Of Possible Interest to RI Readers

[Nordic]

[Nordic]

[Grizzly]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/10/09/ ... ghanistan/

The Use and Abuse of Culture (and Children): The Human Terrain System’s Rationalization of Pedophilia in Afghanistan

[Grizzly]

Kroll

Heads-Up: 'Curious Choice of Auditor for Democratic Database Flap'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251943044

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kroll_Inc ... r_security

[Grizzly]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/poli ... /24844253/
White House office to delete its FOIA regulations

WASHINGTON — The White House is removing a federal regulation that subjects its Office of Administration to the Freedom of Information Act, making official a policy under Presidents Bush and Obama to reject requests for records to that office.

The White House said the cleanup of FOIA regulations is consistent with court rulings that hold that the office is not subject to the transparency law. The office handles, among other things, White House record-keeping duties like the archiving of e-mails.

But the timing of the move raised eyebrows among transparency advocates, coming on National Freedom of Information Day and during a national debate over the preservation of Obama administration records. It's also Sunshine Week, an effort by news organizations and watchdog groups to highlight issues of government transparency.

"The irony of this being Sunshine Week is not lost on me," said Anne Weismann of the liberal Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW.

"It is completely out of step with the president's supposed commitment to transparency," she said. "That is a critical office, especially if you want to know, for example, how the White House is dealing with e-mail."

Found this out, today.... just making this seen, in case, like me , you haven't seen it or know about it...

Couldn't find nor had the energy to hunt down the 'FUCK OBOMBA thread... Most transparent eh?

[JackRiddler]

There is a blogger goes by the name lamecherry that supports this idea that Michelle is a male. I decline to link it as I find much of the content hateful, but a quick search will find it. Admittedly I have occasionally seen a worthwhile post there, but not often enough to assuage my concerns.

I submit that whoever lamecherry is, she/he/it is neither a woman nor a man with proclivities to love real ones. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but if your Womandar (to coin a term) is this bad, you don't need to show it.

[guruilla]

Anyone have a copy of this book Anger: The Unauthorized Biography of Kenneth Anger by Landis, Bill?

Looking to check a citation around Crowley, Thelema Abbey, sexual abuse.

[Elvis]

Anyone have a copy of this book Anger: The Unauthorized Biography of Kenneth Anger by Landis, Bill?

Looking to check a citation around Crowley, Thelema Abbey, sexual abuse.

I have it, I haven't read it, but the index has numerous (40-50) Crowley references. (Looking at the index, I might have to read this book after all; I've avoided it for years.)

There are about three pages specifically about Crowley and Thelema Abbey; would you like me to scan & post them?

[guruilla]

Anyone have a copy of this book Anger: The Unauthorized Biography of Kenneth Anger by Landis, Bill?

Looking to check a citation around Crowley, Thelema Abbey, sexual abuse.

I have it, I haven't read it, but the index has numerous (40-50) Crowley references. (Looking at the index, I might have to read this book after all; I've avoided it for years.)

There are about three pages specifically about Crowley and Thelema Abbey; would you like me to scan & post them?

Yes please! Can you put them at the Crowley Joke thread? Thanks! You just saved me $30

[PufPuf93]

Anyone have a copy of this book Anger: The Unauthorized Biography of Kenneth Anger by Landis, Bill?

Looking to check a citation around Crowley, Thelema Abbey, sexual abuse.

I have it, I haven't read it, but the index has numerous (40-50) Crowley references. (Looking at the index, I might have to read this book after all; I've avoided it for years.)

There are about three pages specifically about Crowley and Thelema Abbey; would you like me to scan & post them?

Yes please! Can you put them at the Crowley Joke thread? Thanks! You just saved me $30

Very good Elvis thank you.

[PufPuf93]

Is there a thread that directly addresses the conflict between Shite and Sunni Islam?

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sau ... &ocid=iehp

Saudis cut ties with Iran following Shiite cleric execution

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Saudi Arabia announced Sunday it was severing diplomatic relations with Shiite powerhouse Iran amid escalating tensions over the Sunni kingdom's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

The move came hours after protesters stormed and set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and followed harsh criticism by Iran's top leader of the Saudis' execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Iranian diplomatic personnel had 48 hours to leave his country and all Saudi diplomatic personnel in Iran had been called home.

