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steve2470

steve2470's Journal
steve2470's Journal
December 13, 2014

"brain-breakingly moronic displays of ignorance of how government and America works"....

I could not have said it any better, Number23.

Yes, of course, we'd all like to have single payer and many other progressive goals as of YESTERDAY. There's a few hurdles in the way, namely:

1- RACISM
2- Republican voters
3- An apathetic and ignorant voting public
4- the Supreme Court which has tilted right for too long
5- Right Wing Radio and Fox News 24/7/365
6- the Koch Brothers and all the other plutocrats
7- the large multinational corporations
8- Voting lists stripped of minorities
9- Congressional Republicans
10- Other factors I'm forgetting.

The DEFAULT for American government is for the rich and large corporations to get their way. It's been that way for years, and it's not President Obama's fault. It was that way before he was freaking born.

They can literally buy votes in Congress, whereas we peons cannot. Can President Obama use his almighty bully pulpit and make all that go away ? Only a small amount. I think he does the best he can under very shitty circumstances.

If you're not happy with how things are, go make a difference away from DU, please. All the best to everyone and Happy Holidays/Happy December.

December 12, 2014

White Prism - Patience



This. Video. Is. Rad. Just when you thought time lapses were totally over and too often utilized in nature documentaries, just when you thought Second Life was relegated to a 2005 joke, director Dan Huiting comes along to show us you can always breath new life into old tricks / virtual worlds. He teamed up with new artist, the Australian-born, Brooklyn-based White Prism, a.k.a. Johanna Cranitch, to create these stunning visuals for "Patience"—which ironically is exactly what he needed to make this happen.

"The video was shot over a week in my neighborhood of Brooklyn," explains Cranitch. "We did hyper lapse filming so it meant taking painfully long to walk a NYC block (like an hour) because everything was filmed a certain way to create the affect. Dan then drove around till all hours by himself filming the sunsets and sunrises. It was definitely a labor of love for sure."

Brooklyn and New York looks totally cartoon-ized as Cranitch rolls through the city at warp speed, seemingly hovering inches from the ground. Wish it was possible to move through life so speedily and so smoothly. Sonically, "Patience" is a clean, 80s-angled, synth-pop cut—assured and very cool. Nicely done.


http://noisey.vice.com/blog/White-prism-Patience-video-premiere
December 12, 2014

****BARACK OBAMA GROUP****** Meeting President Obama in person

THIS IS THE BOG, IT IS A SAFE HAVEN GROUP CREATED BY THE ADMINISTRATORS OF DU. IT IS A PLACE FOR THOSE WHO SUPPORT DEMOCRATS TO CELEBRATE THE 44TH POTUS, BARACK OBAMA, ALONG WITH HIS FAMILY, ACHIEVEMENTS AND POLICIES.

IT EXISTS FOR THOSE WHO SUPPORT THIS PRESIDENT AND EACH OTHER. PLEASE CHECK THE PINNED THREAD FOR THE SOP (STATEMENT OF PURPOSE) OF THIS GROUP. THIS IS NOT A FORUM.

IF YOU CANNOT RESPECT OBAMA, DEMOCRATS, THE SPIRIT AND INTENT OF THIS GROUP, OR THE MEMBERS OF THIS GROUP, PLEASE DO NOT POST HERE.

THANKS IN ADVANCE



If you would like to personally meet President Obama, please rec this thread.

If you've been OMFG LUCKY enough to have actually met him in person, even if for only a few seconds, post here please.

I'd love to meet him and have dinner with him and others. I've done those sweepstakes and lost. *sadface*
December 12, 2014

White House: Do you know who Ada Lovelace is ?

all the below is from an email from the WH.

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to visit the U.K. Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street. During a tour of the residence, we were shown a painting of an elegantly dressed woman. "Of course, you know Lady Lovelace," we were told.

Imagine our surprise to learn that we were staring at a portrait of the woman who is considered to be the world's first programmer. Our group had never heard of her.

Ada Lovelace's experience remains all too familiar: So many of the breakthrough contributions of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields continue to go untold, too often fading into obscurity.

https://soundcloud.com/whitehouse/grace-hopper-as-told-by-u-s/s-47xPT

Join us in doing something to change that: Listen to women from across the Obama administration share the untold stories of women who've inspired us.

Then add an untold history of your own, and make a commitment to share these stories in any way you can to help inspire more young women and men to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Women were central in the early teams building the foundation of modern programming. They unveiled the structure of DNA. Their work inspired new environmental movements and led to the discovery of new genes. It's past time to write their stories permanently into history, so they can stand side by side with the extraordinary men like them who have used their technical and innovation skills to bring needed solutions and discoveries to our world.

And here's what's worth noting: Telling and sharing these stories will actively help create more of them in the future.

Research shows us that a key part of inspiring more young people to pursue careers in science and technology is simply sharing the stories of role models like them in these fields who have had a significant impact on our world.

Stories like that of Rosalind Franklin, whose research was essential for revealing the structure of DNA. There's Katherine Johnson, who calculated key flight trajectories during the Space Race. The ENIAC team -- six young women "Computers" who were the first digital programmers in America. Or Navy Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, who first developed computer languages and a compiler to translate them into machine code.

If you don't know those names, it's time to learn: Take a look at our interactive audio hub -- and then listen, share, add, and commit.

You just might inspire the next Ada Lovelace.

