Reason Morning Links: Regulating Garage Sales, Wildfires Rage in California, Assisted Suicide in Montana?

- California wildfires expand, burning out of control.

- Montana Supreme Court could make assisted suicide a right protected by the state's constitution.

- Mark Cuban asks court to fine SEC for bringing unwarranted insider trading charges against him.

- Federal regulators take aim at garage sales, Goodwill, Salvation Army reselling recalled items.

- Paris cracks down on public urination.

Comments

[WLC]

"...rules of engagement..." for a fucking yard sale?! Go. Fuck. Your. Self.

[Joe M]

As for the wildfires, hasn't it been discussed before, and suggested that preventing smaller fires from burning naturally over the years leads to a massive build up in dried up dead plant material in forests, and once a fire really catches, it's damn near impossible to stop?

It's an odd dilemma for some people, who don't want nature to be damaged, but fail to understand that sometimes, nature likes to punch itself in the balls.

[SugarFree]

Paris cracks down on public urination.

"Of course this was Paris, Texas..."

[T]

"Of course this was Paris, Texas..."

What, he couldn't drive two hours to piss on something in Dallas?

[brotherben]

Ozark, Alabama. Ya gotta get a $15 dollar permit from city hall to have a yard/garage sale. Signage is regulated and you can't have more than 2 per year.

[P Brooks]

Cuban's lawyers argue that the SEC improperly pressured witnesses. The entire case, they say, was built on the hope that Cuban himself could be pressured into settling.

"The SEC apparently gambled that Mr. Cuban would be pressured into an early settlement," the Dewey team writes.

In other words, a government-sanctioned extortion racket; "business as usual".

[P Brooks]

Last night, on the news, they interviewed some guy whose house "miraculously" didn't burn down when all the neighbors' houses did. He expressed his deep sympathy for those poor unfortunate people.

I suspect a few simple questions might have revealed that he prepared his property (landscaping, building materials, et c) for the eventuality of fire, and the neighbors didn't. I wonder if, off camera, he was in "I told you so" mode.

[John teebone]

Oh wow, sounds pretty crazy dude!

RT
http://www.online-privacy.es.tc

[R C Dean]

I live in "brush country." When we get a fire here, it can get pretty bad. When I build Fortress Dean, there will be minimal flammable exterior surfaces - stone walls, metal roof. Its not that hard.

[Johnny Longtorso]

stone walls, metal roof

Fortress Dean sounds like something you'd cook a pizza in.

[Xeones]

Of course the various levels of government are going hate on yard sales. There's no sales tax to be had there; how are they supposed to get their beaks wet?

[The ObamaChrist]

My approval rating has dropped to 45%? WTF???

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

[Xeones]

Fortress Dean sounds like something you'd cook a pizza in.

Or a Dean. Hope you've got lots of air conditioners in there.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Or a Dean. Hope you've got lots of air conditioners in there.

RCD always struck me as more of an underground bunker kinda guy anyway.

[brotherben]

Wildfires generally blow through pretty fast. If you have nothing on the exterior of a house to catch fire from embers, you are in good shape. The house ain't gonna turn into an oven in the few minutes it takes the fire to go by.

AFL-CIO, Dems push new Wall Street tax
By Alexander Bolton - 08/30/09 10:17 AM ET
The nation's largest labor union and some allied Democrats are pushing a new tax that would hit big investment firms such as Goldman Sachs reaping billions of dollars in profits while the rest of the economy sputters.

The AFL-CIO, one of the Democratic Party's most powerful allies, would like to assess a small tax - about a tenth of a percent - on every stock transaction.

Small and medium-sized investors would hardly notice such a tax, but major trading firms, such as Goldman, which reported $3.44 billion in profits during the second quarter of 2009, may see this as a significant threat to their profits.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/56789-afl-cio-dems-push-new-wall-street-tax

[Art-P.O.G.]

RCD always struck me as more of an underground bunker kinda guy anyway.

Way to Godwin the whole thing. 😉

[Mike Laursen]

Paris cracks down on public urination.

Uh oh. Guilty of that one.

This newspaper traces its roots to before Las Vegas was Las Vegas.

We've seen cattle ranches give way to railroads. We chronicled the construction of Hoover Dam. We reported on the first day of legalized gambling. The first hospital. The first school. The first church. We survived the mob, Howard Hughes, the Great Depression, several recessions, two world wars, dozens of news competitors and any number of two-bit politicians who couldn't stand scrutiny, much less criticism.

