What’s interesting in the news today?
Open Thread
1. China has hacked data on 4 million US govt workers.
From Bloomberg “The disclosure by U.S. officials that Chinese hackers stole records of as many as 4 million government workers is now being linked to the thefts of personal information from health-care companies.
Forensic evidence indicates that the group of hackers responsible for the U.S. government breach announced Thursday likely carried out attacks on health-insurance providers Anthem Inc. and Premera Blue Cross that were reported earlier this year, said John Hultquist of iSight Partners Inc. The cyber-intelligence company works with federal investigators.
The thefts are thought to be part of a broader effort by Chinese hackers to obtain health-care records and other personal information stored on millions of U.S. government employees and contractors from various sources, including insurers, government agencies and federal contractors, said a U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The data could be used to target individuals with access to sensitive information who have financial, marital or other problems and might be subject to bribery, blackmail, entrapment and other espionage tools, the official said.”
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2. In hindsight I’m guessing the mayor sees the error in her “let them have space to destroy things” strategy. At least you would hope she’d see the connection.
From CBS/Baltimore “Baltimore’s top cop confirms what WJZ has been reporting – -almost 200,000 narcotics are on the streets of Baltimore, and police say they’re fueling deadly turf wars.”
“Police believe stolen prescription drugs are driving the violence sweeping the city. “There’s enough narcotics on the streets of Baltimore to keep it intoxicated for a year,” Commissioner Batts said.
More than 175,000 units or doses of drugs were looted from 27 pharmacies and two methadone clinics during the April 27 riots. Almost half of those businesses haven’t even finished assessing what was stolen.”
“I think that part of it’s connected to turf battled between gangs and independent drug dealers. You also have a new source, a new inventory of drugs on the street that people have to sell,” said DEA Special Agent Gary Tuggle. “They’re selling to a limited number of people, so they’re vying for that customer base.””
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3. Worst part is many still believe the lies. They’re too lazy to check it on their own. Others don’t even care that they’re false, since it fits their memes.
From NationalReview “Have you noticed your liberal friends on Facebook spotlighting some unbelievably shocking comments from Republican presidential candidates lately?
Comments like Ted Cruz declaring on May 22, “While there may have been an age difference, Josh Duggar’s transgressions are far less an affront to God than what gays do to each other.”
Or Dr. Ben Carson saying on May 10, “Mother’s Day is a sad, lonely day for women who aborted their babies. Even if they have a living child, they focus on the one they murdered. It’s why suicide rates are so high on Mother’s Day.”
Or Marco Rubio asking on May 26, “Why wouldn’t I trust Josh Duggar to babysit my children? I’d rather leave my daughters alone with him than with Beyonce or Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift.”
Of course, all of these quotes are fake. They come from a “satirical” Facebook page, “Stop the World, the Teabaggers Want Off.” But that hasn’t stopped more than a few liberals from enthusiastically sharing graphics featuring the imaginary incendiary comments, and stirring themselves into the attendant froth of outrage. The site declares itself to be “for entertainment purposes only,” and that may be true — if you’re the kind of person who devours made-up, outrageous quotes from conservative politicians for fun. But there’s nothing funny about it from the perspective of the politicians’ presidential campaigns, who are starting to see the fake quotes and positions permeate the world of actual news.
“It’s obviously frustrating for any campaign, because the point of these sites is not to inform the public, it’s to cause trouble,” says Brian Phillips, director of rapid response at Cruz for President, who deals with these sorts of stories all the time. “There’s a whole industry of anti-conservative reporters or sometimes just folks on the Left who don’t really care about reporting the truth, who have another agenda to make a candidate look extreme.””
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4. And on a related note……
Same goes for the liberal media. They don’t care if it’s true, as long as it furthers the cause.
From HotAir “RedState’s Erick Erickson was the closing keynote speaker after a two-day conference on food stamp reform, Obamacare and government fraud hosted by the Foundation for Government Accountability. Here, Erickson spoke at length about liberal media culture, and the delusions from within these circles.”
“Erickson described this cadre of lefty reporters and bloggers as clubby; they’re more interested in narrative than facts, they’re interested in getting from A to B, and they want to change the world for the better, whatever that is–but there are ways to disrupt that narrative.”
“Also, for the grassroots activists, Erickson noted how members of Congress tell him how “dumb” the foot soldiers have become, but it’s not their fault. They’re just not properly informed, with their fact sheets filled with errors–and in some cases not really knowing the policy which prompted the phone call to said legislator.”
“Erickson also said conservatives have to do a better job defending our friends. Granted, there are some people who need to be let go – Erickson didn’t name names – but overall, we shouldn’t sit idly by as the left descends upon the Duck Dynasty guys in an effort to drive them out. He noted that they’re not martyrs of the early Christian period, but we need to stand by folks when they voice their opinions or try to tell the truth about government corruption and fraud.
