Soon, Drones May Be Able to Make Lethal Decisions on Their Own

 

Scientists, engineers and policymakers are all figuring out ways drones can be used better and more smartly, more precise and less damaging to civilians, with longer range and better staying power. One method under development is by increasing autonomy on the drone itself.

Eventually, drones may have the technical ability to make even lethal decisions autonomously: to respond to a programmed set of inputs, select a target and fire their weapons without a human reviewing or checking the result. Yet the idea of the U.S. military deploying a lethal autonomous robot, or LAR, is sparking controversy. Though autonomy might address some of the current downsides of how drones are used, they introduce new downsides policymakers are only just learning to grapple with.

More @ National Journal

Star Parker: Tea party is the Solution, Not the Problem

 

Let's get clear about the political realities behind the budget impasse in Washington and the government shutdown.

Nothing captures the distortions being perpetrated more than the headline of a Washington Post column by Anne Applebaum that reads: "The GOP Undermines Democracy."

And, according to President Barack Obama, a "faction" of Republicans (read "tea party") is holding the nation hostage to its "ideological demands."

After all, isn't it true that the health care law is the law of the land? Isn't it also true that it passed constitutional muster before the U.S. Supreme Court? And isn't it also true that we have a president, who champions this health care law, who has been elected twice?

All true.

But it is also true that the brilliant architects of the U.S. Constitution provided many checks and balances and a multitude of channels through which the will of the people may, at all times, be expressed.

More @ Town Hall

Death of General Robert E. Lee

 

 Death of General Robert E. Lee, 12 October 1870

“His moral qualities rose to the height of his genius. Hitherto men have been honoured when successful, but here is one who amid disaster went down to his grave, and those who were his companions in misfortune have assembled to do reverence to his memory. It is an honor to you who give as well as to him who receives, for, about the vulgar test, you show yourselves competent to judge between him who enjoys, and him who deserves, success…He sleeps with the thousands who fought under the same flag; he sleeps in the soil to him and to them the most dear. That flag was furled when there was no one to bear it; and we, a remnant of the living, are here to do homage to his peerless greatness, and there is an army of skeleton sentinels to keep watch over his grave.”  Eulogy by Jefferson Davis

By Calvin E. Johnson, Jr.

  

The headline from a Richmond newspaper read, quote;

“News of the death of Robert E. Lee, beloved chieftain of the Southern army, whose strategy mainly was responsible for the surprising fight staged by the Confederacy, brought a two-day halt to Richmond's business activities.”

The United States flag, which Robert E. Lee had defended as a soldier, flew at half mast in Lexington, Virginia and throughout the USA.

General Lee died at his home at Lexington, Virginia at 9:30 AM on Wednesday, October 12, 1870. His last great deed came after the War Between the States when he accepted the presidency of Washington College, now Washington and Lee University. He saved the financially-troubled college and helped many young folks further their education.

Some write that Robert E. Lee suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on September 28, 1870, but was thought to greatly improve until October 12th, when he took a turn for the worse. His condition seemed more hopeless when his doctor told him, "General you must make haste and get well---Traveler---has been standing too long in his stable and needs exercise."

Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Cadet William Nalle said in a letter home to his mother, dated October 16, 1870, quote;

“I suppose of course that you have all read full accounts of Gen Lee's death in the papers. He died on the morning of the 12th at about half past nine. All business was suspended at once all over the country and town, and all duties, military and academic suspended at the Institute, and all the black crape and all similar black material in Lexington, was used up at once, and they had to send on to Lynchburg for more. Every cadet had black crape issued to him, and an order was published at once requiring us to wear it as a badge of mourning for six months.”

  

The rains and flooding were the worse of Virginia's history on the day General Lee died. On Wednesday, October 12, 1870, in the presence of his family, Lee quietly passed away.

The church bells rang as the sad news passed through Washington College, Virginia Military Institute, the town of Lexington and the nation. Cadets from VMI College carried the remains of the old soldier to Lee Chapel where he laid in state.

Memorial meetings were held throughout the South and as far North as New York. At Washington College in Lexington eulogies were delivered by: Reverend Pemberton, Reverend W.S. White---Stonewall Jackson's pastor, and Reverend J. William Jones. Former Confederate President Jefferson Davis [eulogized Lee] in Richmond, Virginia. Lee was also eulogized in Great Britain.  When all settled down, Mrs. Robert E. Lee said, "If he had succeeded in gaining by the sword all the South expected and hoped for, he could not have been more honored and lamented."

Many thousands witnessed Lee's funeral procession marching through the town of Lexington, Virginia, with muffled drums and the artillery firing as the hearse was driven to the school's chapel where he was buried.  US President Dwight D. Eisenhower knew and appreciated our nation’s rich history. He was criticized for displaying a portrait of Robert E. Lee in his office. This was part of his response; quote

"Robert E. Lee was, in my estimation, one of the supremely gifted men produced by this nation."

Robert E. Lee was the hero of the Southern people and admired both North and South of the Mason-Dixon Line. This Christian- gentleman's last words were, "Strike the Tent."

