Zan Zu from Eridu - Slashdot User

+ - Pentagon Special Ops Chief: "War on Terror" Another 10-20 Years-> 0

Submitted by Jeremiah Cornelius on Wednesday May 22, 2013 @11:20AM

Jeremiah Cornelius writes "Asked last week, at a Senate hearing, how long the war on terrorism will last, Michael Sheehan, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, answered, “At least 10 to 20 years.” A spokeswoman, Army Col. Anne Edgecomb, clarified that Sheehan meant the conflict is likely to last 10 to 20 more years from today. This is additional to the 12 years this conflict has already been pursued. Members of the Senate panel expressed shock that Sheehan envisioned such a broad, long war, unconfined by defined and measurable objectives or any territorial limitation. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) declared that the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF), was specifically bounded to al-Qaida as then defined, for the 9/11 attacks. The AUMF does not contain the words "associated forces", repeatedly invoked in the session by Pentagon chief lawyer, Robert Taylor. John McCain (R-Ariz.), protested the Pentagon’s interpretation of the AUMF. "None of us could have envisioned authority [to strike] in Yemen and Somalia," McCain said."
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Comment: Re:We blaclist him too... (Score 5, Interesting) 133

by Zan Zu from Eridu on Saturday March 30, 2013 @05:36AM (#43317225) Attached to: Is Eccentric Sven Olaf Kamphius To Blame For Spamhaus DDoS?

He's not a moron (in spite of his eyebrows), he just plays one. This guy earns a ton by providing services to well known spammers and other criminal organisations, but every time he makes the headlines and gets interviewed he either plays the naïve internet activist or the village idiot, depending on his public.

Comment: Re:Lots of misinformation (Score 1) 267

by Zan Zu from Eridu on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @05:04AM (#39641735) Attached to: My gut feeling about fracking:

"Taking every measure we can" is not prudence. Prudence implies moderation. Taking reasonable measures would be prudent. Turning over the entire energy industry to government control, regulation through global governance, and increasing taxes to provide subsidies for "green" corporations are not "prudent" or moderate measures.

The fundamental cause of the problem is our unsustainable energy consumption so that's where the prudent moderation should take place, instead of moderating our concern of energy companies ravaging the earth. History shows that these concerns are very, very valid.

Modded Xbox Bans Prompt EFF Warning About Terms of Service 254

Posted by Soulskill on Friday December 04, 2009 @01:19AM
from the by-reading-this-you-bequeath-me-all-your-possessions dept.

Last month we discussed news that Microsoft had banned hundreds of thousands of Xbox users for using modified consoles. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has now pointed to this round of bans as a prime example of the power given to providers of online services through 'Terms of Service' and other usage agreements. "No matter how much we rely on them to get on with our everyday lives, access to online services — like email, social networking sites, and (wait for it) online gaming — can never be guaranteed. ... he who writes the TOS makes the rules, and when it comes to enforcing them, the service provider often behaves as though it is also the judge, jury and executioner. ... While the mass ban provides a useful illustration of their danger, these terms can be found in nearly all TOS agreements for all kinds of services. There have been virtually no legal challenges to these kinds of arbitrary termination clauses, but we imagine this will be a growth area for lawyers."