NSA Denies Bloomberg ‘Heartbleed’ Report Based on Unidentified Sources

“Wrong”
US News • Views: 21,170

The hyperbolic headline from Bloomberg that stirred up the mighty Greenwald army today: NSA Said to Have Used Heartbleed Bug, Exposing Consumers - Bloomberg.

The U.S. National Security Agency knew for at least two years about a flaw in the way that many websites send sensitive information, now dubbed the Heartbleed bug, and regularly used it to gather critical intelligence, two people familiar with the matter said.

The NSA’s decision to keep the bug secret in pursuit of national security interests threatens to renew the rancorous debate over the role of the government’s top computer experts. …

Putting the Heartbleed bug in its arsenal, the NSA was able to obtain passwords and other basic data that are the building blocks of the sophisticated hacking operations at the core of its mission, but at a cost. Millions of ordinary users were left vulnerable to attack from other nations’ intelligence arms and criminal hackers.

Notice the source? Two anonymous people “familiar with the matter.” And lo, the clicks pour in.

It looks like the NSA has realized they need to answer these hyperbolic stories right away, at least, because they wasted no time coming out with an official response: NSA Denies It Used ‘Heartbleed’ Bug to Gather Intelligence - NBC News.com

The National Security Agency on Friday denied a report that it has been aware for years of the enormous ‘Heartbleed’ security flaw affecting millions of websites, but kept the information secret and used it for its own purposes.

Bloomberg, citing unidentified sources, reported Friday that the NSA knew about Heartbleed for two years before the public disclosure of the bug by security researchers last week.

“NSA was not aware of the recently identified vulnerability in OpenSSL, the so-called Heartbleed vulnerability, until it was made public in a private-sector cybersecurity report. Reports that say otherwise are wrong,” the agency said in a statement to NBC News.

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237 comments
1 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 2:40:56pm

Call me crazy.

2 Kragar  Apr 11, 2014 2:42:19pm

re: #1 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Call me crazy.

YOU’RE CRAZY!
///

3 Testy Toad T  Apr 11, 2014 2:44:08pm

I’m perfectly willing to believe that an NSA spokesman would lie about this, but Bloomberg didn’t exactly give me a lot to work with in regards to evidence.

5 Testy Toad T  Apr 11, 2014 2:46:50pm

re: #4 Charles Johnson

Just a few months ago: Bloomberg News Kills All Credibility: Kills Story Critical of China, Fires Reporter Who Reveals This Fact.

Wow. I missed that.

That’s, um, certainly something.

I think it’d be easier to list the number of news organizations I do trust at this point.

6 goddamnedfrank  Apr 11, 2014 2:47:07pm

So, I’ll ask again, would the people who want Greenwald dragged in front of a federal grand jury or congressional investigation care to explain to us what good they actually think such an action would accomplish?

You’ll notice that he’s not even mentioned in this latest bullshit article. That’s because d-bag hack writers are a dime a dozen. Greenwald exemplifies the business model but he’s far from the only example of it. Two anonymous sources and some rank speculation is all anybody needs now, and trying to use official government power to intimidate journalists is probably the best conceivable way of legitimizing these people.

7 EPR-radar  Apr 11, 2014 2:48:35pm

re: #3 Testy Toad T

I’m perfectly willing to believe that an NSA spokesman would lie about this, but Bloomberg didn’t exactly give me a lot to work with in regards to evidence.

There is also a plausibility argument to consider. If the US knew about this bug and wanted to exploit it for intelligence purposes, then there most likely would have been some effort to make sure US government computers weren’t compromised by this.

That effort would have been hard to hide at the time, and would still leave visible tracks today (e.g., as a hypothetical, an otherwise inexplicable directive to not update OpenSSL past a certain revision would be very interesting).

8 klys  Apr 11, 2014 2:49:35pm

re: #7 EPR-radar

There is also a plausibility argument to consider. If the US knew about this bug and wanted to exploit it for intelligence purposes, then there most likely would have been some effort to make sure US government computers weren’t compromised by this.

That effort would have been hard to hide at the time, and would still leave visible tracks today (e.g., as a hypothetical, an otherwise inexplicable directive to not update OpenSSL past a certain revision would be very interesting).

Too much logic, thought processes aborting.

9 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 2:49:41pm
10 Killgore Trout  Apr 11, 2014 2:50:10pm

Assad ‘spreading terror with new chemical attacks’

Britain and America are investigating claims that the Syrian government has carried out a series of new chemical attacks in the suburbs of Damascus.

British officials said yesterday that they were “aware of multiple allegations” of chemical attacks designed, it is alleged, to terrorise opposition-controlled areas around the capital.

It is claimed that the regime is using toxic industrial substances, rather than weaponised chemicals, as a ploy to spread fear, but on a scale not quite large enough to trigger an international military response

11 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 2:50:22pm

Also:

12 EPR-radar  Apr 11, 2014 2:50:23pm

re: #8 klys

Too much logic, thought processes aborting.

I spent 8 years getting a MS and Ph.D. in electrical engineering. Logic is part of the deal.

14 klys  Apr 11, 2014 2:51:25pm

re: #12 EPR-radar

I spent 8 years getting a MS and Ph.D. in electrical engineering. Logic is part of the deal.

Hahaha, I thought that was just being too stupid to quit.

15 thedopefishlives  Apr 11, 2014 2:51:40pm

re: #5 Testy Toad T

Wow. I missed that.

That’s, um, certainly something.

I think it’d be easier to list the number of news organizations I do trust at this point.

1) LGF
2) …?

16 Testy Toad T  Apr 11, 2014 2:52:15pm

re: #7 EPR-radar

There is also a plausibility argument to consider. If the US knew about this bug and wanted to exploit it for intelligence purposes, then there most likely would have been some effort to make sure US government computers weren’t compromised by this.

Definitely. Though my experience with the feds suggests that they’re all much more likely to be the hobbling-along-on-XP sort, and therefore maybe not directly vulnerable, they certainly could not be sure that all of their outside interactions were not protected. You can be sure that there are many, many federal employees who use their work passwords as, say, their personal email password.

It’s not credulity-breaking, but it’s certainly credulity-straining. The point, in any case, is that you can essentially make up any NSA accusation you’d like and expect the tech and popular journalism communities to run with it.

17 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 11, 2014 2:52:22pm
18 wrenchwench  Apr 11, 2014 2:53:53pm

re: #2 Kragar

YOU’RE CRAZY!
///

But only for using that word ‘sorry’.

19 Testy Toad T  Apr 11, 2014 2:54:28pm

Erm…..

If Glenn and Snowjob knew about this from the latter’s data dump espionage, then a sysadmin/IT sort of creature, who sure as fuck knows what OpenSSL is and does, has been sitting on the knowledge of this vulnerability for something like a year.

Way to help out your fellow technerds, Eddie. Way to protect everyone’s freedom or whatever.

20 EPR-radar  Apr 11, 2014 2:54:37pm

re: #14 klys

Hahaha, I thought that was just being too stupid to quit.

Finding a topic for the dissertation was vexing. Getting it done took too long, but wasn’t as bad as topic selection. At least this cured me of any delusions of being suited for an academic career.

21 Feline Fearless Leader  Apr 11, 2014 2:55:10pm

re: #17 NJDhockeyfan

[Embedded content]

The odds of Greenwald willing to be an anonymous source is probably nil. He can’t grab any attention that way.

22 klys  Apr 11, 2014 2:55:10pm

re: #20 EPR-radar

Finding a topic for the dissertation was vexing. Getting it done took too long, but wasn’t as bad as topic selection. At least this cured me of any delusions of being suited for an academic career.

Mine cured me of the delusion of being suited for research.

23 thedopefishlives  Apr 11, 2014 2:55:17pm

re: #19 Testy Toad T

Erm…..

If Glenn and Snowjob knew about this from the latter’s data dump espionage, then a sysadmin/IT sort of creature, who sure as fuck knows what OpenSSL is and does, has been sitting on the knowledge of this vulnerability for something like a year.

Way to help out your fellow technerds, Eddie. Way to protect everyone’s freedom or whatever.

How DARE you question the Holy Snowden. HYPNOWALD HAS SPOKEN!

24 klys  Apr 11, 2014 2:56:03pm

re: #23 thedopefishlives

How DARE you question the Holy Snowden. HYPNOWALD HAS SPOKEN!

I always read Hypnowald as Hypnotoad.

Youtube Video

25 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 2:56:14pm

re: #12 EPR-radar

I spent 8 years getting a MS and Ph.D. in electrical engineering.

well, these things happen. i’m sure there must be some kind of therapy for it…

26 thedopefishlives  Apr 11, 2014 2:56:34pm

re: #24 klys

I always read Hypnowald as Hypnotoad.

[Embedded content]

That’s actually the point. He seriously acts like he’s trying to mind-control people into mindlessly believing everything he says.

27 kirkspencer  Apr 11, 2014 2:56:36pm

re: #5 Testy Toad T

Wow. I missed that.

That’s, um, certainly something.

I think it’d be easier to list the number of news organizations I do trust at this point.

Christian Science Monitor.
used to include Knight Ridder, but now that it’s McClatchy I make certain my salt shaker is full.
Al Jazeera when the subject is not the middle east. (And it’s a useful balance to other media when the subject /is/ the middle east, except Israel.)

28 Feline Fearless Leader  Apr 11, 2014 2:56:42pm

re: #23 thedopefishlives

How DARE you question the Holy Snowden. HYPNOWALD HAS SPOKEN!

We are due for another episode of “Everyone Loves Hypnowald”, aren’t we?
@_@

29 EPR-radar  Apr 11, 2014 2:57:09pm

re: #25 dog philosopher

well, these things happen. i’m sure there must be some kind of therapy for it…

It took me a long time to get this messed up. I’m not about to spend years and the big bucks undoing all of that.

30 klys  Apr 11, 2014 2:57:42pm

re: #26 thedopefishlives

That’s actually the point. He seriously acts like he’s trying to mind-control people into mindlessly believing everything he says.

Beating the dead horse until they agree?

31 abolitionist  Apr 11, 2014 2:58:57pm

Secure Your Online Banking With A Linux Live CD

First listed link is:
Lightweight Portable Security (LPS) - A Linux distro from the US Department of Defense.

