Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Mr. "This Is NOT About Snowden"


Strikes again.

Actual verdict details here:
The suspense at Tuesday’s five-minute-long court martial session was limited because Manning previously pled guilty to at least portions of 10 of the 22 counts he faced. Also restraining the drama was the absence of a military jury, which the defendant waived.
...

After warning spectators in the packed courtroom to avoid any outbursts, Lind recited a list of the charges, adding her “not guilty” or — more often — “guilty” to each. She also accepted and described changes in some of the charges that the defense offered with Manning’s guilty pleas.

The aiding-the-enemy charge could have resulted in a sentence of up to life in prison or even to the death penalty, but the military did not seek capital punishment in Manning’s case.
...

Manning did not dispute the fact that he sent WikiLeaks most of the material that led to the charges against him. However, his defense argued that some of the counts were legally flawed.
...

The Army intelligence analyst was arrested in May 2010 at a forward operating base in Iraq where he studied threats in a section of Baghdad. He’s been in custody since.
... 
All convictions and any sentence ultimately handed down in the case are subject to review of the military officer who convened the court martial, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan of the Army’s Military District of Washington. In addition, the case is likely to be reviewed by military appeals courts.

Lind ruled in January that Manning is entitled to a sentencing credit of nearly four months as a result of what she determined was unnecessarily harsh treatment the intelligence analysts received during his almost nine-month stay at a Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va.

...
The case against Manning was prosecuted in the military justice system, which is separate from the civilian courts. But ivilian federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Va. have been conducting a grand jury investigation of WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.

It’s unclear what how prosecutors might seek to build a case against Assange, who has asserted that WikiLeaks is a news organization that acts in ways similar to those in which more conventional journalists gather news. Many lawmakers have called for Assange to be prosecuted for espionage or treason.

However, following the outcry over the AP and Fox News investigations, President Barack Obama declared: “Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs.”

Comments are now closed for this post.

36 comments:

Cinesias said...

Something something Greenwald, something something Droneglass.

mahakal said...

I don't even see how this post makes any discernible point. But isn't it an awesome thing that Bradley Manning avoided life without parole and may only be sentenced to 130 years in prison? Edward Snowden should hurry back to the US for his due process. Get some!

Anonymous said...

"So weird how most people who claim "I'd respect Snowden's acts if he hadn't fled" don't apply that to Bradley Manning" - GG

That is weird.
Who are those people?
Glenn seems to talk to them a lot.

driftglass said...

"Who are those people?"

Since GG's broad, long-term political objective is to take down the Democratic Party and replace it with a more congenial 3rd party he routinely devotes a portion of almost every column these days on almost any subject (and most of his twitter activity) to declaiming the unhinged, hypocritical and irredeemable awfulness of "those people".

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Who are those people?
Glenn seems to talk to them a lot.


Hey now, there's nothing wrong with having an active fantasy life.

Anonymous said...

It is worth noting that Manning's crime is actually worse than Snowden's. While they both did basically the same thing, Manning violated his oath of enlistment to the military in doing so. This is not a trivial distinction; military men swear an oath for practical, life-and-death reasons, things that aren't really applicable to civilians. Naivete and a lack of attention to the probable consequences of leaking information are far less excusable from a military man. Even so, Manning was probably overcharged. I recall he was charged with Aiding the Enemy and Espionage, which seems like a reach for someone who is basically a small potato.

I don't suppose any of that should affect Snowden's calculations, but it certainly should be acknowledged when making apples-to-apples comparisons between the two cases.

-- Nonny Mouse

mahakal said...

The Democratic Party is a Corporatist party, certainly not as bad as the Republicans but every bit as in need of being challenged. The long term plan from my personal perspective is to end the Republican Party altogether and to have a real alternative to the Democratic Party that isn't Corporatist. I don't know if Glenn has the same political objective, but why is it wrong in your opinion?

Of course no mere third party can accomplish anything without enabling technologies, which is why I previously emphasized the reality of abundant natural sources of energy. Despite the mockery this entailed I think I have already adequately proved the point.

Hierarchical energy control upholds hierarchical financial control using unpayable debt as a tool of gaining ownership of all land and resources and ultimately enslaves the people. While I am all for reforms that make life a little better for people while we replace the system, I have no illusions that the present system can be sustained or should be.

The National Security and Surveillance State is a fascist enterprise which will implode as people are unwilling to live under these conditions indefinitely.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

. Despite the mockery this entailed I think I have already adequately proved the point.

Hah.

Sure you did.

If you're political beliefs are based on foundations of the same quality, nothing you say will ever come to pass.

