Snowden’s Lawyer Tricked Into Using Fake PGP Key to Send Email

Security experts
Weird • Views: 20,848

This post could also be titled “When Hacktivists Attack (Each Other),” as the site cryptome.org publishes an email from Edward Snowden’s lawyer Jesselyn Radack to Glenn Greenwald — that was supposed to have been encrypted with PGP: Jesselyn Radack Emails Glenn Greenwald.

Alleged Jesselyn Radack Email (BG may be Barton Gellman):

Hi Glenn,
Congrats on the McGill award!! I look forward to seeing you at Polks.

On that note, is my client making a surprise appearance? BG said you mentioned this to him at the Polk media event.

I won’t tell anyone, including BG, if it’s a surprise, but as his attorney, I’d like to know…and also what medium would be used (Google or the BEAMbot).

Thanks,

Jess

Here’s what apparently happened: Radack looked up a PGP key that was named for “Glenn Greenwald” on the MIT key server (see Greenwald’s tweet below), and used it to send this email.

But she never checked to make sure it was really Greenwald’s key. And it wasn’t. Whoever supplied Radack’s email to cryptome.org (presumably the person who created the false key) was therefore able to intercept and decrypt the email.

These are the people who think they know better than anyone else how the US should manage its national security, the people who started a media company with a side business selling security tools, the ones who like to pretend they’re experts on securing stolen NSA material — falling for a pathetically simple social engineering hack like this. They can’t even keep their own email secure.

Imagine if she had been emailing (what she thought were) encrypted NSA documents from Edward Snowden to Glenn Greenwald, and also sending them to an unknown third party.

What’s even more hilarious is that after it became obvious Radack had been tricked into using a false PGP key, she went back and deleted several tweets in which she admitted she did send the email and complained that Cryptome was being unfair to her. Favstar still has a copy of one:

Here’s Greenwald’s only comment, uncharacteristically terse; notice that he somehow fails to mention Snowden’s lawyer actually used this key:

UPDATE at 4/8/14 2:01:24 pm

Here’s a screenshot showing more of the tweets Radack deleted when she realized what had happened:

Jump to bottom

286 comments
1 Fairly Sure I'm Still Obdicut  Apr 8, 2014 11:26:37am

Social engineering is still the best form of hacking, something crypto-fetishists will never be able to deal with.

2 Pie-onist Overlord  Apr 8, 2014 11:28:40am

re: #1 Fairly Sure I’m Still Obdicut

Social engineering is still the best form of hacking, something crypto-fetishists will never be able to deal with.

They’re all HURR HURR I KNOWS ALL TEH TRICKS!!!! NOBODY CAN SOCIAL ENGINEER ME!!!!!!

3 Jay in Oregon  Apr 8, 2014 11:29:00am
These are the people who think they know better than anyone else how the US should manage its national security, the people who started a media company with a side business selling security tools, the ones who like to pretend they’re experts on securing stolen NSA material — falling for a pathetically simple social engineering hack like this. They can’t even keep their own email secure.

This. This +1000.

4 darthstar  Apr 8, 2014 11:30:46am

Well, nobody will ever hack GG’s email, not unless they have a secret decoder ring.

5 b.d.  Apr 8, 2014 11:31:39am

I swore I wouldn’t be fooled like last time!!

6 Jay in Oregon  Apr 8, 2014 11:32:05am

re: #1 Fairly Sure I’m Still Obdicut

7 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 11:33:48am

re: #6 Jay in Oregon

[Embedded image]http://xkcd.com/538/

Exactly why I’m afraid of retina scans.

8 Testy Toad T  Apr 8, 2014 11:34:57am

It’s an entirely real PGP key, Glenn.

There’s a difference between something being fake and something being misrepresented. You’re an expert at that, so I’m surprised you made this error.

9 jamjam  Apr 8, 2014 11:35:29am

Remarkable, but not entirely unsurprising. My knowledge in this area is pretty low, but I’d have thought Snowden’s lawyer would be a bit more tech savvy. If only on her famous client’s advice.

OT: (I don’t mean to derail the thread, but I’ve been wanting to comment on the excellent web technology in place here)

While I can’t remark on PGP/email security, what I can comment on, though, is LGF: I’ve been using the ‘Spy mode’ for both threads and the Master Spy mode. Both excellent tools. Not only that, but I’ve been thinking about how well set up LGF is, compared to most blogs. What other comment sites let you change the font styles, insert quotes, strikethroughs, etc, so easily? What other site allows inclusion of images, spell checking, previews, etc?

It is so well set-out that it is, initially, almost hard to notice- particularly as Charles works (probably constantly!) to make subtle improvements here and there. Over the past few weeks I have just been astounded at how technically proficient Charles must be to have set this place up. Really - it is great to be part of this. There are very few websites and web communities out there like this one - it feels genuinely good to be part of the LGF club: it has the look of exclusivity with its high-end appearance (in terms of commenting, reading threads, the menu, etc), but the feel of a neighbourhood (based on how well the posters know each other and the common decency here). Thanks guys - and thanks Charles !

I only wish I could put a site like this together - and in a way I hope LGF stays like it is, with this community feel to it. It is a special place, to be sure.

Looking forward to checking out the features on my tablet and mobile. Using the web developer tools in my browser shows that so much of the goodness here is CSS-based. Incredible, I’ve really got to learn CSS and JavaScript. I’d love to be able to put up a site like this, and I feel a bit of a lunk that my skills in this area are so minimal.

Sorry to go so off-topic! Looking forward to reading the thread.

10 Mattand  Apr 8, 2014 11:37:08am

Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but did anyone else notice a “Hey, I’m Ed’s lawyer, I should be handling his schedule” vibe to Radack’s e-mail?

Pretty obvious who’s pulling Snowden’s strings in this case.

11 Mattand  Apr 8, 2014 11:37:50am

re: #8 Testy Toad T

It’s an entirely real PGP key, Glenn.

There’s a difference between something being fake and something being misrepresented. You’re an expert at that, so I’m surprised you made this error.

Thank God for that 4 million character encryption.

12 The Ghost of a Flea  Apr 8, 2014 11:38:19am

re: #1 Fairly Sure I’m Still Obdicut

Social engineering is still the best form of hacking, something crypto-fetishists will never be able to deal with.

The blase-ness about Snowden being held by the FSB is a pretty good demonstration that these folks aren’t thinking about hum-int. Which is pretty embarassing atop their confidence that they understand sig-int.

13 b.d.  Apr 8, 2014 11:40:01am

re: #10 Mattand

Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but did anyone else notice a “Hey, I’m Ed’s lawyer, I should be handling his schedule” vibe to Radack’s e-mail?

Pretty obvious who’s pulling Snowden’s strings in this case.

Hehehehe

Hi Glenn,

As Snowden’s lawyer could you please fill me in every once in a while on what you will be doing with him?

Thnx,

Jess

/

14 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 11:40:17am
15 jamjam  Apr 8, 2014 11:41:51am

re: #14 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Yep, that is spot on Charles, that is exactly what I thought when I glanced over the preview earlier on … probably written by Greenwald or Snowden and edited by the VF copydesk or something.

16 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 11:42:11am

40 years ago today. Henry Aaron. Al Downing. Number 715. No steroids.

17 Sophist, D.D., DDS, DFH  Apr 8, 2014 11:42:37am

I wonder if Jesselyn Radack would be interested in helping my friend move several million dollars the CIA is trying to hide in Nigeria?

18 b.d.  Apr 8, 2014 11:44:55am

Has Jesselyn Radack ever had a client who was better off after being represented by Jesselyn Radack?

19 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 11:44:59am

re: #16 EdDantes

40 years ago today. Henry Aaron. Al Downing. Number 715. No steroids.

I was at the Cincinnati Reds game when Aaron hit #714 on April 5, 1974. Unforgettable moment.

20 Mattand  Apr 8, 2014 11:45:46am

There’s an article over at Ars about Snowden and Poitras winning some sort of freedom award. I thought about trolling this article in the comments sections, but I didn’t want to give Charles the headache of all the dudebros invading LGF.

But, oh, the lulz to be had…

21 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 11:46:42am

re: #19 Backwoods_Sleuth

I envy you. It was off the Red’s “Ace” , Jack Billingham.

22 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 11:47:35am

re: #21 EdDantes

I envy you. It was off the Red’s “Ace” , Jack Billingham.

It was pretty amazing. The crowd roar and standing ovation was brilliant.

23 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 11:49:21am
24 darthstar  Apr 8, 2014 11:49:37am

re: #14 Charles Johnson

Too short to have Greenwald’s input.
/

25 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 11:49:47am

re: #23 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

makes mah head hurt…

26 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 11:51:04am

The guy on the end is about to lose it.

27 Feline Fearless Leader  Apr 8, 2014 11:51:06am

Needs more kittehs!

28 jaunte  Apr 8, 2014 11:51:15am

“Tide’s out, back on your heads.”

29 wrenchwench  Apr 8, 2014 11:52:50am

re: #26 Charles Johnson

The guy on the end is about to lose it.

He’s going to make a splash.

30 lawhawk  Apr 8, 2014 11:53:20am

re: #9 jamjam

Assuming facts not in evidence (that his lawyers are tech savvy).

It further assumes facts not in evidence (that Greenwald is tech savvy). In fact, Greenwald has shown he’s not tech savvy, in that he required Snowden’s assistance to set up an encrypted email system.

Meh.

These people claim superior knowledge/tech awareness/information awareness/morals, and they’ve repeatedly been exposed as nothing of the sort.

31 Feline Fearless Leader  Apr 8, 2014 11:54:43am

re: #30 lawhawk

You just wanted to type ‘savvy’ repeatedly there, didn’t you?
;)

32 lawhawk  Apr 8, 2014 11:55:51am

re: #31 Feline Fearless Leader

You mean this isn’t talk like a pirate day? /

33 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 11:57:38am

re: #32 lawhawk

You mean this isn’t talk like a pirate day? /

You need to work “parley” into a comment now.

34 Targetpractice  Apr 8, 2014 11:58:33am

re: #23 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Extreme planking?

35 dog philosopher  Apr 8, 2014 12:01:33pm

re: #32 lawhawk

You mean this isn’t talk like a pirate day? /

R?

36 Pie-onist Overlord  Apr 8, 2014 12:01:50pm

Gun-Fucking Meme of the Day
Safe way to Hold A Gun (Not)

37 Internet Tough Guy  Apr 8, 2014 12:04:39pm

re: #36 Pie-onist Overlord

Free gun for anyone who wants it.

38 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 12:04:46pm

re: #36 Pie-onist Overlord

Gun-Fucking Meme of the Day

[Embedded content]

“When seconds count, the police will be there in minutes.”

39 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 12:04:54pm

re: #9 jamjam

Thank you for the kind words!

40 Targetpractice  Apr 8, 2014 12:05:08pm

re: #36 Pie-onist Overlord

Gun-Fucking Meme of the Day
Safe way to Hold A Gun (Not)

[Embedded content]

I wonder if the twidiot thinks that the 14 yr old girl whose daddy shot her dead for sneaking in at night would have preferred the cops called on a false alarm instead.

41 jamjam  Apr 8, 2014 12:05:11pm

re: #30 lawhawk

Assuming facts not in evidence (that his lawyers are tech savvy).

It further assumes facts not in evidence (that Greenwald is tech savvy). In fact, Greenwald has shown he’s not tech savvy, in that he required Snowden’s assistance to set up an encrypted email system.

Meh.

These people claim superior knowledge/tech awareness/information awareness/morals, and they’ve repeatedly been exposed as nothing of the sort.

