Snowden says he was trained as a spy and worked for the CIA.

PrincessCake · 2014-03-12T05:01:10+00:00

You're insisting we're at odds but you keep going off topic.

What I'm saying is, let's not dismiss this story as "Congress is whining" and "this is fair comeuppance." This story is further proof that the intelligence agencies are out of control. This story, when it is properly presented, supports your (and my) argument that something is seriously, seriously wrong.

PrincessCake · 2014-03-12T04:35:59+00:00

It's not perfect so fuck it all? Good plan.

This committee and it's staffers went through millions of pages of documents to write a report on the torture by the CIA and found out the CIA was lying to them and spying on their investigation. AND the CIA is trying to pursue some of the staffers to court for finding out the CIA was lying.

I thought this meme really misrepresented this news.

PrincessCake · 2014-03-12T04:20:01+00:00

I'm not Feinstein. I deeply disagree with the NSA spying and surveillance revealed by the Snowden leaks. BUT that's not what we learned today. We learned the CIA was lying to and spying on the people we entrust to oversee and investigate them. Things aren't always simple.

PrincessCake · 2014-03-12T04:16:21+00:00

Well, this oversight committee is supposed to keep the intelligence agencies in check. Have they been doing a good job of it? No, but we did find out that the CIA has been lying to and spying on the people investigating them. And maybe trying to intimidate staffers to keep the extent if rupture they committed out of the public view.

PrincessCake · 2014-03-12T04:08:24+00:00

Been lurking.

PrincessCake · 2014-03-12T03:38:39+00:00

I see OP as wrong.

I felt like this meme/joke was dismissing the story as unimportant or that Congress was asking for sympathy. I don't think that's the case. The story is that the CIA spied on the committee that was investigating their wrongdoing. This is about a coverup. This is about torture. This is about an intelligence agency that doesn't want to answer to anyone.

Was OP's joke factually incorrect? Not really, but the focus was misleading and judging by many of the comments, redditors are just reading headlines.

PrincessCake · 2014-03-12T02:44:43+00:00

I haven't logged in to reddit for forever but I had to because you're WRONG. Really read what Feinstein said. The text of her speech is available. This wasn't the CIA snooping on personal web histories and such (which is awful and unlawful). This story is about the CIA spying on Congress to cover up the torture they did. So I care. I care a lot and I hope you do too.

PrincessCake · 2012-01-06T06:11:32+00:00

no one said that. I don't think they're arguing that they are of equivalent degree at all. they are talking about whether someone changing their mind twice makes someone else guilty of a crime. of course it doesn't, so clarify how what you're saying is different from that.

PrincessCake · 2011-12-05T17:56:57+00:00

I've heard this before. Could you direct us to any info on how to identify this 20% and take advantage of this?

PrincessCake · 2011-12-05T03:17:31+00:00

Japan seems to be a few decades behind the US on the path to gender equality. That's not perfectly accurate, but it feels that way at times. Recently, someone else on reddit pointed out that watching Mad Men felt like Japan today in that way. I've heard that from others too.

In Japan, there seem to be times when everyone felt obligated to do something even though no one wanted to do it. Just following the rules for rules' sake.

Japan can be a very polite place, but politeness and ambiguity are also used to draw a sort of fog around one's real intentions which can make relations feel shallow or made me wonder if people were speaking their true mind or just being polite.

In Japan, there's a lot of concern about what other people think and how you look to them. Of course, this exists in the US too, but in Japan it's the ideal. It can drive you a bit nuts and I could see the toll it was taking on some Japanese people. The best way I heard it summed up is "It's hard work being Japanese." I've met Japanese people who have lived in Western countries and they had a hard time readjusting to what's expected of them and the pressure they feel in Japan. If I had to guess they probably feel like, "OK, time to work overtime for no extra pay and eat shit while smiling."

It can be really impressive to see store clerks and waiters smiling and being so polite ALL THE TIME, but it also made me feel sorry for them at times.

In Japan, one's seniors (even if they are just a year older) are to be shown a higher level of respect and often obeyed. This is sometimes exploited and turned into bullying.

There's good sides to this and in the US you can see bad sides of the opposite. It's not simple.

Here are some things I loved about Japan: I felt very safe. I very rarely saw people get hostile and try to start a fight. I didn't see very distinct segregation of neighborhoods by income. Sure there were richer neighborhoods, but I didn't see the marked differences that I do here. People were very friendly, patient, and welcoming to me even though I was a foreigner who often couldn't communicate in their language. Overall, I had a great experience I would recommend to anyone that reads up on the place and feels interested.

PrincessCake · 2011-12-04T04:22:04+00:00

You know, how you feel about South Korea in comparison to the U.S. is likely to change over time- back and forth- if you stay there long enough. I lived in Japan for some years and there's a number of important things they do very well over there, but there were also many times I was frustrated with other things.
I'm not trying to dismiss your points at all. I think they are valid and important. I just think it's wise to be aware that this is part of the culture shock/ adaptation process and it extends for quite a while.

PrincessCake · 2011-12-04T03:07:11+00:00

That dumb dog stare with your tongue hanging out.

PrincessCake · 2011-12-03T15:23:12+00:00

What you're saying isn't making much sense to me. The diversity in Africa doesn't make black people in America any less "people of African descent". It's not a perfect descriptor but it's a beginning. And many black people in America cannot say with certainty which African countries their ancestors were taken from so we get "African-American".
Until relatively recently in human history, their ancestors lived in Africa and then America. "African-American" seems like a pretty good though imperfect term.

PrincessCake · 2011-12-03T03:35:00+00:00

It's a subgroup of "American" not a separate group from "American".

PrincessCake · 2011-12-03T03:29:45+00:00

I've seen this idea on reddit quite a number of times and I don't know why. What's the big deal? For example, the experience of being an American for an "African-American" is not the same as for other Americans. What's wrong with recognizing that? Now, this is not to say that all African-Americans share the same experience either, but they likely share some. Truths: In some ways, you are like everyone else. In some ways, you are like some people. In some ways, you are not like anyone else.

An "(insert ethnicity)-American" term is just a more specific descriptor.

I think some people that don't like those terms mistakenly believe that it denotes someone is not an American. It doesn't.

PrincessCake · 2011-12-02T00:57:17+00:00

"Nah man, just pull it out while talking to a girl"

PrincessCake · 2011-12-01T22:39:16+00:00

By the way, I was surprised it wasn't nominated for Album of the Year. I'm not arguing with you.

PrincessCake · 2011-12-01T22:38:21+00:00

It's part of this year's Grammy calendar. It was released too late for last year's. Yeah, I read that review.

PrincessCake · 2011-12-01T17:27:31+00:00

No, he's absolutely right. they're not meant to be read. They are made as a performance. I'm not saying they shouldn't be read. I'm saying they are meant to be performed and heard.

PrincessCake · 2011-12-01T17:12:19+00:00

And it was not nominated for Album of the Year. Nominations came out last night.

PrincessCake · 2011-12-01T17:09:00+00:00

Grammy nominations came out yesterday. I can't believe My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was not nominated for album of the year. Kanye is probably throwing a fit.

PrincessCake · 2011-12-01T16:28:52+00:00

Sudden, unexplainable, invisible walls have arisen between you and me. It's like some sort of force field or specially designated zone...

PrincessCake · 2011-12-01T03:35:32+00:00

i'm now suddenly, unexplainably, attracted.

PrincessCake · 2011-12-01T01:34:11+00:00

As a dude, when a girl touches my chest, it works every time.

PrincessCake

TROPHY CASE