Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Everybody saw this coming.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

The willow is too close to the house.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Not all heroes wear capes.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Béisbol en Cuba! (Open Thread)

Béisbol en Cuba! (Open Thread)

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Opening lineups being announced for the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Cuban National Team on ESPN right now. President Obama and family have great seats next to President Castro. The weather in Havana is cloudy and 72, more or less the same as the weather in Florida.

Lots of cute kids on the field accompanying the players during the lineup announcements. A Cuban choir singing BOTH national anthems. Wow. Oh, and the flyover was accomplished with pigeons. Better than loud, fuel-hogging jets, IMO.

Go Rays! And open thread.

Reader Interactions

129Comments

  1. 1.

    dedc79

    It’s going to take more than some in-person scouting of Cuban talent by Obama to turn his White Sox around.

  6. 6.

    Germy

    Harpers article about Nixon’s war on drugs:

    At the time, I was writing a book about the politics of drug prohibition. I started to ask Ehrlichman a series of earnest, wonky questions that he impatiently waved away. “You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

  8. 8.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Twitter just showed the president doing the ‘wave”, hopefully triggering a massive RWNJ head explosion. Because, you know, if he didn’t, Brussels wouldn’t have happened.

  12. 12.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I know too much about Kasich to give him too much credit, but you gotta give him some points for pretty much telling his target audience not to vote for him.

    Igor Bobic ‏@ igorbobic 1h1 hour ago
    Kasich in Muslims in Minnesota: “I don’t believe all these people in Minn. are somehow intent on destroying our families”
    Igor Bobic ‏@ igorbobic 1h1 hour ago
    Kasich on Cruz patrols: “In our country, we don’t want to create divisions, where we say you’re a Muslim, we want to keep an eye on you”

    Though as I type, I remember this is the guy who thinks he can sell people on undoing the New Deal, so maybe it’s more similar to that blinkered confidence of the True Believe

  14. 14.

    jl

    Since open thread, and theme is heartwarming leadership bringing people together, I offer

    Bernie Sanders Receiving His Name From ‪Coast Salish‬ Tribal Leaders
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffgd4Zab8F4

    I will post an HRC clip in a moment in an attempt to forestall the dang kids getting in a fight again.

  16. 16.

    Tripod

    Meaningless friendly – like tonight’s Democratic contests.

    @dedc79:

    I have no idea what Adam LaRouche did, but nobody in the organization wanting to go to bat for him? That’s pretty damning.

  18. 18.

    Jewish Steel

    Arguing about and explaining ACA to mum this morning. Is this 2009? I’ve got to really wrack my brains to remember all that stuff.

  19. 19.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Because of course she is…

    Gideon ResnickVerified account
    ‏@ GideonResnick
    Sarah Palin is going to preside over a court room in a new reality TV show.

    …because have you seen Judge Judy’s paycheck? “Leviticus Court: With Sarah Palin!”

    @Tripod: I thought the Sox players were all rallying around LaRoche because they all hate their GM and/or owner? Did I read that in a Pierce post? Can’t remember. Personally I find the whole thing more creepy than touching

  20. 20.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Elmo:

    Guaranteed that the network news tonight will make it a point to show PBO enjoying himself split screened with the carnage, while highlighting Trump’s #strongman idiocy of the day. Wolf Blitzer, most likely.

  22. 22.

    Mike J

    @Thoroughly Pizzled: We’re trying to have a better relationship with Cuba. Dumping toxic waste isn’t friendly.

    BTW, anyone else going to the Clinton Rally in Seattle tonight?

  23. 23.

    randy khan

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    It’s the team president they hate.

    Personally, I feel like LaRoche (who seemed like a good guy when he was in Washington) is being a bit unreasonable in wanting to be able to have his son there every day, but I think there must be some broader ll of discontent among the players. The one guy who’s been talking about it the most has been saying two things – that no player has any problem with it and that the team president told the coaches one thing, then told the players another thing and then at a team meeting said something completely different. That sounds like a trust issue to me.

  27. 27.

    Mike J

    @Tom Levenson: You know in other countries it’s known as the Mexican wave because of the 1986 World Cup.

    Donald Trump will build a wall to stop the Mexican wave, and make Mexico pay for it.

  29. 29.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Also wondering how today’s attack shifts more pressure to Apple to create a phone hack.