Well said lawhawk. I actually wonder how much of the stuff released by Snowden and Greenwald is true, and how much is hype? I wonder if we’ll ever find out - for example, the claims made about being able to read anyone’s email, etc, seem a tad exaggerated. But sadly, it seems most people have bought what Greenwald and Snowden were selling. It’d be nice to have an ex-spy agency, tech-savvy person analyze Snowden’s claims. I’d guess probably 10 % of what he’s said is true and the rest is hype.

42 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 12:05:29pm
43 Pie-onist Overlord  Apr 8, 2014 12:06:20pm

re: #38 EdDantes

“When seconds count, the police will be there in minutes.”

HURR HURR WHO NEEDS TAXPAYER-FUNDED MOOCHER YOONYUN THUGS POLICE FORCE I CAN HAS MAH GUNZ!!!!!!

44 lawhawk  Apr 8, 2014 12:06:44pm

re: #36 Pie-onist Overlord

Not only that, but it’s Summer Glau from Sarah Connor Chronicles. The image is just reversed.

tineye.com

45 Pie-onist Overlord  Apr 8, 2014 12:07:23pm

HURR HURR SOMEONES BROKE IN MY HOUSE AND STOLE ALL TEH GUNZ WHILE I WAS ON VACATION, WHERE IS TEH POLICE DETECTIVES?????

46 Mattand  Apr 8, 2014 12:09:16pm

re: #36 Pie-onist Overlord

Gun-Fucking Meme of the Day
Safe way to Hold A Gun (Not)

[Embedded content]

LOL, 911 10-14 minute response time? Citation needed.

47 Iwouldprefernotto  Apr 8, 2014 12:10:23pm

re: #46 Mattand

LOL, 911 10-14 minute response time? Citation needed.

They don’t need sources

48 Mattand  Apr 8, 2014 12:10:58pm

re: #47 Iwouldprefernotto

Who cares? How is a handgun going to stop a 747 from crashing into a building?

Ask CNN, your plane disaster leader.

49 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:11:16pm

re: #47 Iwouldprefernotto

Who cares? How is a handgun going to stop a 747 from crashing into a building?

or when you get attacked from behind by someone much stronger than you. But then again I don’t live in a fantasy world where a gun solves all problems.

50 b.d.  Apr 8, 2014 12:11:29pm
Edward Snowden Is Your Nightmare Clean Freak Roommate

thewire.com

One source close to Snowden tells Vanity Fair that he and WikiLeaks staffer Sarah Harrison moved multiple times and at one point lived with an American family outside Moscow. Snowden and Harrision’s time together “was a little bit of a love-hate thing,” says a person close to WikiLeaks. “They were stuck in close quarters there for a long time.” Snowden is fastidious and Harrison is not, this person says.

51 jamjam  Apr 8, 2014 12:11:30pm

re: #39 Charles Johnson

Thank you for the kind words!

No worries Charles, thanks for making this site such a pleasant place to visit. I just wish other websites would put the effort you do into their sites. I can only imagine how much time and effort this place takes to run. It truly is a site for the users, in every way - and all in all, debates and political discussions aside, it is a relaxing place to hang out. I can only begin to imagine the stuff you’ll have coded and implemented in another few months, let alone a year ! It is prolific :) I wish I could work as hard, at anything.

52 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:11:34pm

re: #48 Mattand

Ask CNN, your plane disaster leader.

And where the accents of the planes matters.

53 Testy Toad T  Apr 8, 2014 12:11:46pm

re: #46 Mattand

LOL, 911 10-14 minute response time? Citation needed.

Facts don’t require citation. Facts are repeated until factual. Facts are repeated until their soothing embrace makes the bad librul feelings go away, like a warm hug or a blanket cocoon.

Repeat the slowness of police to yourself until you are sufficiently smug and self-satisfied. The cycle is then complete.

54 Feline Fearless Leader  Apr 8, 2014 12:13:09pm

re: #52 HappyWarrior

And where the accents of the planes matters.

They plan to hold a seance to reach the spirit of Hervé Villechaize. He should be able to easily pinpoint the location of the plane.
///

55 lawhawk  Apr 8, 2014 12:13:34pm

re: #46 Mattand

NYPD has a 9.1 minute response time. It’s been over 10 minutes in the past.

But, and there’s that word, it doesn’t mean everyone should carry firearms, not when NYC has lower homicide and crime rates than most other major metro areas and even many rural areas on a per capita basis.

[edited =]

The 9.1 minute is the aggregate for all calls to 911 (such as non-critical calls). Critical calls, which would be for crimes in progress, have a response time of under 5 minutes. Serious calls have a response time of about 5.5 minutes.

56 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 8, 2014 12:13:48pm

re: #43 Pie-onist Overlord

HURR HURR WHO NEEDS TAXPAYER-FUNDED MOOCHER YOONYUN THUGS POLICE FORCE I CAN HAS MAH GUNZ!!!!!!

As long as she keeps it loaded, cocked, and pointed at the head of any potential assailant. At all times…

Armed and polite.

57 b.d.  Apr 8, 2014 12:14:38pm

What would police response times be if everyone shot everyone over the littlest things?

58 Kilroy01  Apr 8, 2014 12:16:14pm

re: #57 b.d.

Florida!

59 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 12:16:26pm

re: #57 b.d.

What would police response times be if everyone shot everyone over the littlest things?

And then the police have to figure which ones are the bad guys with a gun and which ones are the good guys.

60 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 12:16:31pm

re: #46 Mattand

re: #55 lawhawk

apbweb.com

In Atlanta last year it took, on average, 11 minutes and 12 seconds from the time a high-priority 911 call was received until an Atlanta police officer showed up at the scene. The response times reported by the El Paso (Texas) Police Department were only one second quicker than Atlanta’s, with an average of 11 minutes and 11 seconds.

The Denver Police Department posted a response time of 11 minutes flat. According to the Journal Constitution story, police in Tucson, Ariz., responded, on average, in 10 minutes and 11 seconds.

Police in Kansas City, Mo., and Oklahoma City posted average response times of less than 10 minutes. In Nashville-Davidson County, police recorded average response times below 9 minutes.

61 Feline Fearless Leader  Apr 8, 2014 12:19:05pm

re: #60 sattv4u2

apbweb.com

In Atlanta last year it took, on average, 11 minutes and 12 seconds from the time a high-priority 911 call was received until an Atlanta police officer showed up at the scene. The response times reported by the El Paso (Texas) Police Department were only one second quicker than Atlanta’s, with an average of 11 minutes and 11 seconds.

The Denver Police Department posted a response time of 11 minutes flat. According to the Journal Constitution story, police in Tucson, Ariz., responded, on average, in 10 minutes and 11 seconds.

Police in Kansas City, Mo., and Oklahoma City posted average response times of less than 10 minutes. In Nashville-Davidson County, police recorded average response times below 9 minutes.

Any data there on the background criteria, or other related statistics?

62 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 12:19:10pm

re: #55 lawhawk

NYPD has a 9.1 minute response time. It’s been over 10 minutes in the past.

But, and there’s that word, it doesn’t mean everyone should carry firearms, not when NYC has lower homicide and crime rates than most other major metro areas and even many rural areas on a per capita basis.

And then there are extremely rural areas, like mine, where a response time of 20-30 minutes is a miracle; it’s usually well over an hour.

63 Justanotherhuman  Apr 8, 2014 12:19:32pm

This is the funniest thing I’ve read all week. : )

64 The Mountain That Blogs  Apr 8, 2014 12:19:52pm

re: #16 EdDantes

[Tom] House, perhaps best known for catching Hank Aaron’s 715th home run ball in 1974 in the Atlanta Braves’ bullpen, said he and several teammates used amphetamines, human growth hormone and “whatever steroid” they could find in order to keep up with the competition.

USA Today, 2005

65 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 12:19:57pm

re: #61 Feline Fearless Leader

Any data there on the background criteria, or other related statistics?

Still muddling through the site, so ,,,, I dunno yet

66 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 12:23:19pm

re: #16 EdDantes

40 years ago today. Henry Aaron. Al Downing. Number 715. No steroids.

There were bowls of uppers in clubhouses all around MLB (told to me by several former major leaguers over the years as well as the current head trainer of the Atlanta Braves)

67 Pie-onist Overlord  Apr 8, 2014 12:24:27pm

HURR HURR!!!! OBAMA IS TEH DICTATOR & TEH TYRANT!!!! BUT WHEN WE TAKES ARE COUNTRY BACK, WE WILL BE TEH DICTATORS & TEH TYRANTS & SEND ALL TEH LIBRULS TO TEH GULAG!!!!!!

68 The Mountain That Blogs  Apr 8, 2014 12:25:37pm

re: #66 sattv4u2

Aaron and Mays have admitted to amphetamine use during their careers, but the harder stuff was around then too. I’m not sure why the conversation about steroid use in baseball seems to assume that they were invented by Jose Canseco in 1987.

69 Mattand  Apr 8, 2014 12:25:44pm

re: #60 sattv4u2

Well, at least you’re doing more due diligence than the right-wing gun nut who posted the graphic.

And like Lawhawk said, still doesn’t mean you have to go around strapped 24/7.

70 Testy Toad T  Apr 8, 2014 12:26:56pm

re: #68 The Mountain That Blogs

Aaron and Mays have admitted to amphetamine use during their careers, but the harder stuff was around then too. I’m not sure why the conversation about steroid use in baseball seems to assume that they were invented by Jose Canseco in 1987.

Because baseball must be pure and white as the driven snow, from a Happier, Better Time, like Leave It To Beaver’s 1950s (before those furriners and brown people wrecked it).

Same lie as usual, but a bit more bipartisan.

71 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:27:17pm

re: #69 Mattand

Well, at least you’re doing more due diligence than the right-wing gun nut who posted the graphic.

And like Lawhawk said, still doesn’t mean you have to go around strapped 24/7.

I honestly wouldn’t want to live in such a world. I like not feeling threatened by 99.9% of the people around me.

72 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 12:27:24pm

re: #69 Mattand

Well, at least you’re doing more due diligence than the right-wing gun nut who posted the graphic.

And like Lawhawk said, still doesn’t mean you have to go around strapped 24/7.

Agree. Was just giving one (of many) citations you asked for re: the response time

73 Ming  Apr 8, 2014 12:28:06pm

re: #55 lawhawk

NYPD has a 9.1 minute response time. It’s been over 10 minutes in the past.

But, and there’s that word, it doesn’t mean everyone should carry firearms, not when NYC has lower homicide and crime rates than most other major metro areas and even many rural areas on a per capita basis.

I assume it would help to have more funding for the police, if that funding went for more officers on patrol, instead of expensive SWAT / military equipment. Less of a police focus on victimless crimes (e.g. the epic fail War on Drugs) should help. Speaking of the failed War on Drugs, it would also help not to release violent offenders early from prison, to make room for non-violent drug users with mandatory minimum sentences.

74 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 12:28:06pm

re: #44 lawhawk

Not only that, but it’s Summer Glau from Sarah Connor Chronicles. The image is just reversed.

tineye.com

D’you suppose they asked permission from either the copyright owner, or Ms. Glau?

75 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:28:27pm

Speaking of baseball. Can’t believe some exec really suggested shortening the game to seven innings.

76 Justanotherhuman  Apr 8, 2014 12:28:27pm

Can anyone smell the irony of this piece, as evidenced starting in paragraph 2? Also, what has made Snowden more of an authority on national security in less than 2 yrs vs decades of experienced govt employees?

“Giving evidence via a videolink from Moscow, Snowden said the National Security Agency - for which he worked as a contractor - had deliberately snooped on bodies like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.”

77 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi  Apr 8, 2014 12:29:27pm

re: #46 Mattand

LOL, 911 10-14 minute response time? Citation needed.

