New York Times Takes a Break From the Internet for a Few Hours

Those scheduled maintenance updates can kill ya
Media • Views: 20,134

The New York Times website was offline for several hours today; Fox Business reported that it was due to a cyber attack, but that wasn’t true:

As you may know, our Web site was unavailable for a period of time earlier today. The outage occurred within seconds of a scheduled maintenance update, which we believe was the cause. We are working on fully restoring service and apologize for any inconvenience.

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99 comments
1 Targetpractice  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:28:23pm

Has Glenn Greenwald taken credit yet?

//

2 Kragar  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:28:42pm

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SNOWDEN!

-The GG

3 Skip Intro  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:29:18pm

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Outlook.com is down, too.

4 Kragar  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:29:48pm

re: #3 Skip Intro

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Outlook.com is down, too.

I find that suspicious.

5 Charles Johnson  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:30:48pm
6 Kragar  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:31:45pm

re: #5 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Looks like they opted to build a bridge out of them.

7 Bubblehead II  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:32:04pm

Wonder if they installed some variant of Microsofts “blue screen of death” patch

8 lawhawk  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:33:33pm

Snicker.

Meanwhile, had a most odd phone call. Someone claiming to be with Microsoft Support claimed that they got messages and wanted me to access my computer to make adjustments. That just smells like BS and phishing or some similar action.

MSFT notes as much on their site.

Someone less savvy could fall for this - the guy on the other end, who sounded like he was in India - was very persistent as if reading from a script even though I demanded to know how I could trust that he was representing who he said he was (the number came up as private, so caller ID wasn’t a help).

MSFT does not make cold calls to demand software fixes/patches, or access to your computers.

9 Gus  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:36:54pm

It’s a cyber attack!

How do you know that?

Don’t ask me. I think I read it somewhere else. It’s a cyber attack!

Oh.

10 Justanotherhuman  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:37:46pm

OK, I have to repeat this good news since I posted in on the previous thread, and the NYT won’t be able to do it. : )

Pentagon announces same-sex spouse benefits for military couples

usnews.nbcnews.com

11 Kragar  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:41:53pm

re: #9 Gus

It’s a cyber attack!

How do you know that?

Don’t ask me. I think I read it somewhere else. It’s a cyber attack!

Oh.

We had an officer who used the word Ping excessively and without actually knowing what it meant.

“OK, we’ve got a good connection, but the services aren’t communicating.”
“Ping it.”
“Its not a connectivity issue sir. We need to very the crypto is synched up and that the other site configured their firewalls to accept the traffic on the right ports.”
“So ping the crypto, then ping the firewall.”
“Want us to ping the generators to, sir?”
“YES! Do I have to tell you guys everything?”

12 Kragar  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:42:21pm

re: #10 Justanotherhuman

OK, I have to repeat this good news since I posted in on the previous thread, and the NYT won’t be able to do it. : )

Pentagon announces same-sex spouse benefits for military couples

usnews.nbcnews.com

DEMONS!

13 Charles Johnson  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:43:38pm

re: #11 Kragar

All you need is ping.

14 Lawrence Schmerel  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:45:41pm

When I Google the word “News,” the first thing I get in the results list is “www.foxnews.com.”

Can anyone explain that to me? Is Fox News buying that position? Does Google think I want my news from Fox News first? What is the deal?

15 Kragar  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:46:13pm

re: #13 Charles Johnson

All you need is ping.

Needless to say, “Ping it” soon became our default answer for everything.

“Hey, the chow is going to be an hour late.”
“PING IT!”
“Anyone seen my other boot?”
“PING IT!”
“Where’s jackass hiding this time?”
“PING IT!”

16 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:46:38pm

re: #13 Charles Johnson

All you need is ping.

I had a boss that said ‘nominal’ all the time, to mean everything. “The changes are going to be nominal” from her might mean “The changes aren’t going to be much” or “The changes are going to be nothing at all, in name only” or “The changes are going to be optimal” or “I have no fucking clue what the changes are going to be I’m just talking.”

17 brennant  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:48:18pm

re: #15 Kragar

Needless to say, “Ping it” soon became our default answer for everything.

“Hey, the chow is going to be an hour late.”
“PING IT!”
“Anyone seen my other boot?”
“PING IT!”
“Where’s jackass hiding this time?”
“PING IT!”