I’m getting a 404 error. YMMV

32 thedopefishlives  Apr 11, 2014 3:00:10pm

re: #30 klys

Beating the dead horse until they agree?

Pretty much. When I read his tweets, I see him sitting at his computer muttering, “Why don’t these rubes just AGREE with me already and save me all the trouble.”

33 Randall Gross  Apr 11, 2014 3:00:18pm

Carried over from last thread, regarding gov’t agency tasked with evaluating and communicating all new vulnerabilities:

Btw: Most people don’t know about this, but there is a federal agency tasked with tracking down, communicating, and combating new vulnerabilities. They are part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST)

nvd.nist.gov

34 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 11, 2014 3:00:31pm
35 klys  Apr 11, 2014 3:00:53pm

re: #31 abolitionist

Secure Your Online Banking With A Linux Live CD

First listed link is:
Lightweight Portable Security (LPS) - A Linux distro from the US Department of Defense.

I’m getting a 404 error. YMMV

Why stop there? My husband has an old computer running a fully patched OS that is used only for financial transactions like dealing with banking and the investment accounts.

/sigh

There are times the paranoia feels a little extreme.

36 abolitionist  Apr 11, 2014 3:06:20pm

re: #35 klys

I’m trying for comparable strategies for myself, but without dedicating a whole computer (yet).

37 klys  Apr 11, 2014 3:07:20pm

re: #36 abolitionist

I’m trying for comparable strategies for myself, but without dedicating a whole computer (yet).

We had an extra. It will probably be replaced soon, probably a cheap laptop.

I think it’s a little extreme, but it makes him feel better.

38 jaunte  Apr 11, 2014 3:07:43pm

In other press news:

39 thedopefishlives  Apr 11, 2014 3:07:57pm

re: #37 klys

We had an extra. It will probably be replaced soon, probably a cheap laptop.

I think it’s a little extreme, but it makes him feel better.

It is extreme. The LiveCD, assuming that you update it regularly, is probably a more reasonable option, especially if Windows is your primary home OS.

40 klys  Apr 11, 2014 3:09:54pm

re: #39 thedopefishlives

It is extreme. The LiveCD, assuming that you update it regularly, is probably a more reasonable option, especially if Windows is your primary home OS.

Yeah, I don’t think we would have gone to this extreme if we essentially hadn’t had this tower sitting around gathering dust.

41 makeitstop  Apr 11, 2014 3:10:40pm

re: #34 NJDhockeyfan

[Embedded content]

Yeah, something tells me Russia isn’t going to be letting Snowjob go anywhere.

42 palomino  Apr 11, 2014 3:10:42pm

re: #10 Killgore Trout

Assad ‘spreading terror with new chemical attacks’

Well, then, we’d better go to war. Give McCain, Graham, Kristol and Krauthammer what they live for.

43 Randall Gross  Apr 11, 2014 3:12:16pm

re: #37 klys

We had an extra. It will probably be replaced soon, probably a cheap laptop.

I think it’s a little extreme, but it makes him feel better.

If you have the bucks to spend, there are better than virus scanner services that check for vulnerabilities, these are favored by auditors who validate Payment Card Industry standards compliance:

Tenable - Nessus
Netvigilance - Secure Scout

44 EPR-radar  Apr 11, 2014 3:12:48pm

re: #42 palomino

Well, then, we’d better go to war. Give McCain, Graham, Kristol and Krauthammer what they live for.

A servicing of their semi-annual martial erections? (alas, the credit for this line goes to Charles Pierce)

45 klys  Apr 11, 2014 3:14:28pm

re: #43 Randall Gross

If you have the bucks to spend, there are better than virus scanner services that check for vulnerabilities, these are favored by auditors who validate Payment Card Industry standards compliance:

Tenable - Nessus
Netvigilance - Secure Scout

…I really feel that there is a point where overkill is reached for the personal consumer.

Those would be about 5 steps past that point.

46 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 3:17:00pm
47 simoom  Apr 11, 2014 3:17:01pm

White House statement:
bnowire.com

[As released by the White House]

Dear journalist colleagues: The statement below is attributable to NSC Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden. Thank you! -NSC Press Office

Reports that NSA or any other part of the government were aware of the so-called Heartbleed vulnerability before April 2014 are wrong. The Federal government was not aware of the recently identified vulnerability in OpenSSL until it was made public in a private sector cybersecurity report. The Federal government relies on OpenSSL to protect the privacy of users of government websites and other online services. This Administration takes seriously its responsibility to help maintain an open, interoperable, secure and reliable Internet. If the Federal government, including the intelligence community, had discovered this vulnerability prior to last week, it would have been disclosed to the community responsible for OpenSSL.

When Federal agencies discover a new vulnerability in commercial and open source software - a so-called “Zero day” vulnerability because the developers of the vulnerable software have had zero days to fix it - it is in the national interest to responsibly disclose the vulnerability rather than to hold it for an investigative or intelligence purpose.

In response to the recommendations of the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies, the White House has reviewed its policies in this area and reinvigorated an interagency process for deciding when to share vulnerabilities. This process is called the Vulnerabilities Equities Process. Unless there is a clear national security or law enforcement need, this process is biased toward responsibly disclosing such vulnerabilities.

ODNI statement:
arstechnica.com

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s Public Affairs Office issued the following, categorical denial of the Bloomberg story:

“NSA was not aware of the recently identified vulnerability in OpenSSL, the so-called Heartbleed vulnerability, until it was made public in a private sector cybersecurity report. Reports that say otherwise are wrong.

Reports that NSA or any other part of the government were aware of the so-called Heartbleed vulnerability before April 2014 are wrong. The Federal government was not aware of the recently identified vulnerability in OpenSSL until it was made public in a private sector cybersecurity report. The Federal government relies on OpenSSL to protect the privacy of users of government websites and other online services. This Administration takes seriously its responsibility to help maintain an open, interoperable, secure and reliable Internet. If the Federal government, including the intelligence community, had discovered this vulnerability prior to last week, it would have been disclosed to the community responsible for OpenSSL.”

The ODNI added that if the NSA had known of such a bug, it would have been in the interest of the Federal government to fix it: “It is in the national interest to responsibly disclose the vulnerability rather than to hold it for an investigative or intelligence purpose.”

48 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 11, 2014 3:17:03pm

Putin won’t just stop in Ukraine, he’s going for it all…

49 Varek Raith  Apr 11, 2014 3:18:27pm

re: #48 NJDhockeyfan

Putin won’t just stop in Ukraine, he’s going for it all…

[Embedded content]

Okely dokely kookarino.

50 Varek Raith  Apr 11, 2014 3:19:01pm

Sorry, Russia.
I already own the moon.

51 EPR-radar  Apr 11, 2014 3:19:32pm

re: #47 simoom

…

The ODNI added that if the NSA had known of such a bug, it would have been in the interest of the Federal government to fix it: “It is in the national interest to responsibly disclose the vulnerability rather than to hold it for an investigative or intelligence purpose.”

More of that evil logic at work. So many people just refuse to think about simple cause and effect.

52 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 11, 2014 3:21:10pm

re: #41 makeitstop

Yeah, something tells me Russia isn’t going to be letting Snowjob go anywhere.

This must just be Greenwald reaching for as much attention as he can get while in the US. If he really meant it he could have stopped by the Russian consulate with that information.

53 abolitionist  Apr 11, 2014 3:21:31pm

re: #31 abolitionist

I should mention that dead link (Lightweight Portable Security (LPS) Linux distro *might* be a good thing right now, ie, possibly vulnerable. I only posted it because the US Govt was promoting it.

54 Targetpractice  Apr 11, 2014 3:21:32pm

re: #48 NJDhockeyfan

Putin won’t just stop in Ukraine, he’s going for it all…

[Embedded content]

So long as they do not attempt a landing on Europa, they should be alright.

//

55 lawhawk  Apr 11, 2014 3:22:20pm

The NSA has exploited Heartbleed? Really? Is that something Snowden documents can confirm? Or is it something that the Dudebros wish were true because it confirms their worldview, and isn’t actually sustained by facts in evidence.

The evidence proffered is rather thin. In fact, it’s nothing.

56 Pie-onist Overlord  Apr 11, 2014 3:22:39pm

HURR HURR!!!! OF COURSE TEH NSA WILL SAY THAT!!! WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE, TEH “OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT” OR TEH GREATEST JOURNALIST OF JOURNALISM TEH WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN, WINNER OF EVERY JOURNALISM PRIZE IN TEH UNIVERSE!!!!!!!!

57 jaunte  Apr 11, 2014 3:22:42pm

re: #48 NJDhockeyfan

On moon, mistress harshes you!

58 makeitstop  Apr 11, 2014 3:23:01pm

re: #48 NJDhockeyfan

Putin won’t just stop in Ukraine, he’s going for it all…

[Embedded content]

The Arms Race bankrupted the USSR the last time. Let ‘em go ahead and spend all their money.

59 klys  Apr 11, 2014 3:23:20pm

re: #55 lawhawk

The NSA has exploited Heartbleed? Really? Is that something Snowden documents can confirm? Or is it something that the Dudebros wish were true because it confirms their worldview, and isn’t actually sustained by facts in evidence.

The evidence proffered is rather thin. In fact, it’s nothing.

However, evidence suggests that confirmation bias is alive and well.

60 goddamnedfrank  Apr 11, 2014 3:24:49pm

re: #45 klys

…I really feel that there is a point where overkill is reached for the personal consumer.

Those would be about 5 steps past that point.

Some people read Cryptonomicon thinking it was non-fiction. Security threats are real, but people should honestly assess the depth of their exposure. Any decent investment house or bank is going to underwrite most instances of fraud conceivably faced by the average person.

Now if you’re a Russian oligarch with billions tucked away around the globe then the level of paranoia probably should scale up a few notches, that’s not most people.

61 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 11, 2014 3:26:28pm

re: #58 makeitstop

The Arms Race bankrupted the USSR the last time. Let ‘em go ahead and spend all their money.

While they are there pushing rocks and dust around we should be at Mars by then.

