"I Wonder Why Nobody Is Talking About THIS?"

nighttimer

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Nobody but an obsessive news junky has the time or energy to open a thread or post about every story that deserves to be discussed.

Case in point from the Al Franken thread (and I have requested the derailing posts be removed and the thread reopened without them):

There's a horrifying new video of an unarmed man crying and crawling on the floor and literally begging a cop not to shoot him and he shoots him anyway. The cop, Philip Brailsford, and the victim, Daniel Shaver, were both White so there's no Black Lives Matter involved here, plus the video didn't see wide release until AFTER a jury exonerated the cop.

That should be worth a word or two, but honestly, I'm so goddamn weary of cops killing with impunity and without sanction that I have no energy left to tread over this well-worn ground yet again and I don't think I'm the only one.

Here's another story not generating much media buzz.

Official Toll in Puerto Rico: 64.
Actual Deaths May Be 1,052.


Homes were flattened. Power was knocked out. And all across Puerto Rico, bodies began showing up at morgues.

Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico with great fury but the government there has reported an official death toll far lower than the devastation suggests.

A review by The New York Times of daily mortality data from Puerto Rico’s vital statistics bureau indicates a significantly higher death toll after the hurricane than the government there has acknowledged.


The Times’s analysis found that in the 42 days after Hurricane Maria made landfall on Sept. 20 as a Category 4 storm, 1,052 more people than usual died across the island. The analysis compared the number of deaths for each day in 2017 with the average of the number of deaths for the same days in 2015 and 2016.


Officially, just 64 people died as a result of the storm that ravaged the island with nearly 150-mile-an-hour winds, cutting off power to 3.4 million Puerto Ricans. The last two fatalities were added to the death toll on Dec. 9.


“Before the hurricane, I had an average of 82 deaths daily. That changes from Sept. 20 to 30th. Now I have an average of 118 deaths daily,” Wanda Llovet, the director of the Demographic Registry in Puerto Rico, said in a mid-November interview. Since then, she said on Thursday, both figures have increased by one.


The NY Times noticed the discrepancy, but they aren't the first in the press to do so. They just happen to be the biggest gun to notice it now.

Which got me to wondering, I know there are hundreds of stories I come across which leave me asking, "Wonder why nobody is talking about this?"

Got any stories you've noticed but seemingly nobody else has?
 

MaeZe

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Been talking about both of these in different forums. I wished I hadn't viewed the killer cop video, I can't stand that memory.
 
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regdog

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I've seen both stories a lot on Twitter. I won't watch the murder clip.

One reason I think there isn't a huge outcry is oversaturation of miserable news. There is a prevailing sense of "What fresh hell are we going to see today?"
 

Prozyan

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How the hell the judge could justify suppressing that video is mind boggling to say the least. Not allowed into evidence because it was "too prejudicial". Pardon me, but what in the ever fucking fuck does that mean? A video of the event exactly how it happened and the jury isn't allowed to see it. Fuck sake, why even have body cams if you can't use them as evidence. I have no doubt if the video had shown Shaver actually reaching for a weapon it would have been allowed into evidence. But because it shows an officer blatantly MURDERING a man and because it might make the jury think the defendant is a murdering fuck it is "too prejudicial". Hell of a system we have. Tamir Rice, Philando Castile and Daniel Shaver all caught on tape....not one conviction.

At least 16 women accusing Trump of sexual harassment/assault are having a press conference today to share their stories. 3 of them will be on Megyn Kelly Today prior. Surprising this hasn't gained more traction.
 
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autumnleaf

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The current situation in Yemen. I realize it's "a faraway country about which we know nothing", but it is currently the world's worst humanitarian disaster on a planet where there's far too much competition for that role. The Saudi government is committing war crimes against the Yemeni people, with arms provided by the UK, US, and French governments, and nobody says a word against them because oil. The Iranian government is also dicking around with these people's lives for their own aims. If the port blockade is not ended, the casualties from the resulting famine and cholera epidemic could be in the millions. ISIS are in the wings, using this as a propaganda tool for recruitment. It's just a bundle of absolute awfulness unfolding in slow motion -- maybe that's why the world's media just can't bear to look.
 

hester

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The shooting at Aztec High School in New Mexico. Two students were killed.

I really, really hate how this is "the new normal."
 

rugcat

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I've seen both stories a lot on Twitter. I won't watch the murder clip.