If you’ll hold on a few minutes I may be able to find a fake Washington or Jefferson quote for you.

78 Feline Fearless Leader  Apr 8, 2014 12:29:34pm

re: #70 Testy Toad T

Because baseball must be pure and white as the driven snow, from a Happier, Better Time, like Leave It To Beaver’s 1950s (before those furriners and brown people wrecked it).

Same lie as usual, but a bit more bipartisan.

You mean after it was saved from the gamblers after the crackdown from the Black Sox Scandal.

79 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 12:30:51pm

re: #68 The Mountain That Blogs

Aaron and Mays have admitted to amphetamine use during their careers, but the harder stuff was around then too. I’m not sure why the conversation about steroid use in baseball seems to assume that they were invented by Jose Canseco in 1987.

And since Anquetil admitted to doping, and Merckx was caught actually doing it, how come they get to keep their palmares?

80 William Barnett-Lewis  Apr 8, 2014 12:31:03pm

re: #70 Testy Toad T

Because baseball must be pure and white as the driven snow, from a Happier, Better Time, like Leave It To Beaver’s 1950s (before those furriners and brown people wrecked it).

Same lie as usual, but a bit more bipartisan.

People really hate admitting how dirty a game of cheats & thugs baseball has always been.

81 Mattand  Apr 8, 2014 12:31:18pm

re: #77 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi

If you’ll hold on a few minutes I may be able to find a fake Washington or Jefferson quote for you.

Just as long as it’s under 14 minutes, or I may have to open fire.

82 Ming  Apr 8, 2014 12:31:55pm

re: #76 Justanotherhuman

…”Giving evidence via a videolink from Moscow, Snowden said the National Security Agency - for which he worked as a contractor - had deliberately snooped on bodies like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.”

[Embedded content]

I wonder if Snowden has any idea how much the Russian FSB is spying on him, and his friends and relatives, right now.

You’d think it would be obvious, but that would be a depressing realization for him.

83 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 12:31:56pm

re: #64 The Mountain That Blogs

I didn’t know that Henry Aaron used steroids. So I will now put him in the same trash pile I put Mark Mcguire, Barry Bonds, Giambi, etc.

84 lawhawk  Apr 8, 2014 12:32:56pm

re: #72 sattv4u2

Not every metro area is as compact as say NYC or has as many LEOs as the NYPD (largest police force in the world). LAPD oversees a far greater geographical area with fewer police officers, so they would have a longer response time. Rural police departments would have similar issues, especially at the fringes of their coverage areas. If an incident occurs 30 miles up the road, it’s still going to take time to get there going 100mph.

But it’s rather funny to see a right winger gun nut using a infiltration Terminator (as portrayed by Summer Glau) as how to be armed to protect themselves.

Terminators that eradicated the human race with the rise of Skynet, except for the handful that the resistance managed to convert for personal protection duties for John Connor on several occasions.

85 lawhawk  Apr 8, 2014 12:33:07pm

re: #74 GeneJockey

Doubt it.

86 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 12:33:09pm

re: #70 Testy Toad T

a Happier, Better Time, like Leave It To Beaver’s

Lil known fact

June was a lush. Drank heavily while Ward was in the office and Wally and The Beav were at school!!

87 Testy Toad T  Apr 8, 2014 12:33:13pm

re: #60 sattv4u2

When LGF Person A says “bring some facts!” and LGF Person B is like, “Well, here are those facts”, it is an automatic upding.

It’s, like, in the Constitution, or the Bible, or something.

88 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 12:34:25pm

re: #75 HappyWarrior

Speaking of baseball. Can’t believe some exec really suggested shortening the game to seven innings.

One easy peasy way to shorten the gametime

do NOT allow the batter out of the box or the pitcher off the mound between EVERY pitch

89 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 8, 2014 12:34:25pm

I have a feeling this isn’t going to end well.

90 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:35:06pm

re: #88 sattv4u2

One easy peasy way to shorten the gametime

do NOT allow the batter out of the box or the pitcher off the mound between EVERY pitch

For real.

91 lawhawk  Apr 8, 2014 12:35:17pm

re: #76 Justanotherhuman

And if HRW or Amnesty have information sources that the NSA and US national security apparatus don’t have on the ground, then they could get intel from the field they wouldn’t otherwise be able to get. Spying on foreign groups/acting overseas. Like in trying to figure out casualty counts during conflicts, knowing who’s engaging in atrocities, etc.

92 Justanotherhuman  Apr 8, 2014 12:35:18pm

Greenwald approves of Sensenbrenner’s questioning. Not the entire Congress, but that’s GG, always going for the hyperbole.

93 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 12:35:36pm

re: #87 Testy Toad T

thanks

94 ericblair  Apr 8, 2014 12:37:11pm

re: #41 jamjam

It’d be nice to have an ex-spy agency, tech-savvy person analyze Snowden’s claims. I’d guess probably 10 % of what he’s said is true and the rest is hype.

The irony is, if you’re in the industry and have a security clearance, you can’t go analyze the source material because you’re then mishandling classified information. You can only go by secondhand reports.

One of Greenwald’s favorite tricks is to jump immediately from “what is technically possible” to “they’re doing it to everybody!” It’s like taking a briefing from the local Parks and Recreation department showing the purchase of four new chainsaws and concluding that the city tree guys are going to break into your home and chop up your family in the middle of the night.

95 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 12:38:09pm

The problem with these ‘you need a gun RIGHT NOW!!!’ things is that there is a grain of truth to it. I know someone whose father actually was faced with a home invasion and responded with deadly force, killing one and wounding the other invader. If they invade your home, and don’t take the precaution of masks, you can’t assume that they’ll leave you alive once they know where the silver and jewelry are kept.

So, yeah, having a gun in a situation like that may save your life.

But those situations are rare, far more rare than ‘angry person shoots friend/wife/lover because gun was at hand’. Perhaps even rarer than accidental shootings. These happen because people become convinced that America is such a dangerous place they need to have a gun to be safe, with the result that there are so many guns that everyone is LESS safe.

An armed society is not necessarily a polite society. It IS, however, a society where more people will get shot.

96 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 12:39:08pm

re: #85 lawhawk

Doubt it.

It would be out of character for Propertarians to be concerned with somebody else’s property.

97 Killgore Trout  Apr 8, 2014 12:39:22pm

re: #89 NJDhockeyfan

I have a feeling this isn’t going to end well.

[Embedded content]

Epic mustache alert!

98 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:39:56pm

re: #95 GeneJockey

The problem with these ‘you need a gun RIGHT NOW!!!’ things is that there is a grain of truth to it. I know someone whose father actually was faced with a home invasion and responded with deadly force, killing one and wounding the other invader. If they invade your home, and don’t take the precaution of masks, you can’t assume that they’ll leave you alive once they know where the silver and jewelry are kept.

So, yeah, having a gun in a situation like that may save your life.

But those situations are rare, far more rare than ‘angry person shoots friend/wife/lover because gun was at hand’. Perhaps even rarer than accidental shootings. These happen because people become convinced that America is such a dangerous place they need to have a gun to be safe, with the result that there are so many guns that everyone is LESS safe.

An armed society is not necessarily a polite society. It IS, however, a society where more people will get shot.

Thing is IMO is it’s a stupid distraction. If you want to own a gun to protect yourself, I think that should be allowed and that’s something I know POTUS agrees with too. What I have and I know POTUS as do many have a problem with are people who think they need to own a frigging arsenal to “protect” themselves.

99 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 12:40:39pm

re: #66 sattv4u2

I thought uppers were different than steroids. I didn’t know uppers increased muscle mass and bat velocity. Please disregard my #16.

100 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 12:41:28pm

re: #76 Justanotherhuman

Can anyone smell the irony of this piece, as evidenced starting in paragraph 2? Also, what has made Snowden more of an authority on national security in less than 2 yrs vs decades of experienced govt employees?

“Giving evidence via a videolink from Moscow, Snowden said the National Security Agency - for which he worked as a contractor - had deliberately snooped on bodies like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.”

[Embedded content]

LOLWHUT???
“Giving evidence”? He was under oath in a court or something?
These people are seriously delusional.

101 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi  Apr 8, 2014 12:41:30pm

re: #81 Mattand

Just as long as it’s under 14 minutes, or I may have to open fire.

102 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 12:42:28pm

re: #99 EdDantes

I thought uppers were different than steroids. I didn’t know uppers increased muscle mass and bat velocity. Please disregard my #16.

I should have stated bowls of uppers AMONGST OTHER things

103 The Mountain That Blogs  Apr 8, 2014 12:43:03pm

Pud Galvin drank monkey testosterone to give himself an edge. Ty Cobb sharpened his cleats to injure other players, and once stabbed a watchman for intervening when Cobb slapped a black elevator operator for being uppity. Tim Raines slid headfirst so as not to disturb the cocaine vials in his back pockets.

Hell, the Tampa Bay Rays currently have a rapist on their roster, and one of the game’s most celebrated players has had issues with drunk driving and domestic violence.

Never understood the moral pedestals the players of the 50s have been put on by the current crop of writers. The game has never been “clean”.

104 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 12:43:35pm

re: #98 HappyWarrior

Thing is IMO is it’s a stupid distraction. If you want to own a gun to protect yourself, I think that should be allowed and that’s something I know POTUS agrees with too. What I have and I know POTUS as do many have a problem with are people who think they need to own a frigging arsenal to “protect” themselves.

Scared people who see the comfortable world with themselves on top slipping away feel the need for something to make them feel safe.

Consider that violent crime is WAY down from where it was 2 decades ago, yet these folks are even more convinced that they’re in constant danger. I believe that it’s just anxiety caused by change they don’t welcome and can’t control. I know when I feel vague anxiety my mind searches for a handle, something to blame, something I can change or control.

105 Jack Burton  Apr 8, 2014 12:44:47pm

re: #74 GeneJockey

D’you suppose they asked permission from either the copyright owner, or Ms. Glau?

Of course not. Nearly all of those stupid internet political/social memes are using stolen images, regardless of subject or veracity.

It’s as common as fake quotes, phony statistics, and other made up “facts” that can be debunked by spending less than 30 seconds on Google.

106 klys  Apr 8, 2014 12:44:54pm

re: #103 The Mountain That Blogs

Pud Galvin drank monkey testosterone to give himself an edge. Ty Cobb sharpened his cleats to injure other players, and once stabbed a watchman for intervening when Cobb slapped a black elevator operator for being uppity. Tim Raines slid headfirst so as not to disturb the cocaine vials in his back pockets.

Hell, the Tampa Bay Rays currently have a rapist on their roster, and one of the game’s most celebrated players has had issues with drunk driving and domestic violence.

Never understood the moral pedestals the players of the 50s have been put on by the current crop of writers. The game has never been “clean”.

My solution: ignore baseball.

It’s boring as fuck anyway.

107 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 12:44:58pm

re: #99 EdDantes

I thought uppers were different than steroids. I didn’t know uppers increased muscle mass and bat velocity. Please disregard my #16.

So, artificially increasing alertness and reaction time are okay, but not muscle mass and bat velocity?

108 Bear  Apr 8, 2014 12:45:02pm

Six deer right outside now. No wonder where the scattered bird food goes.

109 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 12:45:09pm

Jacob Applebaum’s response to Cryptome is such a weaselly, transparent attempt at spin that I have to post it too:

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2014 13:38:22 +0000
Subject: disinformation about PGP
From: Jacob Appelbaum <jacob@appelbaum.net>
To: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>

Hi John,

I saw your latest leak about Glenn and Jesselyn using PGP to exchange
emails. I did some digging and I think you’ve come to the wrong
conclusion about everything. Actually, I think you are actively being
played by someone to mess with everyone involved.