The mass execution of al-Nimr and 46 others — the largest carried out by Saudi Arabia in three and a half decades — laid bare the sectarian divisions gripping the region as demonstrators took to the streets from Bahrain to Pakistan in protest.

It also illustrated the kingdom's new aggressiveness under King Salman. During his reign, Saudi Arabia has led a coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen and staunchly opposed regional Shiite power Iran, even as Tehran struck a nuclear deal with world powers.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Saudi Arabia on Sunday of "divine revenge" over al-Nimr's death, while Riyadh accused Tehran of supporting "terrorism" in a war of words that threatened to escalate even as the U.S. and the European Union sought to calm the region.


Shiite Muslims take part in a rally to condemn the execution of Saudi Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016 in Lahore, Pakistan. Saudi Arabia announced Saturday it had executed 47 prisoners convicted of terrorism charges, including al-Qaida detainees and al-Nimr, who rallied protests against the Saudi government. The placard on left reads "we for Hussein's way and martyrdom is a pride." (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)


Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir delivers a speech during a joint press conference at the Foreign ministry building in Tunis, Tunisia on December


Shiite Muslims take part in a rally to condemn the execution of Saudi Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016 in Lahore, Pakistan. Saudi Arabia announced Saturday it had executed 47 prisoners convicted of terrorism charges, including al-Qaida detainees and al-Nimr, who rallied protests against the Saudi government. The placard on left reads "we for Hussein's way and martyrdom is a pride." (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Al-Jubeir told a news conference in Riyadh that the Iranian regime has "a long record of violations of foreign diplomatic missions," dating back to the occupation of the U.S. Embassy in 1979, and such incidents constitute "a flagrant violation of all international agreements," according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

He said Iran's "hostile policy" was aimed "at destabilizing the region's security," accusing Tehran of smuggling weapons and explosives and planting terrorist cells in the kingdom and other countries in the region. He vowed that Saudi Arabia will not allow Iran "to undermine our security."

"The history of Iran is full of negative and hostile interference in Arab countries, always accompanied with subversion, demolition and killing of innocent souls," al-Jubeir said, just before announcing the severing of diplomatic relations.

Al-Nimr was a central figure in Arab Spring-inspired protests by Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority until his arrest in 2012. He was convicted of terrorism charges but denied advocating violence.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia put al-Nimr and three other Shiite dissidents to death, along with a number of al-Qaida militants. Al-Nimr's execution drew protests from Shiites around the world, who backed his call for reform and wider political freedom for their sect.

While the split between Sunnis and Shiites dates back to the early days of Islam and disagreements over the successor to Prophet Muhammad, those divisions have only grown as they intertwine with regional politics, with both Iran and Saudi Arabia vying to be the Mideast's top power.

Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of supporting terrorism in part because it backs Syrian rebel groups fighting to oust its embattled ally, President Bashar Assad. Riyadh points to Iran's backing of the Lebanese Hezbollah and other Shiite militant groups in the region as a sign of its support for terrorism. Iran also has backed Shiite rebels in Yemen known as Houthis.

Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, condemned al-Nimr's execution, saying Sunday the cleric "neither invited people to take up arms nor hatched covert plots. The only thing he did was public criticism."

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said Saudi Arabia's "medieval act of savagery" would lead to the "downfall" of the country's monarchy.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said that by condemning the execution, Iran had "revealed its true face represented in support for terrorism."

In Tehran, a protest outside the Saudi Embassy early Sunday quickly grew violent as protesters threw stones and gasoline bombs at the embassy, setting part of the building ablaze, according to Gen. Hossein Sajedinia, the country's top police official, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Forty people were arrested and investigators were pursuing other suspects, Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned Saudi Arabia's execution of al-Nimr, but also branded those who attacked the Saudi Embassy as "extremists."

"It is unjustifiable," he said in a statement.

Hundreds of protesters later demonstrated in front of the embassy and in a central Tehran square, where street signs near the embassy were replaced with ones bearing the slain sheikh's name.

Western powers sought to calm the tensions.

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the Obama administration was aware of the Saudis' severing of ties with Tehran. "We believe that diplomatic engagement and direct conversations remain essential in working through differences and we will continue to urge leaders across the region to take affirmative steps to calm tensions," Kirby said.

Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif by phone and urged Tehran to "defuse the tensions and protect the Saudi diplomats," according to a statement.

The disruption in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran may have implications for peace efforts in Syria. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and others spent significant time trying to bring the countries to the negotiating table and they both sat together at talks aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the civil war. Last month, Saudi Arabia convened a meeting of Syrian opposition figures that was designed to create a delegation to attend peace talks with the Syrian government that are supposed to begin in mid-January.

Across the region, demonstrators took to the streets Sunday in protest over the execution of al-Nimr.

In Bahrain, police fired tear gas and birdshot at demonstrators on Sitra Island, south of the capital, Manama, wounding some. In al-Daih, west of the capital, Shiite protesters chanted against Saudi Arabia's ruling Al Saud family, as well as against Bahrain's ruling Al Khalifa family.

In Beirut, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called al-Nimr "the martyr, the holy warrior," while protests erupted from Turkey to India to Pakistan.

The cleric's execution has also threatened to complicate Saudi Arabia's relationship with the Shiite-led government in Iraq, where the Saudi Embassy is preparing to formally reopen for the first time in nearly 25 years. On Saturday there were calls for the embassy to be shut down again.

Meanwhile, al-Nimr's family prepared for three days of mourning at a mosque in al-Awamiya in the kingdom's al-Qatif region in predominantly Shiite eastern Saudi Arabia. The sheikh's brother, Mohammed al-Nimr, told The Associated Press that Saudi officials informed his family that the cleric had been buried in an undisclosed cemetery, a development that could lead to further protests.

___

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Joseph Krauss and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo, Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad, Reem Khalifa in Manama, Bahrain, Brian Rohan in Beirut, and Tom Strong and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

[Grizzly]

http://www.nature.com/news/google-ai-al ... go-1.19234
Google AI algorithm masters ancient game of Go

Deep-learning software defeats human professional for first time.

[divideandconquer]

http://www.nature.com/news/google-ai-algorithm-masters-ancient-game-of-go-1.19234
Google AI algorithm masters ancient game of Go

Deep-learning software defeats human professional for first time.

Should read: "Deep-learning software defeats humans"...in the workforce, that is.

One small step for technology, one giant leap for technocracy rising. The only winners: the global "scientific"-technological elite. Meanwhile, the quality of life in the west continues to plummet into third world status as we blame it on the poor, third world immigrants, Muslims, ourselves, etc....anyone but the globalist elites.

[Grizzly]

NSFW/L, front page of imgur: compilation of cops murdering people with their hands up, not resisting
http://imgur.com/a/gqv0j

Comments:
These are just a few bad apples right guys? It's not a very wide spread problem at all. Nothing to see here citizens, super bowl is on in two weeks

This shit is enraging. We have a group of domestic terrorists occupying our country, alright; And it's not made up of farmers or militia.

Fuck every single cop in these videos. If they're not equipped with the mental capacity and collected demeanor necessary to handle these situations, then they don't deserve the gun and the badge. They have no excuse to act this way and deserve to be held accountable, just like the rest of us would be.

[82_28]

NSFW/L, front page of imgur: compilation of cops murdering people with their hands up, not resisting
http://imgur.com/a/gqv0j

Comments:
These are just a few bad apples right guys? It's not a very wide spread problem at all. Nothing to see here citizens, super bowl is on in two weeks

This shit is enraging. We have a group of domestic terrorists occupying our country, alright; And it's not made up of farmers or militia.

Fuck every single cop in these videos. If they're not equipped with the mental capacity and collected demeanor necessary to handle these situations, then they don't deserve the gun and the badge. They have no excuse to act this way and deserve to be held accountable, just like the rest of us would be.

Bartending for many years and dealing with unruly behavior without a gun all I can say is that cops are pussies (I wouldn't call them a pussy to their face though). I've said it before that many want to take their violent instincts on a free test drive. I was a "cop" for many matters in making sure everything ended peacefully all my life. It is totally possible. I've come this far. It's a lack of empathy (duh) and a worship of self-appointed-authority. That shit is disturbing. Plus I'm not good at following rules because I find rules to be inadequate and not for me. Simply care for the person on a case by case basis. Which again, is very easy. There has been no issue I have not been able to defuse from childhood on.