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NC Obamacare:Insurance premium increases shock Charlotte consumers

 

Across North Carolina, thousands of people have been shocked in recent weeks to find out their health insurance plans will be canceled at the end of the year – and premiums for comparable coverage could increase sharply.

One of them is George Schwab of Charlotte, who pays $228 a month for his family’s $10,000 deductible plan from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

In a Sept. 23 letter, Blue Cross notified him that his current plan doesn’t meet benefit requirements outlined in the Affordable Care Act and suggested a comparable plan for $1,208 a month – $980 more than he now pays.

“I’m 62 and retired,” Schwab said. “This creates a tremendous financial burden for our family.

More @ Charlotte Observer

Michigan car wash CCW killings: Stupid is as stupid does

 

You know the story by now.

Two Michigan concealed carry permit (CCW) holders, 43 year-old James Pullum and 56 year-old Robert Taylor get involved in some kind of road rage.  Mr. Pullum pulls over to the side of the road at a car wash (for whatever reason) and Mr. Taylor, the alleged instigator, follows behind him.  The drivers exit their vehicles, an argument ensues and a gunfight breaks out.  The two participants die at the scene having proven their point.

Yeah I know, I wasn’t there and clearly one of these two men was the aggressor.  (Widely seen as Mr. Taylor whom we are told by witnesses was tailgating the other driver, Mr. Pullum)  I’ve had several people tell me that by calling both of these men idiots during my national radio broadcast on Sunday 9-22-2013 that I may be jumping to conclusions.   In one case I was reminded by one of my guests that we “don’t know what Mr. Pullum was thinking” when he pulled his car over which unintentionally or not, lead to the altercation that killed them both.

My response?  I don’t give a damn what Mr. Pullum was thinking when he pulled his car over at the car wash that evening.  It doesn’t matter what was going through his mind and no amount of reasoning will change the fact that this incident should never have happened.  E-mailers have told me that it’s easy for me to “Monday morning quarterback” the events “in hindsight” and that I may be unfair in my description of these two men because one of them (Mr. Pullum) may have only been trying to protect his passengers.

Seriously?  I’m jumping to conclusions?  Two men are dead.  Both of them shot and killed in a dirty car-wash parking lot, one of them in front of his wife and mother.  What conclusions would I be “jumping” to?  Under what circumstances would it have been acceptable for Mr. Pullum to voluntarily pull his car over and exit his vehicle to confront a road raging maniac unless he were forced off of the road by the other vehicle (which by all accounts he was not), and do it while he was in possession of a deadly weapon?

More @ Human Events

Obama, Lincoln and the U.S. Will history repeat itself?

Via WiscoDave

 

How ironic that Obama’s inaugural theme song is inspired by Abraham Lincoln and called “A New Birth of Freedom”. The title is taken from Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, which he gave after decisively robbing the citizens of the Confederate states of their freedom during the Civil War.

A New Birth of Tyranny is more like it.

 

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 Since arriving on the national stage, many educated people have compared Barack Hussein Obama to Abraham Lincoln in glowing terms. Obama himself has an interesting, if not peculiar, love affair with the nation’s 16th president. From quoting Lincoln to emulating his historic activities, such as his 2007 speech on the steps of the Springfield Capitol and his 2009 train ride to history, Obama seems to have embraced and even assumed the persona of Lincoln.

There is one problem, however, by those who continue to elevate Obama to ‘Lincoln status,’ and for Obama himself. They are correct, but not for the reasons they promote. Meanwhile, Americans might be watching history preparing to be repeated, which does not bode well for the United States - the Union, or Obama - the man.

Despite the fact that there have been more books written about the life of Lincoln than any other U.S. President, the average person would be hard-pressed to learn the real truth about Lincoln from these works.

The truth about Lincoln seems to be well protected from modern discovery by self-appointed ‘Lincoln scholars,’ as they have busily revised history to fit their official narrative. After all, Lincoln is considered to be the most important political figure in U.S. history because the Civil War “so fundamentally transformed the nature of American government.”(i) Accordingly, they cannot permit the truth to get in the way of an acceptable legend, as doing so might cause Americans to realize the extent of the lies we’ve been living under.

 Students of non-revisionist history understand that the Civil War under Lincoln did indeed fundamentally transform the United States in a manner few will discuss, for it is this transformation that Obama is also emulating and refining.

More @ Canada Free Press

Issa: IRS Officials Used Private Email to Do Official Business

 

Top IRS officials repeatedly used private email to do official business, including sending classified documents to non-agency email addresses, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa says.

Issa, a California Republican and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote a letter to IRS Acting Commissioner Daniel Werfel outlining a "troubling pattern" involving at least four senior officials — including now-retired official Lois Lerner, who's at the center of a tea party groups' targeting scandal.

The Washington Examiner, which broke the story Monday, quoted from a copy of the letter it had obtained.

"This not only raises the prospect of violations of the Federal Records Act, but it also raises data security concerns and violates internal IRS policies," Issa wrote.