Now at the same time, the left, which Erickson described as the “Hordes of Mordor,” don’t just go after conservatives; they eat each other–and it’s just as bad.”
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Wandering Views 
#2. Have you ever considered how many people wouldn’t be killed, how narco gangs wouldn’t exist and how few homeless people would be on the streets if people in the US didn’t buy drugs?
I used to have a friend in HS who belonged to a religious group that didn’t believe in medicine. They believed in “faith healing”, but not for the ordinary reasons. They knew that the word for “sorceries” in Rev. 9:21 & 18:23 was pharmakeia, which they interpreted as medicine. They were otherwise solid in their doctrine.
I didn’t believe that. But I’m beginning to believe they were on to something for a different reason. The curse of pharmakeia in the end times may indeed be the, almost universal, drug plague However, Rev. 18:23 indicates that something else, besides drugs, might be at work.
There are texts in Acts where Elymas used sorceries, which we interpret to me magic to seduce people, and Acts uses “sorceries” for magic. .The uses in Acts is mageia -in Greek, of course. Where pharmakeia is used, it is always applied to drugs.
However, the NIV has, for Rev. 18:23, ”Your merchants were the world’s great men, By your magic spell, all the nations were led astray.” The only magic referenced in Revelation, other than possible sedation of drugs, is the magic performed in Rev. 13, where fire comes down, The word here is “wonders” or more properly “signs:?
I don’t mean to open a theological discussion. But I am convinced that the almost universal plague of narcotics has a lot to do with our problems today.
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The ? after “signs” doesn’t belong there.
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Yep, I’ve seen those “quotes” and posts on FB. 🙂
There’s a lot of desperation and outright anger seriously ramping on the left in what will be an all-out, no-holds-barred battle to hold on to the White House in 2016. Not going to be pretty.
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Above was in response to #3, BTW
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I suppose this is the result of all those faux news hows that many people watch late at night. They get all their “news” from satirical shows like the former Jon Stewart’s program and turn that cynicism into the political cycle.
This makes them more cynical, more sarcastic and frankly, more rude toward anyone hip enough not to get it–if they even realize that “it” is a lie or at best a mis-statement.
The days of Noah come to mind regularly. The emperor is wearing no clothes.
But we do not give up hope–in the world we have tribulation, but He has overcome the world.
Yesterday, the pastor quoted from a Philip Yancey book about how believers have lost sight of heaven, because for many in our country the heavenly promises are pretty much here if you’re wealthy: streets of gold, no more sickness, controlling the universe.
In all generations before, the hope of no more tears, a mansion prepared for us and lying down lambs with solves sounded very appealing.
Given the world we live in, that’s starting to sound really appealing to me as well! Maybe I’ll teach on heaven next?
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If you can read the above, you have transcended into a glorious world above spell check and word changing, not to mention poor typing skills . . . 🙂
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And freedom from sin … We really have lost sight of what we should be yearning for.
A 30-something co-worker (and she’s not the first) told me she ONLY watches John Stewart, that’s where she gets her political news.
Sigh.
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Chas, I see a few objections to your theory (I don’t know if you remember, but in my first comment on World, you replied to me and mentioned your theory. I have though about it since). The first is that in #2, the drugs are prescription drugs. In other words, perfectly legitimate to use for the right reasons.
There is a deeper objection I have to the idea that drugs are somehow a cause of evil. With a few exceptions (i.e. meth), most of them are plant derived. In other words, humans did not create narcotics – God did (Genesis 1:11, 29). In fact, those hard drugs like cocaine and heroin are derived from plants which also supply medicinal needs. Heroin comes from opium plants, but so do morphine and codeine. Cocaine is used as a surgical anesthetic. Just yesterday, I was teasing my brother-in-law over his love for coffee. Caffeine is a narcotic, a stimulant like cocaine, and the natives of South America, where cocaine originated, drink a tea from the leaves of the plant, just as the Chinese and now many millions around the world drink tea from the caffeine laden tea leaves. As I pointed out to someone recently, the most dangerous and addictive substance is alcohol; yet, the Bible praises God for giving us the gift of wine and God even had wine offered along with the burnt offerings. Alcohol itself, contrary to Islamic teaching, is not sinful; our misuse of it is sinful. So it is with drugs. Just because some people crave heroin or kill to smuggle cocaine does not negate the fact that surgical patients’ pain is numbed with cocaine or cancer patients are eased with morphine.
As to the word pharmakeia in Revelation, I think ‘sorceries’ is the best translation. I realize it is the word from which we get things like pharmacy, but you have to understand the cultural context. In West Africa, we unwillingly competed with traditional healers. These healers did have some herbal remedies which worked, if used correctly. However, these healers also worked with spirits, using charms and amulets to harness the spiritual powers. Thus the use of legitimate medicine and the use of sorcery were linked. From what I have read of Greek, Roman, and even Hebrew culture, medicine and sorcery had a similar connection. Western people have a hard time understanding that, because our ancestors’ superstitious practices have largely been lost in the mists of time. However, we kept the medicine. Our ability to separate the legitimate use of drugs from the sinful use of demonic power has largely been due to Christian influence. It is sad that Christians should fail to recognize that all things created by God are good and are to be to be used with thanksgiving (I Timothy 4:4).
