In today's news...

[XSI]

Re: In today's news...

Ugh...though to be honest, why is a 6 year old being allowed to play GTA anyway?

On a more lighthearted note, it reminds me of an incident I recently put in my Batch of Oddities where a kid tried to steal our Lt's scout car, saying he wanted to make a getaway like they do in GTA.

I have a better question.
Why is a 6 year old allowed near a loaded gun?

And more Syria news

The US is ready to strike Syria on Thursday.

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British parliament recalled to vote on whether to go to war with Syria...
On Thursday

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Some US politicians want a vote on it too

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And Russia comments on this stupidity with a oneliner

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West acting in Muslim world like 'monkey with grenade'

Russia seems likely to defend Syria

Rebels say Assad used phosphorous on them

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...Which Israel keeps using against Palestine with no government officials threatening any sort of intervention at all.

Edit: Also, if Syria falls, Dick Cheney and Rupert Murdoch, as well as a Rothschild will get a whole new oil field worth of profits and a 'good job!' sticker.

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Edit2: Current frontlines available here

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Edit3: Israel: Do not fight back if the US attacks you, Syria

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Also, you may be considered a terrorist already

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[Unnatural Kiwi]

Re: In today's news...

I have a better question.
Why is a 6 year old allowed near a loaded gun?

Really both questions come down to negligence on the adult's part. Hardly even a question when the answer is nearly always the same.

 

[Kusanagi]

Re: In today's news...

Also, you may be considered a terrorist already

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Can anyone read through the PDFs that page links to and see what's up? I'm trying to read through them, because I'd really like to know what the fuss is about, and if it's really a cause for alarm, or just someone taking things out of proportion, but I just don't have the time right now to read through it all. At the very least I checked out the Scribd link, but maybe it's because I'm tired or in a hurry, but I can't find any real cause for alarm. If I'm wrong, please, someone correct me.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: In today's news...

Syria is a powder-keg, and it's going to be a bad bad day for the troops on the ground. I'm seeing half-truths and partial stories on all these links compared to what I'm hearing elsewhere. All I know for certain, it's going to be an ugly day for everyone with their boots on the ground.

As for the kid. Wow... just wow. Blame on the video games before leaving firearms accessible to children. Also ignoring the ratings system once again. Parents these days... who gives a shit about your kids when you can use the tragedy's surrounding them for political gain?

 

[Rule 34]

Re: In today's news...

The last I heard is that they won't even deploy ground troops - they're just going to cruise missile their c-weapon facilities and be done with it. They specifically stated that they aren't going in to overthrow Assad.

 

[dmronny]

Re: In today's news...

@Kusanagi: It's actually a bit of old news, but to sum it up the Department of Homeland Security has a list that says these people are the sorts who would be targeted for recruitment by domestic terrorist groups. The problem is that list really only has half the people who could show up on the list. The actual list is rather amusing since it pretty much includes everyone in the country who strongly believes in some sort of rights. So basically as you said it's someone taking things out of proportion. Though I do find it somewhat alarming that our government is profiling everyone in the country but I'm not really surprised anymore so I don't care.

Or maybe my shit-bag government will butt out like pretty much everyone in the country wants them to. I highly doubt it but it's a nice thought.

 

[XSI]

Re: In today's news...

Syria is a powder-keg, and it's going to be a bad bad day for the troops on the ground. I'm seeing half-truths and partial stories on all these links compared to what I'm hearing elsewhere. All I know for certain, it's going to be an ugly day for everyone with their boots on the ground.

This, basically
It's going to be pretty horrible for everyone involved if war breaks out, and nobody seems to really know what's actually going on. As it currently stands, I've heard about 4 versions of 'the truth about Syria' by now, and more seem to arise every time I check.
Personally, I think it's not entirely as the media reports, but probably not entirely as the Assad regime says either.

Speaking of which, more Syria articles
UK parliament in action(They're having a debate+vote on Syria):

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Targets map of Syria(As the UK government sees them)

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Saudi Arabia offers Russia a deal if they back off from their protection on Syria

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Possible military strike delayed as Obama claims to have not yet decided

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Israel reports Assad did the chemical strikes

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Because we all know Israel has a great record on the whole human rights thing, having used phosphorous on Palestinians and bombed schools, so surely they'll be honest about this, right?

