have showed up in the Rantburg list over the years. No doubt those of us deemed in need of being watched already are. No doubt examination of my connections, both primary and secondary (or whatever the proper terminology is) have bored them to tears, not to mention my daily peregrinations, but such is the accepted lot of the data analyst, sorting through the straw to find needles. And I suspect those of you who are truly interesting already have clearance levels. ;-)
Colorado's new motto: Come for the gun control, stay for the gay divorcees.
[MYFOXDC] Colorado's first recognized same-sex divorce is final.
Supporters of Colorado's new civil unions law say the court ruling sets a precedent for gay couples married in other states who want to legally terminate their relationships here without uprooting their lives.
Juli Yim and Lorelei Jones wed in Massachusetts in 2009, where same-sex marriage is legal.
Yim tells the Fort Collins Coloradoan ( http://tinyurl.com/nzqoxwd ) the relationship went sour and she found a new partner in Colorado.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/31/2013 00:00 ||
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One of the big backers for gay marriage, divorce lawyers to increase their service pool. Couldn't just be satisfied with each partner giving each other full power of attorney over their assets? Now the legal business can branch out into new domains.
[LOSANGELES.CBSLOCAL] A 34-year-old man is recovering Monday from several injuries he said he sustained from a violent encounter with Los Angeles Police Department officers late last week.
Brian Cisneros told KCAL9's Suraya Fadel that he was riding his bike to his job at Ralphs in Marina del Rey Friday night when he claims he was approached by two LAPD Pacific Division officers at Ida and Redwood avenues.
"The doors flew open, and the lights were on me. They drew their guns down, and they just attacked me. And they threw me on the floor, and they started stomping my face in," he said.
Cisneros added, "They choked me out and all that, and then they threw me on their hood."
The alleged victim said he never resisted the officers.
"(I thought) I'm gonna die, I'm never going to see my kids again," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/31/2013 00:00 ||
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Bikehomo say what?
Me thinks there's more to this story
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
07/31/2013 11:41 Comments ||
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#4
Yes, waddle like a blood sucking vampire, paddle like a vamp, flop about in the air like a dracula,
well you gonna be treated like a vampire and have a wooden stake punched thru yo chest!
Posted by: Bob Snore6814 ||
07/31/2013 20:12 Comments ||
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Rutherford Institute President John Whitehead, a constitutional attorney for the past 40 years, said the Napolitano legacy of reducing freedom is evident across the board, starting in early 2009 when the department issued a report listing returning soldiers as one of the greatest threats to American security.
"Another program Napolitano set up is Operation Vigilant Eagle, which is a surveillance system done on all returning veterans from overseas, where they watch Facebook posts, text messages, emails of returning veterans to see if they're going to be disgruntled," Whitehead said. "There are quite a few disgruntled veterans. In fact, one that we helped just filed a major lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security."
"They arrived one day at his door, arrested him and actually put him in a mental institution for his Facebook posts criticizing the government. We got him out and then we sued the government," Whitehead said.
Another outrage, according to Whitehead, is the harassment of Americans living on or somewhat near our national borders with Mexico and Canada. He said law-abiding citizens have been forced to hand over their laptops while the government officials download the information. The Rutherford Institute has also received reports of Americans being removed from their cars and searched without probable cause.
Go away, or I shall warn you a second time!
[An Nahar] The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... on Tuesday gave M23 rebel forces 48 hours to leave the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... or face "the use of force."
A new U.N. intervention brigade will be used for the first time to help the DR Congo army set up a "security zone" in the city, the U.N. said.
A statement by the U.N. mission in DR Congo, MONUSCO, gave M23 rebels in Goma until 4:00pm (2000 GMT) on Thursday "to hand in their weapon to a MONUSCO base" and join a demobilization program.
After then, "they will be considered an imminent threat of physical violence to civilians and MONUSCO will take all necessary measures to disarm them, including by the use of force in accordance with its mandate and rules of engagement."
The U.N.-proposed security zone includes Goma and its northern suburbs.
The M23 launched a new offensive against the DR Congo army outside Goma on July 14.
"The M23 has used indiscriminate and indirect fire, including by heavy weapons, resulting in civilian casualties," MONUSCO said.
