No one besides the shooter died at Arapahoe High School today, where a male student entered the school with a shotgun and asked for teacher/librarian/Tracy Murphy. The shooter shot at Murphy and missed. A janitor helped Murphy get out of the school and into a car. The shooter then shot two one student who happened to be nearby. He then went into a classroom and killed himself. He was found 5 minutes after the shooting was first reported. No law enforcement shots were fired and all 2,000 students have been reunited with their families. Two 2 molotov cocktail "devices" were also found.

The deceased shooter is believed to be Karl Pierson.

The motive, according to the Sheriff, was revenge following a disagreement with the teacher a few days ago when the teacher "docked him a few points" in speech class.

I'm swamped at work. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

A U.S. drone in Yemen has mistakenly killed 15 civilians en route to a wedding. They were mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy.

Retired Gen. Michael Lehnart, who was in charge of Guantanamo when it opened in 2002, says it's time to close it and end the mistake.

"In retrospect, the entire detention and interrogation strategy was wrong..."

"We squandered the goodwill of the world after we were attacked by our actions in Guantanamo, both in terms of detention and torture," Lehnert wrote. "Our decision to keep Guantanamo open has helped our enemies because it validates every negative perception of the United States."

[More...]

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing this afternoon, "Continued Oversight of U.S. Government Surveillance Authorities." You can watch online here or at CSpan 3 here.

The Government's prepared statement is here. It begins:

Thank you for inviting us to continue our discussions with this Committee on our efforts to enhance public confidence in the important intelligence collection programs that have been the subject of unauthorized disclosures since earlier this year: the collection of bulk telephony metadata under the business records provision found in Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, and the targeting of non-U.S. persons overseas under Section 702 of FISA.

The statement details the Government's recent efforts to increase transparency and then lists a few changes to the FISA statute it willing to endorse, and several that it opposes. [More...]

The European Court of Human Rights is holding hearings to determine Poland's complicity in the CIA's extraordinary rendition and torture program. The court is gathering evidence pertaining to the kidnapping, detention and torture of detainees Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Abu Zubaydah was ultimately determined not to be a member of al Qaida, and al-Nashiri is one of the detainees scheduled to be tried by military commission at Guantanamo.

Here is the Court's fact-sheet on the two cases. In addition to waterboarding, the unauthorized interrogation techniques used by the CIA included the "powerdrill" and "handgun": [More...]

The big 8 Tech Companies have sent a letter to President Obama and Congress urging them to scale back surveillance programs.

The 8 companies are: AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo.

You can read their letter on the website they have set up, Reform Government Surveillance.

"We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer's revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide... "The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual - rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. "This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It's time for a change."

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Amato and Armando Show picks,(disagreements in BOLD): (A) New York Giants +3½, (J) San Diego Chargers -3½, (A) Minnesota Vikings +7, (J) Baltimore Ravens -7, (A) Pittsburgh Steelers -3½, (J) Miami Dolphins -3½, (A) Washington Redskins +3, (J) Kansas City Chiefs -3, (A) San Francisco 49ers -3, (J) Seattle Seahawks +3, Cincinnati Bengals -7 over Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos -13 over Tennessee Titans, (A) Dallas Cowboys PICK, (J) Chicago Bears PICK, New Orleans Saints -3½ over Carolina Panthers, (J) Atlanta Falcons +3, (A) Green Bay Packers -3, (A) St. Louis Rams +6, (J) Arizona Cardinals -6, Tampa Bay Buccaneers -3 over Buffalo Bills, (A) Philadelphia Eagles -3, (J) Detroit Lions +3, New England Patriots -10 over Cleveland Browns,

This week's Amato and Armando Show is here.

The picks: SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Georgia Dome - Atlanta, GA - Missouri +2 (3 units) over Auburn

PAC 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Sun Devil Stadium - Tempe AZ -Stanford +3 over Arizona State

BIG 10 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Lucas Oil Stadium - Indianapolis, IN - Michigan State +6 (5 units) over Ohio State.

MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Bulldog Stadium - Fresno, CA -Fresno State -3½ over Utah State.

CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Rice Stadium - Houston, TX - Marshall -5 (3 units) over Rice.

ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Bank America Stadium - Charlotte, NC -Florida State -29 (5 units) over Duke.

Others - Baylor -15 (3 units) over Texas; Rutgers -6 over South Florida; Connecticut Pick over Memphis; Oklahoma State -10 (EVEN) (4 units) over Oklahoma.

This week's Amato and Armando Show - Link.

Still snowing and really cold. I'm busy at work. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.