The Off Topic Topic

[Razgovory]

She fucked up what?

[Razgovory]

the ancient Greeks used to believe that the Gods lived on top of Mount Olympus....Yet Olympus isn:t actually that tall. Apparently its a pretty easy climb that doesn't require much in the way of special equipment.
Surely somebody in ancient times went up there for a look?
How did they explain that away?

Cause ancient people weren't literalist.

[derspiess]

She fucked up what?

Apparently nothing in Razworld

[Razgovory]

No seriously, what exactly did she fuck up?  What severe setback is she responsible for?

[Syt]

The "voice" of the Austrian public transport retires after 40 years in service. So far the announcements have been made by a male (small grey one). The new voice will be a woman, and she's drawing some criticism for pronouncing more German-German than Austrian-German, particularly the endings with "g" - in Germany it's often turned into a soft ch, like in Gemran "weich" whereas Austrians much prefer a sharp k-sound. Similar with P which the Austrians mostly pronounce like B (you often have to announce whether a name is spelled with hard or soft B ).

[derspiess]

No seriously, what exactly did she fuck up?  What severe setback is she responsible for?

Heh, funny how you give Yi shit for doing what you're doing right now.

[Phillip V]

Young black male approaches and pushes old Asian man in front of train.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/man-pushed-in-front-of-midtown-subway-train-witnesses-say/

[DGuller]

No seriously, what exactly did she fuck up?  What severe setback is she responsible for?

Heh, funny how you give Yi shit for doing what you're doing right now.

Ok, now it's my turn to ask:  what did she fuck up?  Are you going to give yet another non-answer, or will you bother to look up reasons why Fox tells you to hold her in contempt?

[DGuller]

Young black male approaches and pushes old Asian man in front of train.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/man-pushed-in-front-of-midtown-subway-train-witnesses-say/

I know it's hard to think of it in the heat of the moment, but people should know that in case they fall on the tracks, by far the best option is to lay between them rather than try to climb back onto the platform.  There is enough clearance for the train to pass over you, should it be unable to stop in time.

[Admiral Yi]

The indictment against Rice is that she sold the attack on the US ambassador in Libya as a spontaneous outgrowth of the video protests instead of a planned terrorist attack to limit political damage to Obama on the eve of the election.

[Jacob]

No seriously, what exactly did she fuck up?  What severe setback is she responsible for?

Heh, funny how you give Yi shit for doing what you're doing right now.

Let me ask then, what did she fuck up? I've followed this case only peripherally I admit, but my impression is that she repeated information provided to her by the CIA during still developing situation. Later, once the situation was more clear she provided more accurate information.

Can you lay out clearly what it is she fucked up?

[Jacob]

The indictment against Rice is that she sold the attack on the US ambassador in Libya as a spontaneous outgrowth of the video protests instead of a planned terrorist attack to limit political damage to Obama on the eve of the election.

Would it be better if she sold the attack on the US ambassador in Libya as a spontaneous outgrowth of the video protests instead of a planned terrorist attack to protect vulnerable intelligence assets that may be identified if she provided this information? Or if she did so because she thought underplaying the terrorist angle genuinely served the US's interests?

When she sold it the way she did, did she break any laws or rules or oaths? When a State Department Official (if that's what she is?) comments on an developing situation, what obligations does she have for spinning things one way or the other? What obligations does she have to provide accurate intelligence briefs to the general public?

... and why are we so certain that labelling it a terrorist attack a few days earlier would have hurt Obama's election campaign?

[Razgovory]

Yeah, that's the information she was given.  The Whitehouse later gained more information and decided to alter their statements to better fit the situation as they understood it.  This isn't exactly a crime or even a bad thing.  That's what rational people do.  I am unsure why her statements are so abhorrent to Derspeiss.  It's still not known who exactly conducted the attack or how it occurred.  Nobody died because of these statements, it's unlikely the US was setback in any real way by these statements.  Yet Derspeiss treats this as some sort of terrible scandal.

I'm guessing that a lot of Republicans don't like the fact that some bigot got blamed for the attack initially.  I seem to recall Derspeiss unhappy with the fact that the President weighed in about the film before that consulate attack.  Is that the root of the problem?  That some Islamaphobe got blamed?

[Razgovory]

... and why are we so certain that labelling it a terrorist attack a few days earlier would have hurt Obama's election campaign?

Funny thing is, Obama did label it a terrorist attack the day after it happened.  Romney claimed he didn't, and looked like a fool.  Romney making a fool of himself in that second debate may have shifted some votes, but it's hard to blame Susan Rice for that.

[Jacob]

Wait... so did Rice decide the content of the statement, or did she just deliver it?