62 goddamnedfrank  Apr 11, 2014 3:28:12pm

re: #48 NJDhockeyfan

Putin won’t just stop in Ukraine, he’s going for it all…

[Embedded content]

The Russian economy is is deep trouble. They’ve got massive structural corruption problems that are steadily eating away at their upper end growth potential. Talk is cheap, going to the moon and staying there just isn’t something they can afford to do.

63 goddamnedfrank  Apr 11, 2014 3:29:35pm

re: #61 NJDhockeyfan

While they are there pushing rocks and dust around we should be at Mars by then.

Why? What’s on Mars that benefits us sending people there?

The Moon is actually the right idea, being there has practical, pragmatic applications.

64 darthstar  Apr 11, 2014 3:29:36pm

Image: heartbleed_explanation.png

65 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 3:30:12pm

WHAT IF THERE REALLY IS NO INTERNET AND ALL OF THIS IS JUST ONE BIG NSA INFORMATION GATHERING PLOY?!?!? THINK ABOUT IT SHEEPLE!!

66 thedopefishlives  Apr 11, 2014 3:30:50pm

re: #58 makeitstop

The Arms Race bankrupted the USSR the last time. Let ‘em go ahead and spend all their money.

I feel the need to leave this here, just for posterity.

Youtube Video

67 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 3:30:59pm

Another good technical Heartbleed post from Akamai:

Heartbleed Update - the Akamai Blog

68 abolitionist  Apr 11, 2014 3:31:44pm

re: #46 Charles Johnson

FYI, I got a script busy popup by following your 1st link, and it mentioned some kind of embedded player. (No screenshot) Weird, because I’d already visited that site earlier, and there was no such popup.

69 EPR-radar  Apr 11, 2014 3:31:47pm

re: #56 Pie-onist Overlord

HURR HURR!!!! OF COURSE TEH NSA WILL SAY THAT!!! WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE, TEH “OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT” OR TEH GREATEST JOURNALIST OF JOURNALISM TEH WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN, WINNER OF EVERY JOURNALISM PRIZE IN TEH UNIVERSE!!!!!!!!

Statements from neutral or somewhat disreputable sources (i.e., official statements) that are consistent with basic logical thinking easily trump statements from sources with no credibility at all (i.e., Greenwald and the dudebro pack) that are not consistent with basic logical thinking.

70 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 3:32:08pm

re: #7 EPR-radar

There is also a plausibility argument to consider. If the US knew about this bug and wanted to exploit it for intelligence purposes, then there most likely would have been some effort to make sure US government computers weren’t compromised by this.

That effort would have been hard to hide at the time, and would still leave visible tracks today (e.g., as a hypothetical, an otherwise inexplicable directive to not update OpenSSL past a certain revision would be very interesting).

Churchill knew the Nazis were going to bomb Conventry, but to evacuate would have given away that we had Enigma. Same thing!!!

71 Targetpractice  Apr 11, 2014 3:32:23pm

re: #66 thedopefishlives

I feel the need to leave this here, just for posterity.

[Embedded content]

Yeah, the Russians really wish nobody had ever heard of that. The N1 was really the culmination of all the problems with their space program.

72 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 3:33:12pm

re: #48 NJDhockeyfan

Putin won’t just stop in Ukraine, he’s going for it all…

[Embedded content]

I’ll need a really good telescope to watch the Moon Putin colony fight the Moon Newt colony.

Does popcorn pop in space?

73 thedopefishlives  Apr 11, 2014 3:33:19pm

re: #71 Targetpractice

Yeah, the Russians really wish nobody had ever heard of that. The N1 was really the culmination of all the problems with their space program.

To be fair, the Russians did turn around and make Soyuz into an incredibly reliable space launch platform. However, they seem to be prone to delusions of grandeur.

74 Kragar  Apr 11, 2014 3:33:44pm

80,000 people protested in NC this weekend. Here’s why.

So why were nearly 100,000 people in the streets of Raleigh on Saturday? Mostly dissatisfaction with the current state government, which has left North Carolina — once a bastion of progressive policy-making from both parties — a petri dish for Tea Party political experimentation in the eyes of Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, president of the North Carolina chapter of NAACP and leader of the Forward Together Movement.

In an interview with the Washington Post on Friday, Barber said, “the governor and the legislature is trying to say we’re in the middle of a Carolina comeback. We got a team of experts, economists, professors, etc., together, and they said we’re in the middle of a Carolina setback. No way you can spin what’s happening to us.”

Earlier in the year, Gov. Pat McCrory, who was ushered into Raleigh on the same wave that brought in the new Republican state legislature, called the Moral Monday protests “unacceptable” and “unlawful demonstrations.” He added, “But lawful demonstrations we welcome. That is the great part of our democracy.”

One state senator called the weekly protests, “Moron Mondays.” It is unclear how McCrory and the state legislature will respond to the demands made on Saturday — which featured no civil disobedience — and the ongoing efforts of the group. Barber responds to the backlash by noting that Republican leaders in North Carolina have “done what no politician should ever do: they made everyone mad.”

Here is a list of the main reasons those tens of thousands of people were mad and marching — and why Barber’s breed of activism — using the Christian right’s favorite political ammunition for progressive ends — is starting to pop up in state capitals all across the South.

75 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 3:33:47pm

The thing I hate about the ‘They Would Say That!’ argument is that it’s also true that They Would Say That if what they’re saying is true.

77 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 3:35:48pm

re: #75 GeneJockey

The thing I hate about the ‘They Would Say That!’ argument is that it’s also true that They Would Say That if what they’re saying is true.

Yep.

Person A: I don’t have a drinking problem

Person B: THAT’ S WHAT A PERSON WITH A DRINKING PROBLEM WOULD SAY!

Person A may never have touched a drop in his life.

78 Targetpractice  Apr 11, 2014 3:35:55pm

re: #73 thedopefishlives

To be fair, the Russians did turn around and make Soyuz into an incredibly reliable space launch platform. However, they seem to be prone to delusions of grandeur.

I say it’s all the things that were wrong with their space program because it really was. It was overly complex, overly ambitious, and its reliability was appalling. There’s no telling the sort of tragedy that would have been visited on the unlucky bastards who were crammed into it if they’d managed a successful launch.

79 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 3:37:58pm

re: #77 b.d.

Yep.

Person A: I don’t have a drinking problem

Person B: THAT’ S WHAT A PERSON WITH A DRINKING PROBLEM WOULD SAY!

Person A may never have touched a drop in his life.

So, as my son said, “Zero net change in information.”

80 kirkspencer  Apr 11, 2014 3:38:43pm

re: #61 NJDhockeyfan

While they are there pushing rocks and dust around we should be at Mars by then.

fwiw, the ones to watch are the Chinese. They’re behind on their original schedule but haven’t quit.

And I notice nobody really seemed to notice when they soft-landed Chang’e 3 on the moon.

81 darthstar  Apr 11, 2014 3:39:37pm

re: #77 b.d.

Yep.

Person A: I don’t have a drinking problem

Person B: THAT’ S WHAT A PERSON WITH A DRINKING PROBLEM WOULD SAY!

Person A may never have touched a drop in his life.

I don’t have a drink.

That needs to be fixed.

82 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 3:39:47pm

re: #64 darthstar

Image: heartbleed_explanation.png

what was inadequate about always replying merely ‘ACK’??

83 kirkspencer  Apr 11, 2014 3:40:26pm

re: #82 dog philosopher

what was inadequate about always replying merely ‘ACK’??

error checking

84 Testy Toad T  Apr 11, 2014 3:41:21pm

re: #78 Targetpractice

I say it’s all the things that were wrong with their space program because it really was. It was overly complex, overly ambitious, and its reliability was appalling.

All that is true; on the other hand, if you wanted to go to the Moon with period Soviet rocket technology, that was what you had to do. They didn’t have the resources to, for example, pull off the F-1 (which gave us ferocious headaches for many years). When you have thirty engines on the first stage because that’s as big as they get, and that’s the amount of thrust you need, you’re going to end up with reliability and complexity problems.

It was probably about the best design possible for them. It was just an unachievable mission from the standpoint of their engineers.

85 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 3:42:43pm

re: #76 klys

I’m going to hell for laughing at this, but you can all come along with me.

Well, okay. But I get to drive.

86 EPR-radar  Apr 11, 2014 3:43:01pm

re: #80 kirkspencer

fwiw, the ones to watch are the Chinese. They’re behind on their original schedule but haven’t quit.

And I notice nobody really seemed to notice when they soft-landed Chang’e 3 on the moon.

I have to admit I’d greatly prefer that any permanent or long term presence on the moon be some kind of multi-national affair. I don’t trust the treaties against militarizing space exploration to hold that well.

87 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 3:43:03pm

re: #48 NJDhockeyfan

Russia’s deputy prime minister has called for annexing the moon

is there an american military base on the moon??

no!!! proof that soviet russian military might has kept american military bases off of our territory!

88 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 11, 2014 3:43:12pm

re: #80 kirkspencer

fwiw, the ones to watch are the Chinese. They’re behind on their original schedule but haven’t quit.

And I notice nobody really seemed to notice when they soft-landed Chang’e 3 on the moon.

They just need to steal a few more American secrets before they get there. It shouldn’t take much longer.

89 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 3:45:26pm

re: #83 kirkspencer

error checking

error checking what?

please excuse me for being a thickheaded moron, but i have yet to understand why the heartbeat mechanism operates the way it does

please somebody have pity on me and explain why it is necessary to save a string to ram and copy it back to the inquiring process

90 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 3:45:58pm

re: #81 darthstar

I don’t have a drink.

That needs to be fixed.

Sounds like a problem

91 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 3:46:35pm

re: #48 NJDhockeyfan

Putin won’t just stop in Ukraine, he’s going for it all…

[Embedded content]

Sure. Let’s hold the vote next week. Everybody then currently ON the moon gets to vote, plus anyone who’s ever been there personally.

92 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 3:47:00pm

re: #90 b.d.

Sounds like a problem

The solution to that problem is a solution.

93 klys  Apr 11, 2014 3:47:54pm

re: #92 GeneJockey

The solution to that problem is a solution.

Chemistry pun time!

I have some Fe-rocious ones.

(Ok, I admit, they might just be bad.)

