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That famed 'Thin Blue Line'

Posted by Runaway1956 on Sunday February 25 2018, @06:22AM (#3028)
24 Comments
Topics

Several Broward deputies waited outside during Florida school shooting, report says

Coral Springs cops who responded to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School say several Broward sheriff’s deputies waited outside rather than rush in as the killer was gunning down students, according to reports.

The allegations emerged a day after veteran Broward deputy Scot Peterson resigned under fire for failing to enter the school during the Valentine’s Day shooting. President Trump on Friday said Peterson, who was assigned to guard the school, “did a poor job.”

The Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that according to police sources at least three Broward deputies, including Peterson, waited outside. The Broward Sheriff’s Office said Friday it is investigating the Coral Springs officer's claims.

The allegations add to a series of failures that have emerged since 19-year-old gunman Nikolas Cruz killed 17 students and staff, and wounded 16. Cruz was arrested and charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

Two additional Broward deputies are also under investigation over whether they mishandled warnings about Cruz in the months leading up to the shooting. The FBI has admitted it failed to investigate similar claims, and Florida child welfare agency looked into concerns about Cruz, but concluded he wasn’t a risk to himself or others.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told the Sun-Sentinel that three Coral Springs officers said one or more sheriff’s deputies did not go into the school building when they should have, and their concerns were relayed to the sheriff’s office by the Coral Springs police chief.

“If our investigation shows that our deputies made no mistakes or did things right, or it’s not corroborated, there will be no issue,” Israel said.

“If we find out, as we did with Peterson, that our deputies made mistakes and didn’t go in, I’ll handle it like I always have. I’ll handle any violations of policy or procedures or whatever accordingly.”

This is a primary reason for contempt of police. These cops milled about smartly, outside of a school building, knowing full well that someone was wandering the halls, killing people. Why? Because they are COWARDS!

Oh, I'm sure they can legally justify their actions with policy, and procedure. And, none of them were actually ordered to go inside of the building. Blah, blah, blah - they can defend themselves in a court of law.

But out here, in real life, each of these people stood by while a marauder was taking lives, several feet away from them.

Military veterans? I don't know, maybe some of us would have leaned on policy and procedure. Many, if not most, of us would have charged into the building. We have a tradition of "whatever it takes". A common comment in evaluations (when justified) is "Petty Officer Whoever is mission oriented, and willing to make sacrifices to see the mission through."

The "mission" in this case, would have been to end the carnage, and to save lives. These cops seemed to be content to allow the carnage to continue, until enough of a police force had collected to ensure their own personal survival.

That is a damned good definition of cowardice.

If you aren't willing to put your own life on the line, you are unworthy of respect. You have no right to wear that uniform. You have no right to your paycheck. You haven't even the right to compare yourself to a lowly dog. Many dogs have readily, and willingly, sacrificed themselves in defense of their masters, or children, or even strangers in some rarer instances.

Cops. We've often mentioned that the police force attracts authoritarian, abusive assholes. We need to attract more people who are willing to risk themselves for their fellow man.

It would be interesting to review these coward's service records. How many of them have been abusive pigs, who singled out defenseless (homeless, prostitutes, female, minority, minors, etc) to abuse?

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/24/several-broward-deputies-waited-outside-during-florida-school-shooting-report-says.html

Tor Project Website Has Been Down For A Bit

Posted by NotSanguine on Sunday February 25 2018, @01:36AM (#3027)
11 Comments
Security

I was about to install the Tor Browser into a new VM, but found that https://www.torproject.org is down as of ~0000 on 25-Feb-2018 GMT.

I checked with several browsers on several hosts, but no soap. What's more,
http://www.isitdownrightnow.com/torproject.org.html and https://isitup.org/www.torproject.org both agree.

Is this a DDOS? Recovery from a hack? Fallout from the recent announcement?

I searched around the web and didn't find anything about this, except for a July, 2017 Reddit post complaining that the site was down.

The browser is still available on Github and, I assume, other download sites/mechanisms.

I wonder what's going on?