Look, nobody denied the abundance of energy; that's not the issue. It is making use of that abundance that is the trick. THAT'S the part that all of your linking did not even come close to demonstrating.

The engineers and physicists you link to would say the same.

But just go ahead and keep bringing it up, bunky, it's funnier every time, ESPECIALLY when you claim the win so adorably.

mahakal said...

ZRM is human garbage. That is all.

Anonymous said...

mahakal, you WILL be quiet. You are not allowed to speak until you learn to speak like a person with some semblance of manners. Do I make myself goddamned clear?

mahakal said...

Nonny Mice giving orders? Very amusing.

Anonymous said...

That one passage in "To the Lighthouse." Multiplied. America has it's politics, and it has its commonplaces. Where to locate the end of one and the beginning of the other?

Eventually, we'll know why some Democrats fight vigorously for their principles where others just hope for the best. I'm not one of those.

Anonymous said...

Mahakal,

Incidentally, Anon 11:14pm wasn't me. I will be most displeased if other anonymous trolls are awarded use of my derisive knickname.

-- Nonny Mouse

Carmelo Clandestine said...

For the love of Quetzalcoatl, Mahakal, will you PLEASE quit giving the unassimilated Left a bad name with your Jeff Rense-caliber pseudo-science?

Unknown said...

Manning is a hero who's service to the working people is a 'crime' only to the rulers.

Free Bradley Manning!
Hands off Assange, Snowden!

Anonymous said...

In Lumpyland, laws and trials are replaced by the summary judgments of Glenn Greenwald.

http://youtu.be/i-dJPoSlPfU

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Wow.

I am human garbage because I used Google to prove someone was a few bubbles off plumb?

interesting example.

Unknown said...

Laws and trials are generally part and parcel of the state apparatus - the main instrument of violence wielded to maintain the power of the ruling class against the ruled.

That is my view - certainly not Greenwald's.

marindenver said...

"While I am all for reforms that make life a little better for people while we replace the system, I have no illusions that the present system can be sustained or should be."

Psychotically delusional or just massively self-important? You decide.

Anonymous said...

Laws and trials also are used to protect the weak from the strong. If the US crafted and enforced its laws with more care, you may not have needed a Snowden in the first place.

-- Nonny Mouse

mahakal said...

ZRM is human garbage because he lies and has been disproven. "Carmelo" is a racist that supports Zimmerman. Nice comment section you've got here Driftglass. My first comment above is directed to you. I'd appreciate if you take notice of the fact that ZRM is a disinformation troll.

Quoting from the Pollack site that he denies says anything about water dipole separation:

"We found that the solute-exclusion zone is charged, while the zone beyond is oppositely charged. This separation constitutes a battery, from which current can be drawn. The battery is re-charged by incident radiant energy. Hence, the process resembles photosynthesis in that incident light yields charge-separation and useful energy. It is effectively a photoelectric effect, except that the medium is ordered water."

Of course as I said there are other technologies as well, but I won't go into them now.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Of course as I said there are other technologies as well, but I won't go into them now.

Oh please do.

As far as being a troll, I'm not the one calling people who disagree with me names.

ZRM is human garbage because he lies and has been disproven.

The word 'disproven' is very loosely defined in that sentence. And accusing me of lies is laughable.

Of course, you never linked to the site you just quoted; I see why, because it says nothing about a usable energy source, merely that a separation of charges (not dipoles) theoretically creates a battery, and that experiments are under way. Not exactly going to replace any current energy technologies, and exactly zero evidence that it will ever be able to provide useful energy.

And, you apparently misunderstand the use of dipole as applies to water molecules, like you have misunderstood the use of the phrase 'free energy' as applies to mechanical systems. The phenomenon Dr. Pollack describes is 'charge separation' not 'dipole separation' Again, as far as I've been able to see, both from your links and from others, there is no such thing as 'water dipole separation'. There is a related concept in electric separation, but that has nothing to do with molecular dipoles.

I am sorry that your favorite magic is not based in reality. But as well-known fascist Robert Heinlein once observed, TANSTAAFL. And that extends most strictly to physics.

Perhaps, as evidence of your belief in these concepts, your next comment here will be when your computer is running off a Water Battery.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

In the interest of defending my integrity, I have found an interview with Dr. Pollack from 2011, and believe me I will be bringing some more of his ideas into the discussion. But for now, let's just highlight this (in a discussion of drinking water):

Also, it’s chlorinated, it’s
fluorinated and there are some question as to how good those particular additives might be for ones health.


Yes, that's right, the good Doctor is questioning the benefits of chlorination and fluoridation. "Questions", right.