Do you have the machine that goes “ping!”?

18 geoffm33  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:48:21pm

When a problem comes along
You must ping it
Before the cream sets out too long
You must ping it
When something’s goin’ wrong
You must ping it

Now ping it
Into shape
Shape it up
Get straight
Go forward
Move ahead
Try to detect it
It’s not too late
To ping it
Ping it good

19 ProTARDISLiberal  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:48:41pm

Starting to think that the incidents this morning may have been instigated by the MB. Though, for me, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. The MB are never innocent victims.

Though, to be fair, my way of dealing with these fanatics would be to emulate Mehmet II and Mehmet Ali Pasha during the Ottoman-Saudi War.

20 RadicalModerate  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:49:31pm

Youtube Video


Sorry. Had to.

21 brennant  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:50:15pm

re: #20 RadicalModerate

You win the Internet.

22 Charles Johnson  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:50:49pm
23 Ian G.  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:51:19pm

re: #5 Charles Johnson

My grandmother lived from 1915 until 2012. It’s amazing sometimes to look at what the world was like in the earlier part of her life. She was born into a world of kerosene lamps and horse-drawn carriages (here in New York, mind you, not in the old world) and left in a world of deep space exploration and maglev trains.

/philosophical navel-gazing

24 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:52:12pm

re: #19 ProTARDISLiberal

[Embedded content]


Though, to be fair, my way of dealing with these fanatics would be to emulate Mehmet II and Mehmet Ali Pasha during the Ottoman-Saudi War.

And what would that entail, exactly?

25 Mattand  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:53:18pm

re: #8 lawhawk

Snicker.

Meanwhile, had a most odd phone call. Someone claiming to be with Microsoft Support claimed that they got messages and wanted me to access my computer to make adjustments. That just smells like BS and phishing or some similar action.

MSFT notes as much on their site.

Someone less savvy could fall for this - the guy on the other end, who sounded like he was in India - was very persistent as if reading from a script even though I demanded to know how I could trust that he was representing who he said he was (the number came up as private, so caller ID wasn’t a help).

MSFT does not make cold calls to demand software fixes/patches, or access to your computers.

Speaking of which: great article on Ars Technica wherein the author trolls a would-be scammer.

26 Gus  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:53:59pm
27 Mattand  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:54:35pm

re: #17 brennant

Do you have the machine that goes “ping!”?

Monty Python refs always win the Internet. You all can go home now.

28 lawhawk  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:54:41pm

re: #13 Charles Johnson

All you need is pingPong.

/kickin’ it old school

29 lawhawk  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:55:45pm

re: #17 brennant

Sorry, but the Royals had the only one under lock and key. Not sure who’s got the key at the moment though.

30 ProTARDISLiberal  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:55:47pm

re: #24 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

Well, for one, Diriyah is still a ruin 195 years later. It got Carthage’d.

We just saw how the Muslim Brotherhood acts in Egypt. You can’t negotiate with radicalist scum like that. The MB, the Salafists, and the Taliban (among others) are all cut from the same cloth. Deal with all the radicals the same way.

31 Mattand  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:55:59pm

re: #26 Gus

[Embedded content]

32 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:57:13pm
33 Lidane  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:57:20pm
34 Slap  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:57:36pm

re: #18 geoffm33

Upding for the nice Devo reference!

Off-topic for the thread, on-topic for the reference….they were, IMO, one of the most fiery bands I have ever seen live. There aren’t too many official documents to confirm this to the uninitiated — but THIS:

clubdevo.com

….is pretty damned fine.

35 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:58:25pm

re: #30 ProTARDISLiberal

Well, for one, Diriyah is still a ruin 195 years later. It got Carthage’d.

So you’re calling for the destruction of a city, which would obviously involve the death of a ton of civilians.

Why do so many of your plans involve mass death?

36 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:58:44pm

re: #32 NJDhockeyfan

Now that guy is goddamn brave.

37 Kragar  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:59:31pm

re: #32 NJDhockeyfan

[Embedded content]

Now that is a guy is a hero.

38 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 12:59:50pm

re: #36 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

Now that guy is goddamn brave.

I’m surprised he isn’t sitting in a jail cell right now.