Thanks,

Megan

Megan Smith
U.S. Chief Technology Officer
The White House
@USCTO


http://www.whitehouse.gov/women-in-stem
December 12, 2014

Montgomery County (MD) executive recounts his own police profiling incidents

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/montgomery-county-executive-recounts-his-own-police-profiling-incidents/2014/12/11/cc65aa28-80a8-11e4-81fd-8c4814dfa9d7_story.html?hpid=z4



On Nov. 3, as part of his election-eve ritual, Leggett, a Democrat who was running for a third term, placed campaign signs at about 20 polling locations. About 10:30 p.m., he said, he pulled up to the Good Hope Community Neighborhood Recreation Center, near his Burtonsville home in eastern Montgomery. He was alone — without his official security detail — and dressed casually in a sweater, jeans and baseball cap.

As he placed a sign beyond the 100-foot “no electioneering” perimeter, a Maryland-National Capital Park Police car pulled up. The community center is on county park land, patrolled by the police. Leggett said that a white officer emerged and began addressing him in what he called a loud and disrespectful tone.

“He jumps out and starts yelling at me. ‘What are you doing here? You can’t come here.’ He was screaming and yelling at the top of his voice about why I was there .?.?. in a very derogatory manner,” Leggett said.

Leggett said he did not identify himself but explained that there was an election the next day and that the officer would likely see others putting up signs. He said he also told the officer that there was no need to take such a tone.


more at link
December 12, 2014

Montgomery County (MD) executive recounts his own police profiling incidents

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/montgomery-county-executive-recounts-his-own-police-profiling-incidents/2014/12/11/cc65aa28-80a8-11e4-81fd-8c4814dfa9d7_story.html?hpid=z4

?uuid=xrVoqnmJEeSXIYCz2VooqQ

On Nov. 3, as part of his election-eve ritual, Leggett, a Democrat who was running for a third term, placed campaign signs at about 20 polling locations. About 10:30 p.m., he said, he pulled up to the Good Hope Community Neighborhood Recreation Center, near his Burtonsville home in eastern Montgomery. He was alone — without his official security detail — and dressed casually in a sweater, jeans and baseball cap.

As he placed a sign beyond the 100-foot “no electioneering” perimeter, a Maryland-National Capital Park Police car pulled up. The community center is on county park land, patrolled by the police. Leggett said that a white officer emerged and began addressing him in what he called a loud and disrespectful tone.

“He jumps out and starts yelling at me. ‘What are you doing here? You can’t come here.’ He was screaming and yelling at the top of his voice about why I was there .?.?. in a very derogatory manner,” Leggett said.

Leggett said he did not identify himself but explained that there was an election the next day and that the officer would likely see others putting up signs. He said he also told the officer that there was no need to take such a tone.


more at link
December 12, 2014

post in GD needs to be ahem, examined....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025940200#post39

santroy79 (167 posts)
39. I know people will hate this

but police shooting by race might have something to do with this government data:

A 2012 study by the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention revealed that in 2010 black youths committed six times more murders, three times more rapes, 10 times more robberies and three times more assaults than did their white counterparts.

Similar statistics were released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the “Uniform Crime Reports.” They determined, “In the year 2008, black youths, who make up 16% of the youth population, accounted for 52% of juvenile violent crime arrests, including 58% for homicide and 67% for robbery.” By contrast, the only categories where white youths surpassed blacks were in liquor law violations and driving under the influence.
December 12, 2014

Sony hack would have challenged government defences – FBI

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/dec/12/sony-hack-government-defences-fbi

The cyberattack that crippled Sony Pictures, led to theft of confidential data and leak of movies on the internet would have challenged almost any cyber security measures, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has said.

The FBI’s investigation into the attack has found that the level of sophistication of the software used by the hackers was “extremely high” and that the attacks were “organised and certainly persistent.”

“In speaking with Sony and separately, the Mandiant security provider, the malware that was used would have slipped or probably got past 90% of internet defences that are out there today in private industry and [would have] challenged even state government,” Joseph Demarest, assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division told a US Senate hearing.

While security analysts have said that preventing sophisticated and well-funded cyber criminals from breaking into a company is very hard indeed, researchers have criticised Sony Pictures for its poor data security, which allegedly saw login details stored in unencrypted spreadsheets.
December 12, 2014

Chicago Tribune!: Obama faces vile insults like no other president has

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-obama-lincoln-bin-laden-muslim-perspec-1212-jm-20141211-story.html

(yes I know it's not an official editorial)

I've been thinking lately about the persistently vituperative and insulting attacks on President Barack Obama since 2008. It is, of course, commonplace in American politics for presidents to be lambasted for their policies, their programs, their values and even their personal quirks. Sometimes the tone crosses the line.

John Adams was accused by a political opponent of "swallowing up" every "consideration of the public welfare ... in a continual grasp for power." James Madison was demeaned as "Little Jemmy" because he was short. James Buchanan, who once declared that workers should get by on a dime a day, came to be mocked as "Ten Cent Jimmy."

John Tyler, who assumed the presidency after the death of William Henry Harrison, was ridiculed as "His Accidency." Congressman Abraham Lincoln castigated President James Polk as a "completely bewildered man." Opponents of Woodrow Wilson's reinstitution of the draft in World War I accused him of "committing a sin against humanity." Critics of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal attacked him as an "un-American radical."

Richard Nixon was famously known as "Tricky Dick," and of course he was not "a crook." At the height of the Vietnam War, Lyndon Johnson was excoriated by his opponents as a "murderer" and a "war criminal."

more at link

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