94 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 3:47:58pm

re: #89 dog philosopher

error checking what?

please excuse me for being a thickheaded moron, but i have yet to understand why the heartbeat mechanism operates the way it does

please somebody have pity on me and explain why it is necessary to save a string to ram and copy it back to the inquiring process

The heartbeat function sends a periodic message to the server and the server sends it back, to make sure the connection is still open.

95 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 11, 2014 3:49:38pm
96 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 3:50:59pm

re: #94 Charles Johnson

The heartbeat function sends a periodic message to the server and the server sends it back, to make sure the connection is still open.

thank you, yes, but i have implemented many such ‘keep alive’ or ‘are you still there?’ mechanisms in the course of my career yet i never needed to have the process at the other end copy a string to its memory and then echo it back to me

i am asking what function does that part of the ‘heartbeat’ algorithm accomplish?

97 darthstar  Apr 11, 2014 3:52:00pm

re: #85 GeneJockey

Well, okay. But I get to drive.

Shotgun!

98 abolitionist  Apr 11, 2014 3:52:53pm

re: #82 dog philosopher

what was inadequate about always replying merely ‘ACK’??

Because UDP is connectionless, the ‘from’ addr field of packets can be spoofed. The heartbeat protocol thing was added to the UDP based flavor of TSL which is called DTLS. The TCP based flavor of TLS got a similar makeover, but with some differences of course. [edits]

99 klys  Apr 11, 2014 3:53:21pm

re: #97 darthstar

Shotgun!

Go for it, I’ve laid dibs on the minibar in the back.

100 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 3:54:08pm

re: #96 dog philosopher

thank you, yes, but i have implemented many such ‘keep alive’ or ‘are you still there?’ mechanisms in the course of my career yet i never needed to have the process at the other end copy a string to its memory and then echo it back to me

i am asking what function does that part of the ‘heartbeat’ algorithm accomplish?

for example, if the point was to echo back a particular string or number sent by the inquiring process - why copy it to local ram and then copy it out of ram into the reply message - why not just copy the (probably register stored, probably never cached in ram) local variable in the inquiry message into the reply message?

101 kirkspencer  Apr 11, 2014 3:54:39pm

re: #89 dog philosopher

error checking what?

please excuse me for being a thickheaded moron, but i have yet to understand why the heartbeat mechanism operates the way it does

please somebody have pity on me and explain why it is necessary to save a string to ram and copy it back to the inquiring process

If you’ll forgive clumsy analogy:

In simple it’s to ensure the other computer is ‘healthy’ (the connection is not corrupted by problems either between them or as a result of some sort of system failure). The purpose is so that when sharing large quantities of data - say, while syncing or backing up - that the data is (probably) good.

So it’s send a whole bunch of data, then “say ‘I am still here’”. If I get “I am still here” I continue shoveling. If I get “here” or “I am here” or “still here” then I stop.

That partial quote explains the problem with “ack”. REQ and ACK are tiny and can get through even in partial corruption.

Yes, there is more to it but that’s the layman’s simple.

102 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 4:01:40pm

re: #99 klys

Go for it, I’ve laid dibs on the minibar in the back.

The way I drive, you won’t want to eat anything too heavy.

103 Justanotherhuman  Apr 11, 2014 4:05:04pm

There appears to be a lot of this attitude going around. “My stance is that I did nothing ‘morally wrong.’”

Maybe not, but your ethics stink.

Whitehat hacker goes too far, gets raided by FBI, tells all
Hacker exposed client’s data to teach a lesson, was “tired of being ignored.”

arstechnica.com

104 lawhawk  Apr 11, 2014 4:07:58pm

Ohh… just got a Rassmussen Reports polling. Economy questions, Heartbleed related and internet security questions. Interesting.

105 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 4:07:59pm

re: #103 Justanotherhuman

There appears to be a lot of this attitude going around. “My stance is that I did nothing ‘morally wrong.’”

Maybe not, but your ethics stink.

Whitehat hacker goes too far, gets raided by FBI, tells all
Hacker exposed client’s data to teach a lesson, was “tired of being ignored.”

arstechnica.com

That sounds more like a marriage gone bad than a business relationship.

106 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 4:08:41pm

re: #104 lawhawk

Ohh… just got a Rassmussen Reports polling. Economy questions, Heartbleed related and internet security questions. Interesting.

I wonder how they weighted your responses?

107 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 4:09:45pm

re: #101 kirkspencer

If you’ll forgive clumsy analogy:

In simple it’s to ensure the other computer is ‘healthy’ (the connection is not corrupted by problems either between them or as a result of some sort of system failure). The purpose is so that when sharing large quantities of data - say, while syncing or backing up - that the data is (probably) good.

So it’s send a whole bunch of data, then “say ‘I am still here’”. If I get “I am still here” I continue shoveling. If I get “here” or “I am here” or “still here” then I stop.

That partial quote explains the problem with “ack”. REQ and ACK are tiny and can get through even in partial corruption.

Yes, there is more to it but that’s the layman’s simple.

re: #98 abolitionist

Because UDP is connectionless, the ‘from’ addr field of packets can be spoofed. The heartbeat protocol thing was added to both TSL and DTLS, altho in not quite the same way.

which one of these two explanations?

108 lawhawk  Apr 11, 2014 4:11:17pm

re: #106 GeneJockey

Don’t know how things will be weighted, but the more relevant issue is how the questions are phrased. Phrasing the questions makes the difference. It’s all computerized, so there’s no human interaction. Press the number, and the next question is pulled up.

They asked whether your personal economic situation is getting better or worse or staying the same. Is the national economy getting worse or better, etc.

109 NJDhockeyfan  Apr 11, 2014 4:11:25pm
110 Romantic Heretic  Apr 11, 2014 4:13:32pm

re: #42 palomino

Well, then, we’d better go to war. Give McCain, Graham, Kristol and Krauthammer what they live for a spot on the front lines.

FTFY.

111 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 4:15:37pm

it’s just that, obviously, any algorithm that involves copying a portion of ram to an outside process, no matter how securely implemented, raises a red flag in my mind and makes me ask ‘isn’t there some way that the desired functionality can be implemented without copying out a portion of working memory?’

let’s say, for example, that the echo string is stored on disk. a disk read is of course way way slower, and subject to its own hacking, but a file on disk has a separate size checking routine that applies to any file and is reliably managed by the disk file code

112 Stanley Sea  Apr 11, 2014 4:17:28pm

re: #38 jaunte

In other press news:

[Embedded content]

Hmmmmmmmm.

113 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 4:21:25pm

re: #101 kirkspencer

If you’ll forgive clumsy analogy:

In simple it’s to ensure the other computer is ‘healthy’ (the connection is not corrupted by problems either between them or as a result of some sort of system failure). The purpose is so that when sharing large quantities of data - say, while syncing or backing up - that the data is (probably) good.

So it’s send a whole bunch of data, then “say ‘I am still here’”. If I get “I am still here” I continue shoveling. If I get “here” or “I am here” or “still here” then I stop.

That partial quote explains the problem with “ack”. REQ and ACK are tiny and can get through even in partial corruption.

Yes, there is more to it but that’s the layman’s simple.

hmm how about parity bits?

114 Stanley Sea  Apr 11, 2014 4:22:40pm

They’re coming to get my couch hee hee they’re coming to get my couch hoo ha

Sorry!

115 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 4:26:07pm

re: #114 Stanley Sea

They’re coming to get my couch hee hee they’re coming to get my couch hoo ha

Sorry!

Sounds like you needed to spend more time on it.
////

116 Skip Intro  Apr 11, 2014 4:27:28pm

Meanwhile, ex-Chief Kessler shares a report from his Georgia operative Gen. Christopher Hill CSF GA III%, deep in the wingnutosphere.

* * * ALL HANDS ALERT * * *

The situation in Nevada is escalating. Currently there are 15 militiamen on site. The objective is to secure the ranch and move the peaceful protesters inside the perimeter to prevent further arrests for things like impeding traffic. Currently I am unaware of any CSF GA III% members who are en route to Nevada. Each state should have names and phone numbers of any CSF GA III% en route to Nevada. The situation has changed since they would have left. I am afraid that they may have left with the idea that they were joining a peaceful, unarmed protest. This is not the current situation. Before they arrive in Nevada (if any of our members have left), I need to inform them that this may be a one way trip, to put it bluntly.
Nobody from CSF III% is to leave for Nevada.

Omitting the conflicts in the reports I am receiving, 100 to 200 militiamen will be on site within the next 24-36 hours. They are moving in with the intent securing the ranch and or repelling an assault.
Over the next 24 - 36 hours, It is quite reasonable to anticipate a stand off situation. We need to gather all of the information that we get and share in it in the Chief Kessler’s III% B.O.G. State Directory. That is the best forum to keep up with reports from all states.

While I did get a second hand request for assistance which I consider valid, I am still going to exercise due diligence and speak with the Commander of the Nevada Militia asap. I am also going to call the FBI and ask how a civil lawsuit over a lease deficiency morphs into snipers on the ridge line. Where is the arrest warrant? Where is the due process?

My orders are for each state to conduct 24 hour headcounts. PLT CMDRS post your headcount in this forum. In addition to head counts, each members is to have 5 days of rations in their ruck sack.

Post due by 2100hrs.

Ask All Patriots and Militiamen to Join Chief Kessler’s III% B.O.G. to gather and share intel.

Do not leave your team/state to fly solo to Nevada.

Pray for the situation to de-escalate.

I give these orders with an extreme amount of concern and a prayer that this situation does not lead to bloodshed. Accurate reports from the boots on the ground are a must.

Death Before Dishonor.

Gen. Christopher Hill
CSF GA III%
Commanding

117 klys  Apr 11, 2014 4:29:04pm

re: #102 GeneJockey

The way I drive, you won’t want to eat anything too heavy.

Who needs food to dilute the alcohol?

//

118 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 4:30:00pm

re: #117 klys

Who needs food to dilute the alcohol?

//

So, leave the fruit out of the Old Fashioneds next round? Sure thing, lady!

119 klys  Apr 11, 2014 4:30:51pm

re: #118 GeneJockey

So, leave the fruit out of the Old Fashioneds next round? Sure thing, lady!

Speaking of, have you been to Single Barrel in San Jose?