The speculation about PGP being broken is probably incorrect. It
appears that Jesselyn sent that email to three different email
addresses and the PGP encrypted message on Cryptome is truncated or
tampered with in some fashion to remove evidence of the third key that
was used. Only two of the three email addresses belonged to Glenn. It
was also encrypted to three keys, Glenn, Jesselyn and to a third key
that is run by an unknown hostile party. The third likely belongs to
your leaker/source. The attacker published a PGP key for that address
to confuse people who are trying to communication with Glenn securely.
This clearly confused Jesselyn or her PGP mail client. I do not
believe that this is evidence of her or Glenn being compromised (other
than the social engineering issue at hand) nor is this evidence of PGP
being broken. Rather, it is a user interface security problem with
iPGMail that is quite common with PGP/GnuPG in general.

110 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:45:52pm

re: #104 GeneJockey

Scared people who see the comfortable world with themselves on top slipping away feel the need for something to make them feel safe.

Consider that violent crime is WAY down from where it was 2 decades ago, yet these folks are even more convinced that they’re in constant danger. I believe that it’s just anxiety caused by change they don’t welcome and can’t control. I know when I feel vague anxiety my mind searches for a handle, something to blame, something I can change or control.

Yep. It’s a culture of fear really and I think that’s sad. As I said above, I am glad I don’t live in such a world. I’m in Washington D.C quite a bit, an area that has had its fair share of violent crime. I don’t feel the need to be armed or threatened by everyone I encounter. I just don’t get this mindset and I really resent orgs like the NRA and other groups encouraging people’s fears.

111 The Mountain That Blogs  Apr 8, 2014 12:45:55pm

re: #106 klys

My solution: ignore baseball.

It’s boring as fuck anyway.

False

112 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 12:46:22pm

Bottom line: Snowden’s lawyer used a public PGP key without ever authenticating it.

113 klys  Apr 8, 2014 12:46:22pm

re: #108 Bear

Six deer right outside now. No wonder where the scattered bird food goes.

My mother isn’t planting a garden this year unless it’s in pots on the deck, because routinely she and my father come home at night to 6-10 deer in the yard.

114 ericblair  Apr 8, 2014 12:47:46pm

re: #76 Justanotherhuman

“Giving evidence via a videolink from Moscow, Snowden said the National Security Agency - for which he worked as a contractor - had deliberately snooped on bodies like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.”

By sheer coincidence, Putin came out with a new rant against NGOs in Russia and Ukraine and more restrictions on NGOs in Russia. Although he’s calling NGOs a bunch of foreign provocateurs while Snowden is calling them victims of US spying, so a little sloppy messaging there.

115 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:48:10pm

re: #103 The Mountain That Blogs

Pud Galvin drank monkey testosterone to give himself an edge. Ty Cobb sharpened his cleats to injure other players, and once stabbed a watchman for intervening when Cobb slapped a black elevator operator for being uppity. Tim Raines slid headfirst so as not to disturb the cocaine vials in his back pockets.

Hell, the Tampa Bay Rays currently have a rapist on their roster, and one of the game’s most celebrated players has had issues with drunk driving and domestic violence.

Never understood the moral pedestals the players of the 50s have been put on by the current crop of writers. The game has never been “clean”.

I think it’s because many of the writers grew up watching in awe guys like Aaron, Mays, Mantle, etc. This was before Curt Flood challenged the Reserve Clause and athletes felt less distant than they do now. Not saying I agree with it fwiw but I think it’s why you see it. I am honestly still in awe of Ruth all things considered.

116 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 12:48:23pm

re: #106 klys

My solution: ignore baseball.

It’s boring as fuck anyway.

If that’s boring, you’re doing it wrong.
////

But yeah, baseball is a yawner.

117 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:48:40pm

re: #106 klys

My solution: ignore baseball.

It’s boring as fuck anyway.

You’re really asking for a downding there but I never downding but consider it a warning ;).

118 Bear  Apr 8, 2014 12:48:53pm

re: #113 klys

Only six to ten? More like thirty here.

119 jamjam  Apr 8, 2014 12:49:11pm

re: #109 Charles Johnson

Jacob Applebaum’s response to Cryptome is such a weaselly, transparent attempt at spin that I have to post it too:

“clearly confused Jesselyn or her PGP mail client”

Odd thing to say - does that mean the software is as easily confused as the user, or vice-versa? They’re not shooting the messenger, they’re shooting the envelope.

120 klys  Apr 8, 2014 12:49:20pm

re: #111 The Mountain That Blogs

False

*reconsiders*

Nope, still boring.

Not that I expect people to agree with my opinion there, because as a nation we seem to have a collective delusion going on that it’s an interesting game.

I use this as more support that I should move to Canada.

121 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 12:50:01pm

re: #120 klys

*reconsiders*

Nope, still boring.

Not that I expect people to agree with my opinion there, because as a nation we seem to have a collective delusion going on that it’s an interesting game.

I use this as more support that I should move to Canada.

You know they play baseball there, too, right?

122 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 12:50:07pm

re: #107 GeneJockey

So, artificially increasing alertness and reaction time are okay, but not muscle mass and bat velocity?

No. Neither are ok.

123 klys  Apr 8, 2014 12:50:16pm

re: #118 Bear

Only six to ten? More like thirty here.

Ah, but my parents live in the middle of suburbia, NJ.

That the area can support that many deer - and that they aren’t all killed in roadkill accidents - is amazing to me.

124 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 12:50:45pm

re: #109 Charles Johnson

I do not believe that this is evidence of her or Glenn being compromised (other than the social engineering issue at hand) nor is this evidence of PGP being broken.

ummm, I’m no expert but, yes, it is evidence of being compromised.
It is also evidence of overwhelming hubris and general all-around stupidity.

125 klys  Apr 8, 2014 12:50:47pm

re: #121 GeneJockey

You know they play baseball there, too, right?

But the national sport is hockey. :D I like hockey.

126 Feline Fearless Leader  Apr 8, 2014 12:50:53pm

re: #120 klys

*reconsiders*

Nope, still boring.

Not that I expect people to agree with my opinion there, because as a nation we seem to have a collective delusion going on that it’s an interesting game.

I use this as more support that I should move to Canada.

Don’t they play baseball *and* cricket up there?

127 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 12:52:05pm

re: #109 Charles Johnson

Wondering what Jacob would consider to be actually compromised.

128 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:52:47pm

Not really a sport but I find “professional wrestling” boring. It just never entertained me even when I was in the target demo.

129 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 12:53:12pm

re: #122 EdDantes

No. Neither are ok.

I have long since ceased to moralize about sports figures. No doubt it does some really good people a disservice, but honestly - if you aren’t at least somewhat of an asshole, you’re probably not competitive enough to reach world class in most sports. So, I am unsurprised and not especially disappointed when I learn a sports figure has cheated.

My last disappointment was Marco Pantani. After that, I stopped needing sports figures to be heroes.

130 klys  Apr 8, 2014 12:53:21pm

re: #128 HappyWarrior

Not really a sport but I find “professional wrestling” boring. It just never entertained me even when I was in the target demo.

That’s not a sport, that’s soap operas for men.

131 aagcobb  Apr 8, 2014 12:54:04pm

re: #75 HappyWarrior

Speaking of baseball. Can’t believe some exec really suggested shortening the game to seven innings.

There are better ways to shorten games, like restricting batters ability to step out and call time whenever they like, or restricting the number of times pitchers can throw to first base.

132 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 12:54:56pm

re: #127 Backwoods_Sleuth

Wondering what Jacob would consider to be actually compromised.

I know - if sending unencrypted email to an unknown third party isn’t “compromised,” what exactly would be?

133 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:54:58pm

re: #131 aagcobb

There are better ways to shorten games, like restricting batters ability to step out and call time whenever they like, or restricting the number of times pitchers can throw to first base.

Yep. You watching the O’s? Nice pounding of the Yanks. Makes me wish I was still in NYC to talk smack.

134 Targetpractice  Apr 8, 2014 12:56:25pm

re: #112 Charles Johnson

Bottom line: Snowden’s lawyer used a public PGP key without ever authenticating it.

But hey, these folks can be trusted with classified documents because they’d never let them fall into the wrong hands.

////

135 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 12:56:42pm

re: #131 aagcobb

There are better ways to shorten games, like restricting batters ability to step out and call time whenever they like, or restricting the number of times pitchers can throw to first base.

Beat ya to it!!

littlegreenfootballs.com

((maybe you had stepped out of the box at the time!!!))

136 aagcobb  Apr 8, 2014 12:56:53pm

re: #133 HappyWarrior

Yep. You watching the O’s? Nice pounding of the Yanks. Makes me wish I was still in NYC to talk smack.

No, I’m still at work. Used to go watch the O’s a lot back in the 80’s when I was an undergrad at Johns Hopkins.

137 jamjam  Apr 8, 2014 12:57:34pm

re: #112 Charles Johnson

Bottom line: Snowden’s lawyer used a public PGP key without ever authenticating it.

Well if she’s as good an advocate in the court-room as she is outside it, then Snowden might as well hire Greenwald for legal representation. Greenwald has already generated most of the Snowden myth, why not give him power of attorney as well ?
Just rely on the ol’ Greenwald charm, Ed - you’ll get hanged, drawn and quartered, but a fine burial. If you’re lucky, Greenwald and Jesselyn will team up, and you’ll only serve 100 years of the 1000 year sentence. The friendly Glenn will probably have himself held in contempt for 10 years or so alongside you!

138 aagcobb  Apr 8, 2014 12:58:04pm

re: #135 sattv4u2

Beat ya to it!!

littlegreenfootballs.com

((maybe you had stepped out of the box at the time!!!))

Foiled again! You didn’t mention restricting throws to 1st, though!

139 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 12:58:40pm

re: #138 aagcobb

Foiled again! You didn’t mention restricting throws to 1st, though!

Because I wouldn’t. I think thats an integral defensive stratergy

140 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:58:45pm

Steps out of batter’s box.

141 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 12:59:33pm

re: #138 aagcobb

re: #139 sattv4u2

Because I wouldn’t. I think thats an integral defensive stratergy

AND ,, when messed up, leads to a positive for the runner

142 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 12:59:34pm

re: #139 sattv4u2

Because I wouldn’t. I think thats an integral defensive stratergy

Definitely is if you’ve got a lefty with a quick move. Tippy Martinez once picked off three guys in the same inning.

143 Dr Lizardo  Apr 8, 2014 12:59:44pm

So, OT but got into a friendly debate about Miley Cyrus with a former student of mine.

Former Student: She’s being edgy.

Me: No. Wendy O. Williams was “edgy”. Miley’s got a looooong way to go before she reaches that territory.

Former Student: Who’s Wendy O. Williams?

Me: Youtube Video

Former Student: Holy shit that’s insane!

Me: It was before you were born. But Wendy O. Williams was the real deal.

144 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 12:59:56pm

re: #140 HappyWarrior

Steps out of batter’s box.

Is that what you kids are calling it nowadays

145 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 1:00:46pm

re: #144 sattv4u2

Is that what you kids are calling it nowadays

Yeah. Got to cross myself and pray to every single deity.

146 William Barnett-Lewis  Apr 8, 2014 1:01:04pm

re: #120 klys

*reconsiders*

Nope, still boring.

Not that I expect people to agree with my opinion there, because as a nation we seem to have a collective delusion going on that it’s an interesting game.

I use this as more support that I should move to Canada.

Could have been worse; we might have gotten infested by cricket instead…

147 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 1:01:36pm

re: #102 sattv4u2

I should have stated bowls of uppers AMONGST OTHER things

My brief is against steroids. I have known since I was a young teenager that athletes were given drugs. I remember Johnny Unitas saying he was “shot up” on the sidelines during a Superbowl. I think it was a pain killer not muscle enhancer that he was talking about.