  31. 31.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Mike J: I first heard the term “Mexican wave” in London a couple of weeks ago, and asked my neighbors why it was called that. They didn’t know.

  34. 34.

    Roger Moore

    @Tripod:

    I have no idea what Adam LaRouche did

    He was bringing his (home schooled) son to the park every day, apparently with a verbal agreement from the team that it was OK. The team apparently reneged on the deal, and he retired rather than go along. Part of the issue, I’m sure, is that he was due to be paid $13 million this season but put up worse than replacement level play last season, so the team is probably just as glad to see him go. Naturally, the MLBPA is looking at this closely because they don’t want to let a team get away with forcing a player out so they don’t have to pay him.

  38. 38.

    ? Martin

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    Also wondering how today’s attack shifts more pressure to Apple to create a phone hack.

    I doubt any direct pressure. Probably more impotent botherings, though. There are too many people in government who feel that if they could only see inside every phone on earth, they could protect us from these kinds of things. They may be right, but they’d do far more harm in the process, and they either don’t see that or don’t care.

    It’s a bit of a sad state when the two legislators that seem to be the most clued in are Lindsay Graham and Darrel Issa. I’m not comfortable with either of them being the spokesperson for reason.

  39. 39.

    Technocrat

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    Quite honestly, I don’t know why the FBI needs Apple. Unless I’m missing something, the iPhone 6 has a 6-digit passcode. That’s a million combinations. Two weeks at 1 attempt/second. Make a big foam finger with a camera or something.

    I bet an MIT grad student could knock it out over a weekend.

  42. 42.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Technocrat: The passcode can be set to a longer alphanumeric, but the real problem is that after 10 incorrect attempts it permanently locks you out.

  45. 45.

    jl

    @Mike J: Progressive Mind [sic] symbol looks a lot like Salon ‘S’. I smell a plot.

    Anyway, in this election there is no case for writing anybodies name in, unless you want to help usher in the Drumpfenfuhrer regime.

  46. 46.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Roger Moore:

    I think that’s their point – they’re wishing away all black people, you know, to usher in the pure white progressive utopia of Bernie and his bros. Not racist at all though/

  48. 48.

    Mike J

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    That’s my understanding too – the gov’t is locked out.

    My impression was that they no longer are. They found a vulnerability (or the NSA was willing to burn one that works on an old phone) and they don’t need Apple.

    If it were the NSA that got them in, you can be sure that the hole they detailed to the FBI isn’t the only way in, or probably even the easiest.

  49. 49.

    Betty Cracker

    @cleek: “The Case for Holding My Breath Until I Pass Out, Hit My Head and Suffer Brain Damage If Mommy Doesn’t Give Me a Cookie.”

  50. 50.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @raven:
    @Calouste:

    It just seemed an incredibly stupid thing to get in a huff and walk out over. You can’t bring your kid to work – why is that so difficult to understand? Or have a missed some monumental subtlety of the situation?

  51. 51.

    Hal

    So why is Obama personally responsible for European terrorist attacks? Every time something like this happens a couple of conservative friends of mine take to Facebook to declareeclare what a wimp Obama is, and now how Trump would do so much better. It’s mind boggling.

  53. 53.

    Librarian

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: Yup, the wingnutters have already started to demand that he cancel the rest of his trip and come home to deal with the “crisis.” You can bet that the media will do the same thing.

  54. 54.

    LAO

    @Roger Moore: Not a White Sox fan, but good riddance; his stats were terrible last season. Also LaRouche is a fundie — and note, his daughter gets to go to school. Deadspin’s coverage of this has been very funny.

  55. 55.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Librarian:

    So tiresome and predictable. I’m so glad that No Fucks Left To Give Obama has no fucks left to give.

  56. 56.

    ? Martin

    @Technocrat:

    uite honestly, I don’t know why the FBI needs Apple. Unless I’m missing something, the iPhone 6 has a 6-digit passcode. That’s a million combinations. Two weeks at 1 attempt/second. Make a big foam finger with a camera or something.

    I bet an MIT grad student could knock it out over a weekend.

