blzrul

The thing about SIMs is that they're so easy to swap among devices, unless those devices are locked. And for $25 or a visit to a cellular store they can be unlocked. Hacking a SIM doesn't allow you to eavesdrop on voice calls, but you could track data usage and location. For telemetric devices (what they call today the IoT) you could track location an movement which might be of interest. Can't see they'd care about what Aunt Tillie's wireless heart monitor is sending. SIMs are programmable and I would have to imagine Gemalto has a plan or method to change the key? Even if they're not admitting it... Seems like there might be easier methods of eavesdropping if that's the goal.

We skipped winter in Seattle. We had one week of "cold" around Christmas, overnight temps in the 20's, but otherwise it's been in the 50's - spring. The daffodils bloomed 2 weeks ago and the trees are blooming now. The ski areas gave up. I expect extreme whining over lack of snow pack any time - we've had some good rain, so that should stave off drought this summer.

Amen. We toyed with the idea, have friends in London who'd be happy to host us but figured for the money we'd be better off spending it to go to Buffalo for HOME PLAYOFF games :-)

Marrone didn't have enough confidence in himself, his staff or his team to gamble that in 2015 they'd improve enough to where he'd have the upper hand in contract negotiations. It seems that the guys who are upset at him leaving are the defense - sure, they don't have to deal with him like the offense. I'm sure he's a nice guy, and two back-to-back Pinstripe Bowl victories are indeed impressive BUT I found him underwhelming as a coach, in particular his devotion to Hackett. Whether all the questionable play calling and bad decisions were his, or Hackett's, the fact remains that the team was the weakest in the area where Marrone was suppoed to be an expert.

This isn't political. This is a mentally-ill felon who somehow got a gun and killed two officers. It happened to 5 officers in two separate incidents in Seattle around 2009. One guy was killed and the other is a stark raving lunatic in a wheelchair. Some nutjobs target children in schools and some target cops. It's ALL bad.

Hoping he's going to consult on stuff and head up the Search Committee for the new Head Coach!

Funny how everyone's panties are in a bunch over inconsequential little island. Whoop de doo. There are TONS worse human rights violations going on all over the world - suddently they're an ISSUE with conservatives (but only the Cuban ones)? Yeh. It's not 1962 any more. Get over it.

It will come out along with the report on the tens of thousands of innocent civilians dead, along with 5k US soldiers (not to mention the maimed and post-service suicides) related to the invasion of Iraq - a sovereign nation that had, at the time, done nothing to us and had nothing to do with 9/11. That will report will also include the juicy details around ISIS, which is lovingly equipped thanks to America and staffed by former Iraqi soldiers disenfranchised after said invasion. Maybe they'll bury the location of the WMDs in there too.

#firehackett

Why shouldn't this be made public? Using the same logic I've seen for situations ilke Ferguson: "hey if you weren't doing something wrong, and you played by the rules, you wouldn't be dead." If the CIA wasn't doing terrible things, there would be no report and we wouldn't have to have this discussion. If your hands are clean, what's the big deal? Ah, but our hands are not clean. That's the big deal. Torture is un-America and is not to be tolerated. Hence you should be angry at the folks who betrayed the bright and shiny American ideal by engaging in torture. Not only does it violate what America stands for but it violates an international code we agreed to support. So anger should be directed at those who perpetrated the crime. But of course certain people will find a way to justify torture (which we all knew was happening anyway) and then scream bloody murder when we're called savages and our people are tortured. If you're not ashamed of it then why make a fuss? And if you're not ashamed of it what's the matter with you? Funny how principles are always to be applied to OTHERS when it's inconvenient for US. If people want to take the low road, go ahead. They'll just end up with the bottom dwellers.

Neither of us was there. So I don't know how either of us can be sure one way or another. Two people know for sure what happened and neither of them are talking. The burden of proof for an indictment is very little. So people declaring the officer is innocent are wrong. In theory a new grand jury could be convened, and they could indict. I don't see it happening, but there's no double jeopardy attached.

This whole thing seemed pretty much orchestrated. The decision's been in. The media was primed.The DA got primetime (betcha he's got higher political aspirations than DA) and night-time is when most people are free and flames show up best. Regardless of the decision this was going to happen. These rioters are amateurs. They need to look at Canada (hockey fans) for some inspiration. Now THOSE are riots. Shame all around. A kid is dead, and I'm not sure it was unavoidable. The officer can go on the talk-show circuit. USA, land of opportunity.

