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The new defense spending bill includes $120 million for tanks that the Army has repeatedly said it doesn't want.

For three years, the Army in numerous Congressional hearings has pushed a plan that essentially would have suspended tank building and upgrades in the U.S. for the first time since World War II. The Army suggested that production lines could be kept open through foreign sales.

Each time, Congress has pushed back. Last week, Congress won again in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2015.

In a statement, Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said that Congress "recognizes the necessity of the Abrams tank to our national security and authorizes an additional $120 million for Abrams tank upgrades. This provision keeps the production lines open in Lima, Ohio,……

Its http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=us/2010/05/10/okahoma.tornado.kwtv seems to be *dead.

yes, that is all too true. can be very successful yet be oblivious to the realities around them.

- remember an interview w/Ted Turner, while he was on top in the cable world (CNN was king). when speaking about business matters; very insightful. But when the questions about current affairs came around; he gave his opinion then changed it or said IDK anytime the interview offered a counterpoint.

- in an interview w/Colin Powell, as Sec of State, when the interviewer tried to corner him on how, looking at his GPA in HS and college, he ever made it to a 4-star general? all Colin would do was smile and say (something like) "It's good to be American. It offers many great opportunities to many people." That line of questioning ending in both parties smiling and chuckling.

- had to show our valedictorian how to put air into a tire. watching them struggle was hilarious but made one empathic.

also the belief anyone can become the president of the U.S.A. is both inspiring and terrifying. (as we all know now)

****

seeing this video, and the truth of the above sentence is a reason why education should become one of the top three, if not top, priorities, and quests of this nation. paired w/a universal form of national service* should provide all citizens will the skills to perceive wtf is actually going on.

*a former military serviceman, back from Iraq, noticed that Congress has far fewer former service members in their ranks since the early '80s. he noted in the military there are many ilks of service personnel, but they all work toward one goal. they have to - or they fail. reading this, have to believe - like Bush, Sr and Clinton both agreed on - that all Americans should put in some form of national service . since it'd foster a better understanding of other Americans: how they lived, how they were raised, their beliefs, the challenges they must face...i.e. see more than what's outside your 'bubble'.

this idea and a couple of other GREAT bipartisan ideas have waned since 9/11 but it'd be a hell of a fix.

* * * * realizing have wandered off the trail * * * *

or more concisely; to your point...

a body might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but any tool can become useful.

I don't think any prosecutor wants to be the first one to put a person of non-Caucasian ethnicity on the stand for a hate crime, even when it clearly should have been counted as one.

That said, Turner was most likely under-sentenced. Not 'just' because he was white, but because he was from a rich family. In addition, he was lucky because, at the time, California law did not consider digital penetration rape. If you did not penetrate the woman's body with your penis, the most they could charge you with was assault with the intent. They also managed to tack on sexual penetration by a 'foreign' object.

On the other hand, you have a gang rape that there was photo and video evidence of. Evidence that showed that the defendant mentioned in the video not only participated in the rape, but urinated on the victim and told her "That was for 400 years of slavery, you bitch."

Finally, this is a hot issue. There will always be disagreements. @C-note linked a high rated video featuring someone we would 'expect' to be racist, due to stereotyping, confirming that racism still does exist and that racial privilege does as well. I agree that there are still racist issues in our society, although I personally feel we are moving more towards privilege based on monetary worth than racial worth. However, the simple fact of the matter is, this video is playing hard AND loose with the facts to skew the opinion of the viewer. A lot of videos do that. One of the good things about the sift is they WILL call people out on it, usually gently at first but with more force if it is repeated.

Batey, aggravated rape and other (unlisted) charges...I think not hate crimes because....well, no reason, this was a clear hate crime, but he wasn't charged as such or sentenced for the other convictions..... Black privilege?
Tennessee-Class A Felony - 15-60 years in prison and a fine not more than $50,000 (aggravated rape, rape of a child)
"There were five acts of sexual assault and rape committed by [Batey] and him alone, and there were seven acts of violence he was found guilty of committing against me.
But sexual assault was not where the attack ended."
They also kidnapped her to take her unconscious body to the raping place.

Turner, 3 cases of felony sex assault for one act. It seems the prosecutor was asking for 1/2 the max of 12 years.
Felony Sexual Battery: This has a range of punishments. The defendant could receive a term of imprisonment in county jail for up to 1 year and a fine of up to $2,000. However, California state laws also allows for imprisonment for 2, 3, or 4 years as well as a fine of up to $10,000.

Keep in mind, different states have different laws and sentences.

Yep, exactly the same crimes.....