Mmmm, cocktails done right.

120 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 4:31:42pm

re: #119 klys

Speaking of, have you been to Single Barrel in San Jose?

Mmmm, cocktails done right.

Nah. I’m more of an Asocial drinker.

121 kirkspencer  Apr 11, 2014 4:33:44pm

re: #113 dog philosopher

hmm how about parity bits?

here’s the RFC for heartbeat.

One more try at the layman analogy, which in simple is that both abolitionist and I are right (just describing different parts of the elephant). Heartbeat is meant to ensure the secure connection remains open and valid on an unreliable connection.

If you want to read the ‘why this way’ you need to read the RFC and its referenced RFCs. And probably the discussions when the RFC was a proposed protocol. Most are linked in the RFC link already provided.

122 klys  Apr 11, 2014 4:36:10pm

re: #120 GeneJockey

Nah. I’m more of an Asocial drinker.

Worth a trip. Go early, close to opening, it’s not generally so crowded then.

We even took my parents and inlaws there, after graduation.

123 Stanley Sea  Apr 11, 2014 4:37:00pm

re: #115 GeneJockey

Sounds like you needed to spend more time on it.
////

And it’s sayonara! Many good sits but glad to see ya go!

124 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 4:38:31pm

re: #122 klys

Worth a trip. Go early, close to opening, it’s not generally so crowded then.

We even took my parents and inlaws there, after graduation.

But it’s 30 miles away! I’d need to get someone to drive me to drink!

125 abolitionist  Apr 11, 2014 4:38:34pm

re: #107 dog philosopher

which one of these two explanations?

Sorry. My initial and edited posts are not quite accurate. The heartbeat protocol extension was so that TLS could work with either TCP or UDP lower-level protocols. But since UDP is connectionless, there is no ACK. The arbitrary string exchange thing (plus maybe some extra info sent back) is not so spoofable, and was intended to be somewhat flexible as to its meaning.

126 klys  Apr 11, 2014 4:39:16pm

re: #124 GeneJockey

But it’s 30 miles away! I’d need to get someone to drive me to drink!

Your wife doesn’t do that? Or your kids?

//

127 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 4:42:32pm

re: #126 klys

Your wife doesn’t do that? Or your kids?

//

Ironically, although the kids drive me to drink, and both are old enough to drive, and one is old enough to drink, neither one seems interested in either driving or drinking.

WTF is wrong with this generation? At his age, I’d already woken up in puddles of vomit at least twice!

128 klys  Apr 11, 2014 4:44:47pm

re: #127 GeneJockey

Ironically, although the kids drive me to drink, and both are old enough to drive, and one is old enough to drink, neither one seems interested in either driving or drinking.

WTF is wrong with this generation? At his age, I’d already woken up in puddles of vomit at least twice!

I hated driving when I moved to CA. Now I tolerate it.

We’re lucky, Single Barrel is close enough to light rail that we can walk it. Solves tossing a coin to figure out who’s driving.

129 Testy Toad T  Apr 11, 2014 4:47:41pm

re: #116 Skip Intro

Meanwhile, ex-Chief Kessler shares a report from his Georgia operative Gen. Christopher Hill CSF GA III%, deep in the wingnutosphere.

I’m certainly concerned about the possibility of harm coming to any LEOs, but otherwise: Lol.

130 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 4:48:57pm

re: #129 Testy Toad T

I’m certainly concerned about the possibility of harm coming to any LEOs, but otherwise: Lol.

Yeah. The crazy is strong in that one.

131 klys  Apr 11, 2014 4:49:25pm

re: #129 Testy Toad T

I’m certainly concerned about the possibility of harm coming to any LEOs, but otherwise: Lol.

I think the part that got me was that the FBI’s actions were entirely out of line! Because, ummm, lots of armed militia folks showing up to prevent officers from carrying out a court order isn’t going to provoke a response like that?

132 Testy Toad T  Apr 11, 2014 4:53:59pm

re: #131 klys

I just want to listen to that call.

Hello, FBI? Hello, this is the [moarwingnut]Commander of the Nevada Militia[moarwingnut]. Hello, I need to speak to the agent in charge of bumfuck southeastern Nevada about where he positions his men. Where is the warrant for, um, having men stand on ridges? Where is the due process of law for, um, law enforcement officers carrying firearms?

…Yes, I will hold.
…
…
…

133 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 4:55:55pm

re: #131 klys

I think the part that got me was that the FBI’s actions were entirely out of line! Because, ummm, lots of armed militia folks showing up to prevent officers from carrying out a court order isn’t going to provoke a response like that?

Hold on - I had not paid attention to this. Lemme see if I got this right - he’s grazing his cattle on FEDERAL LAND, and NOT PAYING FOR IT, and the fuckheads are calling him a hero for this? He is essentially stealing from the rest of us. How is he any different from the imagined Welfare Queens?

I mean, apart from complexion and gender.

134 klys  Apr 11, 2014 4:57:17pm

re: #133 GeneJockey

Hold on - I had not paid attention to this. Lemme see if I got this right - he’s grazing his cattle on FEDERAL LAND, and NOT PAYING FOR IT, and the fuckheads are calling him a hero for this? He is essentially stealing from the rest of us. How is he any different from the imagined Welfare Queens?

I mean, apart from complexion and gender.

STATES RIGHTS, etc., etc.

Really, I got nothing. Except a hope that no LEO are hurt during this, and a growing pessimism that that’s less likely.

135 Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 11, 2014 5:00:24pm

re: #133 GeneJockey

Hold on - I had not paid attention to this. Lemme see if I got this right - he’s grazing his cattle on FEDERAL LAND, and NOT PAYING FOR IT, and the fuckheads are calling him a hero for this? He is essentially stealing from the rest of us. How is he any different from the imagined Welfare Queens?

I mean, apart from complexion and gender.

There’s a page about this.
littlegreenfootballs.com

136 Eventual Carrion  Apr 11, 2014 5:03:19pm

re: #65 b.d.

WHAT IF THERE REALLY IS NO INTERNET AND ALL OF THIS IS JUST ONE BIG NSA INFORMATION GATHERING PLOY?!?!? THINK ABOUT IT SHEEPLE!!

Just so they don’t mess with the pron it’s all cool.

137 wrenchwench  Apr 11, 2014 5:03:47pm

re: #116 Skip Intro

Meanwhile, ex-Chief Kessler shares a report from his Georgia operative Gen. Christopher Hill CSF GA III%, deep in the wingnutosphere.

Could that be this Christopher Hill?

Nah, he’s only a Colonel. And he’s in the Air Force, not the ‘Constitutional Security Force’.

Must be this Chris Hill.

138 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 5:07:08pm

re: #118 GeneJockey

So, leave the fruit out of the Old Fashioneds next round? Sure thing, lady!

Tyler Fitzgerald (Jim Backus): Anybody can fly plane, now here: I’ll check you out. Put your little hands on the wheel there. Now put your feet on the rudder. There. Who says this ol’ boy can’t fly this ol’ plane? Now I’m gonna make us some Old Fashioneds the old-fashioned way - the way dear old Dad used to!

Benjy Benjamin ( Buddy Hackett): What if something happens?

Tyler Fitzgerald (Jim Backus): What could happen to an Old Fashioned?

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

139 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 5:12:01pm
Tyler Fitzgerald (Jim Backus): You know what I need? I need a drink. There’s some ice and stuff back there. Why don’t you make us all some old fashioneds?

Ding Bell (Mickey Rooney): “Old Fashions”? Do you think you oughta drink while you’re flying?

Tyler Fitzgerald (Jim Backus): Well stop kidding, will ya, and make us some drinks! You just press the button back there marked “booze”. It’s the only way to fly!

140 Eventual Carrion  Apr 11, 2014 5:14:14pm

re: #72 b.d.

I’ll need a really good telescope to watch the Moon Putin colony fight the Moon Newt colony.

Does popcorn pop in space?

Yeah, but on the moon that equals escape velocity so you never get to eat it.

141 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 5:17:34pm

“Major award”……….couldn’t bother to get out of blue jeans.

142 Amory Blaine  Apr 11, 2014 5:18:36pm

His backpack looks formal.

//

143 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 5:19:50pm

re: #142 Amory Blaine

His backpack looks formal.

//

Got to cram the major prestigious award into something

//

144 Randall Gross  Apr 11, 2014 5:20:24pm

How critical an exploitable defect is depends on the total environment - so it’s not just the server, the app, or the amount of data you have to evaluate, it’s also the network, the other layers of security, the sensitivity of the data, the feasibility of real exploit when viewing the environment holistically, etc. etc. etc. In some areas this was red hot (e.g. several large companies with government contracts did a crash burn “change your password today or we will reset it for you” drill 2.5 weeks ago after patching, revoking, renewing.) Meanwhile in other places where environmental factors made exploitation nearly impossible and the data to be gained would be negligible risk it was “meh, we will fix it soon…”

145 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 5:23:04pm

re: #135 Backwoods_Sleuth

There’s a page about this.
littlegreenfootballs.com

I missed that. Had The Day From Hell yesterday - first day for my new Minion, and the day before, I get sick, as in sitting-on-the-toilet-clutching-the-wastebasket-dripping-sweat sick, though that stage passed quickly, and by Thursday morning I felt like what I vaguely remembered ‘well’ felt like.

Then there was a fairly contentious meeting which caused me to conclude that someone told the Legal department they could have their fondest wet dreams as a Document and Notebook policy, without ever asking anyone what effect this might have on their actual work. Worse, the Departmental Admin, who should have been on our side, was actually telling US that we were wrong, and it wouldn’t be inconvenient at all! LIKE SHE’D FUCKING KNOW!

The rest of the day was a blur of talking to coworkers and Minions about the new policies. meeting with my boss who is visiting from Back East, only to have him be half an hour late and break off in the middle to have a 20 minute call with HIS boss, then FINALLY got to eat lunch at about 5:30. Then went to talk to one of my coworkers who does stuff for us, checking out his preliminary results which suggested that what we had hoped to do to day might, or might not, be possible. Plus listen to him bitch about the new policy.