39 GlutenFreeJesus  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:00:20pm

re: #11 Kragar

We had an officer who used the word Ping excessively and without actually knowing what it meant.

“OK, we’ve got a good connection, but the services aren’t communicating.”
“Ping it.”
“Its not a connectivity issue sir. We need to very the crypto is synched up and that the other site configured their firewalls to accept the traffic on the right ports.”
“So ping the crypto, then ping the firewall.”
“Want us to ping the generators to, sir?”
“YES! Do I have to tell you guys everything?”

Is that the machine that goes “ping!”?

40 Lidane  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:00:41pm

re: #38 NJDhockeyfan

I’m surprised he isn’t sitting in a jail cell right now.

I’m surprised he’s still alive.

41 Lidane  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:01:07pm

Cue the RWNJ ‘splodey heads in 3…2…1…

42 GeneJockey  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:01:36pm

Wow, we really are lurching into Bizarro world. The Right have started idolizing the RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, a former KGB officer. They’re wishing we could have more restrictive policies, like the former Soviet Union. Some guy leaking information on our foreign intelligence gathering method flees to CHINA, then to RUSSIA, and becomes a hero to the Right.

What the hell’s going on?

43 abolitionist  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:03:33pm

They’re probably upgrading to zombie cookies to fortify their paywall. /half

44 Justanotherhuman  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:04:01pm

re: #31 Mattand

[Embedded content]

Whither GG?

What, no outrage?

45 Interesting Times  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:04:17pm

re: #40 Lidane

I’m surprised he’s still alive.

Putin’s anti-gay demagoguery (especially accusing them of being synonymous with pedophiles) becomes all the more ironic when you remember this dripping-in-creepsauce display:

Youtube Video

46 Ian G.  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:05:14pm

re: #41 Lidane

Cue the RWNJ ‘splodey heads in 3…2…1…

[Embedded content]

Maybe they can all self-deport to Russia.

47 Dr. Matt  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:06:11pm

re: #42 GeneJockey

Wow, we really are lurching into Bizarro world. The Right have started idolizing the RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, a former KGB officer. They’re wishing we could have more restrictive policies, like the former Soviet Union. Some guy leaking information on our foreign intelligence gathering method flees to CHINA, then to RUSSIA, and becomes a hero to the Right.

What the hell’s going on?

Russia First.

48 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:06:50pm

Unbelievable

49 Backwoods_Sleuth  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:07:31pm

heh…

A picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case, it’s simply pathetic. When Iowa GOP congressman Steve King planned an anti-immigration rally in Richmond, Virginia, he thought he’d be giving a speech to a very large audience. Instead, King found himself talking to mostly, well…himself.

It turns out Americans are not as supportive of King’s staunch anti-immigration stance as he thought they were. According to ThinkProgress, only between 30-60 people in all of Virginia bothered to show up to listen to King at his so-called “Stop Amnesty” rally.

Steve King stands alone at his own anti-immigration rally

50 Political Atheist  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:08:21pm

re: #42 GeneJockey

Wow, we really are lurching into Bizarro world. The Right have started idolizing the RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, a former KGB officer. They’re wishing we could have more restrictive policies, like the former Soviet Union. Some guy leaking information on our foreign intelligence gathering method flees to CHINA, then to RUSSIA, and becomes a hero to the Right.

What the hell’s going on?

I was a Republican for a good long while. I look at these guys and my face looks a bit too much like when a guy walks around the corner only to see that first ever bunch of zombies that used to be his neighbors.

51 Dr. Matt  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:09:01pm

re: #49 Backwoods_Sleuth

ccording to ThinkProgress, only between 30-60 people in all of Virginia bothered to show up to listen to King at his so-called “Stop Amnesty” rally.

And how many of the 30-60 were media, the homeless, and old people feeding pigeons in the park…….

52 GlutenFreeJesus  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:09:45pm

re: #42 GeneJockey

Wow, we really are lurching into Bizarro world. The Right have started idolizing the RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, a former KGB officer. They’re wishing we could have more restrictive policies, like the former Soviet Union. Some guy leaking information on our foreign intelligence gathering method flees to CHINA, then to RUSSIA, and becomes a hero to the Right.

What the hell’s going on?

Black Presidentitus.

