[RD] News Thread of the Americas

[BirraImperial]

Probably the biggest news today in CR:

Costa Rica ruling party candidate Johnny Araya drops out of presidential race

Link

At 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5, the National Liberation Party’s Johnny Araya made history by becoming the first candidate to drop out of a presidential runoff race in Costa Rica.

Araya, 56, made the announcement to a packed Salón Chirripó at Hotel Corobicí, in western San José. Reporters and Liberation party faithful had waited hours for the much-anticipated speech.

“The campaign for the second round of voting is very difficult and full of obstacles. Resources and time are as limited as the work ahead is extensive,” Araya said. “Prudence suggests we shouldn’t spend millions of colones on political propaganda and meetings. … I will abstain from all electoral activities.”

Araya’s decision to drop out of the race followed the first runoff poll, published Tuesday night by the University of Costa Rica’s Semanario Universidad. The poll gave opposition candidate Luis Guillermo Solís, of the Citizen Action Party, a resounding 44 percent lead ahead of the April 6 runoff.

While both parties involved are ideologically similar (Both claim being social-democrats), the PAC party is slightly more protectionist and more inclined to the left. It was an expected outcome since the current government has been a complete disaster. However, I wonder if this "resignation" is an PLN stunt designed to discourage people from voting for Solís and have a shot a winning. The constitution forbids Araya from actually resigning, so the elections will still take place. No party in our history has rule for more than 2 periods (8 years).

 

[W|M]

No party in our history has rule for more than 2 periods (8 years)

Do Presidents have unlimited terms in Costa Rica?

 

[BirraImperial]

Do Presidents have unlimited terms in Costa Rica?

No, there are no consecutive terms. The constitution allows a former president to run again only after 2 periods have passed since his last election.

 

[Rashiminos]

For the time being, upskirting is apparently legal in Massachusetts:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...r-state-law/BMwo1SJPbKtMzzEUwZdjdK/story.html

Speaker DeLeo vows to fix law after ruling says ‘upskirting’ — shooting a picture under a woman’s dress — is legal

...

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said today that a state law intended to prohibit “Peeping Tom” voyeurism of completely or partially undressed people did not apply to people who take pictures of people who are fully clothed.

...

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Coal Giant to Pay Record Fine for Appalachia Pollution

March6, 2014
The mining giant Alpha Natural Resources will pay a record fine for years of pollution in the Appalachian Mountains. Alpha has been ordered to pay $27.5 million for thousands of violations of water permits and dumping toxins into waterways. It is the largest-ever fine under Section 402 of the Clean Water Act. The company will also be forced to pay around $200 million to upgrade facilities in five states. Around half of the violations were committed by Massey Energy, which Alpha bought in 2011.

 

[Dralix]

For the time being, upskirting is apparently legal in Massachusetts:

That time has passed.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/justice/massachusetts-upskirt-bill/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Welcome to California... The Police State.

Supreme Court ruling eases police search of suspect's home

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Feb 25, 2014
The Supreme Court on Tuesday handed a victory to law enforcement agencies by making it easier for police to search a dwelling without a warrant.

The court held on a 6-3 vote that police can search a home without a warrant, even if the suspect has objected, as long as he is no longer on the scene and a co-tenant gives consent.

It made no difference that the suspect, Walter Fernandez, had earlier objected to the police entering the apartment before police took him outside, the court concluded.

The ruling was a loss for Fernandez, who had wanted evidence found during the search, including firearms and gang paraphernalia, to be suppressed as a violation of the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Fernandez appealed after he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for several offenses, including a robbery that prompted the police search. He sought the Supreme Court review after a California appeals court dismissed his claims.
...
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan all dissented.

Writing on their behalf, Ginsburg said that by focusing on Rojas' consent, the court gave police an incentive to avoid asking a judge for a search warrant in similar situations.

The case is Fernandez v. California, U.S. Supreme Court, 12-7822.

Welcome to the farce that used to be my party:

GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal on Racism

“We still place far too much emphasis on our ‘separateness,’ our heritage, ethnic background, skin color, etc. We live in the age of hyphenated Americans: Asian-Americans, Italian-Americans, African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, Indian-Americans, and Native Americans, to name just a few. Here’s an idea: How about just ‘Americans?’ That has a nice ring to it, if you ask me. Placing undue emphasis on our ‘separateness’ is a step backward. Bring back the melting pot. There is nothing wrong with people being proud of their different heritages. We have a long tradition of folks from all different backgrounds incorporating their traditions into the American experience, but we must resist the politically correct trend of changing the melting pot into a salad bowl. E pluribus Unum.”
To translate, it appears Jindal is actually blaming minorities for causing white people to be racist towards them, and is calling on minorities to end racism by conforming to American life as white people see it. In short, minorities should be more like white people if they want racism to stop.