We're still here doing what we do for the people of Las Vegas and Nevada. So, let me assure you, if we weathered all of that, we can damn sure outlast the bully threats of Sen. Harry Reid.

If he thinks he can push the state's largest newspaper around by exacting some kind of economic punishment in retaliation for not seeing eye to eye with him on matters of politics, I can only imagine how he pressures businesses and individuals who don't have the wherewithal of the Review-Journal.

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/56171937.html

[Chinny Chin Chin]

Paris cracks down on public urination.

I prefer "Paris pinches off public peeing"

[brotherben]

Paris cracks down on public urination.

I guess that's necessary when you party with Britney.

[MayorOmalleySuxs]

Paris cracks down on public urination.

It is about time. Really, no shit, I was in Paris, France - not Texas - in the late 70's. I was walking down the sidewalk one afternoon. A guy stops his car, gets out, pisses against a tree, gets in his car and drives off.

[Mike M.]

In other news, Obama's standing with the public continues to plummet like it's under the force of gravity. 45% approve - 53% disapprove in the latest Rasmussen, 42% approval - 48% disapprove in the latest Zogby, both new lows.

[Johnny Longtorso]

A guy stops his car, gets out, pisses against a tree, gets in his car and drives off.

I sure wish we were as sophisticated as European ("You're-a-peeing", get it? hahahah) liberals.

[P Brooks]

Yeah, but that French guy gets better health care, and more vacations!

[T]

Yeah, but that French guy gets better health care, and more vacations!

And if global warming keeps up, he won't have to worry about health care for the elderly, either.

[creech]

Any estimates on the CO2 being released by these fires? One news station said an area that was burning hadn't had a fire, or brush cleared, in 60 years. Controlled fires, appropriate logging, etc...nooo, can't do that to Gaia. Just wait until the Malibu Colony or Holmby Hills are threatened.

[R C Dean]

Fortress Dean sounds like something you'd cook a pizza in.

Not at all. Wide porches all around to keep the windows in the shade, nicely insulated. That metal roof actually reflects heat and is more energy efficient than any other kind of roof in a hot sunny climate. Its actually the most energy efficient design for West Texas.

What I have now is similar, except for the roof. Cooling bills are agreeably low.

RCD always struck me as more of an underground bunker kinda guy anyway.

The bunker will be accessible via tunnel from the main building.

[The Angry Optimist]

I think I have seen the story here previously, but isn't there some government insurance program that, analogous to the National Flood Insurance Program, that subsidizes people who live in fire-prone areas?

[Malto Dextrin]

"We're not looking to come across as being heavy-handed," he said. "We want to make sure that everybody knows what the rules of engagement are to help spur greater compliance, so that enforcement becomes less of an issue. But we're still going to enforce."

Really, the correct, safe approach to organizing society, is to first put everyone in internment camps, where they can learn the proper "rules of engagement" so that "enforcement is less of an issue". It's all about "spurring greater compliance".

Compliance is the thing. We must have compliance. Without compliance, there is no security. Without security, there is fear. With fear, there is no true freedom, and America is about freedom.

To have freedom, we must first have compliance!

When an individual has demonstrated that he will be properly compliant, he can be let out, with careful monitoring of course to make sure there is no backsliding.

It's all for the safety of the children. You can't be too careful. We must ensure fairness and promote the general welfare and provide a secure future for our children. And national security, for our children. And fairness for all. Along with free health care. And new cars. And wholesome, organic, local food. And free housing, hopefully with flatscreen TVs.

It's the American Way!

[Hugh Akston]

I'm all for suicide being as painless and accessible as possible. But I'm wary of any attempt to make anything medicine related into a right.

Rights imply responsibilities, and in the case of the "right" to physician assisted suicide, the responsibility is legally on the part of the physician to provide it, even against his/her moral or professional objections.

A better solution might be to just legalize physician-assisted suicide and let doctors make that choice on their own.

[Hugh Akston]

Of course, anyone who tries to deny me the right to pee on France is going to have pry my dick from my cold, dead hand.

[T]

Damn, RC. Your planned house sounds like my planned house.

[SugarFree]

Holding your dick while you pee is the first warning sign that you may be gay.

[brotherben]

Suge, that's why I sit when I make water.

[P Brooks]

"Right" is another word which has been stripped of any specific meaning.

[SugarFree]

Suge, that's why I sit when I make water.

That's even gayer.

[T]

Holding your dick while you pee is the first warning sign that you may be gay.

Whereas having another another man hold it while you pee is definitive proof.

[SugarFree]

T knows the score.

[brotherben]

That's even gayer.

yeah, but it keeps mrs. brotherben less cranky.

