Current Events Thread: Lifting the Bar off the Floor

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > Current Events Thread: Lifting the Bar off the Floor

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Last night I left the gym and had my windows rolled down to not stink the car up, NWA gently caress the police came on my radio as I sat texting at a red light. I look up to check the light eventually and there was a cop next to me with his windows rolled down, texting as well.

The light turned gree and we both were on our way

White power?

# ¿ Nov 26, 2014 21:59

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 07:26

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Hug it out

# ¿ Dec 2, 2014 02:07

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

zombie303 posted:

What happened to you sexy Hitler av?!

People in tff are children w easily bl offended sensibilities

# ¿ Dec 2, 2014 03:05

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

if you guys reprint the dick book or do a quote book i would buy one

# ¿ Dec 2, 2014 07:04

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

If the book gets off the ground I think there should be some 50 Foot Ant poo poo in there too if yall can swing it.

Id buy it either way

# ¿ Dec 2, 2014 17:30

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Google news running a story through Vice, Al-Bawaba, Telegraph and Gulf News that Iran has launched airstrikes against ISIL. Al-Jqzeera ran footage of what looks like a mcdonnell douglas F-4 Phantom striking ISIL targets.

US is denying coordinating anything with Iran. Iran denies cooperation with US but says "no change to irans policy of providing support and advice to Iraqi officals in the fight against Daesh"

Reuters cites a senior Iranian offical denying the bombings completely, "Iran has never been involved in any airstrike against IS targets in Iraq"

No link to video, phone posting

# ¿ Dec 3, 2014 15:22

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

GENDERWEIRD GREEDO posted:

Inshallah

# ¿ Dec 3, 2014 18:30

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Phone posting in a video conference excuse poor formatting

Senior aides from House and Senate armed service committee told reporters a compromise 2015 NDAA would clear the military to spend 519$ billion (including 19$ b for Energy dept) in base funds and $63.7b for Americas conflicts ('americas conflicts wot?)

Airforce had proposed retiring A10 but lawmakers rejected the idea, saying the planes are needed now in Iraq. The compromised language regarding the A10 would add 350$m so the AF can fund maintenance and operations for the plane. Is only 1 year plan.

Also included is a prohibition on helicopter retirements.

Bill should add $300m for additional E/A-18G Growler aircraft, though did not provide # of planes.

War Funding section:
3.4$ b to fund US operations against ISIL
1.6$B to train and equip Iraqi forces (lol)
Compromise language allows Obama to arm and train Syrian rebels (lolx2, remember this debate 3 years ago)

House-Senate committee has committed to 11 aircraft carriers, and prohibits Navy from spending any money to retire one. Also included is language blocking retirment of:
MQ-1 drones
U-2
7 E-2 AWACS

Bill authorizes 8 more MQ-9 drobes (98m) amd six Uh-M60s (103m). Increased funding for:
Strykers (50m)
M1 Abrams (120m)
JSTAR program (73m)
Army trucks (100m)

Also authroized is a new "flexible 1.3b counter terrorism :I: partnership :/i: fund " deisgned to support US allies operations and efforts to make countries allies more potent in CT operations in ME and Africa

Iron-Dome gets $350m, 175m more than requested

Source: Defense News

# ¿ Dec 4, 2014 16:06

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Cole posted:

Wanna talk about wasteful spending?

Waroduce posted:

1.6$B to train and equip Iraqi forces (lol)
Compromise language allows Obama to arm and train Syrian rebels (lolx2, remember this debate 3 years ago)

Also authroized is a new "flexible 1.3b counter terrorism :I: partnership :/i: fund " deisgned to support US allies operations and efforts to make countries allies more potent in CT operations in ME and Africa

Iron-Dome gets $350m, 175m more than requested

# ¿ Dec 6, 2014 18:03

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Equine Don posted:

Wasn't there a C-130 full of pallets of money that disappeared or something.

Yeah, but I think it was Iraq. I really dont remember the particulars but I think it vanished off the tarmac of an airport.
Idk im sure someone here can fill in

E: beaten

# ¿ Dec 6, 2014 18:57

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Reuters) - Pakistani helicopter gunships staged a predawn raid on a militant hideout on Saturday and shot dead a top al-Qaeda operative wanted for plotting to bomb the New York subway system, the military said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has offered a $5 million reward for the capture of Saudi national Adnan el-Shukrijumah, 39, who it said was believed to be al-Qaeda's external operations chief at one time.

