What Americans Really Think About Torture

Posted on by

Dec 16, 2014 8:56am

By MICHAEL FALCONE (@michaelpfalcone)

NOTABLES

THE ROUNDTABLE

ABCs RICK KLEIN: CIA 1, Senate Democrats 0? The new ABC News/Washington Post poll suggests that the firestorm started by the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA tactics is already settling down if it wasnt settled down from the start. The poll out Tuesday morning finds a near-majority (49 percent) convinced that the CIA did engage in torture. A larger portion of voters (59 percent) say it was justified, while 53 percent say it produced valuable information. That puts the public on the opposite side of the Senate Democrats who prepared and long pushed for the reports release, in the hopes of having the national debate the nation didnt or couldnt in the scary and secretive aftermath of 9/11. Its not just former Vice President Dick Cheney who remembers 9/11 as the date that changed everything, up to and including what we should or could be doing to terrorism suspects. The most startling number in the poll may be one that looks forward: Only 2 in 10 Americans say they would flatly rule out torture in future cases.

ABCs SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: Hillary Clinton appeared with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday bringing attention to an initiative to help improve the tracking of data about women and girls worldwide. The project, Data2x, is a joint venture of the Clinton Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the United Nations Foundation. There was no 2016 or political talk at the event, instead Clinton stressed her longtime focus on improving the lives of women and girls around the globe, something we are sure to hear if she does make a run official. She said the data must be combed through in order to build a case strong enough to convince skeptics based on hard data and clear eyed analysis that creating opportunities for women and girls across the globe, directly supports everyones security and prosperity and therefore should be an enduring part of our diplomacy and development work. Bloomberg introduced the possible presidential candidate calling her a great Secretary of State, a great senator for New York and the billionaire even joked to the crowd: If my mother and father knew that I was on a first-name basis with Hillary Clinton, it would be a very big deal.

WHAT WERE WATCHING

LIBERTARIAN TAKEOVER: THADDEUS MCCOTTER PREDICTS A NEW WORLD ORDER FOR GOP. Former Republican presidential candidate Thaddeus McCotter is not himself a libertarian, but the former Michigan congressman predicts an approaching libertarian takeover of the Grand Old Party. At least, thats the premise of his new book, Liberty Risen: The Ultimate Triumph of Libertarian-Republicans. The reality is you want to conserve whats best but you want to go forward, you want to go forward from the industrial era to the Internet age, McCotter told ABCs RICK KLEIN Yahoo News JON WARD, hosts of Top Line in a recent interview. Government has to be reorganized for the future. Though he sees the march toward libertarianism as inevitable with the rise of the millennial generation, which he sees as forcing change within the party, he qualifies that this trend is gradual and has been going on for quite some time. http://yhoo.it/1zlF6NW

View original post here:

What Americans Really Think About Torture

'Super Dell' Disrupts Hearing On Charges Of Chasing An Endangered Owl

Posted on by

Tue, Dec 16, 2014

Dell "Super Dell" Schanze was making his first appearance in court for allegedly chasing an endangered owl with his powered paraglider recently, and it did not go particularly well for the former TV pitchman and Libertarian candidate for Governor in Utah.

Schanze overheard the judge order a defendant in a previous case to give up all his private guns as a condition of his release from jail. "That's totally unconstitutional," Schanze said in the courtroom.

The judge, U.S. Magistrate Brook Wells, ordered him to be quiet, but when he continued to object, he was removed from the court and brought back in handcuffs and with a chain around his waist, according to a report in the Deseret News.

He reportedly became more cooperative after that.

It also cost Schanze all of his guns. After learning that Schanze has "strong feelings" about the second amendment from Prosecutor Jared Bennett, the judge ordered him to remove all the guns from his house or go to jail. Wells also suggested Schanze look for a job after he asserted that he was broke, and to have his mental health evaluated.

Schanze blamed the media for costing him his business. He said the case should be dismissed because "it's all based on a fake YouTube video." That video allegedly shows Scanze chasing an endangered owl in his powered paraglider two years ago. The powered paraglider community sharply criticized the actions saying it reflected poorly on them all, and asked for the investigation.

If convicted of using an aircraft to harass wildlife, Schanze faces a $100,000 fine and up to a year in jail.

(Image from YouTube Video)

See the original post:

'Super Dell' Disrupts Hearing On Charges Of Chasing An Endangered Owl

SOCORRO! ESTOY ATRAPADO! – Ep 6 – Sky Survival – The Islands of Junara! – Video

Posted on by


SOCORRO! ESTOY ATRAPADO! - Ep 6 - Sky Survival - The Islands of Junara!
Las Islas de Junara playlist (TODOS los episodios de esta serie) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZGMruFyiQYno5zKT6cYBFgQzWF11xtvF Si te ha gustado este vdeo, considera darle...

By: PeiT

Go here to read the rest:

SOCORRO! ESTOY ATRAPADO! - Ep 6 - Sky Survival - The Islands of Junara! - Video

Russian Wedding DJ MC tamada US Virgin Islands St. Thomas Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Marriott – Video

Posted on by


Russian Wedding DJ MC tamada US Virgin Islands St. Thomas Frenchman #39;s Reef Morning Star Marriott
For booking call 201-981-2497 or email msmirnov@yahoo.com http://www.russiandj.mobi/usvi/st.thomas_wedding.htm.