Syrian news agency claims the western media is escalating and warmongering, and that Syria will do everything it can to protect its citizens

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Clearly this site/news agency disagrees with the western media

Russia sends warships to the Mediteranean

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And there are rumours that I can not seem to confirm about the US senate getting briefed on the whole Syria thing and probably going to have a debate of some kind, but I can't find links.

Edit: Apparently, US officials in the inteligence branches are speaking out, it's entirely unsure who actually used the chemical weapons, regime or rebels.

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Aside from that, they're not sure if even if the Assad regime used the chemical weapons, whether it was ordered or a rogue officer doing what they saw as the easiest way to win.

 

[dmronny]

Re: In today's news...

More like 25 versions of what's actually going on in Syria but I think we're still in agreement that none of them are telling the entire truth. A good number of them probably aren't telling any truth at all. Which is why it's so hard for me to even remotely think we should get involved in any way, shape, or form.

I love how a large number of the targets on the interactive map are around Tartus. Probably not a good idea to bomb anywhere remotely near the only international Russian military base. Especially since they're sending more warships to the region including sub killers.

The western media is escalating and war mongering, it is what they do best after all. Of course the Syrian and Russian news is also escalating and war mongering too. Which of course leads back to not trusting any news at the moment.

And yes I did hear that the US congress is supposed to be getting briefed on the situation soon but alas I have no links either.

 

[Sinfulwolf]

Re: In today's news...

The other thing that frightens me about Syria is Russia's interest. It feels like the Cold War again, with superpowers punching at each other through third party battlefields. And with all the rising tension up here in the north between us and Russia, just frightens me is all.

 

[XSI]

Re: In today's news...

The UK voted NO on Syrian action

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285 to 272

Edit for some more Syria
Locals claim Saudis supplied rebels with chemical weapons. The specific rebel group supplied with these was linked to Al-Qaeda

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Local rebels complain that they were not told the weapons were chemical

More than a dozen rebels interviewed reported that their salaries came from the Saudi government.

 

[XSI]

Re: In today's news...

What's this? Something positive for a change?

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BDSM linked to better mental health
If you're into 'kinky' stuff, you're more likely to be mentally healthy and sane

Of course, this new study was based entirely on surveys on the internet, so how scientific it is may be questionable

 

[Rule 34]

Re: In today's news...

Microsoft bought Nokia's mobile phone branch. On the surface, this just means that they can now build their own Windows phones (which nobody cares about).

But it goes deeper than that. Because now, Microsoft has access to the most durable material in existence - the molecule that makes up Chuck Norris's jaw.

Spoiler

 

[XSI]

Re: In today's news...

More Syria

Israel, with its usual intelligent decision making, decides now was a good time to do some missile launch tests near Syria

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And those chemical weapons Assad was supposed to have? Britain was going to sell materials for it to them.

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The weapons in question are...Fluoride!
(Yes, fluoride is a chemical weapon base material and on its own very toxic)
Coincidentally, this means any nation with fluoride in their water system(Ignoring for a moment that it's insane to do that in the first place) could have its citizens tested for chemical warfare and have the tests return positive just like the Syrians that were tested

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As the tests used can not figure out the difference between the base fluoride and sarin gas(Which is made from fluoride)

And in Britain,

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UK Police investigates a series of Islamophobic hate crime attacks sent to several mosques and Muslim organizations in the British capital.

The 'attacks' in question were DVDs send to the muslims, including porn and cartoons, as well as news on muslim extremists.

Dick move, but that's in no way an attack. Maybe harassment if they keep doing it though

 

[Obsidious]

Re: In today's news...

The weapons in question are...Fluoride!
(Yes, fluoride is a chemical weapon base material and on its own very toxic)

Without wanting to go into further detail, I do want to say that you can't generalize like that. The fluoride ion (F-) itself is not that reactive in comparison to when it is connected to certain other particles, resulting in a bond that is easily split - as is the case with sarin gas (F-P - bond) or hydrofluoric acid (H-F) for instance. If this kind of bond is split, what effectively reacts is really more a fluorine atom rather than an ion, and that's an entirely different thing.

So the telegraph is really oversimplifying things, in my opinion.