Finally got home at 7:00, spent 2 hours bitching to my wife who listened sympathetically, watched a little TV, went to bed to find my wife unable to sleep because SHE’D had a WORSE day. Two hours later (1:00 AM) she wound down and I fell asleep, only to have the male Greyhound start pestering us for attention at FIVE FUCKING THIRTY!!!

So, I didn’t really have time to visit Lizard Land yesterday. Miss me?

146 Kragar  Apr 11, 2014 5:23:16pm

SC proposes bill so one could claim SYG if you kill an abortionist

A Senate subcommittee in South Carolina is seeking to expand the state’s “Stand Your Ground” defense law to include protections for all children, including unborn ones, beginning from the moment of conception.

Current South Carolina law permits the use of deadly force to protect oneself or others against “imminent peril of death or great bodily injury.” According to Republican State Senators Chip Campsen and Greg Hembree, by that definition the law does not fully apply to pregnant women, since injuries that they face might not put them in “peril of death or great bodily injury,” but could put their fetuses in just such jeopardy.

Democratic State Senator Brad Hutto shared with The State his concern that any new law would be redundant, as it is already legal for a pregnant woman to respond with deadly force. He asked supporters of the measures — three are currently pending — to provide him with an example in which an unborn child’s life would be threatened when the mother’s isn’t.

147 wrenchwench  Apr 11, 2014 5:28:41pm

re: #146 Kragar

SC proposes bill so one could claim SYG if you kill an abortionist

[Embedded content]

Someone is going to use that to shoot a fat woman for having a drink.

148 Stanley Sea  Apr 11, 2014 5:29:09pm

re: #146 Kragar

SC proposes bill so one could claim SYG if you kill an abortionist

[Embedded content]

we’ve lost our fucking minds.

149 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 5:29:23pm

re: #146 Kragar

SC proposes bill so one could claim SYG if you kill an abortionist

[Embedded content]

So, can you claim SYG if you used deadly force to defend yourself from someone who was using deadly force to defend themselves from your deadly force?

150 GeneJockey  Apr 11, 2014 5:30:25pm

re: #148 Stanley Sea

we’ve lost our fucking minds.

“What you mean, “We”, white man?”

151 Killgore Trout  Apr 11, 2014 5:31:49pm

Looks like Drop Box is sticking with Condi (for now)
blog.dropbox.com

We should have been clearer that none of this is going to change with Dr. Rice’s appointment to our Board. Our commitment to your rights and your privacy is at the heart of every decision we make, and this will continue.

We’re honored to have Dr. Rice join our board — she brings an incredible amount of experience and insight into international markets and the dynamics that define them. As we continue to expand into new countries, we need that type of insight to help us reach new users and defend their rights. Dr. Rice understands our stance on these issues and fully supports our commitments to our users.

152 kirkspencer  Apr 11, 2014 5:35:16pm

re: #148 Stanley Sea

we’ve lost our fucking minds.

That begs the question of whether there was a mind to lose. Based on the evidence at hand that is by no means a certainty.

153 Kragar  Apr 11, 2014 5:37:45pm

“So why exactly did you shoot the doctor 15 times in the parking lot?”

“I HAD TO PROTECT THE BABIES!”

“The jury finds the defendant not guilty based on the SYG defense.”

Coming soon to SC.

154 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 5:37:53pm

Wow. Glenn Greenwald compares US Border agents to cockroaches.

155 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 5:39:13pm

lol, whut?

156 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 5:39:35pm
157 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 5:39:42pm

re: #26 thedopefishlives

That’s actually the point. He seriously acts like he’s trying to mind-control people into mindlessly believing everything he says.

Yeah, well it has not effect o…. ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!

158 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 5:41:18pm

I’m sorry in advance, you’ll have to excuse me, please don’t be too surprised but WHAT A DOUCHEBAG.

159 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 5:44:19pm

GG HAS to bad mouth and taunt the people who could delay and mess with him while he is here, he needs for them to do it for his credibility sake.

160 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 5:44:44pm

Every once in a while Greenwald says something that really shows what a twisted world view is going on inside his head.

161 klys  Apr 11, 2014 5:46:09pm

re: #155 b.d.

lol, whut?

[Embedded content]

I always misread that as “Pandering Daily” which honestly feels a little more accurate…

162 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 5:46:24pm
163 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce  Apr 11, 2014 5:50:01pm

re: #146 Kragar

SC proposes bill so one could claim SYG if you kill an abortionist

I guess if a pregnant woman let it slip that she planned to abort, you could get away with killing her and then hooking her up to a Frankenstein machine like Marlise Munoz. I wonder which Fox & Friends idiot will suggest this first.

164 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 5:50:40pm

re: #162 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

The US Govt. has a history of leaving people who they are scared of alone when they enter the country.

//

165 EPR-radar  Apr 11, 2014 5:51:36pm

re: #163 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

I guess if a pregnant woman let it slip that she planned to abort, you could get away with killing her and then hooking her up to a Frankenstein machine like Marlise Munoz. I wonder which Fox & Friends idiot will suggest this first.

The so-called crisis pregnancy centers could implement the basic premise of Coma.

166 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 5:56:21pm

Deleted, oops.

167 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 5:56:59pm

re: #162 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

168 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 5:57:59pm

If the government was to stop any of them I think they would detain Miranda…….just ‘cause.

169 Rev_Arthur_Belling  Apr 11, 2014 6:02:34pm

re: #6 goddamnedfrank

I’m late to the party tonight because I had shit to do today, but to answer your question: I want GG to answer when he knew Snowden was accessing government materials and was he aiding him before he began working for the NSA contractor. If so, GG has slipped out of the land of “journalist” protected by the First Amendment (admittedly a gray area on the issue of national security) and into the land of accomplice to some serious criminal activity.

170 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 6:04:59pm

re: #121 kirkspencer

re: #125 abolitionist

thanks much for the explanations, guys

looking at it from the level of desired functionality, we need a way to verify, asynchronously, that we are talking to who we were originally talking to, and that they haven’t lost their mind

actually, i think the biggest flaw in the design as implemented is this: why ever allow the customer process to specify the size of the memory being requested/copied out? the server process will know perfectly well the size of the last string sent by the customer process - there’s no reason for it to read and act on a size parameter in the ping/heartbeat request

171 Romantic Heretic  Apr 11, 2014 6:05:46pm

re: #148 Stanley Sea

we’ve lost our fucking minds.

Oh, I lost mine years ago.

Difference between me and SC legislators is that I know I’m nuts and try not to have it affect other people. They think they’re perfectly normal rather than the slavering psychotics they actually are.

172 abolitionist  Apr 11, 2014 6:08:23pm

re: #31 abolitionist

DOD has latest versions of
Lightweight Portable Security (LPS)
dated 17 March 2014. The changes log indicates
Updated OpenSSL to 1.0.0l/0.9.8
That’s an “ell” before the /.
[edit - link tweeked]

173 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 6:12:41pm

re: #171 Romantic Heretic

Oh, I lost mine years ago.

Difference between me and SC legislators is that I know I’m nuts and try not to have it affect other people. They think they’re perfectly normal rather than the slavering psychotics they actually are.

That’s because its South Carolina, which is socially the most fucked up state in the Union. Speak of the Union, I renew my contention that Sherman didn’t hammer those assholes hard enough. Columbia wasn’t sufficient; Charleston should have been made into a New World Carthage.

174 b.d.  Apr 11, 2014 6:13:25pm

The NSA denied that they were the ones who broke my lawnmower.

That is just like them

175 CuriousLurker  Apr 11, 2014 6:14:53pm

re: #173 Dark_Falcon

Hey, Dark, I think you might enjoy reading some of the material at the resource I posted in my Page today: littlegreenfootballs.com

176 Stanley Sea  Apr 11, 2014 6:15:30pm

re: #173 Dark_Falcon

That’s because its South Carolina, which is socially the most fucked up state in the Union. Speak of the Union, I renew my contention that Sherman didn’t hammer those assholes hard enough. Columbia wasn’t sufficient; Charleston should have been made into a New World Carthage.

I just went to Charleston. Pretty, crowded, tourist trap. Unless you own one of the old houses. Then you’re fine.

177 wrenchwench  Apr 11, 2014 6:15:50pm

Later, lizards.

178 darthstar  Apr 11, 2014 6:16:14pm

Okay…just stopped by to say that, when it comes to talking about the NSA, dKos is about as fucked in the head as Greenwald is. Total fucking paranoia. Somebody posted a tweet from Charles about their denial and people started acting like it was still 2004. Christ on a crutch, I hated LGF in 2004-2008…I didn’t start lurking until early 2009 when someone casually mentioned that it wasn’t as right-wing as it used to be.

Anyway, I explained that to a few people there, but to no avail. Sometimes I think liberals are their own worst enemy. (don’t quote me on that out of context…or do…I have a baseball game to get to).

179 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 6:18:29pm

re: #177 wrenchwench

Who said ye canna tune a fish?

if you can pat boone, you can pet a luma

180 Testy Toad T  Apr 11, 2014 6:20:38pm

re: #178 darthstar

Okay…just stopped by to say that, when it comes to talking about the NSA, dKos is about as fucked in the head as Greenwald is. Total fucking paranoia.

The mainpage authors are on the left-fringe side of passable on the issue. The comments and community, I assume, are completely toxic.

181 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 6:20:48pm
182 jaunte  Apr 11, 2014 6:21:17pm
183 goddamnedfrank  Apr 11, 2014 6:21:57pm

re: #169 Rev_Arthur_Belling

I’m late to the party tonight because I had shit to do today, but to answer your question: I want GG to answer when he knew Snowden was accessing government materials and was he aiding him before he began working for the NSA contractor. If so, GG has slipped out of the land of “journalist” protected by the First Amendment (admittedly a gray area on the issue of national security) and into the land of accomplice to some serious criminal activity.

Yes, I understand that you want that. What I haven’t seen so far is a compelling argument for what trying to force him to say “when he knew” actually gains us as a nation?

Like you said, at best it’s a gray area. I’m dubious in the extreme that Greenwald is just going to admit to criminal collusion or of being any kind of significant co-conspirator to Snowden’s actions before the fact. Let’s say Snowden told him explicitly what he was going to do, did Greenwald have some kind of enforceable legal obligation to inform the authorities? His profession isn’t licensed like psychologists are, so he’d just be another guy with suspicions about some dude he hadn’t even met face to face with yet.