    Two reasons:

    1) The phone has at the very least a geometric timer so each failed attempt locks you out for twice as long (at least) as the previous failed attempt. Before you got very far in, you’d be days between attempts. In the 5C that’s in software and Apple was asked to remove it. In the 5S and later, it’s in hardware and it’s unclear if Apple can bypass it.
    2) iPhones have the capability of after 10 failed attempts the device will delete the private key for the encryption, effectively deleting the data on the device. This was the other thing Apple was asked to remove. Again, this is something that I believe has been moved out of the OS and into hardware in the 5S and later phones.

  57. 57.

    WarMunchkin

    “If there were no white people, Bush wouldn’t have been President”. That person’s argument is easily disposed of.

  60. 60.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @LAO: Shit! I forgot to check Deadspin, which will not doubt be good for a laff – thanks for the reminder

  62. 62.

    Roger Moore

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:
    But if there were no black voters, it would be Trump who would be a lock to be the next president, not Sanders. There’s no way the Democrats could win Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, or Virginia without black votes. Hell, even New York would be iffy without black voters.

  63. 63.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Mike J: You’re getting at something that I think a lot of people are missing.

    The NSA probably has lots of ways to get into encrypted devices. But their techniques can’t be talked about in open court, so would be (nearly? totally?) useless in a court proceeding. So if the FBI and DOJ are trying to get evidence to prosecute someone in court, then they need something other than a “white/black hat” secret way to do it. That’s why they want Apple’s help.

    Apple not helping the FBI or DOJ isn’t going to somehow protect our information from the likes of the NSA (who isn’t in the business of spying on US persons anyway, but that’s a different thread). (As I’ve ranted before) Our courts can’t work if they can’t get access to legally required information subject to a court order or discovery or subpoena.

    Some way has to be found to resolve this issue. Given the difficulty in cracking encryption, I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually there’s a legal framework where the NSA (or similar experts with US juridiction) cracks phones (or any other encryption) for the DOJ when directed by a court to do so but isn’t required to say how they did it and that’s allowed as evidence. But I’m just speculating.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  69. 69.

    ? Martin

    @Mike J: It’s really unlikely the NSA is helping in this case. They’re not going to be willing to burn one of their zero-day exploits for the FBI (where the process may find itself in the court record).

    Apple has been patching security holes pretty continuously and it’s possible that someone recently discovered a vulnerability in the older OS running on that phone that they could exploit. The current theory within the security community is that an outside contractor developed a way to perfectly copy and restore the NAND memory of the device, that would allow them to try PINs and if the device wiped or the delay got too long, just restore the NAND and start over but knowing which PINs didn’t work. This technique wouldn’t work on iPhone 5S or newer, though. There’s been some talk of this process for the last week, and it’d take about 2 weeks for the contractor to convince the FBI the process would work (and negotiate for payment) which is the delay the FBI requested. Depending on what’s involved in the process it might take several weeks more to brute force the PIN.

  70. 70.

    delk

    For the first time since I had shoulder surgery on Jan 4th we did not take the dog to doggy daycare. I walked him twice today.

  71. 71.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    Headline: Black Tyrant Laughs With America’s Enemies In Tropical Paradise As Brussels Burns.

    Of course, bear in mind that less than 1 in 100 Americans could find Brussels on a map even if it were labelled.

    I find the American right’s ability to weep over European terrorist victims one day and literally the next wish even more Islamic State bombings on the continent to be…disconcerting at best.

  73. 73.

    Brachiator

    @CONGRATULATIONS!:

    Of course, bear in mind that less than 1 in 100 Americans could find Brussels on a map even if it were labelled.

    I can barely find brussels sprouts on a plate.

    ETA: Ditto on the napkin trick.

  74. 74.

    ? Martin

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    So if the FBI and DOJ are trying to get evidence to prosecute someone in court, then they need something other than a “white/black hat” secret way to do it. That’s why they want Apple’s help.

    I don’t think this is quite the problem. The FBI has no problem using an NSA technique – that should be fine by the court so long as the FBI has jurisdiction over the phone. The problem is that once the NSA gives the FBI the technique, the clock starts ticking on the utility of that technique. If the FBI needs to reveal the process in court, Apple will patch that bug as quickly as it can, and now the NSA has one fewer way to unlock someone’s phone. The NSA doesn’t want to lose their tricks, and they can’t trust the FBI to be able to keep the technique out of the court record.