 

[XSI]

Re: In today's news...

Yeah, there are fluoride compounds that are (Mostly) safe, and those that are unsafe. But the point was mostly that it's used to make sarin gas, and the tests could not distinguish whether it was plain old fluoride, or sarin gas. Kind of a bad test to use as proof

And on Syria

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US senator calls out Obama on delaying Syria action until it would distract from other failing policies and events being discussed, such as the NSA spying, Benghazi incident, Obamacare failing(apparently), and important coming votes that may not go as Obama wants.

In short, opposing politicians claim it was a politics-based decision whether or not to intervene in Syria rather than a humanitarian one

 

[Newbie]

Re: In today's news...

In short, opposing politicians claim it was a politics-based decision whether or not to intervene in Syria rather than a humanitarian one

First: Yes, obviously. As a politician, many of his decisions at every level are bound to be dictated by politics. There are entire style guides dedicated to how politicians dress themselves. This is a stupid argument.

That being said, this is a no-win politically. If he went all in, he's a war monger and probably a hypocrite for all the shit he talked about Bush in '08. He waited, so it'll be attributed to politics or weak leadership, and the fact that the deliberations were public means he's also a poor military leader as well because by the time any strike is authorized it will have been so phenomenally telegraphed as to be ineffective at best. Choosing to ask congress to pass a motion can be played as buying time or deferring responsibility. That this happens as we are pulling troops out of the middle east makes him seem inconsistent. I have yet to see a spin on this that would be effective on any but his most adamant supporters, who likely didn't need to be convinced anyway.

 

[XSI]

Re: In today's news...

More Syria, looking worse for Obama every time I check

Arab nations offerred to pay for a full scale invasion of Syria

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There are some Arabian countries that really want Assad gone

Putin: Kerry lies, and knows he lied

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“We talk with these people. We assume that they are decent. But he lies,” Putin said of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. “And he knows that he lies. That’s pathetic.”

Edit: China now supports Russia with the whole Syria thing

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And the US' largest pro-Israel lobby just happens to support invading

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As if that's any surprise - They're hoping war with Syria will mean war with Iran

And one last with a graphical warning, Syrian rebels executing kneeling soldiers

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For the non-syria news,
New kind of web found in the Amazon

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(Very little I can find on it as trying to find out more just leads to Amazon the web site and no news)

Storm on Saturn drags up water to the 'surface' (Read: Above the usual atmosphere)

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The first time water is found on a gas giant

 

[Hentaispider]

Re: In today's news...

NSA and british intelligence services have been manipulating cryptography standards and paying companies to give them backdoors:

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[XSI]

Re: In today's news...

If anyone is planning to buy Intel CPUs

Don't

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Intel CPUs opened up to find they're designed to break 2 years after sale, on purpose. This should be just after your warranty expires.
The part in question that breaks is the heatpaste, which is not a safe and durable solder as the company claimed, but a slowly calcifying paste that will cease to work over time until your CPU breaks entirely from the heat, at first just slowing down until at one point it will not work at all.

If you plan on building a desktop, research what you put into it. If you plan to buy a pre-build desktop, ask for alternative CPUs. This sort of thing is standard practice for companies who care more about profit than delivering a good product. (So that's almost all of them, thanks capitalism!)

 

[Hentaispider]

Re: In today's news...

If anyone is planning to buy Intel CPUs

Don't

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Intel CPUs opened up to find they're designed to break 2 years after sale, on purpose. This should be just after your warranty expires.
The part in question that breaks is the heatpaste, which is not a safe and durable solder as the company claimed, but a slowly calcifying paste that will cease to work over time until your CPU breaks entirely from the heat, at first just slowing down until at one point it will not work at all.

If you plan on building a desktop, research what you put into it. If you plan to buy a pre-build desktop, ask for alternative CPUs. This sort of thing is standard practice for companies who care more about profit than delivering a good product. (So that's almost all of them, thanks capitalism!)

Sandy bridge and earlier are just fine(that's, i3, i5 and i7 2000-series). Also, you can de-lid the CPU, scrape of the thermal paste and replace it, but you lose the warranty.

Not that you should support such business practices anyway. But if you don't want to support underhanded business practices, you should've stopped buying intel CPUs a long time ago.