"The M23 has also targeted U.N. installations with its fire. The security zone will push these indirect fire threats out of range of Goma. The security zone may be expanded and repeated elsewhere, where it is needed."
U.N. experts and the DR Congo government have said Rwanda has supplied troops and military aid to the M23, allegations denied by Kigali.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/31/2013 00:00 ||
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U.N. Gives Rebels 48 Hours to Leave DR Congo city
Or Die.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/31/2013 0:17 Comments ||
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[REUTERS] Zim-bob-weans go to the polls on Wednesday in a fiercely contested election pitting President Bob Muggsy Mugabe Octogenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case... against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who has vowed to push Africa's oldest leader into retirement after 33 years in power.
With no reliable opinion polls, it is hard to say whether the 61-year-old Tsvangirai will succeed in his third attempt to unseat the 89-year-old Mugabe, who has run the southern African nation since independence from Britannia in 1980.
Both sides are forecasting landslide wins but, in a country with a history of election violence, the bigger question is whether the loser will accept the result of a poll dogged by logistical problems and allegations of vote-rigging.
Asked on the eve of the vote if he and his ZANU-PF party would accept defeat, Mugabe was unequivocal: "If you go into a process and join a competition where there are only two outcomes, win or lose, you can't be both. You either win or lose. If you lose, you must surrender."
A front man for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the party was prepared only to accept the results if the poll was "free and fair."
Mugabe's words were in marked contrast to the thrust of what he described as an "energy-sapping" campaign, and may tamp down fears of a repeat of the violence that broke out after he lost the first round of an election in 2008.
Around 200 Tsvangirai supporters were killed in the unrest before South Africa brokered a power-sharing deal that stopped the bloodshed and stabilized the economy, but established a government characterized as fractious and dysfunctional.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/31/2013 00:00 ||
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89-year-old Mugabe, who has run the southern African nation since independence from Britannia in 1980.
Not accurate, history re-written sans white colonials. The Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from Great Britain was granted on 11 Nov 1965. What followed was a 14 year battle for democracy which ended with a communist party 'shared democracy' or gov't take over if you will, in 1979, with the colonials phased out soon thereafter. Mugabe, a murdering terrorist thug, didn't come along as a pol until a bit later. It's worked beautifully since then of course.
State Duma Deputy Yelena Mizulina intends to make further amendments to the Law "On the Protection of Children." The chairwoman of the Committee on Family, Women and Children put forward a suggestion to punish people for using dirty language in social networks.
According to politician, the pages full of posts and messages containing swear words, will have to be blocked within 24 hours, if harmful information is not deleted. This should apply to pages on social networks, websites, and various forums. According to Mizulina, children can begin to see profanity as a norm. It is assumed that possible innovations will be discussed on July 30th.
The law "On the protection of children from information harmful to their health and development" was enacted in Russia on 1 September 2012. The law introduced a register of banned sites. In addition, books, concerts, TV programs and other information is now marked with special marks limiting the age of the audience.
Noteworthy, United Russia deputy Vitaly Milonov put forward a similar initiative on 25 July. He proposed to tighten control over social networks and allow people to dating sites are through their passports.
The chairman of the Moscow Regional Bar Association, PhD, Associate Professor Sergei Smirnov commented the proposal from State Duma deputy Elena Mizulina.
"I have not seen anything like this in our laws. Foul language is obscene vocabulary, which is not common to use in communication and in business relations. When people express their thoughts or emotions with the use of profanity, many are offended by it. Obscene lexicon is equated to disorderly conduct, there is an appropriate article in the Code of Administrative Offences.
"The scientific and technological progress is advancing, people communicate not only in the real world, but also in the virtual world. Children and students often use the Internet. For some, the Internet is a half of their life. So, it's time to initiate and adopt such amendments. I think the idea of deputy Mizulina is relevant and timely.
"Obscene language offends both children and adults. A ban on its use is not an infringement of human rights. This is a direction towards a civilized lifestyle. If we do not use foul language in real life, then why do we use it on the Internet? Deputy Mizulina calls to protect vulnerable layers of the population - particularly children. I think that this initiative should be supported," the lawyer told Pravda.Ru.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/31/2013 00:00 ||
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Given that the Russian language consists entirely of curse words, I'm seeing a problem here. Still it's nice to know the fUSSR has crazy people that want to 'fix' things for everyone else.
