Craig on CNN Newsroom
Topic: Olympian Oscar Pistorius freed on bail in murder case (2/22)
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Many thanks to Blonde Wino for suggesting in yesterday’s thread that I mention South Africa’s domestic violence record. — Craig
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39 Responses to And the Oscar Goes to … Bail
Now on The Trail
The other four look shocked by what you have said (or are just plain bored and do not seem to care about what you have just said).
bill, yeah, another bill tried that back in ’94 with his cops (community oriented policing services) to put 100,000 additional on the streets. even shrub kept it going and maybe a cops 2 was tried or is being tried still by obama. not sure if the program ever worked out as promised, but it was/is imo a very worthy idea and effort.
Here are the candidates for the top six awards. Make you picks with a tie breaker which picture will win the most awards overall.
Best Picture
“Amour” Nominees to be determined
“Argo” Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
“Django Unchained” Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
“Les Misérables” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
“Life of Pi” Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
“Lincoln” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
“Silver Linings Playbook” Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
“Zero Dark Thirty” Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers
Directing
“Amour” Michael Haneke
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” Benh Zeitlin
“Life of Pi” Ang Lee
“Lincoln” Steven Spielberg
“Silver Linings Playbook” David O. Russell
Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper in “Silver Linings Playbook”
Daniel Day-Lewis in “Lincoln”
Hugh Jackman in “Les Misérables”
Joaquin Phoenix in “The Master”
Denzel Washington in “Flight”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin in “Argo”
Robert De Niro in “Silver Linings Playbook”
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “The Master”
Tommy Lee Jones in “Lincoln”
Christoph Waltz in “Django Unchained”
Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playbook”
Emmanuelle Riva in “Amour”
Quvenzhané Wallis in “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Naomi Watts in “The Impossible”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in “The Master”
Sally Field in “Lincoln”
Anne Hathaway in “Les Misérables”
Helen Hunt in “The Sessions”
Jacki Weaver in “Silver Linings Playbook”
Just wanted to pop-in to tell you Craig how much I enjoyed seeing you on CNN yesterday. Your smile is wonderful and you made the other panelists, smile, too. I wish they would give you more air time.
Jamie,
The movie I like best is rarely (almost never) the one to win the awards (especially for best picture and actors). That makes it difficult for me to predict the winner because it’s almost always one I don’t agree with.
It’s good to see it on the list you posted though. Maybe this time (?)
Craig, love seeing you on TV. It’s the way I first met you, and I’ve been a follower ever since. You always stand out from the others who are always predictable.
Nancy Grace jr (Jane Velez Mitchell) was on CNN talking about Oscar P getting out and using the phrase “forgotten victim” --kind of hard to think of the young woman as forgotten when she has a reality show that is now on the air
Gee Nancy jr…if you are going to be sensational at least try to find something that fits
Good Morning all,
Chloe, i so agree regarding Craig. I remember Craig on TV during the Monica L days, think it was Olberman’s first show on MSNBC where i first saw him? Of course, the MSM’s biased 2008 primary coverage is when i made a break from them and migrated here for most of my news.. As i don’t have cable anymore, i get most of my news here from you and the other fine people who post here..
I think we need a little historical perspective on Chicago crime. In 1992 Chicago had it’s highest number of murders at 970 by 2011 it had dropped to 435. In 2012 the numbers have risen to 506.
Part of this rise has to do with a natural rise because of the economy but another part has to do with the successful efforts to get the gang leadership into prison. so what is happened is a battle for leadership and also no checks on the crazies with guns.
A primer on community policing from the dept. of justice
Next week the GOP is going to crash the economy.
They’re going to blame Obama.
Half of the “experts” in the MSM will believe them.
Jack, Your post was enlightening to me, as it showed the crime level from the ninety’s in Chicago is much lower now, even though there’s a larger population and bad economy.
This part confuses me: “Part of this rise has to do with a natural rise because of the economy but another part has to do with the successful efforts to get the gang leadership into prison. so what is happened is a battle for leadership and also no checks on the crazies with guns.”
If they’re putting more gang leadership into prison, are you saying there’s more homicide because there are murders by those who are trying to take those arrested place? But has how does this tie in with no checks for guns?
F. E Warren AFB in Cheyenne WY. is practically an institution in WY. It is well regarded and does much good for the community over and above just providing a steady payroll for the community.
I only mention this because if sequester kicks in it should be slated for closing, because our defense posture would not be affected one iota by it’s loss.
Then Senator Barasso could go back to WY. and tell his constituents why deficit reduction is so worthwhile.
