Obsidian Wings

Cyber warfare article on NPR

by liberal japonicus

I'm alive. Not really following things closely, but this NPR article on how the US hacked ISIS caught my attention. There are some interesting points related to my encounters with the internet here in Korea that I'll try and discuss, but just wanted to put this up there for now.

Chimpeach!

by Ugh

Someone said something about impeachment?

My only thought is that if the House makes this solely about Ukraine then it's a huge mistake.  

(I guess my other thought is that this should have been done w/r/t W, but alas)

Bomb bomb bomb... Act of war?

by Ugh

I really don't understand Pompeo's view that somehow the attack on Saudi oil facilities is an "act of war."  Or rather, how it could possibly constitute an act of war against the United States.  Or, even if not, how it is the United States would respond to an attack on the Saudis by bombing Iran.  Really?  I suppose there might be some kind of defense agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia the obliges the US to respond; yet, don't the Saudis have their own Air Force, etc. that they can use to respond?  

It's disturbing to me that it might actually be Trump keeping his warmonger appointees from launching attacks on Iran. 

Which reminds me that W is still worse (not that it's a contest...).

Feh.

Whither the Economy -- a long overdue Open Thread

by wj

It is pretty clear that President Trump’s hopes for re-election depend enormously on having the economy be in good shape thru next fall. After all, his actual accomplishments otherwise (beyond constantly giving voice to his supporters fears) are essentially . . . nothing. (Well Putin and Kim may disagree. But getting them to successfully swing the election to him will be a challenge. Especially as Iran may be working in the other direction.)

It is increasingly clear that he knows it. And knows that the prospects are fading. He can’t, of course, admit that his policies, especially his trade policies, are to blame. Nor can he admit that the chaos and uncertainty that he revels in lead to the kind of uncertainty that causes businesses to stop investing until the future is clearer. So he’s spewing demands and putting up scapegoats, in the apparent hope that this will be enough.

The latest flurry: demanding that the Fed drop interest rates. Not just lower them, but drop them to zero. Or even go negative! https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/09/11/trump-says-boneheads-fed-should-cut-interest-rates-zero-or-even-set-negative-rates/ This at a time when unemployment is as close to zero as it gets. He combines this with denouncing the Fed governors (3 out of 5 of whom are his appointees!) as “boneheads” -- which seems likely to be counterproductive. It looks, basically, like a panic attack. But perhaps not an unwarranted one.

Just another straw in the wind….

Papers

by JanieM

From an article about the new head of the border patrol in Maine:

New border patrol chief explains why he uses #BuildTheWall and what his plans are for Maine

Jason Owens wants to increase transportation checks and the U.S. Border Patrol's visibility in Maine and takes over amid a national debate on immigration.

From the body of the article:

In Houlton, it’s not unusual for agents to know the names of the people they pass on their daily patrols or to stop and chat with residents or farmers.

“A good part of the population is law enforcement of the federal variety,” said Emily Harvey, whose husband works for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at the Houlton station. She said she frequently travels across the border to go out to dinner, get a manicure or just go for a drive.

“Your typical everyday citizen, we really don’t see (changes to immigration policy),” Harvey said. “It really doesn’t affect us. As wives of some of these guys, we’re privy to some of the stories. But as everyday people we don’t see it.”

My bold. And her bullshit. The border patrol got on my bus to Boston in May: the first time I've had that experience, although it's been going on for a while. So let me just tell Emily Harvey: ordinary people *do* see it, and some of us don't like it, and we will do everything we can to scale it back to the invisibility in everyday life that it deserves in a free society.

From another angle, the notion that as long as "everyday people...don't see it," then everything is hunky dory, is vicious. As long as the abuse goes on out of sight of "everyday people," then everything is just dandy?

I didn't sign up to live in a police state. An increasingly more visible border patrol is not what I want or what I will ever vote for or support. I am reining in a rain of curse words even as I write.

Taking bets: how long before some R politician suggests that citizens should have to carry and show papers on demand? (I wonder how many links will come up in comments letting me know that this has already happened.)

*****

Miscellaneous articles and resources:

Increasing intrusion of the border patrol into ordinary daily travel.

The Constitution in the 100-Mile Border Zone.

Know Your Rights in the 100-mile zone.

Meanwhile in the Wider World -- Open Thread

by wj

While we have (understandably) been focused on the tragedies of the past week here, interesting things have been happening in the rest of the world as well.

In Russia, there continue to be protests in spite of heavy police actions against them. A case could be made that Putin is getting progressively more rattled. And not without reason.

Meanwhile in China, protests are now into their third month. They started over a proposed extradition (or mainland China) law, since put on hold -- although not actually withdrawn. But they have morphed into more general pro-democracy protests. All this leaves Xi with a serious problem -- to the point that China's media are now referencing the "color revolutions" in Ukraine, Georgia, etc.
1) If this keeps up, people elsewhere in China may start to entertain similar ideas about the desirability of having some say in how the country is run. Which a guy who apparently wants to emulate Mao definitely doesn't want. But
2) It's increasingly clear that the Hong Kong government's law enforcement folks are not going to be able to shut the protests down. If anything, their actions seem to be motivating more protests. The only way to make it stop may be to send in the People's Liberation Army. However
3) China promised Hong Kong 50 years of autonomy, and it's barely been 20. The example of Hong Kong has been held up as a model for the reintegration of Taiwan. And sending in the PLA to crush a protest is not going to make that case very convincing.