No, hounding him would only serve to give substance to his otherwise bullshit argument that the United States government unfairly violates the civil rights of journalists and restricts the freedom of the press. It’s basically the most counter-productive move imaginable in this situation.

184 klys  Apr 11, 2014 6:23:31pm

Dinner tonight: I am roasting quartered baby potatoes tossed with garlic and herbs, and adding some chopped ham steak towards the end of the cooking process. The whole thing will be served with a side of steamed veggies (from one of the steamable bags, because I am lazy) and topped with some shredded cheddar cheese.

185 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce  Apr 11, 2014 6:24:43pm

re: #184 klys

Dinner tonight: I am roasting quartered baby potatoes

You monster.

186 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 6:25:27pm

re: #178 darthstar

Some of Greenwald’s fans are doing that good ol’ character assassination thing, bringing up LGF’s past reputation and ignoring everything I’ve been doing for years. I take it as a sign that I’m getting under their skin, which is a good thing.

187 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 6:25:48pm

Uh oh.

188 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 6:27:25pm

That’s very bad news, folks.

189 Testy Toad T  Apr 11, 2014 6:29:00pm

re: #188 Charles Johnson

It certainly is, buttttttt… wouldn’t we expect to have seen heightened levels of nefariousness and identity theft and industrial espionage etc etc etc over the last few years if people had been actively exploiting this?

190 goddamnedfrank  Apr 11, 2014 6:29:18pm

re: #188 Charles Johnson

That’s very bad news, folks.

You were right about 1Password though. That really is a great app. Now I have unique, ridiculously difficult passwords for every site and service I use on the internet and don’t have to remember any of them.

191 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 6:30:16pm

Presenting the Tracking Point AR series of rifles

It costs $10K, but with it anyone can shoot like a marksman.

192 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 6:31:22pm

re: #175 CuriousLurker

Hey, Dark, I think you might enjoy reading some of the material at the resource I posted in my Page today: littlegreenfootballs.com

Thank you for that.

193 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 6:31:57pm

re: #190 goddamnedfrank

You were right about 1Password though. That really is a great app. Now I have unique, ridiculously difficult passwords for every site and service I use on the internet and don’t have to remember any of them.

It’s a must-have app.

194 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 6:32:39pm

I double-checked the Heartbleed Challenge page, and yup:

cloudflarechallenge.com

195 Charles Johnson  Apr 11, 2014 6:36:56pm

The challenge was cracked in about 3 hours. This could potentially mean that millions of servers more than first thought would need to get their primary private keys revoked and reissued.

You might see the Internet get weird for the next week or two.

196 goddamnedfrank  Apr 11, 2014 6:37:18pm

re: #191 Dark_Falcon

Presenting the Tracking Point AR series of rifles

It costs $10K, but with it anyone can shoot like a marksman.

So any asshole with $10K can purchase an ideal assassination tool that requires no real skill to use. That’s fantastic.

Why exactly should this be on the civilian market?

197 Belafon  Apr 11, 2014 6:41:16pm

re: #196 goddamnedfrank

I’m pretty sure James Madison talked about computer aided ballistics when he wrote the Bill of Rights.

198 abolitionist  Apr 11, 2014 6:42:37pm

re: #195 Charles Johnson

[snip]
You might see the Internet get weird for the next week or two.

I saw it get weird in November, when ShieldsUp was indicating over 700 open ports (of 1056 scanned) for my public IP-address, shortly before Thanksgiving.

199 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 6:43:25pm

re: #195 Charles Johnson

The challenge was cracked in about 3 hours. This could potentially mean that millions of servers more than first thought would need to get their primary private keys revoked and reissued.

You might see the Internet get weird for the next week or two.

and this is a known bug

somebody once told me “from a mathematician’s point of view, the number of known bugs is finite, but the number of unknown bugs is infinite”

200 klys  Apr 11, 2014 6:44:21pm

re: #199 dog philosopher

and this is a known bug

somebody once told me “from a mathematician’s point of view, the number of known bugs is finite, but the number of unknown bugs is infinite”

Mathematicians are also fucking nuts. They like proofs.

/shudder

201 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 6:47:08pm

re: #200 klys

Mathematicians are also fucking nuts. They like proofs.

/shudder

to my mind, proofs are wonderful and elegant and show that mathematics requires creativity and inspiration

i hate them

202 klys  Apr 11, 2014 6:48:04pm

re: #201 dog philosopher

to my mind, proofs are wonderful and elegant and show that mathematics requires creativity and inspiration

i hate them

This quarter sees the return of the proofs, hidden under the guise that this is the key to understanding algorithms.

I just want to convince someone that they should hire me to write code and develop software despite the fact that none of my degrees are in that field.

203 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 6:49:15pm

re: #196 goddamnedfrank

So any asshole with $10K can purchase an ideal assassination tool that requires no real skill to use. That’s fantastic.

Why exactly should this be on the civilian market?

It’s not ideal actually, if only because they are expensive enough to be rare and fairly easy to trace. And Tracking Point follows the rules and more: They run the NICS screening and further won’t sell if they think something’s fishy.

As to why it is available for civilian sale, it is because its accuracy enhancements violate no laws or regulations. And since the rifle is made in the US, the ‘sporting purposes’ test does not apply ( and a good argument can be made that hyper-accuracy meets such a test due to its hunting applications). Nor are any impeding laws likely anytime in the near future. Especially as no Tracking Point weapon has been found to have been used to commit a crime.

204 William Barnett-Lewis  Apr 11, 2014 6:50:05pm

re: #191 Dark_Falcon

Presenting the Tracking Point AR series of rifles

It costs $10K, but with it anyone can shoot like a marksman.

I’ll stick to my well used and cheap surplus revolvers, bolt actions & SKS ;)

205 goddamnedfrank  Apr 11, 2014 6:50:17pm

re: #197 Belafon

I’m pretty sure James Madison talked about computer aided ballistics when he wrote the Bill of Rights.

The only people I can remotely see having a legit use for such a gun would be hunters who have Parkinson’s disease or suchlike. And that’s a pretty niche market. At a certain point people just need to confront the fact that they can’t hunt ethically anymore, and stop.

Several states have banned computer assisted remote hunting in the last decade, because that just seems fucked up. I can’t think of a good reason why civilians need the ability to network computers with the firing mechanism of a firearms at all, whether the connection goes over the internet or a local network hardline.

206 thedopefishlives  Apr 11, 2014 6:53:00pm

re: #205 goddamnedfrank

The only people I can remotely see having a legit use for such a gun would be hunters who have Parkinson’s disease or suchlike. And that’s a pretty niche market. At a certain point people just need to confront the fact that they can’t hunt ethically anymore, and stop.

Several states have banned computer assisted remote hunting in the last decade, because that just seems fucked up. I can’t think of a good reason why civilians need the ability to network computers with the firing mechanism of a firearms at all, whether the connection goes over the internet or a local network hardline.

There’s also Skynet to consider. Good grief, people, have we learned nothing from the historical documents?!

207 dog philosopher  Apr 11, 2014 6:54:11pm

re: #202 klys

This quarter sees the return of the proofs, hidden under the guise that this is the key to understanding algorithms.

I just want to convince someone that they should hire me to write code and develop software despite the fact that none of my degrees are in that field.

online you can find videos of an entire semester of MIT’s Analysis of Algorithms course, complete with proofs for all familiar algorithms performed right in front of you by a live PHD

after watching the whole 30 hours or so i failed to understand proofs slightly less than before

208 Bear  Apr 11, 2014 6:54:50pm

re: #191 Dark_Falcon

Wonder how it handles winds especially when the wind direction and velocity varies between shooter and target?

209 klys  Apr 11, 2014 6:56:10pm

re: #207 dog philosopher

online you can find videos of an entire semester of MIT’s Analysis of Algorithms course, complete with proofs for all familiar algorithms performed right in front of you by a live PHD

after watching the whole 30 hours or so i failed to understand proofs slightly less than before

I am trying, desperately, to pretend this is going to matter.

It’s not working well.

But I have finished 3 out of 4 and that’s as far as my goal for today goes. I can work on 4 all of Monday. And Tuesday if need be. /sigh

210 Eventual Carrion  Apr 11, 2014 6:56:32pm

re: #205 goddamnedfrank

[snip]

Several states have banned computer assisted remote hunting in the last decade, because that just seems fucked up. I can’t think of a good reason why civilians need the ability to network computers with the firing mechanism of a firearms at all, whether the connection goes over the internet or a local network hardline.

i had a USB nurf rocket launcher once. Now I do my “over the cube wall” attacks with a small remote control helicopter.

211 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 6:57:04pm

re: #205 goddamnedfrank

Remote hunting is indeed a different kettle of fish.

Whenever I hear about that kind of remotely directed weapon system, I always think of the guns inside SPECTRE’s crater in You Only Live Twice:

Killgore Trout: The firepower of the automated defense system Koch Industries had installed is enough to wipe out an Occupy protest in a matter of minutes. You can watch it on TV, its the last program your rapy-stabby hippy self is likely to see.

/Kidding about Killgore.

212 jaunte  Apr 11, 2014 6:58:10pm
213 Lidane  Apr 11, 2014 6:58:37pm
214 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 6:58:55pm

re: #208 Bear

Wonder how it handles winds especially when the wind direction and velocity varies between shooter and target?

It’s computer can observe things blowing to determine changes in wind speed. As for wind shifts, those are a hazard that cannot be adjusted for. If one of those happens at just the wrong time, your shot misses.

215 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 7:01:33pm

re: #213 Lidane

Much of Ms. Palin’s campaigning has been on social media. She likes putting her views online, she says, because she thinks that she can get her message out more directly. “I’m not a big fan of the conventional—[what] I call ‘lamestream’—media because they too often filter my message,” she says. “I get to go right to the people and the millions of followers I have on my Facebook, and I get to talk to them and interact with them.” Ms. Palin has 1.05 million Twitter followers and more than 4 million Facebook-page likes.