No Guns for Cyberstalkers in FL

Posted by takyon on Friday February 23 2018, @06:04PM (#3020)
9 Comments
Digital Liberty

Florida governor Rick Scott's three-point plan requires gun buyers to be 21 and up

Scott's plan also includes prohibiting a person from having or buying a firearm if he or she is subject to an injunction for protection against stalking, cyberstalking or domestic violence.

Cyberstalking is serious business.

Reality TV Star Wipes Out $1 Billion+ of Snap's "Value"

Posted by takyon on Friday February 23 2018, @02:14AM (#3018)
6 Comments

shooters and psychotropic drugs

Posted by Runaway1956 on Thursday February 22 2018, @05:36PM (#3017)
16 Comments
Topics

I've heard this theme several times after a mass shooter has acted out. One, two, maybe three news sources blame the shootings on drugs - but the media doesn't really pick up on it. Well, I've just heard it again, in regards to Cruz, the Florida shooter. Drugs are to blame. Hmmmmm . . . let me search for SOME kind of source, I can't just take a radio DJ's word for it, right?

http://www.wnd.com/2018/02/media-ignoring-1-crucial-factor-in-florida-school-shooting/ Yep, depression. All the other conduct I've seen attributed to Cruz ranges from normal, to weird, to maybe a little crazy. But, he WAS being treated over several year's time for depression. Interesting . . .

Paddock, the Vegas shooter - likewise. https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/the-strip/las-vegas-strip-shooter-prescribed-anti-anxiety-drug-in-june/

Adam Lanza, of Newtown, ditto. https://ssristories.org/the-antipsychotic-prescribed-to-adam-lanza-has-a-troubled-history-all-its-own-business-insider/

Ok, I'll try to be fair here - and honest. Those links aren't exactly "mainstream", and they may or may not be "credible". I don't place a helluva lot of credibility in any of the media, to be honest.

But, how about psychologytoday? Is it credible? Unlike some Soylentils, I'm not a part time psychoanalyst. I have no degree in pretending to understand people. I see the title, and hope that it is more credible than say . . . The National Enquirer. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/obsessively-yours/201212/newtown-shootings-caution-about-violence-and-ssris

Newtown Shootings: A Caution About Violence and SSRIs
SSRIs rank high in the top ten drugs that cause violence
Posted Dec 20, 2012

As the debate moves forward about how to keep events like the shooting in Newtown from happening, the inevitable topic that comes up is how to best detect and treat young people with mental illness.

Many of our politicians have opined on this subject, sometimes as a way of deflecting from the issue of gun control. While it is obvious that better screening and treatment of troubled adolescents can be of enormous benefit, we also have to exercise caution.

The reason for the note of caution is that when a typical young person is diagnosed with depression and/or a host of anti-social conditions, the standard treatment offered is SSRI’s [Selective Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors] also known as Prozac-like drugs. There has recently been a great deal of debate about the effectiveness of such medications.

But more relevant to the discussion, is that these very drugs we hope can treat mental illness are at the same time drugs that cause violent behavior including suicide and aggression toward others. In fact, SSRI’s are the leading drugs in a recent list compiled of the Top Ten Drugs that cause violent behavior.

It’s been well known that adolescents and young people have an increased risk of suicide when they begin to take SSRIs. But what we may forget is that suicide is an impulsive behavior that is turned against oneself. But impulses, particularly violent ones, can be turned against others.

An accompanying effect of SSRI’s is the dulling of feelings that cause depression—and one of the main feelings in this line is empathy. If empathy is dulled and violent impulses increase when young people are on SSRI’s, then certainly that is a recipe for causing harm to others.

With every shooting, the hoplophobes resume screeching and squawking about the need for gun control laws. We never hear them even ASK about psychotropic drugs.

As I say, I've heard this question asked, several times, over the years. Aren't the psychotropics suspect? Maybe they're to blame? But, I've never really looked at it. Call it some naive faith that if the drugs were to blame, then someone is working to expose that fact. Except - that is a terribly naive thing to believe. Big Pharma is in the business of making money - even when it creates an opium addiction crisis.

So, what about those shooters? Are they picking up their guns because the guns removed all their natural(?) inhibitions?

Can anyone find an account of a shooter who WAS NOT on anti-depressants or some other psychotropic?

