I went to the BBC for some straight reporting: Manning convicted on most charges.

The thing is that under the UCMJ he was guilty of most charges, and, in fact, had already pled guilty to ten of the charges. The important bit is that he was found innocent of the “Aiding the enemy” charge, which was a creation in the minds of the prosecutors and the most serious charge against him.

He was not convicted of Espionage, he was convicted of releasing classified information, which is a section of what is known as the “Espionage Law”, and miscellaneous military offenses [‘conduct unbecoming’ sorts of trash charges].

The ‘transcriber’ at Corrente located an interview with Daniel Ellsberg about the Manning verdict that is worth reading. Mr Ellsberg has been there, done that, and notes that the treatment of Bradley Manning is the reason Edward Snowden didn’t stay in the US to face charges.

Next up is the sentencing and one word could be crucial to Bradley Manning. That word is concurrent. If the judge rules that the sentences will be served ‘concurrently’, it means that he won’t be in prison longer than the longest sentence for any individual count. The over 100 years that is being quoted in the media would be the possible length if the sentences were served ‘consecutively’. Manning has already been in custody for over three years, so he has been serving a sentence without being convicted of anything.

Which means it has nothing to do with politicians or Washington, DC. Despite the best efforts of the politicians and the Village elite, children have figured it out.

Elayne featured a Susie Madrak link that I have been trying to find.

I couldn’t remember where I had seen it, but if you click on the link to Susie and play the video, don’t just listen, look at the expressions on the faces of the kids when they are told why people are objecting to the Cheerios ad that is shown.

If we can just convince them to vote when they are old enough, a lot of the country’s problems will be solved.

This is the BBC’s version of the big story: Pope Francis: Who am I to judge gay people? That will probably get him knocked off DonoWho’s Christmas card list.

The ABC notes that the Pope’s attitude is not shared by Vladimir Putin.

In Florida news, it’s a good thing that people aren’t using their grills in the rain, because a major Blue Rhino propane facility is busy exploding. A lot of people use the Blue Rhino tank swap systems to fuel their propane needs. People don’t know, or forget that unlike natural gas, propane is heavier than air. This is usually discovered when people store their grills in the garage with their water heater, and the pilot light on the water sets off the propane leaking from the grill.