148 Jack Burton  Apr 8, 2014 1:01:59pm

re: #134 Targetpractice

But hey, these folks can be trusted with classified documents because they’d never let them fall into the wrong hands.

////

They think that where they got the documents from in the first place was the “wrong hands” so they don’t have to worry about any of that ‘nonsense’.

Only the US Government is bad.

149 Mattand  Apr 8, 2014 1:02:54pm

re: #123 klys

Ah, but my parents live in the middle of suburbia, NJ.

That the area can support that many deer - and that they aren’t all killed in roadkill accidents - is amazing to me.

Yeah, I’m about 12 miles outside of Philly, at the intersection of two major highways, and we’re lousy with the damn things.

150 aagcobb  Apr 8, 2014 1:02:59pm

re: #139 sattv4u2

Because I wouldn’t. I think thats an integral defensive stratergy

It can get really boring when the pitcher just keeps throwing to first over and over again. After a specific number of throws, the runner should get to go to second if he hasn’t been picked off. That would help stolen base numbers as well, which would add more entertainment value.

151 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 1:03:02pm

re: #147 EdDantes

My brief is against steroids. I have known since I was a young teenager that athletes were given drugs. I remember Johnny Unitas saying he was “shot up” on the sidelines during a Superbowl. I think it was a pain killer not muscle enhancer that he was talking about.

It’d have to be a hell of a muscle enhancer to be any use on the sidelines at the last game of the season!
//

152 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 8, 2014 1:03:11pm

re: #143 Dr Lizardo

So, OT but got into a friendly debate about Miley Cyrus with a former student of mine.

Former Student: She’s being edgy.

Me: No. Wendy O. Williams was “edgy”. Miley’s got a looooong way to go before she reaches that territory.

Former Student: Who’s Wendy O. Williams?

Me: [Embedded content]

Former Student: Holy shit that’s insane!

Me: It was before you were born. But Wendy O. Williams was the real deal.

One night I was watching the Tom Snyder show and saw Wendy O. Williams sing a song while taking a chainsaw and cutting a car in half. It was awesome.

153 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 1:03:54pm

re: #136 aagcobb

No, I’m still at work. Used to go watch the O’s a lot back in the 80’s when I was an undergrad at Johns Hopkins.

It’s a refreshing laughter. I actually with and later against Steve Lombodorzzi’s cousin when we were kids.

154 Mattand  Apr 8, 2014 1:04:10pm

re: #136 aagcobb

No, I’m still at work. Used to go watch the O’s a lot back in the 80’s when I was an undergrad at Johns Hopkins.

Reminds me: the Phils’ home opener is today. Better check in.

155 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 1:04:12pm

re: #152 NJDhockeyfan

One night I was watching the Tom Snyder show and saw Wendy O. Williams sing a song while taking a chainsaw and cutting a car in half. It was awesome.

Second City did ‘Fishing Musician’ with Wendy O Williams and the Plasmatics. THAT was different.

156 Varek Raith  Apr 8, 2014 1:04:48pm

Most amusing.

157 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 1:04:57pm

re: #151 GeneJockey

It’d have to be a hell of a muscle enhancer to be any use on the sidelines at the last game of the season!
//

Indeed.

158 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 1:04:58pm

re: #150 aagcobb

That would help stolen base numbers as well,

I don’t think I would credit the runner with an SB
No skill in standing a few feet off the bag and getting back as the pitcher plays catch with the 1st baseman
Maybe credit the runner (and debit the pitcher) with a walk

159 Justanotherhuman  Apr 8, 2014 1:05:24pm

So much for those eastern Ukraine “revolutionaries” who appear to be nothing more than Russian vandals.

160 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 1:05:37pm
161 wrenchwench  Apr 8, 2014 1:06:13pm

re: #143 Dr Lizardo

So, OT but got into a friendly debate about Miley Cyrus with a former student of mine.

Former Student: She’s being edgy.

Me: No. Wendy O. Williams was “edgy”. Miley’s got a looooong way to go before she reaches that territory.

Former Student: Who’s Wendy O. Williams?

Me: [Embedded content]

Former Student: Holy shit that’s insane!

Me: It was before you were born. But Wendy O. Williams was the real deal.

I dunno. With all those cholla and saguaro, I’d say she’s being pointy.

162 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 1:07:32pm

re: #157 EdDantes

Indeed.

Something like Dr. Jekyll’s magical juice in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

(and here I’m thinking about the movie, and the bad guy who drinks a quart of the stuff and becomes even more ludicrously huge and overmuscled than the ludicrously huge and overmuscled Mr. Hyde)

163 RadicalModerate  Apr 8, 2014 1:07:33pm

re: #143 Dr Lizardo

So, OT but got into a friendly debate about Miley Cyrus with a former student of mine.

Former Student: She’s being edgy.

Me: No. Wendy O. Williams was “edgy”. Miley’s got a looooong way to go before she reaches that territory.

Former Student: Who’s Wendy O. Williams?

Me: [Embedded content]

Former Student: Holy shit that’s insane!

Me: It was before you were born. But Wendy O. Williams was the real deal.

And if you want to go slightly more mainstream, go with The Runaways whose alumni consisted of individuals like Joan Jett and Lita Ford.

164 ericblair  Apr 8, 2014 1:08:22pm

re: #132 Charles Johnson

I know - if sending unencrypted email to an unknown third party isn’t “compromised,” what exactly would be?

Which hints at a fundamental problem for our anarchist buddies: the whole of public key cryptography is based on chains of trust back to Certificate Authorities. Literal capital-A Authorities who, directly or indirectly, determine your online identity. No authorities, no identity confirmation, and hey, “I’m Greenwald/Spartacus!”

And when I have to get for-reals PKI certs, I have to prove I’m me with government-issued identification. Which isn’t a problem if you’re not an anarchist. If you are an anarchist, I suppose The Market will punish private Certificate Authorities that don’t properly manage identities, maybe, somehow. Unless they compromise your identity secretly, of course.

If you don’t have this sort of infrastructure, who gives a shit how many bits your key is if you have no idea who you’re really sending things to.

165 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 1:10:34pm

re: #143 Dr Lizardo

So, OT but got into a friendly debate about Miley Cyrus with a former student of mine.

Former Student: She’s being edgy.

Me: No. Wendy O. Williams was “edgy”. Miley’s got a looooong way to go before she reaches that territory.

Former Student: Who’s Wendy O. Williams?

Me: [Embedded content]

Former Student: Holy shit that’s insane!

Me: It was before you were born. But Wendy O. Williams was the real deal.

Miley Cyrus is a boring suburbanite’s idea of what ‘edgy’ means, much like Newt Gingrich is a stupid person’s idea of what a smart person sounds like.

166 RealityBasedSteve  Apr 8, 2014 1:11:22pm

re: #88 sattv4u2

One easy peasy way to shorten the gametime

do NOT allow the batter out of the box or the pitcher off the mound between EVERY pitch

When I lived in Seattle, they used to do a re-broadcast of the the game later in the evening. Left all the pitches / pickoff tosses in, but simply edited out the elaborate ritual of adjusting the batting glove after every swing (or non-swing).

Seems like took less than an hour to watch the full game. (oh yes, they did have the full compliment of commercials)

RBS

167 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 1:11:50pm

re: #151 GeneJockey

It’d have to be a hell of a muscle enhancer to be any use on the sidelines at the last game of the season!
//

shoulda just given him a can of spinach…

168 Justanotherhuman  Apr 8, 2014 1:11:59pm
169 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 1:13:30pm

re: #165 GeneJockey

Miley Cyrus is a boring suburbanite’s idea of what ‘edgy’ means, much like Newt Gingrich is a stupid person’s idea of what a smart person sounds like.

Haha.

170 Floral Giraffe  Apr 8, 2014 1:13:39pm

re: #143 Dr Lizardo

LOVE Wendy!

171 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 1:13:54pm

re: #166 RealityBasedSteve

(oh yes, they did have the full compliment of commercials)

Yup
Even live they wouldn’t miss one commercial break

The ONLY revenue they lose in a game that goes under 3 hours as opposed to one that goes over 4 is concessions and souvenirs

172 makeitstop  Apr 8, 2014 1:15:35pm

re: #163 RadicalModerate

And if you want to go slightly more mainstream, go with The Runaways whose alumni consisted of individuals like Joan Jett and Lita Ford.

And managed by Rodney Bingenheimer - the American equivalent of Malcolm McLaren.

173 Romantic Heretic  Apr 8, 2014 1:15:56pm

re: #7 GeneJockey

Exactly why I’m afraid of retina scans.

Thinking of the scene in Demolition Man where Simon Phoenix opens his cell, after gouging out the warden’s eye with a pen.

174 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 1:18:39pm

Pardon my ignorance but what does ” Hurr Hurr” mean?

175 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 8, 2014 1:19:12pm

re: #174 EdDantes

Pardon my ignorance but what does ” Hurr Hurr” mean?

Don’t know…Ben Ben?

176 Varek Raith  Apr 8, 2014 1:19:26pm

re: #174 EdDantes

Pardon my ignorance but what does ” Hurr Hurr” mean?

urbandictionary.com

178 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 1:19:38pm

re: #164 ericblair

Speaking of certificates, this news is a royal pain in the nethers:

threatpost.com

If you noticed our server go away for a little while earlier today, it’s because we were patching OpenSSL to fix this bug.

But now we’ll need to install a new SSL certificate, because there’s no way to know if someone already grabbed our private keys by exploiting the “Heartbleed” bug. And the bug has been in the wild for almost 2 years. Ow. Ouch. Ooch. Not good.

When our new certificate is installed, I’m afraid the last step is going to be to ask everyone to change their passwords. I may have to require it somehow.

There’s nothing unusual about LGF in this — a lot of the biggest sites on the web are also affected, and nobody knows how many were actually compromised by this OpenSSL bug.

179 Dr Lizardo  Apr 8, 2014 1:20:45pm

re: #165 GeneJockey

Miley Cyrus is a boring suburbanite’s idea of what ‘edgy’ means, much like Newt Gingrich is a stupid person’s idea of what a smart person sounds like.

Heh.

To me it just seems popular music isn’t as good as it could be. But then I was always more into what used to be called “underground” music back in the day. Plasmatics, Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash, PIL, etc. Some metal as well; Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Motörhead and what not.

I do like some older hip-hop; ‘Fear of a Black Planet’ by Public Enemy, Ice-T’s ‘O.G.’ and N.W.A’s ‘Straight Outta Compton’ are three I enjoyed immensely. ‘Straight Outta Compton’ blew my mind when I first heard it back in 1988.

180 RealityBasedSteve  Apr 8, 2014 1:22:20pm

re: #164 ericblair

Which hints at a fundamental problem for our anarchist buddies: the whole of public key cryptography is based on chains of trust back to Certificate Authorities. Literal capital-A Authorities who, directly or indirectly, determine your online identity. No authorities, no identity confirmation, and hey, “I’m Greenwald/Spartacus!”

And when I have to get for-reals PKI certs, I have to prove I’m me with government-issued identification. Which isn’t a problem if you’re not an anarchist. If you are an anarchist, I suppose The Market will punish private Certificate Authorities that don’t properly manage identities, maybe, somehow. Unless they compromise your identity secretly, of course.

If you don’t have this sort of infrastructure, who gives a shit how many bits your key is if you have no idea who you’re really sending things to.