[T]

yeah, but it keeps mrs. brotherben less cranky.

If she's like mine, there's going to be a certain base level of crankiness no matter what you do. The key is to not nudge cranky over into pissed-off.

[EJM]

? Paris cracks down on public urination.

Elsewhere...

"Zambian Monkeys Banned After President Urinated On"

[Xeones]

Do you think gay dudes are turned on by their own wieners?

[Citizen Nothing]

From EJM's link:
Banda suggested that being urinated on by the monkey may bring him good luck, the BBC said, without elaborating.

For some reason this made me laugh out loud.

[R C Dean]

Damn, RC. Your planned house sounds like my planned house.

You, sir, have excellent taste.

The big challenge, I think, will be disguising the gun ports in the bunker so they have a clear field of fire but aren't apparent from the outside. Well, that, plus getting my wife to let me have a bunker in the first place.

[Citizen Nothing]

From another story:
In shock, President Banda screamed in his local Nyanja language: "Kanitundila [meaning - it has urinated on me!]" ...

Apparently Nyanja has a word for everything. I could see how "kanitundila" would be a very useful word.

[Kanitundila]

Just trying it on for size...

[SugarFree]

?Kani-tun-di-la
Nothing's gonna change my world?

[Citizen Nothing]

Thanks, SF. Now I can't get Sean-Penn-as-retard out of my head.

[T]

For some reason this made me laugh out loud.

While your delight at simian golden showers is rather disturbing, we need to know the gender of the monkey involved before we can properly characterize your pathology.

[Citizen Nothing]

I prefer gay-male-trapped-in-the-body-of-lesbian monkeys.

[T]

The big challenge, I think, will be disguising the gun ports in the bunker so they have a clear field of fire but aren't apparent from the outside. Well, that, plus getting my wife to let me have a bunker in the first place.

My wife is surprisingly receptive to the fortress/bunker concept. Of course, we're both big modern architecture fans, so we would have a very sleek and clean-lined one. Paying for it is the stumbling block.

[SugarFree]

The big challenge, I think, will be disguising the gun ports in the bunker so they have a clear field of fire but aren't apparent from the outside.

Put glass over the ports and paint them to look like a window with blinds. Make it a fairly brittle variety and the first salvo gets them out of the way.

[Johnny Longtorso]

The big challenge, I think, will be disguising the gun ports in the bunker so they have a clear field of fire but aren't apparent from the outside.

Man, your house sure has a lot of mail slots and doggie doors......

[T]

Put glass over the ports and paint them to look like a window with blinds. Make it a fairly brittle variety and the first salvo gets them out of the way.

I was just going to go with either tinted glass or one way mirrors. Once it becomes time to use it, glass goes away real quick. Plus, it makes the opposition treat every single piece of glass on the property as a possible gun emplacement. That should slow them down for a minute or two.

[Citizen Nothing]

That should slow them down for a minute or two.
Unless they're zombies...

[R C Dean]

My brother, an architect, designed my parent's house. He's a big modern architecture guy, and designed the house so that one wall, where the bedrooms are, is a long stone wall with series of small square windows up high. Very cool, very updated Mission.

The first time I saw the house, I told him "Hey, bro, I gotta say, I like the gunports in that wing." Because that's exactly what they look like.

[JB]

"...rules of engagement..." for a fucking yard sale?! Go. Fuck. Your. Self.

Glad someone else noticed that. I hope a lot of Feds get shot in the head at garage sales.

[P Brooks]

Just wait 'til they start sending the SWATters out to confiscate deadly recalled baby buggies.

[Michael Ejercito]

I have read that purchasing handguns increase the risk of suicide.

If there is a risk to assisted suicide, does this mean people have the right to sell handguns CHEAP?

[jtuf]

Oregon tried legalizing suicide a decade ago. The US Supreme Court ruled that Oregon's action was against Federal law and overturned it. Apparently, I'm only allowed to kill myself if it saves the government money on health care.

[Garage Sales]

I feel your pain cracking down on garage sales is a tough cookie to cut.

[sports picks]

I think that Mark Cuban the great Maverick leader asking the courts to sue the SEC is in line with his common antics and he makes a solid point for wasting his time and possible duress.

[Michael Ejercito]

Oregon tried legalizing suicide a decade ago. The US Supreme Court ruled that Oregon's action was against Federal law and overturned it. Apparently, I'm only allowed to kill myself if it saves the government money on health care.

Is there a federal law prohibiting someone from following in the footsteps of Kurt Cobain?