Shukrijumah, who had a Guyanese passport, was the most senior al-Qaeda member ever killed by the Pakistani military.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/12/06/pakistan-military-militants-idINKBN0JK08I20141206

# ¿ Dec 7, 2014 03:29

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Courthouse posted:

So apparently they are dropping the big congressional report on CIA clandestine activities during the WoT.

And I don't know how to tell you guys this... but apparently they've been torturing some folks.

How big of a deal do you think this is? I mean dont most people who pay attention to foreign policy and current events poo poo already know about the bpacl sites, guantanoma, having our allies perform more aggressive interrogations for us and all that kind of poo poo?

I recently started reading the Way of the Knife which was a little pulpy, but the author made it a point to show how explicitly between '01-'04 some of the older hands at the CIA who had been through Iran Contra, the latin adventures and the failure of Eagle Claw were pretty adamant about having policy makers sign off on everything. So I wonder if any heads will roll, its been quite a while though

# ¿ Dec 9, 2014 01:29

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Stultus Maximus posted:

Hey, isn't Berkeley the law school who gave Bush's torture-approver John Yoo a professorship?

Yes they did

# ¿ Dec 10, 2014 02:10

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Obama Africanus posted:

"Goons In Platoons: Shimmlers List Got Checked Thrice, Space Faggots"

In Current Events:

quote:

Suicide bomber attacks Afghan army bus in Kabul, six killed

(Reuters) - A suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying Afghan army personnel, killing six soldiers and wounding 11 on Thursday on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul, the Defense Ministry.

Five Afghan school children were also reported killed in a foreign forces airstrike, local officials said. The international coalition had no immediate comment.

Thursday's bombing comes after almost a two-week lull in Taliban attacks in Kabul in the wake of a wave of bombings on guesthouses, government officials and vehicles of foreign aid workers in the heavily-guarded capital last month.

Taliban insurgents have stepped up their attacks in recent months in Afghanistan with deadly suicide and roadside bombings as most foreign troops prepare to leave the country after 13 years of war.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/11/us-afghanistan-blast-idUSKBN0JP0FT20141211?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

quote:

Palestinian minister Ziad Abu Ein killed by Israeli forces in West Bank protests

A Palestinian minister has died after he was allegedly hit by an Israeli soldier during clashes in the West Bank.

Ziad Abu Ein, who served as settlements minister for the Palestinian Authority, was pronounced dead at a Ramallah hospital, where he was brought after overnight clashes in the village of Turmusiya, near the northern settlement of Shilo.

Palestinian officials said the minister collapsed after an Israeli soldier hit him in the chest using a helmet or the butt of a rifle, Ma'an news agency reported.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/palestinian-minister-ziad-abu-ein-dies-after-protesters-clash-israeli-forces-1478919

Idk how reputable that source is but a bunch of news sites have hit on it. 9hrs old as of 3AM EST

quote:

Russia India: Putin on visit to broker energy deals

Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a trip to India, where he is due to seek lucrative energy deals.

He said earlier that Russia was looking to export more Russian oil and gas to Asia because European consumption was not rising quickly enough.

Last week Russia scrapped a massive gas pipeline project with EU states.

Mr Putin will also meet business leaders and attend a diamond conference during his day-long Delhi visit.

Russia and India were close allies during the Cold War but in recent years the relationship has been more tense.

India is reported to be upset with Russia for selling attack helicopters to Pakistan.

On the other hand, Russia has been unhappy with India for choosing French Rafale fighters and American Apache attack helicopters over Moscow's defence products.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30408274

# ¿ Dec 11, 2014 08:49

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

N: Suicide bomber in Kabul targets French-run school killing at least one, hours after am attack left six afghan soldiers dead on the outskirts of Kabul. 16 wounded, using a vest, detonated inside venue at the top of stairs which may have mitigated casualties.

Reuters. Phone posting no link

V: Two suicide bombers in 8 hours in Kabul

# ¿ Dec 11, 2014 17:33

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Re: law chat

Does the AUMF cover the strike into Pakistan for Bin Laden? As far as I know, Americans have been strictly forbidden from operating in Pakistan, even in a limited cross border capacity a-la Vietnam and Cambodia with the Ho Chi Mihn trail.