When I teach this kind of stuff, I make an analogy. I can print up my own business cards saying that who I am, but it doesn’t carry any real value. If I have a drivers license or passport, that is from a recognized authority, and it actually vouches for my identity. A billion bit key generated on my own authority is strong, but not trusted.

RBS

181 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 1:22:35pm

re: #178 Charles Johnson

Speaking of certificates, this news is a royal pain in the nethers:

threatpost.com

When our new certificate is installed, I’m afraid the last step is going to be to ask everyone to change their passwords. I may have to require it somehow.

No problem. I should be more vigilant about regularly changing my passwords anyway, so a kick in the butt to do so is a good thing.

182 HappyWarrior  Apr 8, 2014 1:22:45pm

re: #179 Dr Lizardo

Heh.

To me it just seems popular music isn’t as good as it could be. But then I was always more into what used to be called “underground” music back in the day. Plasmatics, Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash, PIL, etc. Some metal as well; Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Motörhead and what not.

I do like some older hip-hop; ‘Fear of a Black Planet’ by Public Enemy, Ice-T’s ‘O.G.’ and N.W.A’s ‘Straight Outta Compton’ are three I enjoyed immensely. ‘Straight Outta Compton’ blew my mind when I first heard it back in 1988.

There’s a lot of good indie stuff out there. Just gotta find it.

183 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 1:22:53pm

The media hasn’t gotten hold of the Heartbleed news much yet, but this could be one of the biggest problems ever to hit the web.

185 klys  Apr 8, 2014 1:25:32pm

re: #184 Charles Johnson

Newly Discovered Encryption Flaw a ‘Big Deal’, Say Security Experts

That article nicely goes right to THE NSA NOW HAS ALL TEH DATAS.

186 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 1:25:47pm

re: #175 NJDhockeyfan

I lobe Ben Hur! I have it on blue Ray.

187 Killgore Trout  Apr 8, 2014 1:25:54pm

Kerry had a tough morning
Bipartisan critics slam Kerry on foreign policy

Kerry’s successor at the committee helm, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., pressed him about possible concessions by the West in the nuclear talks involving Iran and six world powers. One of the leading proponents of sanctions on Iran, Menendez sought assurances that the U.S. would impose economic sanctions if Iran and Russia move forward with a reported oil-for-goods contract.

On the question of the fate of a heavy water plutonium reactor in Iran, Menendez expressed exasperation.

“Originally we were told that’s going to be dismantled. Now we are told we are going to find a different purpose for it. It continues to morph into different areas,” he said.

188 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 1:26:48pm

re: #176 Varek Raith

Thank you. I never visit that site.

189 lawhawk  Apr 8, 2014 1:28:15pm

re: #183 Charles Johnson

Some high-profile sites, including Yahoo Mail, Lastpass, the OpenSSL site and the main FBI site have been confirmed to leak certain information via the bug. There also is a proof-of-concept exploit for the flaw posted on Github.

Yoikes, and away. And how many other sites? I’d gather that it’s most of them, considering it’s one of the primary SSL libraries.

“The Heartbleed bug allows anyone on the Internet to read the memory of the systems protected by the vulnerable versions of the OpenSSL software. This compromises the secret keys used to identify the service providers and to encrypt the traffic, the names and passwords of the users and the actual content. This allows attackers to eavesdrop communications, steal data directly from the services and users and to impersonate services and users,” the description says.

“You are likely to be affected either directly or indirectly. OpenSSL is the most popular open source cryptographic library and TLS (transport layer security) implementation used to encrypt traffic on the Internet. Your popular social site, your company’s site, commerce site, hobby site, site you install software from or even sites run by your government might be using vulnerable OpenSSL. Many of online services use TLS to both to identify themselves to you and to protect your privacy and transactions. You might have networked appliances with logins secured by this buggy implementation of the TLS. Furthermore you might have client side software on your computer that could expose the data from your computer if you connect to compromised services.”

OpenSSL 1.0.1g also includes a fix that addresses a certain variety of side-channel attack.

Super.

190 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 1:28:38pm

re: #186 EdDantes

I lobe Ben Hur! I have it on blue Ray.

I mean love

191 Killgore Trout  Apr 8, 2014 1:29:01pm

Some good news (for a change)
White House: Iran’s choice for UN envoy ‘not viable’

The White House says it has told Iran it will have to find an different envoy for the United Nations and not one who participated in the 1979 taking of 52 U.S. diplomats in Tehran.

“The U.S. government has informed the government of Iran that this potential selection is not viable,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday.

192 lawhawk  Apr 8, 2014 1:29:23pm

re: #181 Backwoods_Sleuth

Changing passwords wouldn’t necessarily solve this problem until the affected site is patched with the fix. Otherwise, your new password would be just as vulnerable.

193 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 8, 2014 1:31:38pm

re: #192 lawhawk

Changing passwords wouldn’t necessarily solve this problem until the affected site is patched with the fix. Otherwise, your new password would be just as vulnerable.

True. I was responding to Charles mentioning that he may have to require all lizards to change their passwords.

194 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 1:31:39pm

re: #192 lawhawk

Changing passwords wouldn’t necessarily solve this problem until the affected site is patched with the fix. Otherwise, your new password would be just as vulnerable.

Worse than that - even after you patch the OS to fix the OpenSSL bug, you then have to revoke and reissue the SSL certificate and install the new one.

We’re all patched here - checking to see if the certificate authority will revoke/reissue without charging for a new one.

195 Killgore Trout  Apr 8, 2014 1:33:42pm

Four gay men jailed in Egypt

Four men in Egypt were sentence for up to 8 years in prison for organizing deviant sex parties, wearing women’s clothing and makeup.
Homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt but authorities often use laws banning debauchery to persecute gay people. The sentencing has drawn the criticism from human rights groups around the world.

“Egypt is a bellwether state in the Arab region; what happens in Egypt sets a trend for developments throughout the Arab world,” said U.S. based group Human Rights First.

196 dog philosopher  Apr 8, 2014 1:34:32pm

re: #190 EdDantes

I mean love

does that mean you don’t lobe me anymore?

197 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 1:34:53pm

That’s what makes this bug so bad - it actually lets a hacker grab the private keys for your installed SSL certificate. If you keep using the cert even after installing the patch, you’re still vulnerable if the site was already compromised.

Changing passwords is the last step after the patch and new certificate are installed.

198 Varek Raith  Apr 8, 2014 1:35:18pm

Wow, that’s a really fucking serious bug.

199 RealityBasedSteve  Apr 8, 2014 1:35:34pm

re: #178 Charles Johnson

Speaking of certificates, this news is a royal pain in the nethers:

When our new certificate is installed, I’m afraid the last step is going to be to ask everyone to change their passwords. I may have to require it somehow.

There’s nothing unusual about LGF in this — a lot of the biggest sites on the web are also affected, and nobody knows how many were actually compromised by this OpenSSL bug.

But if I change it here, then I’ve got to change it all the other sites I go to also… like my bank site ////

RBS

200 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 8, 2014 1:36:45pm
201 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 1:36:56pm

re: #193 Backwoods_Sleuth

True. I was responding to Charles mentioning that he may have to require all lizards to change their passwords.

As long as it’s ‘one and done’, not changing them every month or so. Our company requires you change your password periodically, and the company that does our timesheets also requires it, but the periods are different. When you start, they’re almost sychronized, but they get farther and farther out of phase.

I’ve resorted to doing what they tell you never to do. It’s that or never log on.

202 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 1:38:11pm

I’m fairly sure LGF has not been compromised in this way; I have a lot of logging tools and have not noticed any unusual patterns of activity. But there’s no way to be certain that someone didn’t grab the keys without doing much else and is holding them for future zombie action.

203 Political Atheist  Apr 8, 2014 1:39:10pm

I wonder good a string of anatomically unlikely invective would be as a password. Heh, for my online banking not here…

204 wrenchwench  Apr 8, 2014 1:39:26pm

re: #172 makeitstop

And managed by Rodney Bingenheimer - the American equivalent of Malcolm McLaren.

Rodney had the second punk radio show in the US. The first was Rock and Tab Humanoid on KUOR at the University of Redlands. (Rock, not his real name, was my boyfriend.)

206 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 1:41:29pm

re: #203 Political Atheist

I wonder good a string of anatomically unlikely invective would be as a password. Heh, for my online banking not here…

My thinking is that a password should be something you can remember that would mean nothing to anyone else.

Mine’s ‘Bosco’.
/////

207 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 1:41:31pm

re: #196 dog philosopher

does that mean you don’t lobe me anymore?

I lobe you till the end of the herb.

208 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 1:43:51pm

re: #190 EdDantes

I mean love

The younger boy told me that in Spanish there’s no distinction between the ‘V’ sound and the ‘B’ sound, so you’re still good. Or you would be if you were speaking Spanish. But if you were speaking Spanish, you wouldn’t have used that word.

210 Killgore Trout  Apr 8, 2014 1:46:26pm

re: #200 NJDhockeyfan

[Embedded content]

The affidavit adds that Fathi allegedly claimed to have studied his planned bomb attack for months, and said he previously made a chemical bomb while in high school in Morocco. “He can be heard explaining that there are three things that scare people in the United States: causing harm to schools, the economy, and their sense of security,” Sharp said.

What a dick.

211 Pie-onist Overlord  Apr 8, 2014 1:46:58pm

re: #174 EdDantes

Pardon my ignorance but what does ” Hurr Hurr” mean?

It’s a sound that hyperventilating nutjobs make when they call in to Hannity and Medved. Rush’s call screener somehow manages to screen out the hyperventilaters.

212 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 1:47:01pm
213 Varek Raith  Apr 8, 2014 1:47:45pm

‘Star Trek’s Kate Mulgrew on geocentrist film: ‘I was a voice for hire, and a misinformed one’

“I am not a geocentrist, nor am I in any way a proponent of geocentrism,” Mulgrew said in her statement. “More importantly, I do not subscribe to anything Robert Sungenis has written regarding science and history and, had I known of his involvement, would most certainly have avoided this documentary. I was a voice for hire, and a misinformed one, at that.”

214 wrenchwench  Apr 8, 2014 1:49:12pm

This post is getting around on the twitters.

215 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 1:49:20pm

re: #208 GeneJockey

The younger boy told me that in Spanish there’s no distinction between the ‘V’ sound and the ‘B’ sound, so you’re still good. Or you would be if you were speaking Spanish. But if you were speaking Spanish, you wouldn’t have used that word.

I know no Spanish words, amigo.

216 Pie-onist Overlord  Apr 8, 2014 1:50:47pm
217 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 1:51:25pm

re: #215 EdDantes

I know no Spanish words, amigo.

Ho, ho, very funny. Ha, ha, it is to laugh.

218 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 1:52:14pm

re: #216 Pie-onist Overlord

[Embedded content]

Yeah, that’ll work.

219 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 1:53:24pm

re: #213 Varek Raith

‘Star Trek’s Kate Mulgrew on geocentrist film: ‘I was a voice for hire, and a misinformed one’

Like I said yesterday. Mind you, if her voice were less distinctive, she wouldn’t have run into this problem.

220 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 1:56:21pm

No shit. Quit.

221 Justanotherhuman  Apr 8, 2014 1:56:24pm

Well, well, well—shocka!

Alaska Dispatch to purchase Anchorage Daily News

alaskadispatch.com

This ought to shake up the ass-kissers over at ADN.

222 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 1:57:20pm

re: #217 GeneJockey

Ho, ho, very funny. Ha, ha, it is to laugh.[Embedded image]

Youtube Video

223 Killgore Trout  Apr 8, 2014 1:57:58pm

re: #209 dog philosopher

Russia warns of civil war if Ukraine uses force to quell eastern revolts

urk

It’s like watching a slow motion bank robbery. Putin’s going to take what he wants and everybody knows it.