    And to pick a nit – I don’t think the NSA can break the iPhone encryption. I think they can break through the authentication protection that allow you to decrypt the information, either by a code vulnerability that can escalate permissions (fool the phone into believing it’s been unlocked when it hasn’t) or by providing a reasonable window to brute force a password, or something like that. They can possibly even decap the hardware and read some of the necessary information directly out of the hardware. But if you handed them the encrypted data and asked them to provide a key from thin air – almost guaranteed they can’t do that.

  75. 75.

    Gin & Tonic

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: The thing to keep in mind is that, computationally, encryption is cheap and decryption is very expensive. While large nation-states will always have enormous resources, the mathematics, at least for now, are tilted strongly against them. Once there are practical large-scale quantum computers the math changes, but that’s not right around the corner.

  78. 78.

    jl

    I heard on news radio this morning that Trump is ditching the open-mic comic night improv approach to speeches. He is now writing them out and using a teleprompter. I wonder if we will notice any difference.

    Study says Trump public speaking at lowest grade level of all candidates this year. Sanders and Rubio highest. Interesting that Reagan public speaking relatively complex compared to more recent politicians.

    Trump’s Speeches Are At A Middle-School Reading Level, Study Says
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-speeches-reading-level_us_56e9899fe4b0b25c9184183f

    This slideshow was pretty good, at the end of the story:
    If Donald Trump Wrote The Bible (God Help Us)

  79. 79.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    Some way has to be found to resolve this issue. Given the difficulty in cracking encryption, I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually there’s a legal framework where the NSA (or similar experts with US juridiction) cracks phones (or any other encryption) for the DOJ when directed by a court to do so but isn’t required to say how they did it and that’s allowed as evidence.

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: The part I bolded is the problem.

    Recently got out of the digital forensics field, learned a few things. Most important: never go to court. For anything.

    Another important thing: judges are as dumb as dirt regarding digital evidence (criminal less so than civil, which is an absolute nightmare). But there’s a standard for that evidence, and any other evidence gathered by scientific means (fingerprinting, DNA analysis, that sort of thing). It’s the Daubert standard/trilogy and it’s a big deal. The relevant part simply says that the method used to provide evidence must use the scientific method. Which means – you gotta show your work. And be able to replicate it.

    This is why the Stingray makers make their clients promise to drop/throw cases rather than even admit the thing was used, much less give a rundown of its capabilities. They don’t want to show their work. It would kill their monopoly and probably panic the citizenry in the bargain.

    If the FBI wants anything off that phone to use at a trial, it needs to be by a method that they can share in public. But they don’t. They’ve already admitted that. The perps in this case are dead. They want a government-mandated backdoor into any digital device, period, and they’re not going to stop this until they get it. Apple could tell them to fuck off and drag it to the courts, and the FBI might lose. Most other companies don’t have that much money or legal firepower.

    The NSA will never have anything to do with this case. They’re not going to show you anything in an open or closed court. Period.

  81. 81.

    Miss Bianca

    AAAAGH!!

    So, the online hardware store I manage got tossed off of Amazon a year before I was hired. Appeal got turned down, and our business basically plunged.

    One of my jobs was to try to get us back on to Amazon. The Amazon customer service rep finally makes that job easier by gets in touch with me, and asks if we’d like to get reinstated. Says he’ll review the draft of my appeal letter before we submit it. YAY!

    Needless to say, boss is very excited. So I produce a draft, send it for his review – his REVIEW – my DRAFT – both these things are in the email.

    So what reply do I get? ‘I have submitted it on your behalf. I will let you know what I hear.”

    CHRIST IN THE BALKANS, AMAZON DUDE, WHAT PART OF ‘DRAFT’ AND ‘REQUEST FOR FEEDBACK’ DID YOU MISS???

    Head is just pounding desk right now. If this gets turned down because Amazon Dude jumped the gun, I may just have to fire myself.

    ETA> This has nothing to do with Obama awesomeness, crappy terrorist doings in the wide world, or Der Drumpf. It’s just the sound of my head exploding. Please carry on with your regularly scheduled realities.

  83. 83.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @CONGRATULATIONS!: Thanks for your perspective.

    I understand the importance of the things you outline, but I wonder if we’re entering a new era.

    Everyone agrees on the importance of secure financial transactions over the public internet. Everyone agrees that ways need to be found to keep snoopers our of our private information.

