Army Pfc. Bradley Manning Found Innocent Of Aiding The Enemy, Guilty Of 19 Other Counts

After an eight-week trial, Army Private First Class Bradley Manning has been found guilty of 19 out of 22 criminal counts, including five counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917, five counts of theft, one count computer fraud and some other military infractions, but was acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy. If given the maximum sentence he could spend 136 years in prison.

Manning was responsible for hundreds of thousands of documents leaked to the news organization WikiLeaks, including the well-known “Collateral Murder” video, where a US helicopter shot down one Reuter’s journalist and two camera men, along with hitting a van who stopped to aid the wounded, injuring two children and killing the father. Eleven people were killed in total.

The Joys Of Bicycling In Los Angeles

People can be jerks. You know it's true. If you've ever been stuck in traffic on the freeway, actually if you've ever been in a car ever, you can understand how people can be jerks. I think it has something to do with the fact that you aren't face to face so people feel more relaxed about their mistreatment of others, i.e. the notorious internet trolls. I believe people create/allow so much stress in their lives and don't know how to handle it that they let it to take over and run rampant. This is most easily observed when driving.

You can show people how pissed you are, knowing that they can't do anything about it. You can take out your aggression on that person closest to you and smother that person with your stress, pissing them off; adding to the cesspool of aggression and anger on the road. Feeling better now?

Worldfest

When Dan and I went to the Vegan Beer and Food Festival, we came across a flier for another veg friendly event, called Worldfest. Based on the flier, I was not completely sure if it was going to be a festival geared toward everyone, vegetarians, or vegan specific. Either way, I wanted to go because it looked like another fun event with vegan vendors, and of course, beer.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that it was indeed an all vegan event and wandered around to see what was there. I was excited (and Dan nervous) that there were pet adoptions from a variety of different places. Of course we went and talked to the cats for a while, it is me after all. And of course we both fell in love with all of them. I was also surprised to find that they had two specific dog adoption groups for the types of dogs I would want once we finally have a permanent yard, Beagle and German Shepard. I really would love to get one or the other, but I refuse to purchase an animal when there are so many in need and in danger of euthanasia. Here is a list of all the vendors from the event, I only wish I could talk about all of them.

Eating Out, Vegan Style

Is it hard? No. I mean, it can be, but it doesn't have to be. You just can't be lazy. >_<

This is one of those things where you may tend to shy away from eating out with friends or going to a hole in the wall joint. I know, I've been there. It can be frustrating when you want to go to a veg restaurant and your non-veghead friends say they don't like/eat vegan food.... um... so no apples? You can't eat any vegetables? And wait, you don't like fruit!? Okay, let me get this straight. You want a salad, but you won't go to a restaurant that makes bomb salads because it's vegetarian?? Sigh. It can feel very one sided when people curl their noses at vegan restaurants, but then want you to join them at their meatfest restaurant. They have that one vegan option! >_< Also, watching people chow down on a burger or chicken leg is very unappetizing.

Edward Snowden: Why You Should Know His Name

Sunday, June 9th the Guardian posted yet another article on the ongoing exposure of the overwhelming National Security Administration’s (NSA) PRISM program. This time it was not just a piece about the NSA, but about the whistleblower behind the leak, Edward Snowden.

[Originally published in Ladybud Magazine here: Edward Snowden: Why You Should Know His Name]

Snowden is a 29-year-old infrastructure analyst who, until recently, worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, a contracting company providing the NSA with intelligence. He was exposed to a multitude of information that allowed him to piece together what the NSA was doing in regards to the surveillance of the American people, claiming he could wiretap even the President with access to a personal email address, and with his accumulating knowledge began to feel uncomfortable with what he concluded to be the NSA’s abuse of power.

RenFaire!

Huzzah for the drunkard!

J.R. Organics

I recently made my way down to Escondido to check out our CSA farm for their 6th annual event. I had decided on the first date available because I was really excited to finally get the chance to check out a farm. This is our second CSA and we never had the chance to visit the one we were a part of in Berkeley, so you can imagine how excited I was.

In case you didn't already know, CSA stands for community supported agriculture. Getting a CSA box is a great way to support local farmers, get surprisingly affordable fruits and veggies, get you to eat healthier, and they can on occasion get you to try new foods you would never buy on your own. It's also a great way to find out what's in season, and when. All around a great deal.

LA Galaxy!

We finally made it to a Galaxy game, and it just happened to go hand in hand with Dan's birthday weekend. Double awesome.

Our first American football game, and second game in total. It was very different than when we saw a game in Berlin. It was very fun, but there was no practical public transportation and the beers were $11!! For corona!!! Terrible. In Berlin they were about €5 and good. The food was more diverse and cheaper as well.

I automatically learned a lesson, before the game even started. Bring food, BBQ yourself, and drink your fill before hand. Sheeh. The fact that people actually buy anything at these places is crazy.

Well anyway, we ended up getting a beer (I mean, you gotta!) after a lot of resistance and found our seats.

Of course we got the seats with a pole right in Dan's view, so we moved once it kicked off and people seemed to be settled. We moved back a bit, but were able to be in a spot where no one was in front of us and I'd say it was a better view than our original seats.