Open Thread 02-03-15
‘When you collect everything, you understand nothing’ – Snowden
National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden answered questions from Canadian students on Monday, telling them that mass surveillance can actually harm the ability to prevent terrorist attacks while also being detrimental to personal privacy.
Speaking at Upper Canada College in Toronto via webcam from Russia, Snowden was joined by journalist Glenn Greenwald as the pair fielded questions from high school students. When asked about mass domestic surveillance – which new reports show Canada is engaged in – Snowden argued that the practice could divert attention and resources from more focused efforts that would yield better results.
The former NSA contractor pointed to the Boston Marathon bombing that took place in 2013, saying that once it had occurred, the agency realized that it already had data on the suspects and that they had been previously flagged. Nonetheless, the NSA failed to predict, detect, or stop their plot.
“The problem with mass surveillance is when you collect everything, you understand nothing,” Snowden said.
His comments came on the heels of a new report revealing that Canada has been running a global surveillance program of its own, one that has operated in countries such as the United States, Britain, Brazil, Germany, Spain and Portugal. Codenamed “Levitation,” the program allows government agents to archive internet activity – including which files are uploaded and downloaded – as they try to uncover terrorists.
Obama Budget Plan Would 'Benefit the Worst Corporate Tax Dodgers'
'This is how the rules get rigged.'President Barack Obama on Monday announced a new proposal as part of his 2016 budget to tax the trillions in offshore profits made by U.S.-based multinational corporations, but critics say the plan leaves in place a system that "encourages companies to game the system to avoid U.S. taxes."
The proposal would impose a 19 percent tax on the future overseas earnings of U.S.-based companies, as well as a one-time 14 percent tax on the trillions in offshore profits that those companies hold right now. The Obama administration said revenues from the one-time tax will go toward fixing the country's crumbling infrastructure and filling in a projected gap in the Highway Trust Fund—which has suffered chronic shortfalls as revenues from fuel taxes remain unchanged since 1993 while construction costs continue to rise.
"President Barack Obama's decision to challenge international tax avoidance is laudable, but his execution leaves a lot to be desired," said Robert McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice. "If companies were required to pay the same tax rate on their foreign profits as their domestic income, then they should owe 35 percent on their accumulated foreign profits, rather than the 14 percent that President Obama is proposing under his new transition tax."
"Such a low tax rate would disproportionately benefit the worst corporate tax dodgers and leave billions in tax revenue on the table that could be used to make critical public investments," McIntyre said.
Catherine Russell - Put Me Down Easy
Catherine Russell - My Man's An Undertaker
Catherine Russell - Just In Time
Comments
Some questions and some meta...
dkmich asked a couple of questions last night in The New Members diary so I thought I'd answer them here so everyone would see them.
1. Can we email folks or even just you?
Answer - I currently have the ability for everyone to view everyone else's email address disabled as I wasn't sure if folks would be cool with it. What do you folks think, should I enable it, only authenticated members would be able to view them.
2. In a comment, can the poster's name be darker/bolder/bigger ? It is faint and tiny.
Thanks.
Answer - dk, do you mean the username in the upper right hand corner of every comment, because on a regular computer the font size is the same as the rest of the text and is blue colored because it's a link. Is that the "poster's" name you're talking about?
Some meta:
Some may have noted a new feature beneath the diary text editor section, it's a scheduler for posting diaries at what ever date and time is entered in the field. What does the membership think of this feature, should we keep it?
Yesterday i spent all morning troubleshooting why the images/videos wont display when tweets are embedded. I tried everything I could to no avail, I'll keep at it but I'm not optimistic. I noticed the images/videos don't display at DKos also. I've read where twitter recently changed their video hosting policy, I'm not sure if that's the problem or not. Tweets embed just fine here, the problem is images and video associated with the tweets don't display.
I'm still trying to add an extra "New Comment" button at the bottom of every comment page but haven't found the solution yet. Something that sounds so simple is so hard, I'm finding that's common with Drupal.
I plan on getting us a "Contact the Administrator" page too so folks having problems registering and all members can contact the administration team.
I know I'm leaving out some things so if I think of them later I'll post in another comment.
