Thursday, October 31, 2013

Snowden May Testify on Merkel Spying



#snowden #NSA #merkel #wiretapping #obama #germany

So it looks like Edward Snowden, the 30 year old ex-analyst with the NSA who reveled NSA domestic and foreign spying may testify at a hearing concerning the Angela Merkel phone surveillance situation. I have to say, I think this is awesome.

If this actually happens Snowden will have to travel from Moscow, Russia to Berlin, Germany to be interrogated by German authorities, which could be a diplomatic hurdle all on its own.  

If brought to Germany German officials have stated that they will not cave into any pressures from the US to extradite the former NSA employee and whistle blower if he steps on German soil.

This whole wire tapping thing has caused all sorts of problems for the Obama Administration. According to the documents and other sources, it seems Obama was in fact aware that Angela Merkel was being spied on by the NSA. Of course the WH is firmly denying this allegation, saying that the president was never briefed by the NSA about Merkel phone surveillance.

However, it would seem as though the documents released by Snowden tell a different story. A story of how the US pushed ahead and wire tapped phone conversations in Germany. Not just German leaders were wire tapped mind you, but the German citizens as well.

The documents also tell a tale of how the NSA has been spying on Google and Yahoo overseas, which has led German officials to urge journalists to stop using Google and Yahoo search engines for the time being. The Germans also want the US to sign a “no spying” deal to ensure that espionage between allies is not occurring.

So to be honest, I can’t wait to see what happens. I would love to see Snowden go to Germany and testify. This all needs to be brought out into the light. Is America a great country? I would like to think so. But with all of these revelations how can we trust what our president is saying? It doesn’t matter if the president is a Democrat or not. How can we ever trust another president again when we know this stuff is happening?

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"Coach" ave Daubenmire Responds to My Email



#bullying #homosexualbullying #christians #davedaubenmire #davidpakmanshow #bible  

I seriously didn’t think it would happen, but it did. “Coach” Dave Daubenmire actually replied to the email I sent him which asked him to recount the things he said about bullying.

I posted this blog last night about a guy named Dave Daubenmire who has his own internet talk show. Yesterday I found a clip from the David Pakman Show where David talks about this “Coach” and how he thinks that not bullying homosexuals is actually anti-Christian bullying.

FROM THE VIDEO:

In fact, when someone says something that their conscience tells them to say and everyone rises up against him, then we see the majority begin to bully the minority once again. And you know what’s rapidly happening in America? We’re beginning to see Christians and Christian ideas and Christian values become the most bullied things in all of this nation.”

I wrote the blog about this man and what he said and then I went straight to Twitter, where I asked some of my followers to tell Dave Daubenmire what they all think of his ridicules statements. I myself sent a message to Mr. Daubenmire:

Dear "Coach" Dave
A clip from your show was recently brought to my attention, where you claim that the most bullied of all things in this country is Christianity. For shame, Mr. Daubenmire.

As a Christian you have churches dedicated to your beliefs all across the country. You have politicians on your side that rally congress to make law based on the god of bible. There are Christian clubs in nearly every school across the country.
Your whole idea of "the discrimination of discrimination is discrimination" is nonsense.
I'm sure you're a relatively intelligent man (I hope at least) who has a strong faith in god and walks side by side with Jesus down the beach like in that "Footsteps" poem. But what you said on your show is not what Jesus would have wanted. You claim that not allowing Christians to bully homosexual people is discrimination against Christians. But what did the bible say about bullying?

Leviticus 19:18 ESV / 1,060 helpful votes

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 598 helpful votes

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

1 John 3:15 ESV / 411 helpful votes

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

What’s even better is this verse:

Matthew 5:11 ESV / 257 helpful votes

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

The bible even says that homosexuals are blessed when you bully them. Sure, you can play the semantics game all you want Mr. Daubenmire, and claim that you yourself are blessed because people revile your revile. But if you keep that up you're not making any strides toward any sort of progress what-so-ever and you go against god's wishes.