    But I don’t see how we solve the problem of: How can our courts work when either side won’t or can’t provide necessary evidence for a judge to make a ruling. What do search warrants mean now if investigators can turn your house upside down looking for stuff, but can’t look on your phone because it is encrypted? Companies and rich individuals can find ways to encrypt all their records – most normal people can’t.

    “Sorry your honor, I forgot the passcode – I can’t unlock my PC. I can’t give you my records for the past 10 years as your search warrant demands.”

    It seems to me that either search warrants mean something or they don’t.

    What’s the solution? I don’t know. If Apple’s encryption has to be approved by the NSA (as companies used to have to do before they were exported), then Apple could say – “Fine, we’re moving.” Would it solve the problem? Dunno. Presumably Congress could pressure the telecos to prohibit devices on their networks that had unapproved encryption or something.

    It’s a tough problem. The mathematics is all over the world. Friends and adversaries use it. But I do worry about the future of our US court system if some solution isn’t found.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  85. 85.

    japa21

    @Tom Levenson: My work computer won’t let me see the comments, but that was one of the stupidest articles I have ever read. Basically it comes to him saying Trump would be better than Hillary. And goes to great lengths to assign policies to Clinton that are nowhere in evidence in her history or speeches.

    And apparently he doesn’t think a GOP Congress would give the rich the tax cuts Trump wants. He is delusional.

  87. 87.

    Chris

    @Hal:

    Because of the political correctness and dhimmitude that have thrived under liberal elites led by people like Obama, which led us to throw our doors wide open to our enemies so now they can stab us in the back.

    Or at least that’s what I’ve been able to piece together from my uncle’s Twitter feed. If it sounds like incoherent babbling, that’s because it probably is.

  88. 88.

    J R in WV

    @Technocrat:

    The device counts failed attempts to log in, and will fry itself after a very small number of failures. So data all gone then. I forget the exact number, but it isn’t a 3 digit number, more like a dozen. So your attempt would destroy the device in just a few minutes.

    ETA: The specific help the FBI asked for is for Apple to rewrite the OS to exclude that counter of failed attempts, so they can brute force as you suggest. Then push that new OS to this single device.

  89. 89.

    Chris

    @CONGRATULATIONS!:

    I find the American right’s ability to weep over European terrorist victims one day and literally the next wish even more Islamic State bombings on the continent to be…disconcerting at best.

    I’ve always found it funny that they’re so deeply attached to Europe on the rare occasions when it fits into their “those savage hajji cannibals are trying to kill us all! Our pure white heritage is being contaminated into Eurabia! We have to DO SOMETHING!” narrative. Given that, you know, the other 99% of the time, Europe, no matter how white and non-Muslim, is portrayed as this 1984-ish communist dystopia full of people who hate America and are probably in league with our enemies anyway. (There was probably more anti-French hysteria in the run-up to the Iraq War than there was anti-Iraqi).

    A close cousin is the way New York City suddenly becomes their favorite city when 9/11’s involved. (Well, now it does. On the actual week of the attack it was still somewhat up in the air, as you could see from Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell guffawing about NYC’s just desserts).

  90. 90.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    But I do worry about the future of our US court system if some solution isn’t found.

    You should worry a lot more about the future of the financial system if someone finds one. Without encryption, our modern economy stops. As in “you don’t get paid and you have no money or assets”.

    How can our courts work when either side won’t or can’t provide necessary evidence for a judge to make a ruling.

    Funny you should mention. The judge can always make a ruling. In fact they always do. This scenario was the one that got me out of the biz. The side I was not working for destroyed all the evidence. Electric drill through the hard drives, that sort of thing. And this is where the judge is crucial. He had the ability to impose sanctions where he can say “hey, these guys destroyed all the evidence so you can assume that the charges against them are true”. Or he can say “hey, if it sounds plausible to you jurors, go for it, they burned all their proof”. Precedent supported this course of action. Of course, he did neither. Point of fact he let the other party off scot-free and said “try the case with whatever’s left”.

    The judge made a ruling. The problem was that it was an awful one, in no way supported by the other evidence in the case. Or precedent.

    The problem wasn’t the evidence or the destruction thereof. It was that a moron got promoted to a position in society where he could do some real damage.

    Welcome to the judicial system.