53 Gus  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:09:55pm
54 erik_t  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:10:44pm

re: #35 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

So you’re calling for the destruction of a city, which would obviously involve the death of a ton of civilians.

Why do so many of your plans involve mass death?

Hard-on for downdings, I suppose.

55 b_sharp  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:10:45pm

OT for this thread but I’m trying to parse the justification for stop and frisk.

People of colour should be watched and checked more frequently because they have a higher rate of arrest than whites. Sounds interesting.

People of colour have a higher rate of arrest because they are stopped and checked more frequently than their white counterparts. It has become confusing.


Why do I feel like I just spent time spinning around a bat in someones back yard while they filmed me for a video to be sent to America’s Funniest Home Videos?

56 GeneJockey  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:10:47pm

re: #50 Political Atheist

I was a Republican for a good long while. I look at these guys and my face looks a bit too much like when a guy walks around the corner only to see that first ever bunch of zombies that used to be his neighbors.

“Hey, Shawn! Look who it is!!”

“PETE?!?”

57 Gus  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:12:17pm
58 b_sharp  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:12:37pm

re: #49 Backwoods_Sleuth

heh…

Steve King stands alone at his own anti-immigration rally

As he should.

59 Eventual Carrion  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:12:43pm

re: #56 GeneJockey

“Hey, Shawn! Look who it is!!”

“PETE?!?”

They are a bit bitey.

60 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:13:02pm

re: #57 Gus

The irony here is that his ‘supporters’ will say he’s lying when he says that, to get better treatment.

61 erik_t  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:13:09pm

re: #55 b_sharp

OT for this thread but I’m trying to parse the justification for stop and frisk.

People of colour should be watched and checked more frequently because they have a higher rate of arrest than whites. Sounds interesting.

People of colour have a higher rate of arrest because they are stopped and checked more frequently than their white counterparts. It has become confusing.

Why do I feel like I just spent time spinning around a bat in someones back yard while they filmed me for a video to be sent to America’s Funniest Home Videos?

THEY (that is, the THEM) are just getting you all dizzy and confused so you forget that you should be talking about the important topic, which is Glenn Greenbeck.

62 b_sharp  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:13:29pm

re: #50 Political Atheist

I was a Republican for a good long while. I look at these guys and my face looks a bit too much like when a guy walks around the corner only to see that first ever bunch of zombies that used to be his neighbors.

Time for you to run for office as a rational Republican.

63 Slap  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:15:02pm

re: #25 Mattand

Speaking of which: great article on Ars Technica wherein the author trolls a would-be scammer.

One of the funniest things I’ve heard in a long time was from a guy who is a regular caller to Harry Shearer’s radio show. He screws with telemarketrs and records it. On one occasion, he answered as a law enforcement official, questioning the caller about why he was calling this number, and what was his connection to the deceased, and does he have an alibi — all the while calling to non-existemt CSI types with things like “don’t step in that blood! — wait ‘til the coroner is finished”.

The telemarketer was utterly unable to gain traction. It was FINE.

64 b_sharp  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:15:13pm

re: #30 ProTARDISLiberal

Well, for one, Diriyah is still a ruin 195 years later. It got Carthage’d.

We just saw how the Muslim Brotherhood acts in Egypt. You can’t negotiate with radicalist scum like that. The MB, the Salafists, and the Taliban (among others) are all cut from the same cloth. Deal with all the radicals the same way.

You are addicted to your hate/anger adrenaline.

You don’t need to be.

65 b_sharp  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:16:41pm

re: #61 erik_t

THEY (that is, the THEM) are just getting you all dizzy and confused so you forget that you should be talking about the important topic, which is Glenn Greenbeck.

Who?

66 Backwoods_Sleuth  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:17:02pm

re: #51 Dr. Matt

And how many of the 30-60 were media, the homeless, and old people feeding pigeons in the park…….

maybe King should have advertised free food…

67 GeneJockey  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:17:05pm

re: #55 b_sharp

OT for this thread but I’m trying to parse the justification for stop and frisk.

People of colour should be watched and checked more frequently because they have a higher rate of arrest than whites. Sounds interesting.

People of colour have a higher rate of arrest because they are stopped and checked more frequently than their white counterparts. It has become confusing.