This really is worrisome. The shrinks tell us that one in four, or one in five, or one in seven Americans have mental health issues. Let me find something on that . . . Newsweek claims one in five - that is, 20% of all Americans are nuts, to some degree or another - http://www.newsweek.com/nearly-1-5-americans-suffer-mental-illness-each-year-230608 (no, of course they don't use the word "nuts" - I can paraphrase them however the hell I like)

So, the shrinks claim that 1/5 of all the people you meet are nuts. FFS, are they really nuts, or are the shrinks the ones who are nuts?

Seemingly, people who are NOT vititing shrinks, don't shoot people at random. While, seemingly, people who routinely see shrinks, and take the drugs offered them, are far more likely to pick up a weapon, and start spraying everyone in sight.

So, WTF is going on here? Ideas? Opinion? Should we stop demonizing guns, and start demonizing drugs and Big Pharma?

What is the possibility that the drugs actually MAKE people crazy? From my experience with friends and family who are prescribed drugs for ADD/ADHD, hyperactivity, and other "problems" - they often turn zombie-like. Once close acquaintance described feeling "angry" whenever he was on his drugs. As the drugs wore off, he was much less angry. Of course, that is just one example - one person who felt free to talk to me about his experience.

Are shrinks what is wrong with America today?

WE MUST PROTECT OUR CHILDREN!!!!

Posted by realDonaldTrump on Thursday February 22 2018, @04:54PM (#3016)
2 Comments
Topics

Yesterday was a great day for me, and for America -- I always, always put America First. Because I held what I call a Listening Session. People don't know what that is, it's something new. Where I sit down with the American people and LISTEN to what they say. I had 44 predecessors, none of them ever did that. So simple, but none of them ever thought of that. But I'm listening, I listened to some of our students & parents. With cameras rolling. And I brought @VP Pence and Secretary @BetsyDeVos. So they could listen too.

And I heard some beautiful, and very smart things. Jonathan Blank, he's one of the students from Parkland, said, "Thank you for everything. You’ve done a great job, and I like the direction that you’re going in. Thank you."

And Ariana Klein, she's another student from Parkland, beautiful student, said, "I would just like to say thank you for leading this country. You’re a great leader, and I appreciate the direction that the country is going in."

Julia Cordover, she's the president of the students -- of the ones that are left -- there in Parkland. Nice looking girl, and very grateful. She told me, "I’m confident that you’ll do the right thing, and I appreciate you looking at the bump stocks yesterday."

Fred Abt, he's a parent from Parkland, he told me about something @BetsyDeVos said at lunch, he said she said "have people in the school -- teachers, administrators -- who have volunteered to have a firearm safely locked in the classroom, who are given training throughout the year."

Let me tell you, I've been thinking about that for a long time. Because she said it a long time ago. And I knew it was a very smart thing to do, but I said we'd better leave that up to the states. Leave it to our great states. Today I met with our wonderful law enforcement officers, our Governors and so many more to talk about school safety, very important talk. pic.twitter.com/WhC2AxgWXO

But maybe, probably, we need to move more strongly. That would be, certainly, a situation that is being discussed a lot by a lot of people. You’d have a lot people that’d be armed. People of talent. Teachers who are adept at firearms, a lot of people with that. They’d be ready. They’re professionals. They may be Marines that left the Marines, left the Army, left the Air Force. And they’re very adept at doing that. You’d have a lot of them, and they’d be spread evenly throughout the school.

And you would no longer have a gun-free zone. Our schools have been gun-free zones for too long. Much too long. A gun-free zone, to a maniac -- because they’re all COWARDS -- a gun-free zone is, let’s go in and let’s attack, because bullets aren’t coming back at us.

We need to do what we call CONCEALED CARRY, very important. Hunter Pollack, one of the parents, he said to me, "If a teacher or a security guard has a concealed license and the firearm on their waist, they’re able to easily stop the situation, or the bad guy -- I’ll put it that way -- would not even go near the school knowing that someone can fight back against them." Concealed carry, if you don't know, it's a secret firearm, a hidden firearm. So nobody knows, is this teacher armed? Or not armed? Nobody knows, nobody can tell which teachers or guards -- principals, nurses, everybody -- who's armed and who's not. Very smart!

