Bad political optics 101 or level one

[burnt fare]

Clinton Wishes He Had Left White House "In A Coffin"
By REUTERS
Published: November 2, 2009
Filed at 2:54 p.m. ET

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Monday he would have preferred to leave the White House in a coffin because he loved being commander in chief, but signalled his political life is over.

"It's good that we have a (term) limit. Otherwise I would have stayed until I was carried away in a coffin. Or defeated in an election," Clinton said at a conference in Istanbul. "I loved doing the job."

Clinton won two terms in office, the maximum under the constitution, and served from 1992 to 2000. His wife Hillary Clinton is now U.S. Secretary of State under President Barack Obama after losing the Democratic primary to him in 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/11/02/world/international-uk-turkey-clinton-president.html?scp=1&sq=clinton%20coffin&st=cse

My impression is that the former president relishes the spotlight but he's not supporting the Secretary of State with his "here's what I'm doing/thinking" actions. Rather, he wants some time in the press, then basically says "over to the Secretary of State and President Obama, I am behind them."

[fishandchips]

I find the above post ideal proof that the man should have become a quiet person and be more supportive of his wife's ambitions. Like he ran the presidency above board and not indulged in gossip-worthy behaviour. He ought to have left the office with tape on his mouth, to prevent more off-the-cuff remarks. He owes his wife his support after his shenanigans (sorry, Over 18 topic venture).

[CielOnTap]

Have the Vancouver police not learned from the RCMP inquiry about Taser use? You deal with people first, not shoot them first. Vancouver police have bought sonic guns for crowd control and the outcomes of use mean illness or injury.

Vancouver police buy "sonic gun" for crowd control
November 10, 2009
Canadian Press

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association says the Vancouver Police Department has acquired a powerful new crowd control weapon, just in time for the Olympics.

Association president Robert Holmes describes the Long Range Acoustical Device, or L-RAD, as a sonic gun capable of firing a concentrated beam of sound.

He says the sound waves are strong enough to cause intense pain, damage hearing and temporarily disrupt vision, and there has been no safety testing of the weapon in Canada.
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/670048

[smitty]

CielOnTap, was that massive thing I saw on the TV that looked more like a large spot-light? In fact during WWII both Germans to British used massive flood lights that looked so much like what I have in mind & saw to-day on the TV, If so then it would be more like having a massive shotgun of a size none of us have seen or heard about. For if it is going to hurt innocent people if "-- sound waves are strong enough to cause intense pain,---". I know of one police officer in the USA that slammed togeather two semi-auto shotguns & it was soon called "The alley buster" only to be banned in a short while knowing to many innocent people might (?) be hurt with the shot flying in their direction.

Just so pleased that from day one I have been against the Olympics in Vancouver area with NO intent to be there. Remember I hate crowds, to line-ups to you name it, so I would NOT be with a crowd causing trouble, but other innocent people might me.

To be honest with you I feel whoever dreamed up this THING needs their head examined with a very dull axe before it can be put into its use or damage or normal humans.

[CielOnTap]

I seem to recall that the Israeli army used sonic devices on Palestinians either during or before the last conflict in Gaza Strip. I remember a story or video in which people on the receiving end were telling others to protect their ears somehow before the discharge happened.

[CielOnTap]

The G20 Summit: a protestor claims she was injured by two rubber bullets fired by police, which they denied yesterday. But today, someone speaking for the police did say rubber bullets were fired. Is the force keen to avoid the protestor's lawsuit? How mad are Torontonians about the incident and local force's hand in events? What about the participation of other forces' officers in responding to the protestors?

Police did fire rubber bullets on Eastern Ave. during G20
By ROB LAMBERTI, Toronto Sun

Last Updated: July 27, 2010 7:21pm
Rubber bullets were fired at the crowd outside the Eastern Ave. set up during the G20 Summit, a Toronto Police spokesman said Tuesday — one day after releasing erroneous information.

Mark Pugash corrected a statement he made Monday to the Toronto Sun saying no rubber bullets were fired outside the temporary prisoner processing centre, saying he had received the wrong information.

The person who provided the mistaken information called him Tuesday and said that rubber bullets were fired outside the centre, Pugash said. He originally said rubber bullets were only used during a heated protest at Queen’s Park.http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/07/27/14846736.html

[CielOnTap]

South African President Zuma's daughter is getting married this week. Given the VIPs invited to the celebration and the 12 Lambourginis that will be used for the procession as well as heightened security, did anyone in the family consider the optics of an wedding that is flaunting wealth? The daughter runs a charity for poor women and children. Her husband to be is a businessman-will search his field. This is a missed opportunity to do something for South African charity, by giving something useful.

I noticed that one of the comments posted in reply to the article mentioned the state of the road to the venue as being questionable for the use by the Italian sportscars. http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article1035140.ece/12-Lamborghinis-ready-for-Zuma-wedding

[smitty]

I thought Clinton is making good money on his talks for a maze of crowds put the money down to hear him.

Now the G20 was the mess of all to say the least. I doubt if Cdn will hold one in the heart of of some large city & probably better off to hold one way out in the bush with no roads to it.

[alohasand]

The nerve of the Nigerian government deciding this week is time to plan a strategy to help get kidnapped girls back 4 weeks after they were taken from their school dorm. The presidents' wife calling the angry parents liars about the abduction. What clowns are running the country?

In the past two weeks, international press has been reporting that the high schoolers have been moved around, likely across borders, and also put into forced work/marriages/slave market.

The person supposedly in charge of arranging the kidnapping has been said to indicate he'll sell the students. Where are the military to take care of this human rights abuser?
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/world/africa/nigeria-kidnapped-girls.html?ref=world&_r=0

[CielOnTap]

Yesterday's NASA announcement about Mars and its water did not go over well with the Russian government. Today on Twitter, I noticed a newspaper re-tweet of someone's post that Moscow viewed the NASA news as timed by the US government to divert attention from Russia's speech at the UN at about the same time of day.

Here's the context:

Vyacheslav Nikonov, a Kremlin-loyal member of Russia’s lower house of parliament, has alleged that the U.S. space agency decided to time the announcement to distract the world’s attention from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech to the United Nations on September 28.

"Putin's speech was certainly the central element of the UN General Assembly session," Nikonov was quoted by the state-run TASS news agency as saying on September 28."It is not surprising that the United States held a NASA news conference devoted to water found on Mars at the time when Putin was addressing the UN General Assembly.

http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-nasa-mars-announcement-upstaged-putin--un/27275898.html

It could be a mite uncomfortable for the astronauts in the ISS with the brouhaha on Earth below them.