By: Russian DJ

See the original post:

Russian Wedding DJ MC tamada US Virgin Islands St. Thomas Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Marriott - Video

Minecraft Mapstravaganza! Epic Frozen Battle, Superhero City Fight and Intense Parkour Islands! – Video

Posted on by


Minecraft Mapstravaganza! Epic Frozen Battle, Superhero City Fight and Intense Parkour Islands!
One hell of an episode today with three incredible maps! Enjoy! Read the description to fulfill your dreams and subscribe (http://bit.ly/1hTCETC) for more gaming content! For exclusives,...

By: RageGamingVideos

Continue reading here:

Minecraft Mapstravaganza! Epic Frozen Battle, Superhero City Fight and Intense Parkour Islands! - Video

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – "SECRET TERRACE ISLANDS" "Knockback Mod Gamemode" (COD AW Glitch)! – Video

Posted on by


Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - "SECRET TERRACE ISLANDS" "Knockback Mod Gamemode" (COD AW Glitch)!
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - "SECRET TERRACE ISLANDS" "Knockback Mod Gamemode" (COD AW Glitches). This call of duty advanced warfare glitch gets you to the two secret terrace islands.

By: GeTTingWiGGly

Original post:

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - "SECRET TERRACE ISLANDS" "Knockback Mod Gamemode" (COD AW Glitch)! - Video

Watch 'Road Dawgs,' A Mini-Documentary About Future Islands

Posted on by

December 17, 2014 8:03 AM ET

This was Future Islands' year. After touring hard for eight years and recording four albums, they finally broke through. The latest album, Singles, came out in March. It is a well-loved and grand look at the dramatic and synthy side of this Baltimore band, though it may have been Sam Herring's rubbery and thrusting dance on TV that got people listening.

Now they're touring the world with massive crowds hearing these heartfelt tunes and trying to stay true to their humble selves. This short film, Road Dawgs, directed by Jay Buim, who also did the "Seasons (Waiting On You)" video, is a glimpse at a band who now knows things have changed but is trying to keep it real.

You can watch Future Islands' 2011 Tiny Desk Concert here.

View original post here:

Watch 'Road Dawgs,' A Mini-Documentary About Future Islands

Nansha shipping exchange with HK mooted

Posted on by

Updated: 2014-12-17 06:56 By Chai Hua in Shenzhen(HK Edition)

Guangzhou's Nansha Islands will be included in the proposed Guangdong Free Trade Zone (FTZ), which experts believe will create tremendous business opportunities for the shipping industry of Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

The Guangzhou government said on Monday it hopes to cooperate with Hong Kong to strengthen its existing Guangzhou Shipping Exchange.

The Guangzhou Shipping Exchange, established in 2011 and moved to Nansha Islands in 2012, is the first legal ship transaction service institute in the Pearl River Delta region, providing services for ship owners, port enterprises, industry investors and shipping finance organizations.

So far, the Hong Kong-based philanthropic organization Fok Ying Tung Foundation has built about 300 yacht berths, while another two companies have shown interest in investing in berths, according to industry sources.

"Before the FTZ came on, Guangzhou was not attractive enough for Hong Kong to build such a shipping exchange," said Zheng Tianxiang, a professor at the Center for Studies of Hong Kong, Macao and the Pearl River Delta at Sun Yat-sen University. "Now, the opportunity has come."

Zheng speculated that mutual free travel of yachts and cruise ships between Nansha Islands and the HKSAR will be allowed, bringing more exchanges and trading between the two sides.

On Monday, the State Council approved 15 innovative financial policies for the Nansha Islands to further cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao in financial services, especially the shipping finance industry.

"Nansha has the foundation for shipbuilding and shipping with a large cargo throughput. Hong Kong's advantages are its container industry, international experience in legal matters and an international shipping network."

Last year's cargo throughput at Nansha Port exceeded 10 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) with 10 deep-water container berths. The port is expanding another four berths, which may add another 5.7 million TEUs each year.

Go here to read the rest:

Nansha shipping exchange with HK mooted

SE Valley county islands come with pros, cons

Posted on by

Cheryl Webb stands outside her home in a county island surrounded by Queen Creek. Her road is unpaved because the town of Queen Creek doesnt develop roads outside its jurisdiction.(Photo: Patrick Breen/The Republic)

Southeast Valley municipalities are like Swiss cheese.

Within city and town boundaries are holes, pieces of land that are governed by Maricopa County and known as county islands, or unincorporated areas.

Debra Stark, director of Maricopa County Planning and Development, said that county islands were created when some property owners asked to be annexed to their surrounding city while others didn't.

"Cities worked around the ones that didn't want to come into the city or town," she said. "So, county islands were formed."

The county has no say in whether a county island annexes into a city, Stark said.

EXPLORE: See the county islands in your town or city

"It's really up to the city and the property owner," she said. State laws dictate that annexation can only occur if 51 percent of property owners consent, representing at least 51 percent of the assessed value of the property.

"Most cities would try to annex in before the property is developed, so you still have one singular owner as opposed to several," Stark said.

The concept of county islands and the governance that comes with them is unfamiliar to many transplants from the Midwest and the East Coast.

See the original post:

SE Valley county islands come with pros, cons