    ETA: after that trial he was promoted.

  91. 91.

    Betty Cracker

    @srv: Well, I’m sure commercial chicken farms are a horror show, and I support regulations that would make them more humane. But it sounds like the PETA peeps are making all kinds of assumptions. How do they know the White House eggs aren’t from some fancy-schmancy free range farm where the chickens live better than many Americans? My operation is too small to supply the White House, but my hens have it better than many human Americans, and I sure as hell won’t kill them when they stop laying. At my age, far be it from me to hold a slow-down in egg production against another creature!

  93. 93.

    Brachiator

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    What do search warrants mean now if investigators can turn your house upside down looking for stuff, but can’t look on your phone because it is encrypted?

    I thought that search warrants had to be specific.

    Companies and rich individuals can find ways to encrypt all their records – most normal people can’t.

    Whoa. It is hardly the case that “most normal people” cannot use strong encryption. And encryption could be used for other devices besides phones. In fact, strong encryption may be necessary to ensure the safety and reliability of driverless cars, “smart homes,” and who knows what else.

    I am not sure that encryption threatens the court system, although it certainly makes some things more difficult. But there are many practical problems to government’s demand that back doors be installed on devices. This creates a vulnerability that bad actors can and will exploit. And demands from hostile or untrustworthy governments could not be rebuffed.

    And of course, the government would declare that it had a right to secure encryption but citizens do not. This creates its own judicial problem and might be a fundamental violation of the rights of citizens and the purpose of government.

    This encryption genie comes with a very interesting bottle.

  94. 94.

    Mnemosyne

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    Last time I brought that up, people pointed out that contempt of court still exists, so the judge should be able to put people in jail until they turn over the password. There may also need to be stronger penalties for destroying evidence.

    But as people have said, part of the problem is that most judges don’t understand anything about technology and may not be willing to take the necessary steps to get people to “remember” their password after a week in jail.

  95. 95.

    Matt McIrvin

    You know, there used to be a lot of terrorism associated with the rotten US-Cuba relationship. Not so much any more.

  96. 96.

    ? Martin

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    It seems to me that either search warrants mean something or they don’t.

    What’s the solution? I don’t know. If Apple’s encryption has to be approved by the NSA (as companies used to have to do before they were exported), then Apple could say – “Fine, we’re moving.” Would it solve the problem? Dunno. Presumably Congress could pressure the telecos to prohibit devices on their networks that had unapproved encryption or something.

    This is the growing point of contention. There are many places currently not subject to search warrants. Technology will make more of them. Consider a few scenarios:

    1) Would implantable computers that are able to provide sensory information to patients be subject to warrant? If you had a device that could capture what you see and hear but was physically part of you, could they ask for the data that’s on the device?
    2) Autonomous cars will likely have multiple cameras all recording your surroundings as part of their driving activity. They will also be tracking location and likely submitting that information to various cloud systems to get traffic and road conditions or to coordinate with other vehicles or traffic control systems. Could law enforcement mine through your vehicle travel for a given time period and then subpoena all of the camera data from your car in the event it captured some crime? What if it’s an act of terrorism? What if it’s a violent crime? A non violent crime? A moving violation?

    Law enforcement does not have unfettered right to all information. They cannot subpoena our memories – the 5th Amendment protects us from that. My memory is unfortunately starting to fail me fairly regularly. I’m having to write things down that I previously would not have needed to. Can I encrypt that information and keep it private? Why does the government have a right to my written memories but not to my memories? What happens when the difference between those things start getting fuzzy?

    Much of what kept warrants in check was information scarcity. There just wasn’t much for them to search through and they needed to provide some indication that there was actual evidence there – they needed to convince a judge that the gun was likely at that location, or that the originator of the phone call could be determined from the phone records.

    We now have the opposite problem – information abundance with the challenge being how to filter it all – but you can’t filter it if you can’t access it. That’s roughly where the warrant situation is going – getting everything, including information that we don’t actually value (the video from your car, for example) for the sake of filtering through it hoping to find something. That’s why it feels invasive – the warrant isn’t based on some reasonable suspicion, it’s based on a statistical expectation that if they rifle through enough private information that something will turn up.

  97. 97.

    jl

    @NotMax: Yeah, I was waiting for a mention of Ricky Ricardo, but nada.

