Interesting Scenarios Taking Root

If I had to be glad for something, it'd be that we haven't had a boring week in the news. 3 main reasons that pop out for this assessment comes from stories on Ukraine and Syria, +U.S. Soccer in the World Cup, and the recent ruling by the US Supreme Court concerning cell phone searches by the cops.

First off in Syria and Ukraine, there's a reason these two countries are lumped together, they both involve movements by the USA and Russia to try and lower tensions. In Syria, all chemical weapons have been declared accounted for and removed. This is good news, as now there's no more means of setting off more weaponry that could cause unabashedly ghastly civilian casualties. In addition, it also leaves the christened Islamic Republic of Iraq and Syria (aka Islamic Republic of Iraq and the Levant) with no WMD's to use for terrorist attacks. In addition, in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has made the indication that he's willing to work for peace. The Ukraine scenario, as it's now unfolding, has Putin making conciliatory gestures and statements to Ukraine and is calling on all pro-Russia militias to accept and abide by the recently declared cease-fire. There's a couple of reasons behind this. The first is that the USA and the EU were prepared to throw the heaviest crippling sanctions on Russia's energy sector, and upon implementation would have completely brought the Russian economy to a full standstill. Putin might have taken that into consideration, since that happens to be the majority of where Russia's gas exports go (the EU). The other reason is that more bloodshed would have killed off a major supply route for Russian gas exports, had there been continued attacks on Ukrainian gas pipelines in the east.

Another source of contentment is that +U.S. Soccer has done very well this year in the +FIFA WORLD CUP. What's not surprising is the closeness of the game yesterday between USA and Germany. The reason is simple unlike Soccer/Football pitches (fields) in Europe, which tend to be fairly flat, pitches in the Americas tend to have an incline. This is mostly from the geography of where people play the game. For the most part, Europeans are not used to playing on an incline, which is why they play fairly poorly in the Americas. USA, from being in the Americas, is not as deeply affected by this, as we're used to having a bit of an incline. The inverse is also true, where many American countries, are not as used to playing on a flat surface, which is why countries like Brazil or Argentina, won't do as well in Europe. Now on the part of USA, I think that we'll advance pretty far this time, the only troublesome nation to take on would be Argentina, who I think will make short work of Switzerland. If USA miraculously defeats Argentina, then the only tough game ahead would be the final, and seeing the way things are going in the Cup, Brazil will make it there and will meet up with whomever the other champion is. My guess is that USA will be that other one, and that will be interesting to see.

On a final note, there was a recent ruling by the US Supreme Court yesterday that has fully barred cops from searching your smartphones without a warrant. This unanimous ruling was a no-brainer, Liberal or Conservative, as these devices are practically miniature computers with SIM cards in them. To access anyone's meta-data, cops need to use the same constitutional provisions that they had for searching people's homes and other belongings, get a warrant. This at least shows, at the most basic level, that the 4th Amendment against unwarranted searches and seizures is still relevant at this present time. The ruling is 100% necessary given the previous overreach of spying on ordinary Americans by George W. Bush's administration.

Sideshows

How often is it that whenever we're trying to get anything done, there's always some curveball thrown at us? It's weird how life can be sometimes. Not that anyone should try to fight it at all.

That is, of course, if it's not done intentionally, so that someone can get an unfair advnatage. Yep, it's +Darrell Issa again. When is he ever going to learn that all of these sideshows are doing nothing but costing us time and money? Seriously, the +GOP does more to waste time until an election comes up to do everything possible to return us to the awful days of Jim Crow, than they do actually governing.

It's about time we said enough already! It's bad enough in some cases that we need Executive Action from President +Barack Obama in order to move this country forward. This is the exact opposite of what the Founding Fathers opted for. If anything these sideshows only prove one thing, the Republicans have failed us. It just sickens me to think that there's calls for investigating the spread of Sharia throughout America, and calls for Congress to investigate this. I'm also sickened by the fact that the Republicans have called for more overt measures to keep people they see unfit to vote (i.e., people of color, youth, etc.) since they believe only conservative Whites are the only ones allowed to take part in the electoral process (elderly conservative Whites). This kind of racism does nothing for us.

And about Benghazi? Come on, we all know that was a stunt intentionally done by Christian extremists to evoke a violent response from Muslims. The inhabitants of Benghazi, like those in Cairo, did what the extremists wanted them to do, mob together in large riotous crowds and storm American diplomatic installations. I would say that their actions are directly responsible for the deaths of 4 American diplomats, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. What did they think would happen? I don't get this about religious extremists, they have no sense of regard for human life when it comes to advancing their goals of imposing a very literal theocracy.