Why do I feel like I just spent time spinning around a bat in someones back yard while they filmed me for a video to be sent to America’s Funniest Home Videos?

I think there are two parts to the justification.

Part one is not racist - you can reduce the number of crimes if criminals know that there’s a significant probability that they’ll be stopped and searched, and possibly arrested if carrying a weapon illegally. So, a program of truly RANDOM stop-and-frisk would reduce the number of weapons wandering the streets, and thus reduce crime.

The second part - the implementation - is where the racism comes in. It’s not truly random, but heavily oversamples nonwhites.

And I’d also suggest that if it WERE truly random, so that everyone had an equal chance of being stopped, whites would suddenly find it is a hugely intrusive program that threatens their liberty, rather than seeing it as ‘common sense law enforcement.’

68 Lidane  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:17:46pm
69 A Man for all Seasons  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:18:36pm

re: #62 b_sharp

Time for you to run for office as a rational Republican.

PA would be a great Republican office holder.. The only problem is that the Stink from the GOP would get on him. So don’t do it PA!

70 erik_t  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:18:47pm

re: #65 b_sharp

Who?

PAY ATTENTION TO MEEEEEEEEEEEE

71 GeneJockey  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:18:53pm

re: #68 Lidane

Turns out Orson Scott Card isn’t just an anti-gay bigot, he’s also a paranoid racist nutbag:

Hoocoodanode?
//

72 b_sharp  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:19:01pm

re: #67 GeneJockey

I think there are two parts to the justification.

Part one is not racist - you can reduce the number of crimes if criminals know that there’s a significant probability that they’ll be stopped and searched, and possibly arrested if carrying a weapon illegally. So, a program of truly RANDOM stop-and-frisk would reduce the number of weapons wandering the streets, and thus reduce crime.

The second part - the implementation - is where the racism comes in. It’s not truly random, but heavily oversamples nonwhites.

And I’d also suggest that if it WERE truly random, so that everyone had an equal chance of being stopped, whites would suddenly find it is a hugely intrusive program that threatens their liberty, rather than seeing it as ‘common sense law enforcement.’

People have trouble with stats-n-prob. They think its a type of ice cream.

73 GeneJockey  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:20:34pm

re: #72 b_sharp

People have trouble with stats-n-prob. They think its a type of ice cream.

Tel me about it. I could not convince my MIL that, by playing the same lottery number every week, she was not increasing her odds. And she taught school.

74 Political Atheist  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:23:13pm

re: #62 b_sharp

Time for you to run for office as a rational Republican.

Heh. Thanks but solo acts rarely win an election.

75 Mattand  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:24:00pm

re: #67 GeneJockey

And I’d also suggest that if it WERE truly random, so that everyone had an equal chance of being stopped, whites would suddenly find it is a hugely intrusive program that threatens their liberty, rather than seeing it as ‘common sense law enforcement.’

This is the salient part that completely sailed over Dark Falcon’s head.

76 Lidane  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:24:34pm
77 Dark_Falcon  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:24:56pm

re: #3 Skip Intro

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Outlook.com is down, too.

It’s back, now.

78 Kragar  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:26:03pm

Christian TV host tries to exorcise ‘demonic spirit’ from Obama

Disgraced former Navy chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt veered into domestic policy commentary on his online show on Wednesday, arguing against the National Security Authority’s (NSA) domestic spying program while trying to pray a demon out of President Barack Obama.

“We pray against the domestic enemies of the Constitution,” Klingenschmitt said, his eyes closed. “Against this demon of tyranny who is using the White House occupant. That demonic spirit is oppressing us.”

Klingenschmitt also prayed that God would help Obama repent for violating citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights.

“Really it’s got its roots in a satanic, evil spirit of violation of tyranny, ultimately,” Klingenschmitt said of the NSA’s activities.

79 Gus  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:26:22pm
80 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:26:50pm

re: #18 geoffm33

Youtube Video

81 ProTARDISLiberal  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:27:38pm

re: #35 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut

Well, how do you want to deal with them? They act the same way as they did 200 years ago. The radicals only understand violence. They will keep intimidating moderates into silence until something is done. What do you suggest.