As she starts to discuss how political correctness is part of the media’s filter, the publicist from the Sportsman Channel, who is sitting next to her, clears his throat. (When asked later if he was cuing her, he said that he wasn’t; he had a cold.) She changes gears quickly: “A show like this, which is unfiltered, is going to be very refreshing because, no! It’s not going to be politically correct,” she says. “Thank God! Because most people aren’t politically correct, and that’s relatable.”

Why didn’t she run in 2012? “Too busy,” she says quickly. “Young family, busy family, lots going on, and today there’s still a lot going on.” She prefers endorsing candidates, “finding underdogs who have a servant’s heart and have the ability and they have the willingness to serve America for the right reasons,” she says. The publicist clears his throat again, and she continues: “But the show isn’t political at all; it is about hardworking, patriotic, everyday American life that needs to be highlighted. We need more family-oriented, positive, uplifting shows to watch, and this is going to be one of them.”

216 krypto  Apr 11, 2014 7:01:54pm

I’d worry a lot more about Google than about the NSA.

The NSA has no reason to care about the kind of conversations we have with each other.

Google has a monumentally huge reason to invade our privacy for their marketing purposes.

217 Bear  Apr 11, 2014 7:02:08pm

re: #214 Dark_Falcon

Misses. And how!

218 thedopefishlives  Apr 11, 2014 7:04:25pm

re: #210 Eventual Carrion

i had a USB nurf rocket launcher once. Now I do my “over the cube wall” attacks with a small remote control helicopter.

You must work in my office. Except we don’t have cube walls; we have an open-plan office that periodically gets sprayed down with Nerf ammunition at a high rate of fire. We’re considering building a weapons rack.

219 makeitstop  Apr 11, 2014 7:07:57pm
She prefers endorsing candidates, “finding underdogs who have a servant’s heart and have the ability and they have the willingness to serve America for the right reasons,” she says.

Not gonna lie, that’s a chilling quote, right there.

220 FemNaziBitch  Apr 11, 2014 7:08:03pm

Bloomberg more interested in making money from China than in actual journalism?

Wow, that doesn’t surprise me.

It has been a beautiful day at the races, but I’m too allergied out for a night at the opera.

you?

221 Shiplord Kirel  Apr 11, 2014 7:08:55pm

Getting here late again.

Is there a Greenwald arrest/assassination/disappearance betting pool yet? I will put an old wheelbarrow and a litter of feral piglets on “never,” with the stipulation that acts by Brazilian or Russian agencies are excluded.

222 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 7:09:41pm

re: #219 makeitstop

Not gonna lie, that’s a chilling quote, right there.

How so?

223 makeitstop  Apr 11, 2014 7:12:14pm

re: #222 Dark_Falcon

How so?

I shudder to think what Palin considers ‘the right reasons.’

224 Shiplord Kirel  Apr 11, 2014 7:15:51pm

Remember this joke from a couple of years ago?

“Twenty years ago, we had Bob Hope, Johnny Cash, and Steve Jobs. Now we have no hope, no cash, and no jobs. Please don’t let anything happen to Kevin Bacon.”

Well, Kevin is okay afaik, but bacon may be going the way of hope, cash, and jobs:

Bacon prices rise after virus kills millions of baby pigs

A virus never before seen in the US has killed millions of baby pigs in less than a year, and with little known about how it spreads or how to stop it, it’s threatening pork production and pushing up prices by 10 percent or more.

Scientists think the porcine epidemic, which does not infect humans or other animals, came from China, but they don’t know how it got into the country or spread to 27 states since last May. The federal government is looking into how such viruses might spread, while the pork industry, wary of future outbreaks, has committed $1.7 million to research the disease.

225 Stanley Sea  Apr 11, 2014 7:15:57pm

re: #223 makeitstop

I shudder to think what Palin considers ‘the right reasons.’

Servant’s heart says it. Theocracy. But actually I think that’s just her schtick. She gets the fear that it’s not working (-$$$) she’ll switch.

226 thedopefishlives  Apr 11, 2014 7:15:59pm

re: #221 Shiplord Kirel

Getting here late again.

Is there a Greenwald arrest/assassination/disappearance betting pool yet? I will put an old wheelbarrow and a litter of feral piglets on “never,” with the stipulation that acts by Brazilian or Russian agencies are excluded.

Why would they do anything? Especially the Russians, they love him right now.

227 The Awkward Guy  Apr 11, 2014 7:16:36pm

Longtime close friend has gone dudebro over this. It’s heartbreaking…

228 thedopefishlives  Apr 11, 2014 7:17:10pm

re: #227 The Awkward Guy

Longtime close friend has gone dudebro over this. It’s heartbreaking…

My condolences for your loss.

229 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 7:19:39pm

re: #223 makeitstop

I shudder to think what Palin considers ‘the right reasons.’

I can see why:

Ms. Palin doesn’t hesitate to criticize members of her own political party. Earlier that week, she had called Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal a “joke.” She wrote on her Facebook page, “It STILL is not proposing reining in wasteful government overspending TODAY.” Today, she says, “We should make government as irrelevant in our lives as possible.”

Ms. Palin also resents government surveillance, as she makes clear in referring to Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked documents about the agency’s collection of data, including the phone call records of millions of Americans. “Snowden isn’t the problem!” she says. “The American government spying on its own people is the problem!” She finishes her thought by saying, “The smaller the government, the bigger the people, and this show talks about big, bold, beautiful America.”

Paul Ryan proposes serious government cutbacks, but Sarah Palin just ignores it and keeps pushing for a government too small to function in the modern world.

This is why Paul Ryan will not be running for president any time soon: Being House Budget chairman he has to make the case for some categories of government spending and in doing so he draws Know-Nothing ire.

Note: You don’t have to like or agree with Paul Ryan to see that Palin’s attack on him is juvenile.

230 Rev_Arthur_Belling  Apr 11, 2014 7:27:19pm

re: #183 goddamnedfrank

We’re obviously just going to have to disagree on this idea. I have never had confidence he *would* be subpoenaed, but I still believe he should. Hell, I believe his GIGANTIC ASSHOLE EGO should actually *want* to be subpoenaed.

231 Eventual Carrion  Apr 11, 2014 7:35:04pm

re: #218 thedopefishlives

You must work in my office. Except we don’t have cube walls; we have an open-plan office that periodically gets sprayed down with Nerf ammunition at a high rate of fire. We’re considering building a weapons rack.

One guy has a semi auto nerf rifle that has a 10 round magazine. He tries to take down my chopper before I can blow all his papers off his desk. Another has a “bow” that shoots nerf arrows. He only has 3 arrows so I know I can get to his desk if I can evade his 3 shots. But he holds the last one to keep me from getting close. I only get maybe 5 minutes per charge of the chopper so he knows he can wait me out.

232 thedopefishlives  Apr 11, 2014 7:36:21pm

re: #231 Eventual Carrion

One guy has a semi auto nerf rifle that has a 10 round magazine. He tries to take down my chopper before I can blow all his papers off his desk. Another has a “bow” that shoots nerf arrows. He only has 3 arrows so I know I can get to his desk if I can evade his 3 shots. But he holds the last one to keep me from getting close. I only get maybe 5 minutes per charge of the chopper so he knows he can wait me out.

The big boss crashed a staff meeting with his Android-powered helicopter once. That was highly entertaining, watching him trying to navigate the meeting room door. He made it pretty good, though, even buzzed a few of us on the way to a smooth landing.

233 Dark_Falcon  Apr 11, 2014 7:36:56pm

re: #230 Rev_Arthur_Belling

We’re obviously just going to have to disagree on this idea. I have never had confidence he *would* be subpoenaed, but I still believe he should. Hell, I believe his GIGANTIC ASSHOLE EGO should actually *want* to be subpoenaed.

His ego is on that front somewhat checked by what remains of his sense. Facing a hostile Congressional panel can be a serious ordeal, worse than a trial in some ways since the gavel is in the hands of one of the people questioning you.

Moreover, like Lois Learner Glenn Greenwald would likely end up invoking the 5th Amendment to avoid the risk of being drawn into a perjury trap. Despite his bombast, what he has done in the course of the Snowden Affair has at times been fairly complex and as such he’d be at risk of being tripped up by repetitive questioning designed to make him misstate the facts. This would be made worse for him by the fact that, unlike Ms. Learner, Greenwald would be facing hostile Democrats as well as Republicans. Thus despite his ego, if he were subpoenaed Glenn Greenwald would likely take the 5th.

234 FemNaziBitch  Apr 11, 2014 7:38:03pm

I’m not white?

I think it really means I’m old. I didn’t recognize most of the people and shows mentioned.

235 goddamnedfrank  Apr 11, 2014 7:45:31pm

re: #208 Bear

Wonder how it handles winds especially when the wind direction and velocity varies between shooter and target?

There already are handheld ballistic computers out there that incorporate anemometers. In the past I’ve heard of of gps enabled wifi anemometers that could be placed between the shooter and the target to calculate the effect of wind shifts but can’t find it right now.

Anyway it’s allowing the computer to trip the firing mechanism of an actual firearm that seems problematic to me.

236 Bear  Apr 11, 2014 7:56:05pm

re: #235 goddamnedfrank

Kestrel is one such. However it only gives wind condition at its location, not at several locations down range. Wind can do some strange things to the bullet flight.

237 goddamnedfrank  Apr 11, 2014 7:58:34pm

re: #230 Rev_Arthur_Belling

We’re obviously just going to have to disagree on this idea. I have never had confidence he *would* be subpoenaed, but I still believe he should. Hell, I believe his GIGANTIC ASSHOLE EGO should actually *want* to be subpoenaed.

Yeah, he was born in that there briar patch.


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Once Praised, the Settlement to Help Sickened BP Oil Spill Workers Leaves Most With Nearly Nothing When a deadly explosion destroyed BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, 134 million gallons of crude erupted into the sea over the next three months — and tens of thousands of ordinary people were hired ...
Cheechako
Yesterday
Views: 72 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 0
Texas County at Center of Border Fight Is Overwhelmed by Migrant Deaths EAGLE PASS, Tex. - The undertaker lighted a cigarette and held it between his latex-gloved fingers as he stood over the bloated body bag lying in the bed of his battered pickup truck. The woman had been fished out ...
Cheechako
4 days ago
Views: 169 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 1