Do you the members have any questions or requests for new features, ask here please, Heh! I guess this is an AMA (Ask Me Anything)!
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 09:14 — JtC
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 09:14 — Can'tStopTheSignal
It's the little name after the time on the top right side of each comment published.
The subject is flush left and much, much bigger and darker. It's well placed and easy to see and read. The date, time and name of the poster is flush left and much smaller and lighter. I think it the date and time the comment was posted is important, but less important than the name of the person who made it. don't care Even if the name came before the "day" of the week instead of after the" time" it might be of some help. On a computer with a real screen, it is fine as is. On my iPhone, reading the name requires a lot of sideways scrolling and zooming, which then has to be repeated in reverse to get the majority of the content back into the screen. Either larger/darker/more conveniently placed names in the comments would make the site more user friendly to phone users with bad eyesight. Thanks for following up.
The snip above appears in our account information. Where is this personal contact form that allows us to contact each other? I would mind using it or making my email available to members here. I do not use my personal email when I blog, surf, or register on sites that are bound to generate tons of unwanted email - like "sign this petition" or "donate $3".
AMA - lol
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Again dk,
on my computer the name is the same font size as all the other text in the comments. Are you viewing the small names only on your iPhone? Does anyone else see the smaller sized name that dk's speaking about or does it appear the same font size like my computer is showing?
You don't see it because I have it disabled because i wasn't sure if folks are OK with everyone seeing their emali addys. What say you everyone else? if you don't like that idea I can set up private messaging, that is if ya'll promise not to plot to overthrow the administrator!!!!!
I don't know.
Maybe because it is buried in the corner with the picture? Even if it is the same size, it is very hard to search out and see - for me on my phone.
Can the picture stay where it is and the date and name go under the subject like it does in the body of the diary? So in comments in would look like this
Democrats Reward Steve Israel for Incompetence Picture
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 15:57 — Tammany Tiger
Instead of this?
Democrats Reward Steve Israel for Incompetence Tue, 02/03/2015 - 15:57 — Tammany Tiger
picture
Anyway JtC, it looks like it is just me. Let's not worry about it unless other's complain or you run into a fix that reminds you of me.
Thanks JtC.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
What you're asking...
is usually no simple matter. The actual text layout of the various pages are contained in css files (cascading style sheets). I have to download the files from the server and look through several hundred lines of code to find the right entry, make appropriate edits or sometimes have to add some code that isn't present, and then upload the files back to the server and hope I made the right changes. Sometimes it's easy to find the code sometimes i have to look for hours to find it. But i promise I'll give it a try, finding the code to change the font size of the username may not be too bad but moving everything around might get a bit complicated.
Thank you for participating in my very first "Ask Me Anything" LOL
Software architecture
Customization is dicey, you need to use standard built in functions as much as possible. Customization opens up a can of worms for revision control.
Likewise, you need to maximize modularization. Less code is better.
I had a hard and fast rule with younger engineers: If you used standard code and functions, I will help you troubleshoot and fix your application. If you used a custom load or rolled your own, good luck.
Beware, customized code and OS/compiler/SW upgrades often collide.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Bet you're sorry you asked.
Seriously JtC, don't put yourself out. I Appreciate the gesture, but it isn't worth your effort. I'll live, and one day you'll stumble across something and say, eureka! That reminds me of dk.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Bet you're sorry you asked.
Seriously JtC, don't put yourself out. I Appreciate the gesture, but it isn't worth your effort. I'll live, and one day you'll stumble across something and say, eureka! That reminds me of dk.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Bet you're sorry you asked.
Seriously JtC, don't put yourself out. I Appreciate the gesture, but it isn't worth your effort. I'll live, and one day you'll stumble across something and say, eureka! That reminds me of dk.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Rotf
Either I've developed a really bad repetitive disorder or this is what it looks like when one gets impatient and hits the save button too many times.
Next request- can I have a delete button to match the edit button? Sorry folks.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
But
it makes the comment count look good...
"Never separate the life you live from the words you speak." --Paul Wellstone
JtC -> DK's dilemma -> Phone
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Opinions
Scheduler - Keep
Email addresses - I am cool with everyone here, but we all pretty much know each other. I anticipate a troll soon enough.