I have suspected for some time that we have a lot military bases that could be closed, that a lot of them happen to be in red states with heavily republican delegations, oh well.
That’s how sequester needs to work!
Don’t know what brought it on but I woke up with a Florida earworm this AM:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uhB9Buxifg
Ol’ Tillis had a crafty way with rhymes back in the day.
I’m gonna pack my grip and take me a trip
As fast as I can thumb
Cause if they call that spring then the sun shines rain
I’ll be gone when summer comes
“Spring” and “rain” work because in the South “spring” generally comes out more like “sprang”-- Just sayin’--
The last time they crashed the economy, Rick and I were on vacation at the beach. Next week Rick and I will be on vacation at our timeshare across from Loon Mt. He will be skiing… I will be hot tubbing.
We’ll probably say the same thing next week as we said back in 2008…. “fuck the bastards”.
jasfl,
Your 3:46am comment is dead on. Kudos to Blonde Wino for bringing up the domestic violence discussion to this topic. Kudos to Craig for mentioning it./ How can I say this without insulting anyone? Craig was the only contributor who had any depth or offered any point that worked a brain cell or two. He is so far ahead of the others. TV bookers: this is just the opinion of a nobody from nowhere. But the quality of your product is effected by the quality of the people you choose to be a face on your network. Don’t be afraid to aim high. Go for it.
jace, that’s probably why they made the cuts cross the board so that the admin couldn’t pick out the other guys’ favorite boondoggles.
sjwny, amen to that.
the whole list of topics seemed strange and a bit superficial considering the more pressing problems before us.
jamie, it will be a “lincoln” sweep. maybe a kind word for “amour” wedged in somewhere.
my prognostication above is based on the aging boomers in the academy
Well… I hate to mention it… but… Craig’s gotta be 20 yrs older than the other three. And in this case… age definitely equals wisdom.
Nothing wrong with the enthusiasm of youth… but yeah, a few brain cells would be nice too…
RR,
How wonderfully appropriate that you will be at Loon Mt.
In as much as the ‘loons’ are defiantly in charge.
Patd,
The cuts are indeed across the board, but each agency will have to determine how best to absorb those cuts.
Oh to be the Defense secretary for just one week. Delicious.
jace, loons as in this looney tunes piece with daffy playing the republican role re sequestration:
Thumbs up to BW!
If CNN was really serious about changing directions they would hire a well respected, intelligent, individual, who has a great sense of humor, but refuses to suffer fools gladly, can cut through the bullshit, and give that person their own show, preferably in prime time.
Maybe that Crawford fellow, he could be the anti-Wolf.
Patd,
Really, don’t you think that’s an insult to Daffy? He’s a good deal smarter than republicans.
Chloe
Gangs are composed of a lot of semi psychotic to full blown psychotic individuals, (btw this includes the mafia too)
Established leadership (even the psychotic kind)doesn’t want the lower level crazies to get out of line causing trouble for the group so they keep them under control(usually with a reputation for extreme violence) When there is a dispute for leadership they run wild out of control.
Jack
Jace
In regard to cutting heavy in certain Republican districts/
It looks like that maybe what is happening. I read yesterday that one of the FAA regional traffic controler sites scheduled for closure in in Congressman Ryan’s district.
Maybe with Axelrod ect. gone from the scene we will see some bareknuckles politics.
Jack
Really slow this morning
Jack,
Cutting in Ryan’s district. Mmmmmm. I wonder if Bohener and Cantor have anything in their districts?
It isn’t pretty, but this is how the game used to be played, it may be time for the old rules to apply.
jace
PS It is a bit slow today.
BM : Lincoln
BD : Russel
BArLR : Lewis
BArSR : Jones
BAsLR : Riva
BAsSR : Adams
Tie Breaker : Lincoln
Warning and apologies in advance for the bandwidth offense. A friend who also tracks batshitcrazyrightwing crap forwarded this to me. He got it from a surgeon/gunnutcase in Twin Falls, ID named Dr. don paul workman.
It’s sad when Americans need help from Muslim terrorist to protect themselves from their own government.
Revealed: al-Qaeda’s 22 tips for dodging drones
Al-Qaeda’s list of 22 tips for dodging drone attacks -- including at least one believed to originate with Osama bin Laden -- has been found hidden inside a manila envelope in a building abandoned by Islamists in Mali.
The document includes advice such as “hide under thick trees” (believed to be bin Laden’s contribution), and instructions for setting up a “fake gathering” using dolls to “mislead the enemy”.