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All that being said, I am horrified at the trail of destruction the drug trade is leaving, especially, at this point in Latin America. If demand is not cut off soon, the supply lines will go up in flames of anarchy. I think that the war against drugs should take a page from anti-abortion activists. Instead of cute little slogans, like ‘Just say no”, it should have posters showing the dismembered victims of drug cartels, with captions like “This is what your crack habit did.”
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Thoughts?
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/the-way-win-elections-it-makes-governing-harder
” … Campaigns see an America more polarized than ever, and winning is all about coming out ahead in this polarized world. But it makes governing harder than it already was. Bottom line: Campaigns don’t engage in persuasion anymore. They simply look for unmotivated like-minded potential voters and find an issue to motivate them. And if someone wins office by not having to persuade a voter who actually swings between the two parties, there isn’t any motivation for said elected official to compromise. This cycle of polarization will continue until someone wins a massive election based on a different premise. …”
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Interesting and good points roscuro. With a dear friend who is navigating terminal cancer, I’m deeply grateful for the morphine Hospice has provided, awaiting in her refrigerator for when it will be needed.
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Satan and mankind has the ability to corrupt anything.
Earlier, Obama made the statement that they had no plan for defeating ISIS. I think he has since walked back on some of that.
But a guy called Rush’s program today to say that the Pentagon does, indeed, have a plan.
That reminded me, though I had forgotten.
YES! They wargame everything. I told you some time ago that I went to the Naval War College. Graduated in 1979. I learned that they wargame everything. I have no real knowledge of what goes on now, but I can assure you that they have gamed:
What it takes to defeat isis
What would likely happen if Russia really invaded Ukraine.
China expanding into the SW Pacific.
Iran attacking Israel and vice versa.
N Korea moving south.
N Korea launching a rocket to US
Someone smuggling a suitcase atomic bomb across the southern border
And some thing we haven’t thought of.
The reason we have problems now is that none of our leaders in the 1990’s understood Islam. Most still don’t. Their only concern is re-election.
The military leaders have a good handle on what it takes to perform a task. They are strong on the capabilities, but weak on the intentions of the enemy.
And our leaders. I think that everyone gives Obama more credit than he disserves.
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On how to possibly handle the drug epidemic (this article is from 2012, but still applies)…
“On July 1st, 2001, Portugal decriminalized every imaginable drug, from marijuana, to cocaine, to heroin. Some thought Lisbon would become a drug tourist haven, others predicted usage rates among youths to surge.
“Eleven years later, it turns out they were both wrong.
“Over a decade has passed since Portugal changed its philosophy from labeling drug users as criminals to labeling them as people affected by a disease. This time lapse has allowed statistics to develop and in time, has made Portugal an example to follow.
“First, some clarification.
“Portugal’s move to decriminalize does not mean people can carry around, use, and sell drugs free from police interference. That would be legalization. Rather, all drugs are “decriminalized,” meaning drug possession, distribution, and use is still illegal. While distribution and trafficking is still a criminal offense, possession and use is moved out of criminal courts and into a special court where each offender’s unique situation is judged by legal experts, psychologists, and social workers. Treatment and further action is decided in these courts, where addicts and drug use is treated as a public health service rather than referring it to the justice system (like the U.S.), reports Fox News.”
It goes on to say that drug use has been cut in half.
http://www.businessinsider.com/portugal-drug-policy-decriminalization-works-2012-7#ixzz3cVCurRg0
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Re: #3 – I had shared that article on Facebook a few days ago.
One that is not mentioned is the one that has Rand Paul supposedly saying that equal pay for women is a communist idea straight out of the Soviet Union. He did not say that. He said that the idea of the government telling companies what to pay their employees (referring to minimum wage laws) was an idea out of the Soviet Union. (Even if one doesn’t agree with that, either, it is a lot different from the fake quote.)
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Donna @ 12:00
It’s always been “an all-out, no-holds-barred battle to [win] the White House ” in any Presidential election year. By both sides. Nothing sinister in the Democrats wanting to win in 2016, any more so than the Republicans.
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Roscuro – Going along with what you wrote about many drugs being derived from plants, what do you think of casual marijuana use (as in using it similarly to a glass or two of wine, to “mellow out” a bit, but not overdoing it)? I am not sure yet exactly what I think about that as I’ve heard good points on either side of the question.
I know one objection I’ve heard is that many drug users, or kids who end up getting in some kind of trouble, started with marijuana. But then it was pointed out that those same people also partook of alcohol around the same age.
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It doesn’t matter that the Republicans didn’t really say those things, Everyone know that’s what they are thinking. :-),
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Yeah, you’re probably right Roy. 😉
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