Of course, I am not claiming that because he is skeptical of things that have been proven to be beneficial to the population at large for generations that his other scientific efforts should be discounted.

But I am saying that I may start referring to him as Dr. Jenny McPollack.

mahakal said...

Zombie Liar McDonald says: "Of course, you never linked to the site you just quoted"

Say what?

mahakal said...

Driftglass,

Feel free to chime in here anytime. ZRM will undoubtedly continue to write lies and disinformation in the face of everything. If this were Facebook, I would have the ability to block him myself so he would not see my comments and I would not see his, a feature I have grown to love. But here this is your blog and you decide whether liars and racists run your comment section or if you want to make a statement about what is going on. I'd also like it if you answer my original question and tell me why you think I am wrong, if you do. But I don't really want to interact with liars and racists, and I hope you wouldn't want to have all intelligent discussion driven off.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

whether liars and racists run your comment section

When have I lied?

When have I said anything racist?

I will admit that I did not see your final comment from the "Words" post, and retract my saying that you had never posted that link before. But my not having seen your comment does not equal lying. And as I have said, that link does not support the things you've been claiming.

There STILL Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. If you want an even more severe demonstration, read "The Cold Equations".

Feel free to block me on Facebook, though.

Anonymous said...

Careful of those delicate fee-fees you are treading around, Zombie. He'll call the internet police on you.

-- Nonny Mouse

mahakal said...

For the benefit of those following along and confused at all, here is what Wikipedia says if you look up Dipole:

"An electric dipole is a separation of positive and negative charges. The simplest example of this is a pair of electric charges of equal magnitude but opposite sign, separated by some (usually small) distance."

Separation of charges in water is referring to the same thing as water dipole separation, and it is not a plural "dipoles", the plural of dipole in this sense is "charges." Unless you are referring to multiple containers of water each as a separate dipole.

Awaiting Driftglass to decide whether it is worth spending more time here, though the observant reader will also note that I never called ZRM a racist.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Read a little farther, that's only the first definition. The one that Dr. Jenny-Pollack uses in his text is the one referring to MOLECULAR dipoles.

See here. Not quite the same thing, and it seems that actual scientists and engineers feel that the difference is important.

Now, let's talk about Dr. Pollack's ideas that you should drink STRUCTURED water as it heals your organs. Never mind that there is no definition of Structured Water.

We'll get into his crazier ideas later. I am especially looking forward to discussing his idea that nobody understands how muscles contract.

I presume, however, you are entering these comments from a computer powered by costless water batteries.


I will admit you have one thing right, however; it is useless to argue with you, because apparently you are so credulous you are unable to admit you don't understand the references you cite. If you agree to follow the advice of your fellow Libertoonians and drop the Magick Energy crap from these comments, I will agree to stop mocking you for your foolish beliefs. Well, as far as the magickal Water Battery goes.

You won't get a better deal than that from a zombie.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Still waiting for evidence I've lied on any of this, though.

mahakal said...

ZRM is still lying. Please take note again. Dr. Pollack never referred to a dipole, he used the terms "battery" and "charge-separation." It is useless to try to talk sensibly with a liar. I used the word "dipole" because "battery" isn't strictly the correct term, being not one but a collection of cells, however more generally understood than dipole by the public.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

ZRM is still lying.


Prove it. Prove that I am knowingly saying things that aren't true.

This is the first time that you've admitted that YOU used the word dipole, and Dr. Pollack did not. In fact, you used the phrase "water dipole separation" which I have shown gives no meaningful results when searched on the Internet.

He did not, because he knew it was the wrong word to use for what he was trying to describe. Why isn't "battery" a proper term? Dr. pollack seems to think it fits.

You used it because it was in the first link you posted on this, which also claimed that the Second Law of Thermodynamics was invalid.

Interesting that you say I am still lying, but you then immediately admit that two of the things I have been saying are true.

I guess you don't want to let this go. Well, we all make choices. You let me know when your computer is running on a water generator.

mahakal said...

ZRM: "Read a little farther, that's only the first definition. The one that Dr. Jenny-Pollack uses in his text is the one referring to MOLECULAR dipoles."

Lie.

mahakal said...

Water dipole was in no link that I posted, by the way. I used that term because it is accurate. As Wikipedia will tell you, Battery":

In strict terms, a battery is a collection of multiple electrochemical cells, but in popular usage battery often refers to a single cell.

mahakal said...

Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.

Pinkamena Panic said...

DG,

mahakal has wasted our time and yours with endless insults, lies, and hate. Do something about this.