Found by the Associated Press in a building in Timbuktu, the ancient city occupied by Islamists last year, the document is believed to have been abandoned as extremists fled a French military intervention last month. It is a Xeroxed copy of a tipsheet authored by a Yemeni extremist that has been published on some jihadi forums, but that has made little appearance in English.
The list reflects how al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghbreb anticipated a military intervention that would make use of drones, as the war on terror shifts from the ground to the air.
The document also shows the coordination between al-Qaeda chapters, which security experts have called a source of increasing concern.
“This new document… shows we are no longer dealing with an isolated local problem, but with an enemy which is reaching across continents to share advice,” said Bruce Riedel, a 30-year veteran of the CIA, now the director of the Intelligence Project at the Brookings Institute.
While some of the tips are outdated or far-fetched, taken together, they suggest the Islamists in Mali are responding to the threat of drones with sound, common-sense advice that may help them to melt into the desert in between attacks, leaving barely a trace.
“These are not dumb techniques. It shows that they are acting pretty astutely,” said Col Cedric Leighton, a 26-year-veteran of the United States Air Force, who helped set up the Predator drone program, which later tracked Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
“What it does is, it buys them a little bit more time -- and in this conflict, time is key. And they will use it to move away from an area, from a bombing raid, and do it very quickly,” he said.
The success of some of the tips will depend on the circumstances and the model of drones used, Col Leighton said. For example, from the air, where perceptions of depth become obfuscated, an imagery sensor would interpret a mat stretched over the top of a car as one lying on the ground, concealing the vehicle.
New models of drones, such as the Harfung used by the French or the MQ-9 “Reaper,” sometimes have infrared sensors that can pick up the heat signature of a car whose engine has just been shut off. However, even an infrared sensor would have trouble detecting a car left under a mat tent overnight, so that its temperature is the same as on the surrounding ground, Col Leighton said.
Unarmed drones are already being used by the French in Mali to collect intelligence on al-Qaeda groups, and US officials have said plans are underway to establish a new drone base in northwestern Africa.
The US recently signed a “status of forces agreement” with Niger, one of the nations bordering Mali, suggesting the drone base may be situated there and would be primarily used to gather intelligence to help the French.
The author of the tipsheet found in Timbuktu is Abdallah bin Muhammad, the nom de guerre for a senior commander of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based branch of the terror network.
The document was first published in Arabic on an extremist website on June 2, 2011, a month after bin Laden’s death, according to Mathieu Guidere, a professor at the University of Toulouse.
Prof Guidere runs a database of statements by extremist groups, including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and he reviewed and authenticated the document found by the AP.
The tipsheet is still little known, if at all, in English, though it has been republished at least three times in Arabic on other jihadist forums after drone strikes took out US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen in September 2011 and al-Qaeda second-in-command Abu Yahya al-Libi in Pakistan in June 2012.
It was most recently issued two weeks ago on another extremist website after plans for the possible US drone base in Niger began surfacing, Prof Guidere said.
“This document supports the fact that they knew there are secret US bases for drones, and were preparing themselves,” he said. “They were thinking about this issue for a long time.”
The idea of hiding under trees to avoid drones, which is tip No 10, appears to be coming from the highest levels of the terror network. In a letter written by bin Laden and first published by the US Center for Combating Terrorism, the terror mastermind instructs his followers to deliver a message to Abdelmalek Droukdel, the head of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, whose fighters have been active in Mali for at least a decade.
“I want the brothers in the Islamic Maghreb to know that planting trees helps the mujahedeen and gives them cover,” bin Laden writes in the missive. “Trees will give the mujahedeen the freedom to move around especially if the enemy sends spying aircrafts to the area.”
Hiding under trees is exactly what the al-Qaeda fighters did in Mali, according to residents in Diabaly, the last town they took before the French stemmed their advance last month. Just after French warplanes incinerated rebel cars that had been left outside, the fighters began to commandeer houses with large mango trees and park their four-by-fours in the shade of their rubbery leaves.
Hamidou Sissouma, a schoolteacher, said the Islamists chose his house because of its generous trees, and rammed their trucks through his earthen wall to drive right into his courtyard. Another resident showed the gash the occupiers had made in his mango tree by parking their pickup too close to the trunk.
In Timbuktu also, fighters hid their cars under trees, and disembarked from them in a hurry when they were being chased, in accordance with tip No 13.
Moustapha al-Housseini, an appliance repairman, was outside his shop fixing a client’s broken radio on the day the aerial bombardments began. He said he heard the sound of the planes and saw the Islamists at almost the same moment. Abou Zeid, the senior al-Qaeda emir in the region, rushed to jam his car under a pair of tamarind trees outside the store.