    Didn’t he basically invent modern US studio TV production technique? (Edit: that is, invent the modern US sitcom?… well, OK, maybe better not to mention him on an international goodwill visit)

  98. 98.

    jl

    @Betty Cracker: Sorry, BC, your chickens are atypically cranky and poor guide to paternalism required for humane chickening They would kick ass of anyone who tries to boss them, or busy-body PETA do-gooders nosing around. IMHO.

  99. 99.

    Bess

    @? Martin:

    Suppose the FBI gave the phone to the NSA. Then the NSA could look inside (assuming they have the skills) to see if there are any people outside the country they should go after. And pass a note to the FBI with the names of anyone inside the country that needs checking out.

    All that is lost is the record of contact between anyone inside the country so there’s nothing that could be used in court. But at least vigilance could be put in place.

  100. 100.

    jl

    @srv: OTOH, if the Obamas are not using colorful eggs laid by virgin bunny rabbits, then they are demons waging a war on Easter. I’ll watch Fox News tonight and find out.

  101. 101.

    ? Martin

    @Bess: Sure, but it’s not like this phone is a secret or anything. The FBI blew it up onto the front page of the NYTimes. Any attorney worth their pay is going to try and tie any information back to that phone in the hopes that it gets tossed out of court.

    And I don’t think the FBI is worried about foreigners, but others within the US, so there’s no escaping the court system. If they were worried about foreigners, you just tell the CIA/NSA to look into it and walk away – and I’m sure that happened months ago. They’re either going to work with foreign governments to have them arrested in their home country, or we’re going to drone them.

  103. 103.

    pluege

    Lots of cute kids on the field accompanying the players during the lineup announcements.

    but, but, but ….my wingnut manual tells me communism makes kids grow horns, spiked tails, and split tongues while they drool and belch fire!

  105. 105.

    Mike J

    @Chris: My first thought when I heard about an attack in Brussels was, “does anybody know where Nigel Farage was?”

  106. 106.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Imagine there’s no countries
    It isn’t hard to do
    Nothing to kill or die for
    And no religion too
    Imagine all the people
    Living life in peace… (photo #1)

    (photo #2)

  107. 107.

    bystander

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    “Leviticus Court: With Sarah Palin!”

    I’m guessing the stoning, hanging and immolation portion of the program will be the real ratings grabber. Not that all the Geoffrey Stone types won’t tune in to get Sarah’s legal exegeses.

  108. 108.

    Richard Bottoms

    @Betty Cracker: Isn’t insanity doing the same thing, yada, yada? When has anyone ever given a fuck what PETA bitches about?

    One of the most ineffective lobbying groups on the planet.

  109. 109.

    ? Martin

    @jl: Even then it’s a war on easter. If the Obama’s respected religious liberty, they’d force those little kids to drag a crucifix across the White House lawn and then pretend to die, and then everyone could jump up and be alive again and go home and eat candy.

  110. 110.

    Chris

    @Matt McIrvin:

    You know, there used to be a lot of terrorism associated with the rotten US-Cuba relationship. Not so much any more.

    Well now, that wasn’t terrorism. That was freedom fighting.

  112. 112.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @LAO: You need to spend more time tracking RW sovereign citizen militias if that sounds appealing. I’m still going to look at deadspin. :)

  113. 113.

    D58826

    McNutts is rattling on again about ISIS. Of course it is all Obama’s fault. He thinks 100k troops on the ground will do the trick. 10k Americans and 90k Sunni Arab. Only problem is there are no Sunni Arab countries lining up to supply the 90k boots. Once we eliminate ISIS in Raqqa then ISIS will no longer be a problem. See how easy it is.

    I think it’s time for McNutts to be put out to pasture

  114. 114.

    Brachiator

    @D58826:

    McNutts is rattling on again about ISIS. Of course it is all Obama’s fault. He thinks 100k troops on the ground will do the trick. 10k Americans and 90k Sunni Arab

    Sweet suffering Moses. 100k troops on the ground where? Syria? Nigeria? Belgium?

    90k Sunni Arab from which countries?

    Damn. I look forward to “expert military analysts” popping up on Fox News to explain how simple a military action against ISIS should be.

    Dopes.

  115. 115.