Oh yes, and (following an early morning tweet, of course) the US Treasury has labeled China a "currency manipulator." The cause? China has STOPPED intervening in the markets to prop up their currency -- that is, they have stopped manipulating it. For which they get labeled a manipulator now. Welcome thru the looking glass. Trump has also slapped more tariffs on Chinese goods. In response to which China has terminated ALL purchases of US agricultural products. Great days to be an American farmer.

In south Asia, India has terminated Kashmir's special status and also it's status as a state. And their Internet access was totally shut off. It appears to be a move by Mr Modi to energize his followers and bring Kashmir to heal. Whether it will achieve the latter is questionable.

In a brighter note, we have a first for the Arab world: an openly gay candidate for President in Tunisia -- where gay sex is still illegal. Actually still only a potential candidate. He's filed papers with the election commission, with twice the requited number of signatures; what they will do remains to be seen. But just that much is a milestone.

No doubt there's more that I've missed, for example the latest idiocies on Brexit. But you're on your own for that. Open Thread

Names Once More

by JanieM

This thread is in memory of people who died of senseless gun violence. Anyone is welcome to add names and stories, whether from recent events or past years. Stories of the wounded are welcome as well; those people are going to have a hard road ahead.

No politics, no policy discussion please. I will remove it as soon as I see it. When and if I get time, I will copy the names and stories from the other thread into this one.

Names: grief recurring, grief never ending

by JanieM

A "disgruntled employee" killed two Walmart colleagues and wounded a responding police officer Tuesday in far northwest Mississippi, authorities said.

RIP:

Anthony Brown, of Olive Branch
Brandon Gales, of Hernando

Both men were managers at the store, family members said.

*****

The Gilroy festival victims:

Stephen Romero, 6, of San Jose
Keyla Salazar, 13, of San Jose
Trevor Irby, 25, of Romulus, N.Y.

*****

A man killed (shot twice in the back) in a petty dispute at the Walmart in Auburn, Maine, last Saturday:

Jean Fournier, 41, of Turner

*****

No names yet from El Paso.

It's August 2019, do you know where your POTUS is?

by Ugh

The latest language eruptions* from our Dear Leader have me wondering just how much more insane things will be a year from now when we are 3 months from the election.  "None more insane" you might say, and be correct except for the ensuing 90 days.

The good news doesn't stop there, as Trump has now appointed a lackey** to be DNI, which I guess may be a bridge too far for enough Senate Rs that it will result in a more reasonable choice, like the idea of nominating wackos to the Federal Reserve Board did, but I wouldn't bet on it in this case.

So all is well in America in the year of our lord 2019, ISTM.  Here, have a doughnut.

*this is inadequate language 

**similarly, lackey does not express the necessary obsequiousness, but i'm too tired to see if there is a better word.  Stooge perhaps?

Fifty Years Ago Today

by Doctor Science

I was twelve. It was the day we arrived back to our house in Illinois after a year in Dijon, France, where my father had an exchange professorship. We rode down the familiar streets, but it was almost like a dream or a Twilight Zone episode, because there was almost zero traffic. We'd been driving for almost 3 days from New York City, so we weren't really conscious of the news, and it took us a while of driving down deserted streets to remember, right, it's the day they're landing on the moon.

When we got to our house, the first thing we did was find and set up fans, but we then dug out our lousy, small black-and-white TV and of course turned on CBS. I don't remember all that many details about the broadcast or about the landing itself, just the TV on top of cardboard boxes in our living room as we unpacked the house, which another professor's family had been living in for the past year as part of the exchange. But I do remember "One small step", though I was VERY tired and I think maybe my 10-year-old brother was already asleep.

I loved the Apollo program growing up, but I'm OK with a focus away from humans toward robot-based exploration. Especially if it keeps idiots like Jeff Bezos from thinking we don't have to solve the climate change problem.

I'm following along Apollo in Real Time and it is *gripping*-- not to mention so much clearer than that little TV 50 years ago.

We had a dinner party tonight, and the people who are old enough to remember talked to the younger people about how it felt back then. We grew up seeing the Vietnam War toll growing on our TVs every night, seeing violence in the streets, assassinations and riots. What really stands out in retrospect is how great it was to see and feel part of a really large project to do something ... wonderful.

I don't know if such a project is imaginable today, and what it would look like. Maybe only space is impractical enough to be the focus of a truly wonderful, large project: anything done on Earth of similar scope (halting anthropogenic climate change, for instance) is too practical or useful to feel like something done for beauty, for love, for joy.

View from command module Columbia as the lunar module "Eagle" returned from the surface of the Moon