[An Nahar] Riots broke out over a full-face Islamic veil. A woman may have lost her unborn baby in another confrontation over her face covering. Tensions flared over a supermarket chain's ad for the end-of-day feast for the Moslem holy month of Ramadan.
La Belle France's enforcement of its prized secularism is inscribed in law, most recently in a ban on wearing full-face veils in public. Meant to ensure that all faiths live in harmony, the policy instead may be fueling a rising tide of Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... and driving a wedge between some Moslems and the rest of the population.
Yet ardent defenders of secularism, the product of La Belle France's separation of church and state, say the country hasn't gone far enough. They want more teeth to further the cause that Voltaire helped inspire and Victor Hugo championed, this time with a law targeting headscarves in the work place.
A new generation of French Moslems -- which at some 5 million, or about eight percent of the population, is the largest in Western Europe -- is finding a growing voice in a nation not always ready to accommodate mosques, halal food and Moslem religious dress. Political pressure from a resurgent far-right has increased the tension.
Women who wear Moslem apparel "are no longer safe," said Mohera Lukau, a 26-year-old mother of three living in Trappes, a town south of Gay Paree known for its large immigrant population, high unemployment and women who wear long robes or hide their faces behind veils.
Police clashed last week with crowds protesting the arrest of a man who allegedly attacked an officer after his wife was ticketed for veiling her face in public. Dozens of cars were set afire in two nights of unrest in Trappes and an adjoining town. A 14-year-old boy suffered an eye injury.
Weeks earlier, a man allegedly assaulted a pregnant woman and ripped off her veil-- one of two separately accosted in the Gay Paree suburb of Argenteuil. She lost her baby days later, although the link with the incident remains unclear. Insults have been unleashed on women wearing Moslem headscarves, with investigations or court cases in three attacks in Reims and three more in Orleans.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls has denounced "a rise of violence against the Moslems of La Belle France." At a dinner breaking the Ramadan fast at the Grand Mosque of Gay Paree, he insisted that Islam and the French Republic are compatible. But he signaled the belief by some French people that Moslems want their own rules, denouncing "those who want to make La Belle France a land of conquest."
Lukau has received the message as a sign that she is not entirely welcome in her native country. She veils her head and body but not her face, and covers the heads of her daughters, two and four years old, with hijab scarves that drape over the shoulders. People tell Lukau, who is of Algerian origin, "If you're not happy, leave, go home," she said. But, she pointed out, she was born in La Belle France.
Most French people are baptized Catholic, but church attendance has been in decline for decades and secular ideals run deep. With the growth of La Belle France's Moslem population, politicians have increasingly turned to legislation to try to stifle public displays of Islamic faith.
In 2004, politicians passed a law that bans "ostentatious" religious symbols in public schools, a measure clearly directed at Islamic headscarves. It has been enforced with barely a hitch, although no one knows how many students dropped out of school rather than submit. A two-year-old law banning burqa-style veils from the streets of La Belle France has had a bumpier ride, even though only some 2,000 Moslem women cover their faces. Islam does not require face veils or even hair coverings, and most Moslem women in La Belle France wear neither.
A report by the Observatory of Secularism, installed this year by President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... , revealed that a handful of the 705 women stopped by police for covering their faces in public chalked up more than 10 tickets each -- two of them more than 25, suggesting that some are provoking authorities intentionally.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/31/2013 00:00 ||
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AFAIK Islam doth knotteh separate God/Church from State from Society, thusly Debt-ridden France = Debt-ridden USA = has gotten itself in a dangerous "catch 22"" or "clockwork orange" dilemma for which the danger is very real that it may NOT recover nor survive.
A super-sized version of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning's face was projected onto a D.C. building Tuesday night, along with the word "hero." It was part of a demonstration organized by supporters of Manning, who say he's not a criminal but a truth-seeking whistleblower. Let's look at the history books in fifty years, shall we? O.K., you look at the history books in 50 years - I shan't be here.