Anyone can play the semantics game, sir. The sad part about that is that it keeps this ridicules circle jerk going for years. 

I thought it was a great message. I was trying to be as diplomatic and friendly as possible. I thought I made a pretty good point. Here is the full message Mr. Daubenmire sent back to me from his iPhone:
I m not sure the Bible says anything about bullying but it says a lot about how we treat one another.  I never said it was ok for anyone to bully anybody....I merely tried to point out that bullying gets worse the older we get and that we would do well to teach our children that truism so that they might be better prepared for life
But unfortunately that is not what Mr. Daubenmire was saying on his program. Mr. Daubenmire is trying to hide from the fact that he said not allowing Christians to bully gays is anti-Christian bullying. Mr. Daubenmire says that bullying gets worse as you get older. I have to disagree to a certain extent, but that’s just my opinion. But either way, he is trying to say that telling a Christian not to persecute a homosexual is actually persecution against the Christian. He was begging the question, “Aren’t Christians being persecuted by the homosexuals?”

I have a final thought to this. Mr. Daubenmire just isn’t a very good talk show host. Like all conservative pundits and pundit wanna-be’s he just makes crazy statements that he can’t even follow, and then gives an explanation in the attempt to distance himself from the words he actually used. “Oh no I didn’t say that Christians are bullied because tolerance for homosexuality was growing. I was saying that bullying gets worse no matter who you are and we need to prepare ourselves for it.”

The whole “discrimination of discrimination is discrimination” idea that Mr. Daubenmire talked about in the video is just a semantics game that anyone can play. And the sad thing is that these people are willing to play semantics and use cognitive dissonance to make their absurd points, and when people do that it allows this ridicules circle jerk to continue forever with seeming no end in sight.

Tell Mr. Daubenmire what you think of his statement:


Phone: (740) 323-0871

Address: “Coach” Dave Daubenmire
P.O. Box 744
Hebron, OH, 43025, USA

Predatorswatch.com UPDATE!



#Scams #predatorswatch.com  

So remember earlier this year? I didn’t either until I saw my calendar this morning. God damn time files by!  

Anyway I was going through some old files, doing some organization to get the blog up and running again and I noticed my blogs from earlier this year about predatorswatch.com.

For those who don’t know, predatorswatch.com was a scam site that would create fake personal ads on websites like craigslist.com and would take responding male’s information and post it online. The victim who was unfortunate enough to reply to these fake sex ads would receive an email explaining to them that they are on a website that lists known sexual predators and exhibits the information publicly.

In order to get the information taken off this bogus site, you had to pay the guy $99.95. The reason the owners felt this payment was necessary was listed in the FAQ section of the website. It explained that it was needed to pay the developers for their time and service to remove the information.

They were tricky bastards, because also in their FAQ they mention US law which protected them. You see, in no way can you link the people who post the fake ads to the owners of the bogus website. And the owners of the website don’t post this information themselves, they allow any Joe Shmo to post information about anyone they please, just as long as they don’t use any copyrighted photos. The US law which protects them basically says that the owner of a website cannot be held responsible for the content their users post. And since the owners posted this on their site, and everyone else but them is posting this bogus information, they cannot be held liable.

Example: I use Blogger.com to host this blog. Blogger.com is not held responsible if you are offended at the stuff I say on my blog. If I am breaking the TOS then Blogger.com can delete my profile. But other than that they can not be held liable for the crazy shit I talk about in this blog.

For extra protections, the owners even used a service called “domain privacy”. That’s where you pay a third party to pretend to be the owner of the site, when in fact they really have no affiliation with the site other than providing you with privacy. So yeah, these guys had their asses covered.

Well I checked out the website and it is gone! In fact Wiki-Warnings.com is also down! This was done because of several entities from what I hear, but I’m still not clear on who or what was behind the closing of these two sites. But who cares right?