Tweet images and videos - using Chrome and weird at DK. They don't show the first time, but show after a page refresh.
Is there a filter for responses? I am using the brute force method to make sure I do not miss when someone has responded.
Should Patriot fans use public transportation tomorrow?
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Responses...
Scheduler--will keep.
Email address--I don't see any negative responses, we'll try it.
Tweets--Folks can always click the link to view images/video.
Comment responses--I keep an eye on the "Recent Comments" in the sidebar and scroll down the list of diaries looking for "New Comments". I'd love to make this site more responsive but I don't have Kos' budget or a team of code monkeys to knock some of those features out, but I'm trying.
Pats fans--Yes they should.
JtC
Looks like block quote off does not work. Once you turn on block quote, it just block quotes the remainder of the comment.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
?
Have you placed the forward slash before the ending blockquote?
"Never separate the life you live from the words you speak." --Paul Wellstone
Yes
Here-> The internal quote Quote>
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
That's strange
The entire comment was highlighted in the preview.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
There's no space
Between "block" and "quote". It's "blockquote" and "/blockquote".
"Never separate the life you live from the words you speak." --Paul Wellstone
Thanks
User error: Syntax
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Huh?
Nothing about what Obama does is "laudable".
Screw that. It's like Krugman yesterday saying this or that about Obama. Enough of that shit. Obama is what he is, he ain't changing. He works for
"them", simple as that. It's like the article above about Obama's budget "plan". Holes all over it. Man, it's been six years, there should be no doubts about Obama, or the state of our government.
I'm writing something about new sanctions against Venezuela and Russia, all of it based on lies. Lies that Russia is the aggressor in Ukraine, Russia I
"invaded" Ukraine, lies about the Venezuelan government and utter hypocrisy compared to the actions of the United States and Obama. Obama is telling these lies. The man is the ultimate liar and nothing he says should be believed, ever.
I hear you Al...
It didn't take long for it to sink in for me about Obama. I started reading DKos in 2003 or 2004, lurking for about 6 or 7 years before I finally joined. With the selection of Bush in 2000 I knew something terribly wrong and terribly different had happened, through Bush's 2 terms I was convinced that a bloodless Republican coup had taken control of the country and hoped upon hope that Obama was going to be different. It only took a couple of months into Obama's 1st term that I realized that it wasn't a political or military coup that had taken control, it was a corporate coup. All of the tells were there during the Bush years that it was a corporate take over but I wasn't convinced of it until Obama took office and continued the same pro-Wall Street and anti-Main Street policies as his predecessor. That was early 2009 and still couldn't bring myself to join DKos because of the prevalence of the hall monitors.
I had always admire buhdydharma's tenacity and political acumen so I followed his link from his signature to Docudharma one day where I promptly joined, it seemed like a good place to scream my opposition to what was going down. I was relieved to find there were many there that shared my take on things. I joined DD in Oct of 2009 and finally broke down and joined DKos in Aug. of 2010 after all those years of lurking. Here's a couple of my very first comments at DD right after I had joined: Here and here. I think my assessment back then has proven to be correct.
Yep, correct you were and are.
There should be no more benefit of the doubt. I still see people (not the Daily Kos partisans, they're lost) insinuate that maybe Obama wants to
do the right thing but is being held back because of politics, or what he's proposing is "laudable" but doesn't go far enough, etc.
Like I said, screw that, he is what he is, he's not changing, they're not changing, the system is not changing, until we change it.
I'd still like to know...
what was in that note for Obama that Bush left in the Presidents desk when he left office.
BHO is all talk
I will respect you in the morning ...
Loves me some middle class ...
Gaffaw!
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Those anti-Vaxxers I tell ya.
Anyone that doesn't believe what the pharmaceutical companies and our own government tells us about vaccines should be involuntarily
vaccinated with the Sheeple Cooperation Serum.
Wait, did I just say that?
What I meant is that everything is not necessarily what they seem.
Well, not just that. I mean why should we believe corporations and government on one thing or two things (climate change)
and not on others? Isn't there a possible problem in assuming the government and the corporations tell the truth on some things but not for
other things?