Gerry Condon is with Veterans for Peace, ...a commie front group and progressive bunch of rabble-rousers...
one of the event organizers. "If, you know, people had listened to what Bradley Manning released three years ago, the Afghan war diaries, and saw that our politicians and even our military leaders were lying to us about the progress of that war, we wouldn't still have our soldiers dying there today." It might not, you know, be that simple, Gerry, you know?
Emma Cape with the Bradley Manning Support Network wants President Barack Obama to pardon Manning. "There is an official application in the works to ask President Obama to stand behind his promises when he said that he was going to protect whistleblowers and have the most transparent government in U.S. History," she said. Not until he (and the ever-charming Michelle) are out of office - 2016, 2020, 2024 - whenever. By the way, Emma, do share with us any other evidence of his "transparent government".
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/31/2013 05:47 ||
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A super-sized version of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning's face was projected onto a D.C. building Tuesday night, along with the word "hero."
Psychological projection was conceptualized by Sigmund Freud in the 1890s as a defence mechanism in which a person unconsciously rejects his or her own unacceptable attributes by ascribing them to objects or persons in the outside world.
[Dawn] Pakistain's President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... Tuesday vowed to revamp his Pakistain People's Party (PPP) after stepping down as president of the country on September 9.
Highly reliable sources in the PPP told Dawn.com that the president, while meeting with big shots of the party including Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, said he would devote himself towards making the party active again.
Alluding his post-September 9 plan, the president told the party leaders that he will visit all districts of Sindh province in the first stage followed by visits in Punjab.
Zardari did not seek re-election at Tuesday's vote for a new ceremonial head of state and his PPP is staring at a future of deep uncertainty.
The candidate of ruling Pakistain Mohammedan League-Nawaz (PML-N), Mamnoon Hussain has been elected as the 12th President of Pakistain.
Senior PPP leader and former home minister Sindh, Manzoor Wasan told Dawn.com that the president rebutted all speculations citing him leaving the country after stepping down as president.
Wasan quoted President Zardari as saying that he did not leave the country in adverse circumstances and vowed not to do so in the coming future also.
The PPP government was the first in Pakistain's history to complete a full five-year term and transfer power at the ballot box. But after a rudderless campaign, the party lost badly on polling day in May.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/31/2013 00:00 ||
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A Kenyan lawyer has filed a petition with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, suggesting that the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ was unlawful, and The State of Israel among others should be held responsible, Kenyan news outlet the Nairobian reported on Friday.
Dola Indidis, a lawyer and former spokesman of the Kenyan Judiciary is reportedly attempting to sue Tiberius (Emperor of Rome 42 BC-37AD), Pontius Pilate, a selection of Jewish elders, King Herod, the Republic of Italy and the State of Israel.
#7
One assumes the lawyer is not Christian, for without the crucifixion, Jesus Christ could not have died and arisen, taking his place at his father's right hand. On the other hand, the other options -- Moslem, atheist, or animist -- would be completely uninterested in a criminal proceeding that took place on another continent over two millenia previous. Since none of the possibilities would file such a suit, it must therefore be concluded that the plaintiff does not exist. Q.E.D.
As Ace of Spades commented on Twitter: ratings fall from "in the shitter" to "down the craphole"
From TFA:
MSNBC continued to struggle in July, placing fourth among the cable news networks in Total Day and third in primetime. The network experienced across-the-board declines in both Total Day and primetime compared to the same month last year.
#1
Rankings don't matter if you dominate the important audience, you know, the elite. What does it matter what the hicks in the sticks watch?
(channeling my daughter.)
#2
Allow the cable/sat customers to select the channels they want and the group subsidizing of these channels will disappear in a heart beat. Their plug will be pulled faster than the half life of Copernicium 285.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[REUTERS] Zim-bob-weans go to the polls on Wednesday in a fiercely contested election pitting President 
[An Nahar] Riots broke out over a full-face Islamic veil. A woman may have lost her unborn baby in another confrontation over her face covering. Tensions flared over a supermarket chain's ad for the end-of-day feast for the 
President Asif Ali 
A Kenyan lawyer has filed a petition with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, suggesting that the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ was unlawful, and The State of Israel among others should be held responsible, Kenyan news outlet the Nairobian reported on Friday.