And don’t give the Ottomans a hard time for what they did to Diriyah. When the Wahhabs sacked Karbala, they butchered 4,000 men, women, and children. A 19th Century 9/11. Look at what they do in Mali, in Syria, in Iraq. They act they way they did 200 years ago. What would you suggest as an alternative?

82 Dark_Falcon  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:28:41pm

re: #30 ProTARDISLiberal

Well, for one, Diriyah is still a ruin 195 years later. It got Carthage’d.

We just saw how the Muslim Brotherhood acts in Egypt. You can’t negotiate with radicalist scum like that. The MB, the Salafists, and the Taliban (among others) are all cut from the same cloth. Deal with all the radicals the same way.

That would be “favoring a ‘Pinochet Approach’” in my opinion. There is little difference between what those pashas did and what Gen. Pinochet did. Both times it was decided to resort to mass slaughter to wipe out the opposition. I grant that said opposition was totalitarian, but that does not justify mass murder when more humane methods could have been used.

83 geoffm33  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:28:45pm

re: #73 GeneJockey

Tel me about it. I could not convince my MIL that, by playing the same lottery number every week, she was not increasing her odds. And she taught school.

Tell her to play 1 2 3 4 5 6 each week. Same odds.

84 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:30:16pm

re: #67 GeneJockey

I think there are two parts to the justification.

Part one is not racist - you can reduce the number of crimes if criminals know that there’s a significant probability that they’ll be stopped and searched, and possibly arrested if carrying a weapon illegally. So, a program of truly RANDOM stop-and-frisk would reduce the number of weapons wandering the streets, and thus reduce crime.

The second part - the implementation - is where the racism comes in. It’s not truly random, but heavily oversamples nonwhites.

And I’d also suggest that if it WERE truly random, so that everyone had an equal chance of being stopped, whites would suddenly find it is a hugely intrusive program that threatens their liberty, rather than seeing it as ‘common sense law enforcement.’

Oh, sort of like the TSA randomly doing extra searches on people in airport security lines — including 5-year-olds.

85 GeneJockey  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:31:21pm

re: #84 Feline Fearless Leader

Oh, sort of like the TSA randomly doing extra searches on people in airport security lines — including 5-year-olds.

And the response of white folks to that has been….?

86 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:32:12pm

re: #85 GeneJockey

And the response of white folks to that has been….?

I think everyone has found it annoying, regardless of color.

87 Mattand  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:32:32pm

re: #68 Lidane

[Embedded content]

Jesus Christ, Card actually went full metal Godwin in that column.

I was paging through a CNN article about Card recently. One commenter mentioned he didn’t know Card well, but that Card had done him a professional favor. The guy then goes on to say that Card is actaully bi-sexual, but he fights it because of how religious he is.

I did a double take. The comment was so casually off-hand, it was like the author was taking about the weather. I replied and basically asked the guy if that’s what he meant. The poster didn’t back down from the comment.

It would explain a lot, I guess.

88 Lidane  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:33:40pm
89 GeneJockey  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:34:32pm

re: #83 geoffm33

Tell her to play 1 2 3 4 5 6 each week. Same odds.

Well, it’s a few years too late for that, but yeah - ddin’t understand about independent trials. She also confused ‘random’ and ‘evenly distributed’, so she couldn’t grasp that 1,2,3,4,5,6 was just as likely to win as a set of numbers more evenly distributed between 1 and 49.

90 GeneJockey  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:35:24pm

re: #86 Feline Fearless Leader

I think everyone has found it annoying, regardless of color.

Yeah, but it wasn’t “a burden on our liberties” when it was only swarthy foreigners being searched.

91 ProTARDISLiberal  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:36:03pm

re: #82 Dark_Falcon

This was a nation that had butchered no fewer than 4,000 people in an attack less than a decade earlier. I don’t know the names of people they killed in Taif or other places for example. The Saudi State of the 1810’s was treated as it should have. They had committed multiple major acts of mass murder, and mass destruction of a number of cities.

92 abolitionist  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:36:27pm

re: #63 Slap

One of the funniest things I’ve heard in a long time was from a guy who is a regular caller to Harry Shearer’s radio show. He screws with telemarketrs and records it. On one occasion, he answered as a law enforcement official, questioning the caller about why he was calling this number, and what was his connection to the deceased, and does he have an alibi — all the while calling to non-existemt CSI types with things like “don’t step in that blood! — wait ‘til the coroner is finished”.