224 Varek Raith  Apr 8, 2014 1:58:51pm

re: #222 EdDantes

Youtube Video

225 Killgore Trout  Apr 8, 2014 2:03:33pm

Russia May Be Shielding Neiman Marcus Hackers

The data breach at upscale retailer Neiman Marcus discovered this past January was the work of an infamous Russian crime syndicate responsible for the theft of over 160 million credit cards in the past seven years, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report. U.S. law enforcement has been after the group for years, the report said, but has been hampered by a studied disinterest on the part of Russian officials.

The criminal syndicate has been connected to credit cards stolen from over 100 different companies since 2005, including J. C. Penney, 7-Eleven and Citigroup, U.S. officials told the magazine.
…
It’s not that the Russians aren’t listening. Some U.S. officials think Russia uses information shared by the FBI to identify talented hackers who can be recruited for national-security purposes, such as the cyberattacks currently being conducted against Ukraine, according to Bloomberg Businessweek’s sources.

226 dog philosopher  Apr 8, 2014 2:04:40pm

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to Secretary of State John Kerry: What you’re doing with Russia is ‘talking strongly and carrying a very small stick, in fact, a twig’

try measuring the enthusiasm among wingnuts for going to war over ukraine

227 The Awkward Guy  Apr 8, 2014 2:05:38pm

Clearly the answer is to turn Russia into a radioactive parking lot.

//

228 Varek Raith  Apr 8, 2014 2:06:08pm

re: #227 The Awkward Guy

Clearly the answer is to turn Russia into a radioactive parking lot.

//

Obviously.

I’ll be in orbit.

229 dog philosopher  Apr 8, 2014 2:07:16pm

re: #227 The Awkward Guy

Clearly the answer is to turn Russia into a radioactive parking lot.

//

then the natives would greet us as liberators for making it so easy to find your car in the dark

230 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 2:07:29pm

re: #217 GeneJockey

Ho, ho, very funny. Ha, ha, it is to laugh.[Embedded image]

Youre, Dethpicable!

231 Testy Toad T  Apr 8, 2014 2:08:59pm

If Obama decided that he just absolutely had to have Baja California, or Vancouver Island, I wonder what doddering old fool Duma member Ivan McCainski would angrily expect Putin to do about it.

Superpowers can dick around with their neighbors with about as much short-term impunity as they’d like. Water is wet, sky is blue.

232 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 8, 2014 2:11:11pm

re: #231 Testy Toad T

If Obama decided that he just absolutely had to have Baja California, or Vancouver Island, what doddering old fool Duma member Ivan McCainski would angrily expect Putin to do about it.

Superpowers can dick around with their neighbors with about as much short-term impunity as they’d like. Water is wet, sky is blue.

Declare a “Free Republic of Ensenada” and have it move to join the USA…

234 Ming  Apr 8, 2014 2:12:37pm

re: #205 Killgore Trout

Here’s what could happen if Russia invades Ukraine

Thank you very much Killgore, for this and other very interesting articles about the Ukraine crisis.

I don’t know what to conclude at this point. Putin may have needed to boost his approval numbers at home. He may have been pressured into going after Ukraine, perhaps by powerful oligarchs, or powerful Admirals and Generals, or both.

Ukraine will be a drain on Russia’s economy, which is doubly-unfortunate, because this may pressure Putin to commit even more aggression, soon. Ultimately Russia’s goal may be access to Iran’s oil, strong influence in Syria, and (combined with their influence in northern Georgia, and in Crimea) this would give Russia the warm-water naval ports they’re wanted so badly for many years.

So, instead of expanding west into Europe, or east into Asia, Russia would aggressively “expand” southward, towards the Middle East. What could possibly go wrong?

The above are only my rambling speculations.

235 Varek Raith  Apr 8, 2014 2:13:00pm

re: #231 Testy Toad T

If Obama decided that he just absolutely had to have Baja California, or Vancouver Island, I wonder what doddering old fool Duma member Ivan McCainski would angrily expect Putin to do about it.

Superpowers can dick around with their neighbors with about as much short-term impunity as they’d like. Water is wet, sky is blue.

We could annex Canada and no one would notice.
/

236 Decatur Deb  Apr 8, 2014 2:13:49pm

re: #205 Killgore Trout

Here’s what could happen if Russia invades Ukraine

They missed one. The West could restore some of the nukes Ukraine bargained away for assurances of territorial integrity. Not likely, but would get interesting fast.

237 thedopefishlives  Apr 8, 2014 2:14:42pm

Afternoon lizardfolk.

238 Floral Giraffe  Apr 8, 2014 2:15:55pm

re: #172 makeitstop

LOL! I had totally forgotten about Rodney Bigenheimer! He got his start as a DJ in Los Angeles!

239 Targetpractice  Apr 8, 2014 2:18:05pm

re: #236 Decatur Deb

They missed one. The West could restore some of the nukes Ukraine bargained away for assurances of territorial integrity. Not likely, but would get interesting fast.

Certainly seems like an option to me. After all, Putin declared that Budapest no longer applies.

240 Decatur Deb  Apr 8, 2014 2:19:44pm

re: #239 Targetpractice

Certainly seems like an option to me. After all, Putin declared that Budapest no longer applies.

Sort of the penultimate troll, for lulz.

241 Ming  Apr 8, 2014 2:24:27pm

re: #236 Decatur Deb

They missed one. The West could restore some of the nukes Ukraine bargained away for assurances of territorial integrity. Not likely, but would get interesting fast.

In light of the agreements Ukraine made in 1991, which you mention, I’m struck by how very unfortunate this all is: the lesson is loud and clear that you either have nukes and you’re safe, or you don’t have nukes and you’re not safe. To say the same thing another way, paper treaties don’t mean much.

This is really a tragedy. I assume technologies to make nukes will continue to improve, e.g. precision manufacturing, even 3D printing of some parts. Putin has made the world much more dangerous.

242 Decatur Deb  Apr 8, 2014 2:26:31pm

re: #241 Ming

In light of the agreements Ukraine made in 1991, which you mention, I’m struck by how very unfortunate this all is: the lesson is loud and clear that you either have nukes and you’re safe, or you don’t have nukes and you’re not safe. To say the same thing another way, paper treaties don’t mean much.

This is really a tragedy. I assume technologies to make nukes will continue to improve, e.g. precision manufacturing, even 3D printing of some parts.

Nukes are inherently hard and expensive. Bio, OTOH, is a bargain for a small power with an educated elite.

243 Bear  Apr 8, 2014 2:28:12pm

re: #221 Justanotherhuman

If true it is good news. ADN never was as good as the old Anchorage Times. As far as I was concerned.

244 Justanotherhuman  Apr 8, 2014 2:29:23pm

Tee hee!

Jesselyn Radack ‏@JesselynRadack 3h

@LouiseMensch #Snowden has multiple attorneys, including me. Please cease & desist your churlish defamation.

245 Testy Toad T  Apr 8, 2014 2:30:14pm

re: #241 Ming

This is really a tragedy. I assume technologies to make nukes will continue to improve, e.g. precision manufacturing, even 3D printing of some parts. Putin has made the world much more dangerous.

The main industrial constraint that holds back nuclear proliferation is the actual possession and enrichment of the fissile material itself, which is a scale-of-high-tech-infrastructure sort of problem. 3D printers and the like are not likely to meaningfully change this situation.

246 EdDantes  Apr 8, 2014 2:31:22pm

Need nap. Nite all

247 CuriousLurker  Apr 8, 2014 2:32:09pm

Drive-by: You guys should look at this. It really provides perspective on what an enormous challenge it is to try to locate Flight 370.

248 Decatur Deb  Apr 8, 2014 2:33:48pm

Off to plot the Yankee overthrow of Alabama’s Rightful Order. BBL.

249 AntonSirius  Apr 8, 2014 2:33:58pm

re: #16 EdDantes

40 years ago today. Henry Aaron. Al Downing. Number 715. No steroids.

Plenty of greenies though

250 Justanotherhuman  Apr 8, 2014 2:39:22pm

Are “all” of Snowden’s attorneys working for free, and just the FSB people getting paid?

I rather doubt Snowball has a “dream team”.

Another thing that struck me in that VF article was the report that Snowball considers his politics different from Assange. His weasel words here:

“On the crucial ways he differs from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange: “We don’t share identical politics. I am not anti-secrecy. I’m pro-accountability. I’ve made many statements indicating both the importance of secrecy and spying, and my support for the working-level people at the N.S.A. and other agencies. It’s the senior officials you have to watch out for.”

251 Charles Johnson  Apr 8, 2014 2:43:50pm

Yikes. Embedded Getty images act very weird in the mobile version. They gradually shrink down, then sort of pulsate larger and smaller. Bizarre. Seems to be related to the “height: auto;” CSS attribute - they have some kind of code that rescales the iframe, probably so you don’t resize it to cut off their bylines.

252 dog philosopher  Apr 8, 2014 2:44:22pm

Prosecutors said 45-year-old Ana Trujillo stabbed 59-year-old Alf Stefan Andersson at least 25 times in the face with her shoe during a June argument at his Houston condominium

Testimony during the trial showed that Andersson bought the $1,500 blue suede shoes for Trujillo

253 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 8, 2014 2:48:13pm

re: #251 Charles Johnson

Yikes. Embedded Getty images act very weird in the mobile version. They gradually shrink down, then sort of pulsate larger and smaller. Bizarre. Seems to be related to the “height: auto;” CSS attribute - they have some kind of code that rescales the iframe, probably so you don’t resize it to cut off their bylines.

Throbbing Getties?

254 Testy Toad T  Apr 8, 2014 2:49:46pm

re: #253 NJDhockeyfan

Throbbing Getties?

Excuse me sir, this is a family-friendly blog.

255 makeitstop  Apr 8, 2014 2:50:10pm

This should be interesting - revisiting the Cobain suicide, through the eyes of the PI that Courtney hired to find Kurt days before his suicide…

Youtube Video

256 Ming  Apr 8, 2014 2:53:20pm

re: #245 Testy Toad T

The main industrial constraint that holds back nuclear proliferation is the actual possession and enrichment of the fissile material itself, which is a scale-of-high-tech-infrastructure sort of problem. 3D printers and the like are not likely to meaningfully change this situation.

Good point. We didn’t even bother to test the uranium bomb in New Mexico. It’s relatively easy to make uranium explode. Much harder for plutonium, and that’s what we tested in New Mexico. (Hiroshima was uranium, Nagasaki was plutonium.)

So access to fissile material (enriched uranium) makes it relatively easy to make a bomb. But this is not very “scalable”. To really scale up, plutonium is better. That’s why I’m very unhappy that North Korea actually did one or more plutonium detonations, as low-yield as they were.

Anyway, I agree with you, technologies like precision manufacturing would have to improve A LOT before it makes a difference. BUT the rate of technological growth is so awesome, I suppose (only speculating, of course) that in 10 years, we may have the ability to manufacture things to very fine tolerances, that seem unthinkable today. E.g. 30 metal wires that are almost exactly the same length… :(

It’s worth noting that this COULD make things easier BOTH for the primitive uranium approach, and the more advanced but infinitely more difficult plutonium approach. For example, simply being able to 3D print two shapes the size of a car, which would come together (the “gun design”) for a uranium detonation, might mean that a group of terrorists who got their hands on enough U-235 could have an easy time putting it into a bomb.

Again, this is only speculation. I agree with you completely that current technology to make a plutonium explosion is just about impossible to achieve, unless you’re an established government with an established nuclear industry.