Tracy Morgan and Jimmy Mack

The whole situation with +Tracy Morgan  and James McNair (aka Jimmy Mack) is tragic and infuriatingly senseless at the same time. I'll say a large RIP to Jimmy Mack, as it was too soon for this to have happened. At the same time, I wish +Tracy Morgan a speedy recovery, and hope that he'll be able to hold on. What's so senseless is why the driver, Kevin Roper, had to be out on the road, if fatigue was getting to him, but it also speaks less to Roper's responsibility, than it does about +Walmart's. +Walmart is the chief responsible party for this, in my eyes, knowing its consistant flouting of labor laws and other safety regulations. While I'm heartened that +Walmart is taking responsibility for Roper causing the crash, I believe the police, specifically the FBI, and in some cases the National Highway Transportation Safety Board, should be looking at whether this is a common practice. If this is, then +Walmart ought to be charged with vehicular murder in the 1st degree of Jimmy Mack. Not to mention, it should be forced to suspend any and all operations in America because, it's becoming apparent in my eyes that they have absolutely no regard for public safety if they're going to be making their drivers stay on the road fatigued. This is why it's so senseless, a major American company seems to put now be putting profits above public (both labor and potential customer) safety, and this is just flat-out absurd.

Just a little note:
I do not have the facts, and this post will be revised as the facts come out. I encourage everyone not to take my words as the literal truth of the matter, and to do some independent research. I'm going to do some myself, on +Google and on Bing. I encourage all to do so, too. We need to get the facts and make our judgments off of them.

Update:
By looking on +Google, apparently it proved my point that the driver, Kevin Roper, was facing driver-fatigue from going over 24 hours without any sleep. My only concern now is whether this is a pattern on +Walmart's part, and if it is, it needs to end.

100th Post, But With A Twist.

Huh, who’d’ve thought? 100 posts on this blog. Anyway, not a time for me to gloat since there’s a more pressing message I need to deliver.

There’s a piece of malware floating around that claims to be the FBI, and intimidates computer users with the threat of arrest and prosecution for violating the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Basically 5-20 years in Federal Prison with a $100,000 fine. This is a scam as it demands a ransom payment of $100-$1,000 to free up a locked computer paid by MoneyPack or some other money-order service. Basically, it’s ransomware. But what I find troubling about this is that it comes as a form of two pieces of malicious software: Reveton & Citadel. This isn’t new as this has been going on since 2012.

Here’s a couple of links that will explain the whole story:

http://guides.yoosecurity.com/how-remove-fbi-moneypak-virus-malware-that-blocked-pc-asks-for-payment-100-dollars/

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/august/new-internet-scam/

New Bout Of Racism & Racial Discrimination Courtesy Of The South

Honestly, this again? How am I not surprised that it's coming out of the South of all places, specifically Tennessee? No, this should not raise many eyebrows at all, considering the history of some of the most violent expressions of racism coming out the South, and the mandating of Jim Crow from 1877-1964.

Anyway, this story is coming out of a cotton gin factory in Tennessee, just outside of Memphis. The company in question, Atkinson Cotton Warehouse, has a lead supervisor with a history of making racist statements and engaging in racial discrimination against black employees. I applaud both of them for recording their boss' racist commentary and using it to file charges with the +U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This is 2014 for crying out loud, not 1954! Just because the South wants nothing to do with Civil Rights legislation, and everything to do with White Supremacy, is not a reason to bring back Jim Crow and all of its violence.

Here's the video, take a look.

VA Troubles

After hearing that Gen. Rick Shinseki resigned as VA Secretary, it saddened me to think that a man of such valor would have to walk away from the post that he worked so hard to restore some sense of honesty. However, such valiant efforts went out the window, as there's still some lingering problems that predate the Obama Administration that are a lasting confirmation of the sheer incompetence of the Bush Administration (2001-9) in even provinding our nation's veterans with the very medical care that they need. It's so infuriating to think that  many administrators in the +Veterans Health Adminstration and other senior staff in that agency could be that careless about the very people they're supposed to serve, and that they ordered their subordinates to simply falsify figures to increase their ever increasing bonuses. I have to say that is the most bogus directive I've heard of. It does hearten me that President +Barack Obama is fully on this issue, and is about to try to tackle this so that it disappears permanently. Yet at the same time, Obama is ultimately responsible for this as +President Of The United States. He needs to get this out of the way and at least give our vets the benefits they've earned fighting for our freedom.