Victims testimony....after describing the impacts of the brutal racially motivated gang rape by 4 men that Batey pled guilty to, which they filmed and posted online to haunt her for life....
“Mr. Batey continued to abuse and degrade me, urinating on my face while uttering horrific racial hate speech that suggested I deserved what he was doing to me because of the color of my skin. He didn’t even know who I was.”
Batey was then sentenced to the MINIMUM sentence possible for just one of his many convictions.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2016/07/14/cory-batey-faces-least-15-years-friday-sentencing/86953944/?from=new-cookie

Turner was convicted of fingering a drunk maybe unconscious girl, felony sexual assault not gang rape as a hate crime, disgusting to be sure but hardly a brutal, violent, racially motivated degrading gang rape and violent attack filmed so as to continue the attack for life, and Turner was sentenced based on the probation departments recommendations which were actually longer than the minimum, and also include registration for life as a sex offender.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_v._Turner

Stop being a race baiter crying wolf, I'll call you on it every time.
Downvote

Being held accountable for what we do is a good thing, but ignoring degrees and distinctions can turn it bad.

Weinstein out of a position of power, out of a job, and quite possibly into jail: good. Deserved, and sends an important message to those that might want to abuse their power in similar ways in the future. Precedent set -- however things worked before, we won't stand for that shit anymore.

Louis CK out of favor, and on record for doing creepy things which reduces opportunity to continue doing said creepy things. Also removed from positions where he could exert pressure to "consent" to said creepery where consent likely wouldn't be granted if the threat of job repercussions wasn't implied or patently stated. Again, good outcome -- in my opinion including the fact that he likely won't face criminal charges while Weinstein may.


Franken, on the other hand, was held accountable for actions in a way that I found troublesome for two reasons:

1) He was under scrutiny for past actions, yet placed under the judgement of current (bleeding edge current, even) behavioral standards. That is trending towards ex-post-facto law. I can't pass a law in December making it illegal to wear white shirts, then throw you in jail for having worn a white shirt in November before the law was in effect.

It isn't the same thing because sexual harassment has been illegal all along, and because he wasn't really facing legal trouble, just professional / political trouble -- where "ex-post-facto" judgments aren't prohibited. Still, it seems like when standards change we should try to limit judgement under current standards to current behavior. There's a reason why it works that way in law.


2) Furthermore, a lot of the scrutiny Franken was under completely stripped the behavior from context. Context is extremely important. That's why Weinstein "asking" women to "consent" to his rapey behavior wasn't OK, even though asking for consent is sort of the baseline "good"/expected behavior -- they weren't actually completely free to tell him to shove it.

Ignoring the context of Franken's behavior means that it is immaterial that he was working for the USO at the time, where on-stage suggestive stuff and raunchiness was/is pretty much the whole idea. Immaterial that on-stage "groping and kissing" stuff may well have been scripted as such, and basically consented to by the actors -- part of the show.

Combine that with ignoring degrees of offense, and we're listing Franken's name in the same sentence with Louis CK and Harvey Weinstein, which is ridiculous. Franken "had to" be a sacrificial lamb to demonstrate that Democrats are willing to walk the walk as well as talk the talk on this issue -- but did he really?

If more Democrats were willing to "tell it like it is", as I'd argue Maher is doing here, Franken could have said that the photo where he mimed groping a sleeping Karri Turner was a mistake, a joke in poor taste done in the context of an entire tour that seems in poor taste by modern standards, and that could have been the end of it. He could still be in office, and the Democrat party at large would have been better off, as would the net balance in Congress with regards to women's issues.

But nope. Context, distinction, and degrees are all meaningless, so Franken's name is in that same list of dirty sleazeball asshole men, no asterisks or footnotes necessary. I don't think the outcome of that game goes in a favorable direction.

Ahh, you are correct. The blocked message was very weird and instead of just saying "blocked" or "not available", it was this long winded line about "This video contains content from the Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific Inc., Honk Kong" that made me think it was a video takedown.

Or when you're on a motorcycle actually follow the rules of the damn road?

Yellow means stop if it's safe. He had tons of room to stop and decided to hit the gas instead. LOS doesn't matter, he was the one breaking the law, yellow light is the left turner's chance to turn.

Guy was being a prick and then complains about the other guy's driving.

There's a reason the majority of organ donations come from motorcyclists.

Also, missed this the first time round. He's in an urban area doing 60. So on top of running the light, he's speeding!

https://www.sandersinstitute.com/

Kelton, West, and Turner? Hot diggity!

Quite refreshing to see him acknowledge the concerns of Trump voters instead of throwing feces at them like lots of pundits and media figures have done since the election.

No chance of gaining any insights into their motivation if you demonize them from the get-go, no chance of gaining some impressions from outside your own bubble...

Nina Turner pretty much nailed it: "We should have been speaking to peoples' hearts and not trying to shame and boss grown folks around"

Frank Turner - Out of Breath has been added as a related post - related requested by Lilithia on that post.

Frank Turner - Out of Breath has been added as a related post - related requested by Lilithia on that post.