But hey folks, watch your back out there. I’m sure this set back isn’t going to stop the owners of these sites, or any other scum bag who wants to do the same thing from doing it again.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Not Bullying Gays is Anti-Christian Bullying



So I was checking out the articles and videos on the net as I usually do, when I suddenly came across this piece. It was from a David Pakman show I found on Youtube which was posted today. It was all about a guy named “Coach” Dave Daubenmire, who said on one of his internet show that not allowing Christians to bully homosexuals for their lifestyle is actually bullying against Christians

So I watched the video and found that yes, this man did actually say that Christians are being bullied because they are told they can’t bully homosexuals. For some insane reason (which I will chalk to religion), this man believes that Christians have a right to bully gays because their lifestyle goes against the will of god. Telling them they can’t or shouldn’t bully people for being homosexual is an attack against their religion, and therefore they are the ones who are really being bullied.

I can’t even begin go into how stupid/hateful/ignorant this is, because the idea of it is just so ridicules. It’s just another case of religious folk who claim to be bullied and tormented because people refuse to agree with their insane doctrines.

FROM THE VIDEO:

Dave Daubenmire: “But only in the last five, fifteen years has bullying become such a big issue, and folks the whole bullying idea is built around the homosexual agenda. To try to get people to (not) criticize, or make fun of, or poke fun at homosexuals, that is the whole genesis of the “no bullying”. That’s where it all came from. What is hate speech legislation? See? They say hate speech prevents bullying but it’s not, it’s just the opposite. Hate speech increases bullying! In fact, when someone says something that their conscience tells them to say, and everyone rises up against him, then we see the majority begin to bully the minority once again. And you know what’s rapidly happening in America? We’re beginning to see Christians and Christian ideas and Christian values become the most bullied things in all of this nation.”

David made a great point in his video. He said that the “Coach” is actually sympathizing with gay people in a way because he is basically saying that Christians being bullied is bad because bullying is bad, essentially saying that if it’s bad for the goose it’s bad for the gander.

I’m very sure the “Coach” doesn’t see it that way but…wait a second…what is this man a coach of, anyway?

Hey, seriously though, tell “Coach” Dave Daubenmire what you think of his statement.

“Coach” Dave Daubenmire


Phone: Tel: (740) 323-0871

Address: Coach Dave Daubenmire
P.O. Box 744
Hebron, OH, 43025, USA

SOURCES:


Back Again! What Have I Missed?


It’s been a long time, but after another long hiatus I am back!

It’s hard talking politics all day and debating over the net and in person. It can really get to a person after a while and really burn them out. So I took a break, focused on work, and silently watched as America (and the rest of the world) put on this lovely little absurd play. I laughed, I cried, I shouted, then I drank a beer and passed out. So let’s get down to it. What happened since my last post?

Government Shut Down:

Oh joy! Republicans have outdone themselves this time. They actually shut down the government because of their grievances with the Affordable Care Act.

When the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare”, was due to be enacted the Republicans went on an all out assault and tried to stop it by shutting down the government. Many Republicans were on the TV at this time talking about how this was all about stopping “Obamacare”, yet others were saying that this was less about “Obamacare” and more about the debt ceiling or both. Debt ceiling debates aside, we all know why they wanted the shut down. It was simply an effort put forth to attempt a halting of funds to, or the down right dismantling of the Affordable Care Act.

Why would Republicans do this? Were the majority of Republicans all for this? Well, no they really weren’t at first, I think. Sure, many Republicans were against the ACA, even after a SCOTUS ruling which deemed the ACA constitutional. But a minority of House Republicans (Tea Party Republicans) were able coaxed the rest of their colleagues to take it one more step off the crazy edge. And thus the government shut down was born.

What is really funny about the whole Republican manufactured shut down is how after the shut down took place the Republicans were quick to respond to critics by saying that they never wanted to shut down the government and that it was the Democrats fault the government was shut down.