Im curious about the legalese surrounding that or if there was any?

E: ground forces forbidden not drones.

# ¿ Dec 11, 2014 22:58

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Reading Way of the Knife, thought this was relevant to discussion

quote:

It was a desire for �deniability� that led Jose Rodriguez to take the extraordinary step of outsourcing a lethal CIA program to an American company. The CIA signed Prince and Prado to a personal services contract, and the two men began devising plans to carry out surveillance of potential targets, including some of the same men�like Pakistani nuclear scientist A. Q. Khan�whom the CIA had first proposed killing in 2001 during the meeting with Cheney. Prince and Prado would oversee the program, and the hand of the United States would, in theory, be hidden. Prince and Prado envisioned that the Blackwater hit teams would ultimately be under CIA control, but once they were given missions they would have a large degree of autonomy. �We were building a unilateral, unattributable capability,� Prince later said during an interview with Vanity Fair. �If it went bad, we weren�t expecting the chief of station, the ambassador, or anyone to bail us out.�

As it happened, they never needed to be bailed out. Like the first iteration of the assassination program, no killing operations were carried out during this phase of the hit-team program. Prince and Prado had overseen the training of the Blackwater teams, but Prince blames �institutional osteoporosis� for why the Blackwater assassins were never dispatched to kill terrorists.

Given the support the program had from senior managers like Rodriguez, why not? Amazingly, it wasn�t because of legal concerns either at the CIA or the White House. Lawyers at the CIA had given their approval to involve Prince and Prado in the killing operation, but senior CIA officials were ultimately unconvinced that the agency would be able to keep its role in the program hidden. Blackwater had developed a web of subsidiary companies to hide its CIA work, but it likely would not have been difficult for foreign governments to untangle the web and trace operations back to Prince and, ultimately, the CIA.

�The more you outsource an operation, the more deniable it becomes,� explained one senior CIA officer involved in the decision to terminate Blackwater�s role in the assassination program. �But you�re also giving up control of the operation. And if that guy screws up, it�s still your fault.�

The ill-conceived Blackwater phase of the killing program remains�like the earlier iteration of the program�a closely guarded government secret. Even in retirement, former Counterterrorist Center officer Hank Crumpton is prohibited by the CIA from giving details about the time that he worked on the first phase of the program. But in an interview, he said he found it puzz� cfouling that the United States still seemed to make a distinction between killing people from a distance using an armed drone and training humans to do the killing themselves.

If the country is going to allow the CIA to do one, he said, should it really be queasy about allowing the other? �How we apply lethal force, and where we apply lethal force�that�s a huge debate that we really haven�t had,� he said. �There seems to be no problem with a Hellfire shot against a designated enemy in a place like Afghanistan, the tribal areas of Pakistan, Somalia, or Yemen.� In those places, he said, it seems like just another part of war.

But, he asked, what if a suspected terrorist is in a place like Paris, or Hamburg, or somewhere else where drones can�t fly, �and you use a CIA or [military] operative on the ground to shoot him in the back of the head?

�Then,� he said, �it�s viewed as an assassination.�

oh this is priceless, last one

quote:

In late 2005 Congress passed the Detainee Treatment Act, which included a provision banning �cruel, inhuman, and degrading� treatment of any prisoner in American custody, including CIA black sites. There was now the potential that covert officers working at the CIA prisons could be prosecuted for their work, and the specter of criminal investigations and congressional hearings hung over Langley.

These fears already had led Jose Rodriguez to order the destruction of dozens of videotapes that gave a minute-by-minute chronicle of the ordeals of al Qaeda operatives Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri during CIA interrogations. Rodriguez, who had been promoted yet again and now had the powerful job of head of the Directorate of Operations�running all CIA covert-action and espionage operations across the globe�worried that the faces of the undercover officers were clearly visible on the tapes. With the toxic details of the prison program leaking out, he thought the officers might face both legal and physical jeopardy. In early November 2005, he sent a secret cable to the CIA�s Bangkok Station, where the tapes were being kept in a safe, and ordered that they be fed into an industrial-strength shredder. Seven steel blades went to work on the tapes, pulverizing them into tiny shards that were vacuumed out of the shredder and dumped into plastic trash bags.