 

[Glassfan]

Bobby Jindal is not blaming anyone there, he's just giving his opinion on people using the race card as a crutch. And if a partisan publication like Addicting Info is your source than I begin to understand your attitude on things more clearly.

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Bobby Jindal is not blaming anyone there, he's just giving his opinion on people using the race card as a crutch. And if a partisan publication like Addicting Info is your source than I begin to understand your attitude on things more clearly.

First I'd ever heard of Addicting Info.

I avoid the name-calling and partisan language myself... I don't make such conclusory statements in my line of work. I only intended to post Jindal's comment.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Bobby Jindal is not blaming anyone there, he's just giving his opinion on people using the race card as a crutch.

Pray tell, what exactly is "using the race card as a crutch?"

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Pray tell, what exactly is "using the race card as a crutch?"

You know... crutches, like the 13th Amendment, the 19th Amendment, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Movement... all of these things that were handed to women.and minorities.

You know, after 200 years of struggle...

EDIT: In the."Land that I Love" department:

C.I.A. Accused of Illegally Searching Computers Used by Senate Committee

nytimes.com 11 March 2014
WASHINGTON — The chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee said Tuesday that the Central Intelligence Agency had improperly searched computers her committee had been using to investigate C.I.A. interrogation procedures at its secret Bush-era prison system.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and the chairwoman of the committee, said on the Senate floor that the agency had violated federal law and undermined Congress’s constitutional right to oversee the actions of the executive branch.
“I am not taking it lightly,” she said.

The dispute stems from an effort by her committee to investigate allegations of torture and to determine whether what the Bush administration labeled “enhanced interrogation methods” ever produced useful intelligence. The C.I.A. has accused Senate staff members of improperly taking classified information, while Senate aides accuse the C.I.A. of spying.
Ms. Feinstein said that in January, the C.I.A. improperly searched a stand-alone computer network it has established for congressional investigators looking into the interrogation issue. The computers were in a secure room at C.I.A. facility in Northern Virginia where Senate aides poured over millions of pages of secret documents.

Ms. Feinstein said she had sought an apology and an acknowledgment that the C.I.A.'s conduct was improper. “I have received neither,” she said.

The C.I.A. had no comment

They are literally daring us to remove them from power.

 

[Glassfan]

First I'd ever heard of Addicting Info.

GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal on Racism[/URL]

You don't know the Link you used?

 

[ReindeerThistle]

You don't know the Link you used?

Cheezy facebooked it. It doesn't change what Bobby Jindal said. c.f. my above post.

 

[ReindeerThistle]

A crossover to East Asia thread:

Chinese components found in B-1 bombers and F-16 fighters

rt.com 11 March 2014
A Pentagon investigation has found that despite prohibitions by federal law, multiple US aircraft and weaponry are housing Chinese parts and raw materials.

The news comes a couple of months after it was initially revealed that Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet was using Chinese magnets in its new radar system. Despite concern over Chinese espionage efforts and military buildup, the Pentagon reportedly waived laws barring the parts in order to keep $392 billion program on schedule.

According to Reuters, the US Department of Defense said that in addition to the F-35, the B-1 bomber, the F-16 fighter jets, and the SM-3 IIA missile were also found to be housing Chinese components or raw material. Specifically, the Pentagon authorized waivers for the inclusion of specially manufactured magnets in the aircraft, while Chinese-sourced titanium may have been used in the missile’s construction....

So, like, what happens if we go to war with China?

 

[ReindeerThistle]

Headline says it all:

Colorado Recreational Marijuana Tax Revenue Hits $2M in First Month

 

[ywhtptgtfo]

A crossover to East Asia thread:

Chinese components found in B-1 bombers and F-16 fighters



So, like, what happens if we go to war with China?

Not a big deal, the Americans have done way more espionage than the Chinese.

 

[classical_hero]

Cheezy facebooked it. It doesn't change what Bobby Jindal said. c.f. my above post.

So what is wrong with his quote?

 

[dexters]

A crossover to East Asia thread:

Chinese components found in B-1 bombers and F-16 fighters



So, like, what happens if we go to war with China?

#1 source is RT, which has less journalist integrity than Fox news; when you could have just linked to the Reuters piece

#2 its really very broad. 'chinese materials' is a non issue if its manufactured and processed, ie: just some magnets in radar.

I'd be more concerned about semiconductors and the like and the story doesn't really tell us how extensive that problem is.

 

[Takhisis]

Argentina's official inflation statistics indicate that prices have risen 7.2% just in the first two months of the year.

Rollahcoastah, once again!

 

[BirraImperial]

Argentina's official inflation statistics indicate that prices have risen 7.2% just in the first two months of the year.

Rollahcoastah, once again!

Funny how he got mad during the news conference, did not allow any questions to be asked and blamed the private sector for the whole thing. Sounds like someone from a country not far away from Argentina...