Random Thoughts (Political Edition)

Given that he (Adolph Hitler) was a complete nutter, he was damn clever, burning down the Reichstag, Crystal Nacht and Night of the long knives. These were alll smart moves, plus the personal oath of alegience from the army. ...

He used the forces that thought that they could control him rather than the other way around.

Small correction there: Most experts today believe, that Hitler wasn't responsible for burning down the Reichstag. Most experts believe, that it was indeed the act of Marinus van der Lubbe and that the whole thing played into Hitler's hands by chance.

Hitler found a scape goat for the loss (I will not use the term defeat because the problem was that the army felt that it had not been defeated) of WWI - Jewish people in general and Bankers in particular.

Well, actually it wasn't Hitler, who came up with that notion (see here for reference) but he used it for his purposes, that is correct.
 
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Why I used the word 'found', I realise it was not his invention - not bright enough to be able to rationalise the Jewish question as it was eventually called.
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And in other news. ...
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http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/t...he-fourth-of-july-the-united-states-of-gloom/

"NEWS REVIEW: America?s deepening recession and widespread pessimism about the country?s prospects add a bitter note to Independence Day, reports Toby Harnden, US Editor."
 
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I've been watching uninterrupted coverage of the Casey Anthony trial for the last six weeks (every local station covered it because it's a local story). It appears that if you don't have an eye witness or fingerprint/dna you can get away with murder, despite how convincing the circumstantial evidence is. I'm stunned by this verdict. STUNNED.
 
I've been watching uninterrupted coverage of the Casey Anthony trial for the last six weeks (every local station covered it because it's a local story). It appears that if you don't have an eye witness or fingerprint/dna you can get away with murder, despite how convincing the circumstantial evidence is. I'm stunned by this verdict. STUNNED.
My Facebook feed is literally full of outrage. I hadn't really followed the trial at all, so all of my knowledge is from various synopses... but it seemed like despite her clearly being an affront to humanity, it did seem like the prosecution was trying a "throw everything at the wall, see what sticks" approach, which doesn't really foster "beyond a reasonable doubt" confidence.
 
No actual evidence leading to Not Guilty verdicts - SHOCKER

trial by media does not always return the same verdict as an actual trial, even if the media has convinced the uneducated masses that it must be true
 
I had a pretty open mind going in. No smoking gun, but a few key things that shouldn't be overlooked.

The defense claimed that Caylee drowned and the grandfather got rid of the body. This itself was a shocker, because this accident theory never came up before and Casey even dismissed this as a reason in a jailhouse conversation. Anyway, this defense excludes the possibility that some outside party killed the child or was involved. It's a confession that it's either Casey or George (or both) involved.

Not reporting the accident (going partying instead), duct taping the mouth with 3 pieces of duct tape, stuffing the child in a bag and tossing her in a swamp? Actions of a guilty person. Then of course the continuous lying to cover it all up, claiming the child was kidnapped. I'm even ignoring the searches for chloroform on the home computer and Casey getting a tattoo shortly afterwords that reads "bella vita" (beautiful life).

Doubt always exists, maybe aliens killed her? But where exactly is the reasonable doubt? Why make an accident look like a murder?
 
The reasonable doubt was mostly that there was a lot of evidence pointing to foul play, but none (or at least not enough) of the evidence tied that foul play directly to Casey. The body burial, etc were pretty fucked up, but occurred after the murder, which is the action that was under investigation. Hiding the body after a child's accidental death to cover up shitty parenting isn't outside the realm of possibility, but the double-whammy is that the prosecution was going for the death penalty, and that means the jury had better be absolutely convinced there was no reasonable doubt that Casey directly murdered the child. The prosecution was unable to do that, hence the Not Guilty verdict.

Also keep in mind that Not Guilty of First Degree Murder is not the same thing as Innocent.
 
Yes, but she was charged with lesser counts as well (like aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse). Going in, it was a circumstantial case...no direct evidence. Which was why I said what I said in my original post. How much should the lack of a "smoking gun" weigh on a decision when everything else points to one person? Because there isn't always an eye witness or DNA etc.

The interesting thing? If the defense never claimed it was an accident, then I probably would have agreed with the not guilty verdict. Because then there may be doubt about what happened and if someone else killed Caylee.
 
