Maybe the state will fine Xerox for the blunder? (legally, by the contract or in court?)

[url]http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/10/14/2344219/doj-defendant-has-no-standing-to-oppose-use-of-phone-records[/url]

I don't know if I should laugh, or cry.

Or, perhaps, both....

Feel free to do both. But save up some tears. I'm sure there's much worse to come.

[QUOTE=chalsall;356256][url]http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/10/14/2344219/doj-defendant-has-no-standing-to-oppose-use-of-phone-records[/url]

I don't know if I should laugh, or cry.

Or, perhaps, both....[/QUOTE]

This is interesting because this is exactly the kind of case that could be taken to the Supremes. Because it is at the furthest edge of what reasonable people might call Governmental overstepping. So we might get to see how the Supremes would play out if and when a real case heads their way (especially interesting will be the Grand Hypocrite Scalia and his Minion.)

Also the defendants are [URL="http://www.fbi.gov/sandiego/press-releases/2013/san-diego-jury-convicts-four-somali-immigrants-of-providing-support-to-foreign-terrorists"]certainly guilty [/URL]so I don't have too much sympathy with them waiting in prison in the mean time.

According to the non-redacted parts of the FBI brief the NSA provided the FBI with information that one of the defendants had been in contact by telephone with a known terrorist. The FBI then used that information to convince a judge that they needed to reopen the case against the defendant and start a wiretap. Which led to the arrest and conviction.

The question is: [B]Does the blanket screening of metadata like phone numbers and IP addresses constitute a violation of the 4th amendment?[/B]

The redacted sections are interesting, one appears to be concerning Foreign Intelligence Information gathering techniques--which the brief claims were not used either to convince the judge of merit or in the trial as evidence.

Another appears to be enumerating the exact metadata used, or possibly whether or not the defendant was on a list for being a terror suspect already which led the NSA to target his metadata for analysis in the first place? (This would seem to be the scariest part of this case: [B]Does the NSA have the right to go willy nilly through your data merely because [SIZE="4"]someone at some time put you on a list[/SIZE]?[/B])

The First Amendment claims on both sides are a bit weak. Especially the heavily redacted "need to know" section on the Government side. That part I have no idea about since it appears to reference a different court case whose name is redacted!

One interesting aside the 9th circuit court is the most "liberal" of the federal courts (and the most mocked and over-turned at the Supreme Court level in modern times) and several of the Government's arguments--including a redacted case--come directly from the 9th circuit. Which means they are fairly confident that they can win at that level.

And, although relevant parts are redacted, I'm pretty sure that the defendant's case is that the time the NSA used his phone records to allow the FBI to reopen the case and convince a judge that he should be wire tapped, that time, mind you,[B] it was someone else using his phone and not him talking to the terrorist.[/B]

A pretty weak argument if you ask me. Bring on Scalia's "I am always talking about civil liberties but when it comes down to it I'm always voting against them" down home country ways...it always brings a tear to my eye and a heartburn to my heart.

Lawyers to earn higher legal aid fees for early guilty pleas
[url]http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/nov/01/lawyers-higher-legal-aid-fees-early-guilty-plea[/url]

It would seem the British government is living in your neighbourhood, or at least they are in cloud cuckoo land.

[URL="http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/392295-5-surprising-benefits-from-chinas-haze-very-surprising-indeed/"]’5 Surprising Benefits from China’s Haze?’ Very Surprising Indeed[/URL][QUOTE]Below is the list of benefits Chinese people are enjoying from the increased air pollution, as summarized in an article on TeaLeafNation.com. The original list was quickly removed from CCTV due to overwhelming ridicule.

1. It unifies Chinese people.
Yes, complaining about smog is bringing Chinese people closer together.

2. It is making China more equal.
Even the filthy rich have to breathe the same filthy air. “Of course,” they can travel in their luxury cars and avoid the worst pollution in other ways, “but they are after all a minority,” and even they “have a hard time” avoiding it completely.

3. It raises citizen awareness.
“With the whole world playing up the Chinese miracle,” the pollution “reminds us that China’s status as ‘the world’s factory’ is not without a price.” It’s just a wonderful opportunity for people to realize the price of break-neck industrialization.

4. It makes Chinese people funnier.
It brings out the best in Chinese people when they are faced with deadly environmental problems like smog. The article lists some popular smog-jokes. Our favorite from the sorry lot is: “I never feel more distant from you than when were holding hands in the street —I can’t see you.”

5. The smog is making Chinese people more knowledgeable.
“Through the arguments and the jokes (about the air pollution) our knowledge of meteorology, geography, physics, chemistry, and history has progressed.” Another thing to be proud of: “English students have added words like haze and smog to their vocabulary.”

The List is Quickly Deleted

It’s hard to say what the intended effect of the list was: to actually have people see the bright side, or just to make them laugh, but it really backfired according to TeaLeafNation, which reported that “thousands of users on Sina Weibo, (China’s Twitter-like platform) have derided the effort.”

The story has disappeared from the major media outlets that had featured it, such as CCTV’s website and the state-run Xinhua, but it was too late to stop netizens from spreading it, and mocking it, far and wide on social media.[/QUOTE]

[url]http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-115[/url]

[SIZE="1"]PS - Warning! This site might consume a day of your life.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;361841][URL]http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-115[/URL]

[SIZE=1]PS - Warning! This site might consume a day of your life.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

There are a few SCP horror games, namely SCP Containment Breach.... play if you dare, I never did.

EDIT: Based on SCP-173.

According to a Fox News presenter, who doesn't allow her interviewees to contradict her on this point, not only Jesus Christ but also Santa Claus were/are white.
[URL]http://www.theguardian.com/media/video/2013/dec/13/santa-white-jesus-white-fox-news-megyn-kelly-video[/URL]

[QUOTE=Brian-E;362051]According to a Fox News presenter, who doesn't allow her interviewees to contradict her on this point, not only Jesus Christ but also Santa Claus were/are white.
[URL]http://www.theguardian.com/media/video/2013/dec/13/santa-white-jesus-white-fox-news-megyn-kelly-video[/URL][/QUOTE]

I am having to restrain an obscene tirade. What an ignorant, condescending piece of.....