But the Republicans spent weeks and months talking about how they will shut down the government unless a law they didn’t like was repealed immediately. How in the world can they turn around and say they never wanted to shut down the government?

It’s like being in a dysfunctional, abusive relationship with someone. You demand that your partner do something that they can’t or otherwise don’t want to. So to get them to comply you threaten them with the ultimatum that they either comply or get injured. When they still don’t comply you start to beat them, all the while saying, “This hurts me more than it hurts you. I never wanted this, nor am I doing it. You’re doing it to yourself and you’re the one who wanted this. If only you just did what I told you to do, you wouldn’t have brought this on.”

What is even more absurd is the Republican attitude toward the shutting down of war memorials and national monuments and parks. They seemed to be more upset that veterans could not go to war memorials than the fact that their shut down was going to cost billions of dollars for the country. I thought this was somewhat interesting though. Republicans tout themselves as being extremely patriotic, and their attitude towards the fighting men and women of our military seems very loving and highly supportive. Republicans constantly talk about supporting the troops and how we wouldn’t have freedom without them.
Memorials Closed Due to Government Shut Down

Yet, when they aren’t fighting wars Republicans don’t seem to care about them. They come home after fighting questionable wars, and all they get is a pat on the back and sent on their way. Many of the troops who come home suffer from mental disorders they received due to the traumas of war. Many of them cannot find jobs, cannot get the healthcare they not only need but deserve due to VA hospital tie ups (another debacle created by Republicans), and many even end up homeless. But Republicans don’t seem to care about the health and status of our veterans at all. They only care about buildings made of stone and mortar that were erected to honor them, not the actual fighting soldiers. If they truly cared, then why would they try to cut funding for VA hospitals?

To drive the idea that this shut down was not their fault the GOP had photos taken of Republican law makers sitting down at one side of a long conference table, the other side was vacant essentially saying, “We’re here to fix this, but Democrats don’t want to.”
GOP "Ready to Compromise"

In the end a compromise was made though, one that would raise the debt ceiling and allow “Obamacare” to continue unhindered as planned. The Republicans lost their silly battle against healthcare, and the cost of the shut down to the country was $24 billion. All because they wanted to cry about something they couldn’t dictate.

Now that they lost that battle a new battle rages on to discredit the Affordable Care Act; the failure of the ACA website. Yes, the ACA website is one hell of a cluster fuck. With all of the problems it is having it really is hard to tell if the site is just being inundated with traffic from Americans who want to sign up for healthcare, or if the site just plain sucks.

Republican attacks against the site are filled with silly talking points that make them look pettier then you could imagine. They are attacking it by criticizing the President for the cost of fixing the ACA website www.healthcare.gov, which is being reported as $634 million.

This is silly, because compared to the shut the ACA website has only cost 2.64% of the government shut down cost (if the numbers are being reported are accurate). Hmm, and they call themselves fiscally responsible when they can’t even tell that 24 billion is more than 634 million? Interesting.


NSA Spying:

Well, the cat’s out of the bag now, Mr. President! Thanks to 30 year old Edward Snowden, an EX analyst for the NSA, the entire world now knows that the United States of America has been spying not only on it’s own people, but the people and governments of other countries. How did this information get leaked? It got leaked because Edward Snowden was privy to this information and had access to sensitive documents, and he released them to The Guardian, exposing the NSA’s domestic and foreign spying efforts.

Currently, Snowden is living in Moscow, Russia after being given amnesty by Russian president, Vladimir Putin. This action by Putin was taken simply to stick a large bug up Obama’s ass, and it worked. Because of these actions Snowden is safe from American reprisal for the time being. And now the entire world knows of America’s spying, and they are not very happy about it to say the least.

German chancellor Angela Merkel is one of many world leaders that are particularly concerned about this spying revelation, especially now since we are discovering that the USA was spying on her cell phone conversations and what’s more sources say Obama knew about it.