Yes, but she was charged with lesser counts as well (like aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse). Going in, it was a circumstantial case...no direct evidence. Which was why I said what I said in my original post. How much should the lack of a "smoking gun" weigh on a decision when everything else points to one person? Because there isn't always an eye witness or DNA etc.

The interesting thing? If the defense never claimed it was an accident, then I probably would have agreed with the not guilty verdict. Because then there may be doubt about what happened and if someone else killed Caylee.

Again, the other charges were very similar to the murder charge and hinged upon the same set of evidence. Casey acted suspiciously as hell, but there was enough reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors that they rendered a Not Guilty verdict. Evidence items like the chloroform in the trunk of the car were sketchy at best (levels seemed to fluctuate from "normal amounts present in vegetables" to "elevated concentrations." The bottom line is that 12 jurors unanimously decided that there was enough reasonable doubt in their minds to acquit her of the charges presented (aside from the false evidence charges), and frankly if I haven't been in the courthouse for the 400 hours of trial, I'm not really qualified to be second-guessing them.
 
What about 2 cadaver dogs hitting on the car? The hair found in the that came from a decomposing body? I watched the entire trial, so there really isn't anything the jury saw that I didn't.

*edit

I will add that although I am shocked, I still respect the process and will recognize her being found innocent of those charges. It should not have been a death penatly case, even though the lesser charges carried with them lesser penalties. I wanted to hear what the jurors had to see immediately after the verdict though, not after a few days when their opinion may be somewhat tainted. So I was kinda bummed when they refused to be interviewed.
 
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I will add that although I am shocked, I still respect the process and will recognize her being found innocent of those charges.

Not Guilty =/= innocent. The ruling is only that the prosecution did not have enough of a case to uphold the charges.
 
Rupert Murdoch's newspaper in th poo big time:

"For the past two decades no politician with a prospect of power dared attack the Murdoch empire.
Indeed, politicians of both major parties and their spin doctors fought with each other to woo, to charm and to convert the executives of News International. Today all that changed.
The prime minister has promised enquiries into media ethics and the relationship of the police to News International.
The leader of the opposition has called for the chief executive of News International Rebekah Brooks to be sacked and the News Corporation's bid for BSkyB to be delayed."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14045722
 
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Yes, I read about it. Let's hope this is really pursued right to the end and doesn't fall asleep somewhere in the middle.
 
As a journalist for many years, I can but laugh at what's happening to the News of the World at present.

:)
 
You consider them journalists?
 
No, but they consider themselves journalists.
 
TSA turns the fearmongering up to 11, then hits the Overdrive button and claims that terrorists are going to use "implanted bombs" to target US airlines.

Is the budget up for review or something?

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-pn-tsa-implants-20110706,0,7473541.story

The government has warned airlines that terrorists are considering surgically implanting explosives into people in an attempt to circumvent screening procedures, according to U.S. officials.

There is no indication of an immediate plot, but the new information could lead to additional screening procedures at the nation?s airports. Existing scanners would not necessarily detect bombs implanted under a person?s skin, experts said.

While the information suggests such a threat would come from overseas rather than domestic groups, federal officials are ordering precautions both in the U.S. and abroad, the official said.

The idea of surgically implanting bombs has been examined by intelligence agencies in the past, but new information has suggested that terrorist groups are seriously considering the technique, officials said.

A spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, Nicholas Kimball, said that passengers flying to the United States are likely to face additional screening measures.

"These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same activity at every international airport," Kimball said. "Measures may include interaction with passengers, in addition to the use of other screening methods such as pat-downs and the use of enhanced tools and technologies."

Existing scanners cannot detect certain explosive materials like PETN under the skin. They would have to rely on explosive trace detection swabs to detect bombs under the skin, and those are only conducted on a fraction of the passengers.

Didn't we predict this in The Thread That Cannot Be Named?
 
They must of just watched "The Dark Knight" on DVD.
 
Er, I'm sorry, wouldn't it be incredibly expensive and time-consuming to implant a meaningful amount of explosives under someone's skin without them:

a) having a violent biological reaction
b) having a noticeable lump coming out of them

What, is sticking bombs up assholes too passe now?
 
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