Scare Tactless

Every now and again I'm reminded that Democrats do stupid things on occasion too, and Dianne Feinstein is pretty terrible for at times turning into a Republican.

Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein warned Friday of the risk that the insurgent group ISIL could be preparing fighters to attack American and European targets.

“It has become clear that ISIL is recruiting fighters in Western countries, training them to fight its battles in the Middle East and possibly returning them to European and American cities to attack us in our backyard,” the California Democrat said in a statement backing military action authorized by President Barack Obama. “We simply cannot allow this to happen.”

Feinstein called for a broader military campaign against ISIL, not just the targeted missions authorized by the president.

“It takes an army to defeat an army, and I believe that we either confront ISIL now or we will be forced to deal with an even stronger enemy in the future. Inaction is no longer an option. I support actions by the administration to coordinate efforts with Iraq and other allies to use our military strength and targeting expertise to the fullest extent possible,” Feinstein said.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., warned of a similar possibility in an opinion piece for Time.com.

If your stance on military authorizations ever sounds "similar to Ted Cruz", you need to stop talking immediately.  DiFi really, really needs to be replaced by a better Democrat one of these days.

Silicon Valley's Race To The Bottom

What is it with Silicon Valley and apps that allow you avoid "ethnic" neighborhoods, and why does anyone think this is a good enough idea to throw actual money at?

SketchFactor, the brainchild of co-founders Allison McGuire and Daniel Herrington, is a Manhattan-based navigation app that crowdsources user experiences along with publicly available data to rate the relative "sketchiness" of certain areas in major cities. The app will launch on the iTunes on Friday, capping off a big week for the startup, which was named as a finalist in the NYC BigApps competition. 

According to Ms. McGuire, a Los Angeles native who lives in the West Village, the impetus behind SketchFactor was her experience as a young woman navigating the streets of Washington, D.C., where she worked at a nonprofit.

Now, I can totally understand why you would want an application that would allow women to avoid street harassment.  That is a noble goal.  This app doesn't do that.  What SketchFactor does is just say "Hey, this whole neighborhood is scary, don't go there."

 It's less racism as it is classism, but there's still a pretty awful component to it.

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition!

• US jets have leveled airstrikes against ISIS positions near Irbil, Iraq as they try to stop ISIS convoys and artillery heading for the Kurdish regional capital.
• A judge has ruled against the NCAA in a lawsuit and injunction that directs schools to offer student athletes a limited share of college sports revenue.
• Israel has resumed airstrikes on Hamas in the Gaza strip as Egyptian mediators are calling for cease fire talks to resume in Cairo.
• Ukraine is threatening to cut off Russian access to oil and gas pipelines to the EU as the next step in sanctions against Moscow.
• Sci-fi series Babylon 5 could be heading for the big screen as creator J. Michael Straczynski is in talks to write and finance the film.