257 The War TARDIS  Apr 8, 2014 2:56:26pm

re: #236 Decatur Deb

Last week or the week before, I put a response to a churlish comment from KT, detailing another option. Supporting movements of the various little nations in Russia that want to leave. Like Chechnya, Dagestan, and Tatarstan, among many others.

After all, if Russia supports the right of Crimea to leave Ukraine, they should be willing to support giving those groups in Russia who want to leave a choice too. That is, if Putin is a man.

258 Pie-onist Overlord  Apr 8, 2014 2:57:33pm

Well, wingnuts are going all TOO KWO KWAY!!!! on the Breitbart Photoshop spread, they claim HURR HURR LIBTARDS DID TEH SAME THING TO MICHELE BACHMANN & JOHN BOEHNER!!!!!!

Except not.

Miley (that Miley, whose tongue-lolling stunt was used in the Breitbart poster) sang a song on SNL and there was a brief caption MICHELE BACHMANN flashed across the screen, but Miley’s face at all times was Miley. She doesn’t look anything like Michele Bachmann, BTW.

And they had some young hot dude with a spray-on tan dancing the part of “Boehner” but at no time was Boehner’s face superimposed on the young hot dude’s face.

Actually it was pretty clever.


Hulu Video

259 dog philosopher  Apr 8, 2014 2:58:32pm

i looked through this whole thread on my iphone and my getties didn’t even throb once

260 RealityBasedSteve  Apr 8, 2014 2:58:42pm

re: #253 NJDhockeyfan

Throbbing Getties?

I think I saw them at Monterey, didn’t they open for Crushed Orange?

RBS

261 Justanotherhuman  Apr 8, 2014 2:59:54pm

Controversial aunt of President Obama dies
Zeituni Onyango fought deportation, granted asylum in 2010

Read more: wcvb.com

262 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 8, 2014 3:00:59pm

Amtrak has a new policy for exchanges and refunds…

Heh

263 wrenchwench  Apr 8, 2014 3:06:31pm

re: #262 NJDhockeyfan

Amtrak has a new policy for exchanges and refunds…

[Embedded content]

Heh

dear @Amtrak your new policy is discriminatory against those of us who suffer from chronic tardiness.

So was my school bus. That’s pretty much how I became a cyclist.

264 Justanotherhuman  Apr 8, 2014 3:07:15pm

Sure she did. (wink wink)

He still won’t have to clean his own damn office.

265 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 8, 2014 3:11:32pm

Ugh

266 RealityBasedSteve  Apr 8, 2014 3:12:57pm

re: #262 NJDhockeyfan

Amtrak has a new policy for exchanges and refunds…

[Embedded content]

Heh

I took Amtrak many many years ago, from Seattle to St. Louis. If memory serves me, we rolled in to St. Louis right on the appointed minute, and exactly 24 hours late. (And no, we weren’t held up by bad weather). If I wanted to visit my dad in Florida, it would be a minimum of 600 bucks (one way), I’d have to drive 250 miles to get TO the train station, and it would be 3+ days enroute, from Memphis, to Chicago, To Washington, then on to Florida.

Except for areas like the NE Corridor, we don’t have a functional passenger rail system for the most part. That’s a pity, because traveling by train you actually get to SEE the country. The thing that amazed me most, the number of adults that stop what they are doing and wave as the train goes by.

I want my trains.

RBS

267 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 3:14:36pm

re: #266 RealityBasedSteve

These guys will travel with you!!

Image: planes.jpg

268 Ming  Apr 8, 2014 3:15:36pm

re: #244 Justanotherhuman

I see that Ms. Radack has a style that’s very compatible with Glenn Greenwald. Immediately go to Def Con 1, and repeat.

269 klys  Apr 8, 2014 3:15:53pm

re: #266 RealityBasedSteve

I took Amtrak many many years ago, from Seattle to St. Louis. If memory serves me, we rolled in to St. Louis right on the appointed minute, and exactly 24 hours late. (And no, we weren’t held up by bad weather). If I wanted to visit my dad in Florida, it would be a minimum of 600 bucks (one way), I’d have to drive 250 miles to get TO the train station, and it would be 3+ days enroute, from Memphis, to Chicago, To Washington, then on to Florida.

Except for areas like the NE Corridor, we don’t have a functional passenger rail system for the most part. That’s a pity, because traveling by train you actually get to SEE the country. The thing that amazed me most, the number of adults that stop what they are doing and wave as the train goes by.

I want my trains.

RBS

On Amtrak, going over Donner Pass.

270 Testy Toad T  Apr 8, 2014 3:16:05pm

re: #266 RealityBasedSteve

I’ve done coast to coast and Chicago to NOLA. My Amtrak experiences have been almost universally positive, in terms of timeliness and customer service and comfort and basically everything.

Do avoid the Coast Starlate, though.

271 klys  Apr 8, 2014 3:18:39pm

re: #270 Testy Toad T

I’ve done coast to coast and Chicago to NOLA. My Amtrak experiences have been almost universally positive, in terms of timeliness and customer service and comfort and basically everything.

Do avoid the Coast Starlate, though.

We’ve really enjoyed our travel on Amtrak.

Of course, it is important to understand the limitations and realities of travel inherent in our system. Our passenger rail has nothing on those found in Europe or Japan.

I can make reliable plans involving rail in those countries. Not so much the US.

272 dog philosopher  Apr 8, 2014 3:20:05pm

re: #266 RealityBasedSteve

traveling by train you actually get to SEE the country

took amtrak and canadian pacific across the continent a lot back in the 70s

priceless!

273 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 8, 2014 3:20:30pm

re: #266 RealityBasedSteve

I took Amtrak many many years ago, from Seattle to St. Louis. If memory serves me, we rolled in to St. Louis right on the appointed minute, and exactly 24 hours late. (And no, we weren’t held up by bad weather). If I wanted to visit my dad in Florida, it would be a minimum of 600 bucks (one way), I’d have to drive 250 miles to get TO the train station, and it would be 3+ days enroute, from Memphis, to Chicago, To Washington, then on to Florida.

Except for areas like the NE Corridor, we don’t have a functional passenger rail system for the most part. That’s a pity, because traveling by train you actually get to SEE the country. The thing that amazed me most, the number of adults that stop what they are doing and wave as the train goes by.

I want my trains.

RBS

I went round trip from Connecticut to DC back in the 80s to visit my sister. I was disappointed in the uncomfortable seats and the disgusting restaurant car where all the food was from plastic bags like what you find in 7-11s. Everything heated was done in a microwave and expensive. I was expecting way too much.

274 Romantic Heretic  Apr 8, 2014 3:22:10pm

re: #98 HappyWarrior

Thing is IMO is it’s a stupid distraction. If you want to own a gun to protect yourself, I think that should be allowed and that’s something I know POTUS agrees with too. What I have and I know POTUS as do many have a problem with are people who think they need to own a frigging arsenal to “protect” themselves.

And worse, in my opinion, is the fact that they have not a lick of training. Nor are they given a psychological assessment.

If people have guns I’d like to be reasonably certain they know how to use them and they aren’t going to use them because of impulse control problems or because voices in their yea told them to kill the devils.

275 klys  Apr 8, 2014 3:25:00pm

re: #273 NJDhockeyfan

I went round trip from Connecticut to DC back in the 80s to visit my sister. I was disappointed in the uncomfortable seats and the disgusting restaurant car where all the food was from plastic bags like what you find in 7-11s. Everything heated was done in a microwave and expensive. I was expecting way too much.

The flipside is, it’s a hell of a lot more comfortable than air travel these days, and on the NE corridor, at least, the time investment is comparable. And it’s cheaper.

276 Romantic Heretic  Apr 8, 2014 3:28:15pm

re: #121 GeneJockey

You know they play baseball there, too, right?

The Jays won the World Series a couple of decades ago.

Then the owners discovered what the owner of the Maple Leafs already knew: If you have a local monopoly you don’t have to deliver a quality product.

So in both cases, despite the fact the teams suck, the stadiums are full for every game. This is highly profitable.

This phenomena is a wonderful example of our economic system’s weaknesses.

277 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 8, 2014 3:29:22pm

re: #275 klys

The flipside is, it’s a hell of a lot more comfortable than air travel these days, and on the NE corridor, at least, the time investment is comparable. And it’s cheaper.

When I got to DC I had to switch to the Metro to go to Maryland. I was headed to my sisters house. I found out the hard way about halfway to Md that after drinking a case of beer on the way down to DC on Amtrak that the Metro trains have no bathrooms.

278 Romantic Heretic  Apr 8, 2014 3:36:49pm

re: #146 William Barnett-Lewis

Could have been worse; we might have gotten infested by cricket instead…

I can’t take a game seriously when two of the field positions have the word ‘silly’ in them.

279 gwangung  Apr 8, 2014 3:45:01pm

re: #274 Romantic Heretic

And worse, in my opinion, is the fact that they have not a lick of training. Nor are they given a psychological assessment.

If people have guns I’d like to be reasonably certain they know how to use them and they aren’t going to use them because of impulse control problems or because voices in their yea told them to kill the devils.

Well, I’d put it more subtly (I don’t want someone to defend themselves in a crowded area—-they’ll shoot more than the attacker, and I don’t want them to use a heavy duty bullet that could punch through a wall and nail a next door neighbor). But that’s close enough. (Except, unlike the nRA, I would askance at re-arming violent felons)

280 Romantic Heretic  Apr 8, 2014 3:51:05pm

re: #235 Varek Raith

We could annex Canada and no one would notice.
/

You might find Canada hard to digest.

281 sattv4u2  Apr 8, 2014 3:52:33pm

re: #280 Romantic Heretic

You might find Canada hard to digest.

Due to it’s readers??

282 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 3:53:30pm

re: #280 Romantic Heretic

You might find Canada hard to digest.

Guess what we’re planning to do when AGW turns our Midwest into Central Mexico, and turns the Northwest Territories into a farm belt…..

283 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 3:58:19pm

re: #275 klys

The flipside is, it’s a hell of a lot more comfortable than air travel these days, and on the NE corridor, at least, the time investment is comparable. And it’s cheaper.

IMO, long distance rail travel in the US will forever be consigned to a quaint, money losing, touristy curiosity, absent AMTRAK building its own tracks. Right now they lease time on freight railroads, and those railroads have no reason to upgrade their tracks to handle high speed passenger trains, and no inclination to muck with their own schedules to accomodate them.

And AMTRAK will never build its own tracks, because Congress has to choose to do it, and the Free Marketeers won’t allow it.

There ARE defined corridors where rail travel WILL flourish, like the Northeast Corridor.

284 klys  Apr 8, 2014 4:00:41pm

re: #283 GeneJockey

IMO, long distance rail travel in the US will forever be consigned to a quaint, money losing, touristy curiosity, absent AMTRAK building its own tracks. Right now they lease time on freight railroads, and those railroads have no reason to upgrade their tracks to handle high speed passenger trains, and no inclination to muck with their own schedules to accomodate them.

And AMTRAK will never build its own tracks, because Congress has to choose to do it, and the Free Marketeers won’t allow it.

There ARE defined corridors where rail travel WILL flourish, like the Northeast Corridor.

Exactly. Travel in the right spaces and it can be fantastic. Long-distance? Forget it.

But it was a whole lot of fun anyway, despite that.

285 GeneJockey  Apr 8, 2014 4:01:57pm

re: #284 klys

Exactly. Travel in the right spaces and it can be fantastic. Long-distance? Forget it.

But it was a whole lot of fun anyway, despite that.

I’m glad my tax dollars made your trip enjoyable.
////////////////////////////////

286 klys  Apr 8, 2014 4:22:39pm

re: #285 GeneJockey

I’m glad my tax dollars made your trip enjoyable.
////////////////////////////////

You should ride it too! Get the most out of your tax $$.


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