“He and his men got out of the car and dove under the awning,” said Mr al-Housseini. “As for what I did? Me and my employees? We also ran. As fast as we could.”
Along with the grass mats, the al-Qaeda men in Mali made creative use of another natural resource to hide their cars: Mud.
Asse Ag Imahalit, a gardener at a building in Timbuktu, said he was at first puzzled to see that the fighters sleeping inside the compound sent for large bags of sugar every day. Then, he said, he observed them mixing the sugar with dirt, adding water and using the sticky mixture to “paint” their cars. Residents said the cars of the al-Qaeda fighters are permanently covered in mud.
The drone tipsheet, discovered in the regional tax department occupied by Abou Zeid, shows how familiar al-Qaeda has become with drone attacks, which have allowed the US to take out senior leaders in the terrorist group without a messy ground battle. The preface and epilogue of the tipsheet make it clear that al-Qaeda well realizes the advantages of drones: They are relatively cheap in terms of money and lives, alleviating “the pressure of American public opinion.”
Ironically, the first drone attack on an al-Qaeda figure in 2002 took out the head of the branch in Yemen -- the same branch that authoured the document found in Mali, according to Riedel. Drones began to be used in Iraq in 2006 and in Pakistan in 2007, but it wasn’t until 2009 that they became a hallmark of the war on terror, he said.
“Since we do not want to put boots on the ground in places like Mali, they are certain to be the way of the future,” he said. “They are already the future.”
Source: AP
I feel so much safer. Don’t you? I’m so glad they won’t be armed with missiles!
Paul
More incarnations of spy technology to undergo testing
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
February 18, 2013
The Department of Homeland Security is advancing its plan to use surveillance drones for “public safety” applications, announcing last week that it had received a deluge of “excellent” responses from potential vendors and was set to carry out more tests of the technology.
New testing of spy drones for “public safety” applications has been rubber stamped by the DHS. Image: YouTube
As we first reported in July last year, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano told a House Committee on Homeland Security that the federal agency was “looking at drones that could be utilized to give us situational awareness in a large public safety [matter] or disaster,” despite the fact that the agency had previously indicated it was reticent to use spy drones to keep tabs on the public.
This was followed by a “market research” announcement in September that confirmed the DHS was exploring a “Robotic Aircraft for Public Safety” (RAPS) project, and was asking small unmanned aerial systems (SUAS) vendors to take part.
In an update posted on the FedBizOpps website last week (PDF), the federal agency announced that, “Vendor response to our Request for Information (RFI), Number: DHS 13-01, on small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS) was excellent and included the submission of over 70 white papers.”
The announcement added that a small number of the submissions would now be participating in the “first phase of assessments” for the technology in 2013 and 2014. The DHS refuses to specify which proposals were accepted and for what reasons.
Initial testing of robotic spy drones for “public safety” applications was conducted by the DHS’ Science and Technology directorate at Fort Sill, Oklahoma last year.
As Wired Magazine reported, the DHS is pursuing lightweight spy drones that can fly for two hours at a time, but it is also interested in military-style drones fitted with cameras that can spy on up to four square miles at a time.
As we reported last week, the ARGUS-IS surveillance camera system, developed by BAE Systems in conjunction with DARPA, has the capability to track every moving object across an area of 15 square miles, or a medium-sized city – and could be fitted to unmanned drones that can stay airborne for years at a time.
The DHS is already using another type of airborne drone surveillance, also utilized to track insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq, for the purposes of “emergency and non-emergency incidents” within the United States.
Experts predict that there will be 30,000 surveillance drones in American skies by 2020 following a bill passed last year by Congress that permits the use of unmanned aerial spy vehicles on domestic soil.
Last week, a Federal Aviation Administration official told a conference in Northern Virginia that unmanned surveillance drones deployed in US airspace would not be armed with missiles.
Again,I apologize to you for my bandwidth offense. My purpose is to both show the degree of paranoia among the gun-nutters, and to show that the ‘black helicopter’ paranoia of the Clinton Era 20 years ago has morphed into ‘grey drone’ paranoia of the Obama Era.
I’ve been seeing a lot of Anti-American drone paranoia lately, coming from several gun-nutters, who make wayne lapierre seem sedate and level-headed.
I’m glad to hear about that mud on the car business.
sturge, mud good idea, but sugar mixed in? probably becomes an anthill after awhile.
my mud is all natural….
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