One reason I think there isn't a huge outcry is oversaturation of miserable news. There is a prevailing sense of "What fresh hell are we going to see today?"
Yes , every day there's something that deserves a thread of its own. Eventually, one just gives up and pushes it aside. Otherwise, every day could be spent on nothing but talking about the latest news. Off the top of my head:

How about the slave trade in Libya?

http://time.com/5042560/libya-slave-trade/

How about, after 40 years of trying, included in the tax bill is the opening up of the Arctic National wildlife refuge for drilling, as well as possible open pit mining in the last pristine wilderness of Alaska.

The new Republican attacks on Mueller and the FBI as a whole, supported by Republicans both in Congress and in general, which will eventually allow trump to fire Mueller without political repercussions.

The new concealed carry law which just passed the house, and which will enable anyone, anywhere, to carry concealed handguns no matter what state laws and regulations may be.

The hollowing out of the state department of career diplomats, which will have disastrous consequences well beyond the trump presidency.

Ninth circuit appeals court judge, (and former chief justice) Alex Kosinski accused of showing pornographic material, at work to his coworkers by numerous former court clerks.

I haven't looked at the news yet today, and I'm sure there are plenty of other things besides those that immediately sprung to mind.
 

Anna Iguana

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How the hell the judge could justify suppressing that video is mind boggling to say the least. Not allowed into evidence because it was "too prejudicial". Pardon me, but what in the ever fucking fuck does that mean? A video of the event exactly how it happened and the jury isn't allowed to see it. Fuck sake, why even have body cams if you can't use them as evidence. I have no doubt if the video had shown Shaver actually reaching for a weapon it would have been allowed into evidence. But because it shows an officer blatantly MURDERING a man and because it might make the jury think the defendant is a murdering fuck it is "too prejudicial". Hell of a system we have. Tamir Rice, Philando Castile and Daniel Shaver all caught on tape....not one conviction.

At least 16 women accusing Trump of sexual harassment/assault are having a press conference today to share their stories. 3 of them will be on Megyn Kelly Today prior. Surprising this hasn't gained more traction.

My understanding is that the jury was shown that video, but the video wasn't released to the public until after the trial ended. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong. Knowing that jury saw this video makes the verdict even worse.

(Source: WaPo reported, "Attorneys for the officer had petitioned to keep the video from being released, and a judge agreed to block its release to the public until after the trial had concluded.")

I'd also echo regdog. There's news that's so horrendous right now, and I'm not sure how many people come to a writing website for general news.* Political decisions about Franken seem somewhat more discussable/debatable compared to recent events which seem un-debatably awful.

*ETA: I don't mean this as a critique of this thread, in any way. I just wanted to share with nighttimer where I was coming from, because I can imagine frustration seeing people take time to discuss some issues and not others.
 
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Roxxsmom

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There was another mass shooting near my own city a while back. I thought about posting, but a thread about shootings had just been closed down, and I had the impression that topic had become a sort of poison pill here. In any case, no one ever convinces anyone of anything on that issue, and we're stuck forever with the status quo :(

Another issue no one is talking about is the GOP's higher education plan (as part of their tax package), which seems determined to make higher education unaffordable for all but the wealthy.
 

Roxxsmom

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The backlash against the repeal of the net neutrality rules: https://gizmodo.com/the-internet-blackout-for-net-neutrality-is-coming-and-1821186037

Really, no one is for this except the Trump Administration and the ISP's.

And the Republican majority in Congress, who are not even representing the interests of their hard-core voters :(

It's amazing to me that they're not even pretending to represent their constituents and are openly pandering to the elite few. I guess they know the hate is strong enough to keep the support of their base, even if they are being screwed royally.
 
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Atlantic12

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I'm still shocked the Paradise Papers haven't made more waves. Half the stuff happening in the US and elsewhere is a direct result of a tiny group of the wealthy elite making the rules for everyone else and enriching themselves, their egos and their lust for power along the way. This is a fundamental problem globally, and people just shrug and let it go on. We should be talking about why corporations have more power than governments, and who is pulling the strings behind democratic governments, and supporting anyone who is willing to do something about it. Even knowing those people may pay with their lives, like that Maltese journalist did.
 

MaeZe

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The backlash against the repeal of the net neutrality rules: https://gizmodo.com/the-internet-blackout-for-net-neutrality-is-coming-and-1821186037

Really, no one is for this except the Trump Administration and the ISP's.