But even after destroying vestiges of the early days of the prison program, the CIA faced more uncertainty with the passage of the new law by Congress. Days after the Detainee Treatment Act was passed, CIA director Porter Goss wrote a letter to the White House. The CIA would shut down all interrogations, he wrote, until the Justice Department could render a judgment about whether the CIA techniques violated the new law.

White House officials were incensed when they received the letter. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley thought Goss�s memo was pure posturing�the CIA trying to cover its back in the event of future investigations. Hadley called the CIA director at home on Christmas Day and accused him of not being a �team player.� But Goss wouldn�t budge, and it became clear to officials in the White House that all of the hyperventilating at the CIA, Washington�s most paranoid institution, wasn�t going to subside unless something was done to calm the spies down.

The job fell to Andrew Card, President Bush�s chief of staff. Card drove out to Langley intending to soothe the fears at CIA headquarters, but� cqua his visit was a disaster. Inside a packed conference room, Card thanked the assembled CIA officers for their service and their hard work but refused to make any firm declarations that agency officers wouldn�t be criminally liable for participating in the detention-and-interrogation program.

The room became restless. Prodded by his chief of staff, Patrick Murray, Porter Goss interrupted Card.

�Can you assure these people that the politicians will not walk away from the people who carried out this program?� Goss asked. Card didn�t answer the question directly. Instead, he tried to crack a joke.

�Let me put it this way,� he said. �Every morning I knock on the door of the Oval Office, walk in, and say, �Pardon me, Mr. President.� And, of course, the only person the president can�t pardon is himself.�

Card giggled after he said this, but his joke landed with a thud. The White House chief of staff, when asked whether President Bush would protect CIA officers from legal scrutiny, had suggested that the most they might be able to rely on is a presidential pardon after the indictments and the convictions were handed down.

At the CIA, pardon jokes don�t go down well.

gfanikf posted:

Well I do recall that, because we are not at war with Pakistan, the ground forces (and others) of Neptune Spear were actually transferred to the CIA from the US military.

Which has always made me wonder how that is done in terms of benefits and paperwork.

you are correct

quote:

President Musharraf had given his blessing to drone strikes, but he still vehemently opposed American combat operations in the tribal areas. It was fine for things to �fall out of the sky,� but not for them to come marching over the border from Afghanistan. Trying to sell Musharraf on special-operations ground campaigns in places like North Waz� cikeiristan and Bajaur was, most people in Washington agreed, a hopeless endeavor.

The CIA proposed a solution. In order to get special-operations troops inside Pakistan, they would simply be turned over to the CIA and operate under Title 50 covert-action authority. Special-operations troops would be �sheep-dipped��the SEALs would become spies. Special-operations troops would be able to launch operations into Pakistan, and Musharraf would never be told. As one former CIA officer described the arrangement, the special-operations troops �basically became the CIA director�s armed platoon.� The exact same trick would be used six years later, when helicopters carrying teams of Navy SEALs took off from Jalalabad, Afghanistan, and crossed the border into Pakistan for the raid that would kill Osama bin Laden. That night, the SEALs were under CIA authority, and CIA director Leon E. Panetta was technically in charge of the mission.

Waroduce fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Dec 12, 2014

# ¿ Dec 12, 2014 02:47

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Remember, this generation is "too fat to fight". Weight is the number one reason recruits are turned away.

Cdn.missionreadiness.org/MR_Too_Fat_to_Fight-1.pdf

Curious to know if this still holds true, as this was 2010, and the last time I remember a general making comments was 2012.

# ¿ Dec 12, 2014 15:28

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

In other news a US Marine has been charged with the October murder of a tranny in the Phillippines

# ¿ Dec 15, 2014 14:35

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

maffew buildings posted:

What about NZ? Might they be ahead of Australia too?

I've read alot of been there done that type books written by former seals and they always, always mention that NZ and Aussies have top tier special forces. Germans and Poles are very well regarded as well.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2014 17:45

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

BlindSite posted:

38 year old woman
died
in hospital
from a heart attack.