Well let's see: I recall being at the Ralph watching Jets fans who were so drunk just getting to their sits for kickoffs they'd fall down the stairs...meh. And plenty of obnoxious Dolphin fans. Living in Dallas for a decade I thought for sure they were the worst. All that changed when I moved to Seattle. These people, normally very nice and polite, are the absolute WORST I have ever seen. First off, they don't know anything about football. They need an announcement in the stadium to remind them to shut up when their team has the ball. Probably 85% of them are big fans, since mid-2013, LOL. The wheels on the bandwagon CREAK. When one thing goes wrong, they jump off. The Seattle PD has to plant officers wearing enemy jerseys at home games, and announce it, because fans of opposing teams get beat up. And, should the Seahawks LOSE, it's never because of the penalties or poor play. It's always because of the officials. The reason the Seahawks have lost three games, according to the local papers and TV sports, is because the NFL cannot afford their dominance and has issued instructions to all NFL officials to do whatever it takes to cause a Seahawks loss. It's ridiculous. It is so bad, in fact, that this veteran Cowboy-hater absolutely LOVED that that beat the Seahawks.

aren't there jets boards?

Hackett's play-calling is unimaginative and predictable. Hackett designs and calls plays not for the players he's got, but for the players he wishes he had. Witness keeping EJ in the pocket - he's not [yet] a pocket passes, and flashes of greatness we saw from EJ came when he was out of the pocket and improvising. Not much, but enough to make you wonder what an offense tailored to the skills available, and a little experience, would bring. The Bills O-line is crappy. Why build a game plan and call plays that require a good one to execute? Look around the NFL, there are other teams with less-than-impressive offensive lines and they call plays that place less emphasis on it to succeed.

The only thing that matters is the score at the end of the game. I don't think the players or coaching staff worry about points spread and neither do I.

Ahhh you should be here in Seattle! It's awesome. Whining, crying...then silence. I agree with your assessment. Now that they can't get away with all the cheap-shotting and baiting they did last year, they are ordinary. Beast Mode is back to Least Mode. And their Coach, he-of-no-principles, doesn't have the answers. He's never won fair and square. He cheats. Now that's gone and I think it will get worse, I think they'll get piled on - including some additional drug-testing :-)

If you look at at the play calling, it's mediocre at best. It doesn't play to the players / talent that the Bills have. EJ isn't a pocket passer. If they want to build an offense that depends on a pocket passer (which makes sense if you want your QB to live) then you need a better line and some more time and intensive work for him to learn and be comfortable. I do not know whether EJ is the second coming of Steve Young (who sat behind Montana), Aaron Rodgers (who sat behind Favre) etc...but if he IS, he will probably be so for another team because the Bills were just to stupid and shortsighted to invest the time AND personnel in him to develop him.

The mistake was getting a rookie QB and throwing him in right away. Rarely does a rookie come in and take a perennially bad team to the promised land. He needs a mentor and a little time to develop.

I'm referring to our foreign policy, as the discussion was initiated, over the long term. After totally getting it wrong for so many years, there's nothing anyone can do now to fix it, not in the near term anyway. This has nothing to do with Obama. The special interests who benefit from war don't care who's POTUS. There is NOTHING wrong with seeing things as they should be, by the way. Those are goals. You don't have goals, you never gonna get anywhere. In sales we call it assuming the sale. You don't always win the deal, but you certainly win a lot more when you operate on the assumption of how it should be, i.e. a closed deal.

Our foreign policy is a disaster because it's not driven by concern for the safety of our citizens or righteousness or anything else but unbridled economic greed. War is always good business. Throw in a bunch of oil and blammo - there it is.

Lee Evans was at Hammer's Lot pregame too. Also saw a photo on Bills Mafia, Brandon stopped by a post-game tailgate...apologized for the loss. Fans in other NFL cities don't get the chance to interact with their team/former team like this. Unless they hang out in the same bars.

Goodell's a tool but he's doing his job. His job is taking care of 32 people: period. The players don't like him. Now the fans aren't crazy about him. I understand and agree with due process - but depending on the infraction many citizens would be canned too if we were busted on these kinds of charges. Now the players have contracts, but they also have conduct standards to which they agreed in those contracts. I blame Goodell because I don't like him, and I don't think he's done any good for football, but each owner can and should show a little integrity with these guys. Heck, Least Mode FINALLY dispensed with his last criminal charge here in Seattle after...2 years? 3 years? WTF.

As a white person I would not presume to speak about what it means to be black. I will never know. Any more than a man can understand what it's like to be a woman, or vice versa. Even when the environments are "equal" there will be differences. I don't live in Ferguson (thank God) so I don't know if the cops are racist, one way or another. I do believe that equipping local deputy dawgs with military equipment is a mistake. It's not like Al Qaeda or ISIS is going to attack their little town. And I wonder if all that military stuff might have an impact on how police approach situations. But, again, I'm not there so I don't know. I do know that when I watch COPS I see all sorts of people grappling with officers and I've never once seen one get shot.

What I can't figure out is where are all the Tea Party militia - they ran to help Cliven Bundy in his stand against the evil government, one would think that the sight of SWAT teams and others drawing down on unarmed men, women and children would bring them running.