The telemarketer was utterly unable to gain traction. It was FINE.

I recently got a call from a guy claiming to be a member of a Microsoft support team. The convo went something like this:
He: We have gotten indications that you may have some malware on your computer. Do you have a computer?
Me: I have several.
He: Just pick one.
Me: This is my newest one, a Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
He: No, no. I didn’t mean a smartphone. Do you have a desktop computer?
Me: Yeah. Are you familiar with Windows 95?
He: In the Events list, there are a bunch of errors.
Me: I’m sorry you’re having a problem with your computer. Can I help you with that?
He: No, no. You don’t understand.

93 Dark_Falcon  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:37:18pm

re: #81 ProTARDISLiberal

Well, how do you want to deal with them? They act the same way as they did 200 years ago. The radicals only understand violence. They will keep intimidating moderates into silence until something is done. What do you suggest.

And don’t give the Ottomans a hard time for what they did to Diriyah. When the Wahhabs sacked Karbala, they butchered 4,000 men, women, and children. A 19th Century 9/11. Look at what they do in Mali, in Syria, in Iraq. They act they way they did 200 years ago. What would you suggest as an alternative?

The alternative is what we did in Iraq: We find populations whose support we can buy or win, and then we defend them. Then we find those in hostile areas who are willing to act against the Islamists (never too hard, since the lifestyle rules the MB imposes tend to cause them to wear out their welcome fairly quickly) and we use those groups to add local face to our offensives into Islamist areas. Also important is good intel, knowing who leads the enemy, how they are organized, and how they are supplied.

94 Dark_Falcon  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:42:16pm

re: #91 ProTARDISLiberal

This was a nation that had butchered no fewer than 4,000 people in an attack less than a decade earlier. I don’t know the names of people they killed in Taif or other places for example. The Saudi State of the 1810’s was treated as it should have. They had committed multiple major acts of mass murder, and mass destruction of a number of cities.

Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends.
J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord Of the Rings, Book Four, Chapter One

That line is also said in The Fellowship of the Ring with only minor alteration. in both cases it is said by Gandalf the Grey to reproach Frodo Baggins for Frodo’s statement that is was a pity Bilbo Baggins had not killed Gollum.

95 Eclectic Cyborg  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:51:25pm

re: #42 GeneJockey

Wow, we really are lurching into Bizarro world. The Right have started idolizing the RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, a former KGB officer. They’re wishing we could have more restrictive policies, like the former Soviet Union. Some guy leaking information on our foreign intelligence gathering method flees to CHINA, then to RUSSIA, and becomes a hero to the Right.

What the hell’s going on?

A black man is now President.

96 b_sharp  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 1:55:06pm

re: #92 abolitionist

I recently got a call from a guy claiming to be a member of a Microsoft support team. The convo went something like this:
He: We have gotten indications that you may have some malware on your computer. Do you have a computer?
Me: I have several.
He: Just pick one.
Me: This is my newest one, a Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
He: No, no. I didn’t mean a smartphone. Do you have a desktop computer?
Me: Yeah. Are you familiar with Windows 95?
He: In the Events list, there are a bunch of errors.
Me: I’m sorry you’re having a problem with your computer. Can I help you with that?
He: No, no. You don’t understand.

I haven’t had one of those in months.
Maybe they gave up on my obvious computer illiteracy.

97 GeneJockey  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 2:12:31pm

re: #94 Dark_Falcon

That line is also said in The Fellowship of the Ring with only minor alteration. in both cases it is said by Gandalf the Grey to reproach Frodo Baggins for Frodo’s statement that is was a pity Bilbo Baggins had not killed Gollum.


“Pity? It was pity that stayed his hand!”, said Goodgulf.

‘“It’s a pity I’ve run out of bullets,” thought Dildo.’

98 JustMark  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 3:10:32pm

re: #49 Backwoods_Sleuth

heh…

Steve King stands alone at his own anti-immigration rally

Why the hell was he in Richmond, VA? Take that crazy nonsense back to Iowa!

99 urbanmeemaw  Wed, Aug 14, 2013 5:57:47pm

re: #42 GeneJockey

A “blah” President. That is all.


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