And we're going to be doing many things, we're going to do a lot. We're going to look into the background checks. And into the mental illness, we have so many mentally ill people now, how did that happen? I'll tell you, years ago, we had mental hospitals -- mental institutions. We had a lot of them, and a lot of them have closed. They’ve closed. And we have so many NUT JOBS on our streets. Seriously degrading some of our finest and most luxurious shopping districts. It's a very deplorable situation. Some people thought it was a stigma. Some people thought, frankly, it was a -- the legislators thought it was too expensive. youtu.be/vKblXAikzEc

Ryzen 5 2600 Benchmark: 7-15% Faster Single, 22-31% Multi

Posted by takyon on Tuesday February 20 2018, @07:18PM (#3012)
21 Comments
Hardware

This is about a 12nm "Zen+" chip coming out this year, not "Zen 2".

AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Pinnacle Ridge Processor Single And Multi-Core Benchmarks Leak

The Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core/12-thread processor with a 3.4GHz base clock and 3.8GHz boost clock. It also has 3MB of L2 cache, 16MB of L3 cache, and a 65W TDP.

In Geekbench, the chip scored 4,269 in the single-thread testing and 20,102 in multi-threaded testing. Compared to the Ryzen 5 1600, which is a 6-core/12-thread processor clodcked at 3.2GHz to 3.6GHz with the same cache arrangement and TDP, the Ryzen 5 2600 is anywhere from 7-15 percent faster in single-threaded performance, and 22-31 percent faster in multi-threaded performance. The ranges in percentages take into account different scores in Geekbench's database.

Even if going by the low end numbers a 7 percent jump in single-threaded performance and 22 percent gain in multi-threaded work chores is a nice upgrade. Part of the difference is obviously attributable to faster clockspeeds, but performance optimizations underneath the hood also play a role. The gap could be even wider when Pinnacle Ridge ships too, as AMD and its partners will have had more time to polish up drivers.

AMD Ryzen 5 2600 spotted in Geekbench database

Previously:

AMD Expected to Release Ryzen CPUs on a 12nm Process in Q1 2018
AMD at CES 2018

🇺🇸Today is a VERY SPECIAL day!

Posted by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday February 20 2018, @12:26AM (#3009)
1 Comment
Topics

Folks, today is a VERY SPECIAL day. Because it's President's Day. When we honor the greatest President in history. And George Washington. Is it George Washington's birthday? Big debate about that one! Enjoy! 🇺🇸 whitehouse.gov/articles/great-debate-presidents-day-washingtons-birthday

Conservatives React to Peter Thiel's Los Angeles Move

Posted by takyon on Sunday February 18 2018, @10:10PM (#3007)
33 Comments
/dev/random

As Peter Thiel ditches Silicon Valley for LA, locals tout 'conservative renaissance'

If the billionaire tech investor and noted libertarian Peter Thiel really does leave Silicon Valley for Los Angeles to escape what he views as an increasing intolerance for conservatives, the city’s growing community of conservatives will be there to welcome him.

Among LA’s right-leaning residents are the Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro, the political commentator Dave Rubin and the blogger Bill Whittle. There’s also the former members of the defunct Friends of Abe, a secretive group of Hollywood conservatives that fractured in 2016 over the candidacy of Donald Trump.

“Silicon Valley has long despised the American right and it’s beginning to flex its muscles against us,” said Michael Knowles, an LA-based podcaster for The Daily Wire, referring to a lawsuit filed by conservative media site PragerU against YouTube for allegedly “censoring” conservative videos.

“It’s a sign of the time that Peter Thiel is heading down here because there’s been a conservative renaissance in Los Angeles,” Knowles said.

PragerU’s chief marketing officer, Craig Strazzeri, added: “It’s both astounding and sad – but unfortunately not surprising – that there are parts of this country where you are socially and professionally shunned if you support the duly elected president of our country. That might be changing in Los Angeles.”

Previously: Peter Thiel Migrating From Silicon Valley to Los Angeles

NO COLLUSION!!!!

Posted by realDonaldTrump on Friday February 16 2018, @10:16PM (#3004)
2 Comments
Topics

Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, LONG before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong -- NO COLLUSION!!!! 🇺🇸👱🚫💕👱🇷🇺