Well, maybe that's not what I meant either. I'm going to go get my flu shot.
No maybe not, I just read it's not effective. But that's not a vaccine.
Just Doing the Mess Around
Take your Vioxx before you have a heart attack
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
I highly recommend scheduling your heart attack
Doing so maximizes the chances of your going to a hospital that is in your insurance company's network.
Not a big thing, and...
maybe I am showing my age here, but today something posted by a friend at Facebook struck a nerve. It is a little picky thing, but here goes. I do not have children or grandchildren so I did not realize just how pervasive this is. A friend of mine from high school posted that her 17 year old grand daughter had never been taught cursive writing in school. It is not required under Common Core either. Her anecdotal story was that she had asked her grand daughter to pick up some things from the store for her and handed her a list that my friend had written out. Her grand daughter could not read it. Further, her grand daughter could not "sign" her name to a gift check either, but instead printed her name to endorse the check.
I am absolutely amazed that our education system has ceased to teach children cursive handwriting because it is "no longer needed due to the wide use of computers." Am I wrong to think that people still need to be able to easily communicate with one another manually or am I a Luddite? Perhaps this explains why I rarely receive a written thank you note from young people when I send a graduation or wedding gift. Okay, I admit to showing my age.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Ya, my sister sent my granddaughter a gift
for Christmas with a nice handwritten note in cursive. She couldn't read it, had to have us read it to her.
Just wait till all the computers and phones go boom, then these kids are going to walk around like Zombies.
They'll be walking around, "does not compute, does not compute".
My response to the FB post was this
Since I still cannot get this blockquote stuff right, I have to post my comment first. Otherwise, it seems to appear as part of the blockquote.
My comment is why are we handicapping our children in this way? Teaching them cursive is not a long or difficult ordeal and it enables them to function fully within our society. IMO, it is a great part of being culturally integrated. If I meet someone who cannot read cursive or sign his or her own name, I am probably going to erroneously label them as ignorant. What I see is a whole new generation of children who are being conditioned to become cogs in the wheels of business enterprise. This ignorance is being taught via the sin of omission IMHO.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Do they know their multiplication tables?
My college senior is iffy.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
yeah, well...it can be bad
stop me if you've heard this already...
went to the store, bought two bread rolls, $1.75 each. The young lady who put them in a bag thought for a couple of seconds. I said, "$3.50". She said "wow, you can do that? I was just going to write $1.75x2."
My kids can read cursive
... but I can't read their cursive.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
LOL
Sometimes I cannot read my own, but I CAN read the Declaration of Independence.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Can't blame common core for this
There is nothing in CCSS (Common Core State Standards) that addresses how or the format that students should use. Whether, or not, students are taught cursive wiriting is essentially a school district decision. If anything, the fact that "keyboarding" is a prefectly acceptable means of communication today probably has more to do with the decision.
CCSS includes what a student should be expected to write (a narrative essay/informational essay & what elements they should include) at each grade level. It doesn't set any expectations about how the student delivers their essay. Whether, or not, students are taught cursive writing has nothing to do with CCSS.
"Never separate the life you live from the words you speak." --Paul Wellstone
Yes, I understand
which is why I wrote that it is not required under Common Core standards. Obviously, most local education systems have determined that cursive writing is a skill that is no longer needed. I accept that "keyboarding" is an acceptable means for communication, but sometimes a person needs to learn a skill that may appear outmoded, but is still valuable in society. I see it as another coarsening of our culture. Obviously, the determination that teaching this skill is no longer important because it does not fit into the criteria that most education systems have adopted by which our kids are being educated to become cogs in our future technical economy.
Perhaps I am a Luddite, but I am a firm believer that certain skills and learning experiences which are not directly related to technical jobs and the future economy are very valuable for every child to be exposed to and learn from. To me, not teaching cursive writing is symptomatic of how we are neglecting to expose children to the arts and other programs not directly related to programming them for the future job market.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
No disagreement from me
There are many things that have been squeezed out of our classrooms that help round our students into human beings that think.
"Never separate the life you live from the words you speak." --Paul Wellstone