And for some reason the Russians.
WA Po last month: FCC net neutrality process ‘corrupted’ by fake comments and vanishing consumer complaints, officials say
Some 400,000 comments backing the rules, he said, appeared to originate from a mailing address based in Russia.

"The most suspicious activity has been by those supporting Internet regulation," said Hart.
Supporters of Net Neutrality did fight back:
Supporters of the net neutrality rules are not blameless either, he added, pointing to 7.5 million comments filed in favor of the regulations that appeared to come from 45,000 distinct email addresses, "all generated by a single fake e-mail generator website."
And the battle raged on:
Calling the FCC comment system “a mess,” Rosenworcel added that some 50,000 consumer complaints appear to have disappeared from the agency's records. She also highlighted a Government Accountability Office probe into an alleged denial-of-service attack that the FCC claimed prevented consumers from filing submissions on the net neutrality plan.

The FCC vote to screw consumers is in 2 days.
 

nighttimer

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The backlash against the repeal of the net neutrality rules: https://gizmodo.com/the-internet-blackout-for-net-neutrality-is-coming-and-1821186037

Really, no one is for this except the Trump Administration and the ISP's.

The issue of Net Neutrality is complex, complicated and not easily broken down into sound bites and talking points.

It is also very important to anyone who goes online and requires both self-education as well as an unified front against the FCC and the Trump Administration screwing over the public.

Not that I'm expecting it to happen anytime soon and when it's too late, people will wish they had got informed and active.
 

MaeZe

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The issue of Net Neutrality is complex, complicated and not easily broken down into sound bites and talking points. ....
I don't know, I can think of one sound bite, big internet providers want to charge on both ends, of course they want to get rid of net neutrality.

All that talk about net neutrality stifling innovation and how unfair it is that some websites are overwhelming the system are smoke screens. They've been collecting money from us for upgrading the system while not upgrading anything but their bottom line and obviously innovation is not stifled.

Fiberoptic cable would solve the overload problem. Where is it? Certainly not coming into my house yet.
 

Roxxsmom

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cbenoi1

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Fiberoptic cable would solve the overload problem.
Not really. We said the same thing about the amount of RAM and CPU power. That race is not over yet.

Imagine a triangle with the corners named DISTRIBUTION, TECHNOLOGY, and CONTENT. Those are the three pillars of Internet today. The focus alternates between the poles over time. It's the sort of frail equilibrium that makes innovation go round, because there will always have something to solve - better distribution requires new technology, which in turn allows new content, which in turn require better distribution.

Breaking Net Neutrality favors the creation of 'walled gardens' for distribution providers. They control the contents and the technology; innovation grinds to a halt while they 'milk' their distribution networks. No new investment in technology - that's just an expense. No new content because new tech finds no buyers. It's what happened with cellphones between 1999 and 2007. Eight years of sending SMSes with a number keyboard (unless you were lucky to have a Blackberry). Remember those days?

-cb

ETA: Fixed.
 
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MaeZe

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Not really. We said the same thing about the amount of RAM and CPU power. That race is not over yet.

Imagine a triangle with the corners named DISTRIBUTION, TECHNOLOGY, and CONTENT. Those are the three pillars of Internet today. The focus alternates between the poles over time. It's the sort of frail equilibrium that makes innovation go round, because there will always have something to solve - better distribution requires new technology, which in turn allows new content, which in turn require better distribution.

Net Neutrality favors the creation of 'walled gardens' for distribution providers. They control the contents and the technology; innovation grinds to a halt while they 'milk' their distribution networks. No new investment in technology - that's just an expense. No new content because new tech finds no buyers. It's what happened with cellphones between 1999 and 2007. Eight years of sending SMSes with a number keyboard (unless you were lucky to have a Blackberry). Remember those days?

-cb
It's hard to believe your argument when innovation has exploded on the Net the way it currently is. New tech finds no buyers? You can't be serious. Walled gardens? Where?

I'm stuck with cable TV until I make the switch my son and many others have made to go to online streaming instead. My cable TV sucks, there are no other cable providers, just a couple satellite companies and the one cable provider. The shift to streaming has opened the competition up.

That's all I need is for my monopoly cable provider to gain control over all the streaming options.

And that's just one example.

We are told, don't worry, the current internet providers won't start censoring our options, yet there is nothing in the FCC regulation changes that protects us from such control.

Nope, not buying the innovation argument. The profit argument has already proved itself to dominate.