Merkel has been in the news a lot recently because she is asking the President if these allegations are true. The White House of course has taken a firm stance on these accusations, and the NSA itself is denying that they ever briefed President Obama on Angela Merkel phone surveillance.
Angela Merkel and Barack Obama

First off come on, man. Obama had to have known about it, I’m sure he did allow it, and now I’m sure he is lying about it. I mean, the man renewed NDAA which expanded on indefinite detention and indiscriminate wire tapping. Then he went behind everyone’s back and signed into law the Monsanto Protection Act, knowing damn well that his constituency did not want him to do that. Yet, I’m not seeing very much anger on the Democrat side.

I have to share a story here. A friend of mine once bashed Bush, saying that he was wire tapping the American people and spying on us and detaining people indefinitely and that Bush was a real asshole for all of that.

So, just this summer I asked “What do you think of the NDAA being renewed and all the NSA revelations under this administration?” To which he replied, “Well PEOPLE in the GOVERNMENT have been spying on us for decades now, so it’s no big deal really. And I don’t mind it at all because I’m not doing anything that I shouldn’t be.”

WOW! What a change of heart! A Republican is in office and a Democrat assaults him verbally for establishing laws which make it easier for the government to spy on its own people. Then a Democrat gets into office, does the same exact thing, and it’s totally acceptable.

Remember folks, I’m no Obama-Yes-Man. I did vote for him, yes. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to defend his every action or inaction. This is just how it is.

Quite frankly, I believe that Obama is way more right-winged than anybody is willing to believe, and that this type of behavior is going to continue and many of us, Democrats and Republicans alike, are going to allow it.


Syria!!:

So Syria was a big deal for me. When I heard about it I was pissed. “Here is our famous “anti-war president” dragging us into another unnecessary conflict”, I thought. I mean seriously folks, this is the guy who campaigned on Iraq being an unnecessary conflict that we should never repeat again, yet he wants to lob missiles into other countries?

Obama said that “no boots would touch the ground”, and he even had John Kerry try and explain to us that war is only war when troops are not on the ground fighting other soldiers. Since no boots are touching the ground, Kerry tried to explain to us, there is no real war. It’s just some missiles being fired, aimed at strategic points to cripple the other country’s regime and force them to surrender. That’s all, folks. No war here.
Kerry at Senate Hearing Discussing Syrian Intervention

It hurts my brain to think about it, but Mr. Kerry truly is one real son of a bitch for trying to get us to believe this nonsense. He clearly wants us to believe that there are no sailors who are going to be controlling these missiles. Are they not troops or part of our fighting forces during war time? Do they not feel the morality of what they do weighing on their shoulders? I guess not. How about pilots whose missions are to drop bombs or control drones? Are they not troops?

This reminds me of something, an anime called Gundam Wing. In the story there is a type of mobile suit created which does not require a pilot to control it manually from the inside of its cockpit or from a remote location. They are all controlled by computer and are for the most part autonomic. While these machines are out fighting wars in space against real people the citizens of the alliance which built the machines barely feel the true effects of the war and have essentially become separated from it in nearly every way.

That is how I feel when our politicians try to tell us that no boots on the ground means war cannot exist. I feel it is a dirty, underhanded trick that politicians find necessary to use when they want to start another conflict without their followers realizing what it really is.

Luckily though, we have had some seemingly good progress come out of this almost-conflict with Syria. The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad has actually pledged to get rid of their chemical weapon stock piles and has said that he would like Syria to become apart of the Geneva Convention. I have to admit, I did laugh when I heard this. Only because I wasn’t sure if Assad would go through with it, however it seems that he is.

No news has been making it to the major media networks about that region for a while though…interesting.


So that’s about it for this blog, now that I’m back from hiatus stayed tuned for some more to come.

If you want you can follow me on Twitter @Turk_Reno

Or you can find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/reno.erde


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