    Matt McIrvin

    You know, I have no idea what to do about any scary situation in the world, but I feel like I’ve gotten to the point where I can safely predict the entire discussion following an event like this and what everybody is going to say.

  116. 116.

    FlipYrWhig

    I really don’t understand how it can be Obama’s fault that one group of people who aren’t American killed another group of people who aren’t American. Was it Bush’s fault when the train station in Spain was bombed?

  117. 117.

    Chris

    @D58826:

    He thinks 100k troops on the ground will do the trick.

    Down from 138,000 troops for the Iraq War, only this time we’re pacifying two countries, not one. The Republican obsession with getting more for less continues, I see.

  118. 118.

    jl

    @FlipYrWhig:

    ” Was it Bush’s fault when the train station in Spain was bombed? ”

    That was Obama’s fault too, prospectively. Simple Answers to Simple Questions /snark.

  119. 119.

    D58826

    @Brachiator: The McNutt theory is if we just take out Raqqa in Syria then Daesh will disappear. He said cut off the head of the snake and the rest of the snake dies. It’s all Obama’s fault because he won’t recognize the snake. But he is opposed to carpet bombing

  120. 120.

    FlipYrWhig

    @jl: Somehow when bad things happen with a Democrat in charge it’s because the Democrat emboldened the country’s enemies, but when a Republican is in charge it’s because he’s so effective that the country’s enemies got desperate.

  122. 122.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @D58826: I really don’t have to ask, but I’m going to ask: Was there any pushback? This was on the Chuck Todd Show? Did Todd ask where those 90K troops would come from? Did he ask how taking Raqqa (who would be taking it? The Official Coalition of Sunnie Good Guys?) would neutralize cells in the Belgian (and French, and German, and probably British) suburbs?

  123. 123.

    Brachiator

    @D58826:

    The McNutt theory is if we just take out Raqqa in Syria then Daesh will disappear.

    With an army of whose Sunni troops?

    In Syria. Of course, the new player in the region, Putin, will have a say in what troops might get to be put down in Syria. And who says that Assad would go along with this?

    And given what has happened in Belgium and elsewhere, the idea that these people would give up easily seems a lame fantasy, no matter what might happen in Syria.

    Bottom line: dopes offering simple solutions to complex problems.

  125. 125.

    Gvg

    The White House Easter eggs are wooden souvenirs painted and have been since 1981 and Reagan. I’ve seen them for sale on eBay. As far as i can tell they are all wooden which I guess makes sense as the egg roll is a race rolling the eggs down hill with a wooden spoon. There is a public lottery to get them or you can buy them which benefits the National Park service. I know PETA is clueless, but this time it’s so silly I wonder if this insn’t a fake playing on our assumptions about PETA.

  127. 127.

    Ruviana

    @Calouste: I did the wave at some Springsteen concerts in 1985. Did people do the wave then but not call it the “Mexican wave?”

  128. 128.

    Jeannet

    @Gvg: And this year the wooden eggs are made out of FSC certified wood. Can’t get much more wholesome than that.

  129. 129.

    NobodySpecial

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I know it’s way late, but a brief summary:

    LaRoche claims there was a verbal agreement that he could bring his kid to the ballpark.

    Most teams have a family area in the clubhouse for wives and kids to stay in while they’re playing.

    LaRoche’s kid came with him to the ballpark 120 games last year, including road trips. Evidently the manager also gave the kid a locker, and the kid was taking part in drills.

    An anonymous player or players complained to Ken Williams, the team president. Williams met with LaRoche and asked him to dial back the kid’s participation.

    The kid came to the ballpark every day after that. Williams is then reported to have told LaRoche no more.

    For me, while there may be accomodations for kids (Ken Griffey Jr. being the single most notable example), it seems unwise for a team to allow kids on the field during exercises where they can get injured. Plus LaRoche was doing terribly; it’s not unreasonable to ask a poor performer to cut distractions. Lastly, you’ve got to wonder how the guys in training camp feel when a locker in the big league room is being held by a 14 year old and you’ve got to use an alternate locker room in another part of the facility.

    The best part of the kerfuffle, though, has to be Adam Eaton describing the kid as a ‘team leader’ when asked about the controversy. If a 14 year old is a team leader, you don’t have much leadership in your locker room. It’s no wonder the Sox are a dysfunctional, apathetic mess.

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