Issa wrote that he discovered the unsecure emails while investigating the agency's targeting of tea party and conservative groups during the 2012 election season.

More @ Newsmax

Watchlist

Via NC Renegade

Goodies From Ol' Remus

Ol' Remus 

 

Just in - The IPCC is 95% sure humans are responsible for the global warming that isn't happening.
Ol' Remus at woodpilereport.com 

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Michelle Obama announced that she is unable to Tweet on her own without the aid of all of her sixteen assistants; many of whom take home six figure salaries. There are more directors, associate directors and deputy associate directors on Michelle Obama’s staff than there were in George Washington’s entire administration.
Daniel Greenfield at sultanknish.blogspot.com.au

Note - Camille Johnston, her Director Communications, is salaried at $102,000. Michelle Obama has a staff of twenty-two with $1,591,200 in annual salaries.

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 If they were sincere about their report they'd acknowledge that outside of suicide, gun deaths—of any age—are largely a black thang. They're also a single-mother thing. Here in New York, the map of single-parent households looks exactly like the map of gun deaths.
Gavin McInnes at takimag.com

 

Demographics - If you take the cities of New York, Chicago, Washington DC and Detroit out of the statistics on murder and gun violence in the United States, then the United States has one of the lowest murder rates in the world, and a very low crime rate involving the use of firearms.
wintersoldier2008.typepad.com 

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The DC shooting

An unarmed 34-year-old woman with a history of post-partum depression drives to Washington, D.C. from Stamford, Connecticut this past week with her 18-month-old daughter, allegedly hits a police checkpoint barrier with her car, freaks out, accelerates to get away, is chased by the cops, stopped by them and then is shot and killed. The next day Congress gave the D.C. cops a standing ovation. Really? Has the threshold for the use of deadly force been lowered to mothers freaking out in their car?
Susan Boskey at activistpost.com

In their desire to hide the security reinforcements by making them unobtursive, in a place they really don't belong, they suceeded so well I don't think the woman saw them. After bouncing off them I'm sure she panicked, like a rabbit stuck on a wire fence. That ignited the frenzy.
Crusader Rabbit, comment at zerohedge.com

The White House is a place that attracts many unstable people. [so true]
Anonymous Secret Service official via Edmund Mahony at courant.com

 The Capitol Hill cops ... after terrorizing downtown DC, shutting Congress with a fusillade of rounds, engaging in a wild twenty-vehicle chase, crashing a couple of cars, injuring one of their own, managed to shoot and kill a disturbed unarmed African-American single mother apparently AFTER her car had come to a halt and presented no danger. [apparently the airbag never deployed]
DiploMad at thediplomad.blogspot.com

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Who would contemplate sending minions into what amounts to a solid lead wall, moving at a thousand feet per second? Apparently, the fools at the United Nations and their hangers-on and enablers, who mistakenly believe they won't be the poor slobs sent out there to the downrange side of 80 or 100 million American shooters, grimly determined to preserve their political independence, individual freedom, and their guns, says L. Smith in this article, America's Secretest Weapon, at Jews For The Preservation of Firearms Ownership.

When Wall Street wises up to our true fiscal condition, it will dump long-term bonds like hot potatoes. This will lead interest rates to jump and make people and banks very reluctant to hold money earning no return. In trying to swap their money for goods and services, the public will drive up prices. As prices start to rise and fingers start pointing at the Fed for fueling the inflation, QE will be brought to an abrupt halt. At that point, Congress will have to come up with an extra 6 percent of GDP on a permanent basis either via huge tax hikes or huge spending cuts, says Laurence Kotlikoff in this article, Is Hyperinflation Just Around The Corner?, at Forbes.

Gun owners are actually among the most law-abiding and patriotic people in the entire nation, but that doesn’t really fit with the radical gun control agenda of the progressive elite.  In order to move their agenda forward, they must make gun owners look bad, and they will go to ridiculous extremes in order to achieve that goal, says Michael Snyder in this article, Why Are They Trying So Hard To Demonize Gun Owners?, at The American Dream.

Economy and DC - They will delay taking action until there is no possible alternative BUT to act. And by the time that happens, rest assured, their tactics will be Draconian. Capital controls. Gun controls. Wage and price controls. Steep penalties for minor infractions and victimless crimes. Suspension of Habeas Corpus. Confiscation of private pensions and retirement accounts. Huge tax increases. Dual currency systems.
Simon Black at sovereignman.com

The Last Peaceful Defensive Stand

Via LH 

“We are not going to ask for impeachment,” Earl Conlon told US News. “We are coming whether they like it or not. We’re not asking for impeachment, we’re asking for the arrest of everyone in government who has violated their oath of office.”
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/truckers-aim-for-arrests-in-congress/#bMzk7Tod1ADqX23x.99

@ Ride For The Constitution

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Truckers aim for 'arrests' in Congress

 

“We are not going to ask for impeachment,” Earl Conlon told US News. “We are coming whether they like it or not. We’re not asking for impeachment, we’re asking for the arrest of everyone in government who has violated their oath of office.”

 More @ WND