What the gently caress

# ¿ Dec 15, 2014 22:15

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

quote:

An Iraq war veteran suspected in a shooting rampage that left six of his estranged family members dead remained at large late Monday as the manhunt continued north of Philadelphia.

The victims included his ex-wife, her mother, her grandmother, her sister, her brother-in-law and a niece. A nephew was wounded.

Former Marine Sgt. Bradley William Stone, 35, also may have abducted his two daughters from his ex-wife�s home, a witness said, but dropped them off with a neighbor before he vanished. By late Monday night, the manhunt had spilled from Montgomery County into Bucks County, leading residents in Doylestown to shelter indoors.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-montogomery-county-shooting-20141215-story.html#page=1

# ¿ Dec 16, 2014 05:24

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

EVA BRAUN BLOWJOBS posted:

It's going to be like all those films from the early nineties where 20 and 100 dollar bills USD are treated like gold.

Oh and by the way, I have a great deal on Zimbabwe currency and Saddam dinars if anybody is interested. No risk, big earnings guaranteed!

My gf is a pretty smart girl, getting a PHD in some type of analytical chemistry, anyway shes got an uncle whose been investing into the whole Iraqi Dinars thing since like....OIF. Uncle has gotten her mom to part with a few thousand, and hes trying to sell her on an investment now.
:eng99:

Thats my story thanks

# ¿ Dec 16, 2014 14:15

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Flikken posted:

Nuclear Fire.

# ¿ Dec 16, 2014 19:33

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Afghan insurgents stormed a bank in Helmand killing at least 10 and 3 policemen. Five suicide bombers raided a branch of New Kabul Bank. One attacker blew himself up at the entrance to grant the others entrance. Reporting 15 wounded, including six members of security forces.

Phone posting in a meeting no link

Busy few days in the middle east

# ¿ Dec 17, 2014 14:46

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Zeroisanumber posted:

According to polls, about 60% of Cuban-Americans are in favor of the shift, with a vocal minority opposed. Republicans will block any substantive changes anyway, at least until one of theirs gets in the White House and they can stop reflexively screaming and making GBS threads themselves every time the president opens his mouth.

Im based out of a Miami office, and my father is Colombian who started and runs a construction and maintenance company in Miami since 1991. He had a business meeting near Versailles on 8th street (Calle Ocho) yesterday right after the news broke. Thats where people go when poo poo happens. He was coming out and told me it was a mad house, news trucks everywhere, all the spanish channels, cubans waiving flags and poo poo, giving speeches. He listened a bit and talked to some of his Cuban managers and everyone was pretty heated and against it. This is an older generation though so :shrug:

I work in enterprise software, and we have a few younger cuban people in my office who are slightly older than me and they were all about it, stoked to get some cuban rum and cigars. One of the guys was talkin about tryin to buy up property around the embassy to rent to Americans

Idk, reports from the ground make of it what you will

# ¿ Dec 18, 2014 17:14

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Eight children murdered in Cairns, Australia :siren:

Police believe the 34 year old women with chest wounds is the mother of 7 children, and the eighth is believed to be a relative. Age is 18 months to 15 years.

V: I dont think this is in anyway related to terrorism or anything. Just a hell of a crime during a week it sucks to be a child.

In other news, Peshmerga fighters free Yazidis on Sinjar mountain whove been besiges by ISIL

# ¿ Dec 19, 2014 14:50

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

US delivered 10 Apaches to Egypt. Insh'allah they will not be used against civilians

# ¿ Dec 22, 2014 15:14

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 07:26

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Courthouse posted:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/31/new-u-s-stealth-jet-can-t-fire-its-gun-until-2019.html

Everytime I read about military acquisitions and purchasing I take a moment to think about how I could get in that industry and take some of that money. Im p young still... but god drat, Selling an unfinished, hosed up project and theyre still purchasing. I sell fuckin enterprise software and god drat copiers, and I can't even do that. They don't sign equipment acceptance if you bring in a fuckin copier and go "uhhh it doesnt copy, 2019 for the patch".

Here plane, doesn't shoot anything, no gun, no rocket, barely fly thnx for the ~~ten bucks~~ 400 Billion rear end in a top hat

Waroduce fucked around with this message at 20:09 on Jan 1, 2015

# ¿ Jan 1, 2015 20:03

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > Current Events Thread: Lifting the Bar off the Floor