Reason Morning Links: Killer Cops, Incompetent Teachers, Joe Biden, and Other Public Servants

- The House votes to extend the expiring elements of the PATRIOT Act without adding any privacy protections.

- Joe Biden proposes new regulations on retirement savings.

- A New Orleans cop pleads guilty to covering up a half-dozen shootings of unarmed civilians after Hurricane Katrina.

- A school board in Rhode Island attempts to fire some teachers.

- The Brits get their own tea party movement. I didn't think the Boston Tea Party had the same resonance over there that it has here.

Comments

[Suki]

Canadian women showed the rest of the world how to party when you win a gold medal in hockey.

[@]

We know already.

[Suki]

Pictures eh.

[Attorney]

They're in big, big trouble for that. Setting a bad example with smoking, I guess.

[Citizen Nothing]

And under-aged drinking, too! Imagine, an 18-year-old hockey player who just won Olympic gold guzzling a celebratory Molson's -- when the legal age in Vancouver is 19! An outrage!!

[Suki]

The real outrage is drinking Molson's.

[Zeb]

Molson Canadian is not so bad.

[Dean]

Molson Canadian is far superior to any of the domestic slag (Miller, Budweiser) available in the US

[SugarFree]

I find Molson's Golden delightful. But I do hate Moosehead. You can really taste the moose.

[sage]

I used to drink Moosehead a lot when I lived in Alaska and didn't know any better. It's like they pack the skunk flavor right in at the brewery.

[Isaac Bartram]

I was about to point out that the drinking age in Canada is eighteen but decided to check.

Apparently the drinking age in British Columbia is nineteen, as it is in every province and territory except Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec, so if the player in question is, in fact, eighteen, I guess there was a case of underage drinking.

I'm a little surprised that the age in Albertae is low given that it has a greater proportion of religious fundo types than the rest of Canada plus a very strong influential contigent as well.

[Isaac Bartram]

And then I read all of CN's post and saw that he had already pointed out BC's drinking age.

I must confess though, I thought eighteen was the norm for all of Canada.

[Zeb]

In most countries, drinking ages seem to be more general guidelines than hard and fast rules.

[fez]

No nudity no penalty.

[John]

But people had to vote for Obama to stop the Bush surveillance state, right?

[swillfredo pareto]

But people had to vote for Obama to stop the Bush surveillance state, right?

Are you saying there was a greater chance that it would get smaller or stop under a President McCain?

[John]

I am saying it wasn't going to change no matter who won. So, "stopping surveillance state" is a pretty stupid reason to vote for either side.

[swillfredo pareto]

The privacy protections were cast aside when Senate Democrats lacked the necessary 60-vote supermajority to pass them.

That smells to me like the Republicans were the problem, not both sides.

[R C Dean]

Funny, it smells to me like ass-covering. Who says they could even get 51? Or couldn't get a Repub to roll over on this one? Or bundle it in with a must-pass bill?

[swillfredo pareto]

Funny, it smells to me like ass-covering.

I'm the last guy who feels like giving Democrats a break but in the House 34% of them voted against the bill. The Republicans managed to muster 6% opposition. A pox on both their houses.

[Zeb]

That's why I didn't vote for either side.

[fez]

Are you saying there was a greater chance that it would get smaller or stop under a President McCain?

Binary thinking is for computers.

[Suki]

There are only 10 ways to take that comment.

[swillfredo pareto]

Binary thinking is for computers.

It's what your stuck with in a 2-party system. And very funny Suki.

[The Angry Optimist]

There are like, six parties available to you on a national level. just because you feel compelled to be on some winning side does not invalidate reality.

[fez]

It's what your stuck with in a 2-party system. And very funny Suki.
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[fez]

It's what your stuck with in a 2-party system. And very funny Suki.
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[John Tagliaferro]

Thank you! When it comes to binary humor I am a one trick pony.

[John Tagliaferro]

Controversy piranhas: swarm! Swarm!

[Xeones]

? The House votes to extend the expiring elements of the PATRIOT Act without adding any privacy protections.

And i still have to put my name on a federal list every time i try to buy sinus medicine that works. Fuck you very much, Con-gress.

[dave b.]

I'll die a thousand deaths before I ever self-register to buy cold medicine. What's the point of being a libertarian if you plan to play by their rules anyway?

[robc]

Jesse - Balko pissing us off isnt enough for you guys? Your posting cop killer stories now?

[Skip]

I think you mean killer cops, not cop killers.

[robc]

No, that was on purpose. Cop is the adjective, killer is the noun.

[Johnny Longtorso]

The House votes to extend the expiring elements of the PATRIOT Act without adding any privacy protections.

I once had a 'progressive' friend give me the "my husband Barak is a good man who only beats me because America is such a right-wing nation" defense of this sort of thing. Basing your entire worldview on "I'm one of the intellectual elite and you are the cattle I need to protect from their own stupidity" seems to leave you really open to snake oil salesmen. Think any 'progressive' would ever, EVER admit the likes of Glenn Beck were right about Obama as a person? They'd rather die first.

[John]

If Obama and the Dems had repealed the Patriot Act or the worst excesses of it, how much of a hit would they have really taken? I don't think much. People are more worried about the economy. Yes, if they did that and there was a terrorist attack, they would be screwed. But, if there is an attack on their watch they are screwed anyway. The Democrats either think the thing is necessary or like it or both. Whatever the answer, they were lying their asses off when they threw a fit under Bush.

[John]

Jessee,

I posted that link about the Rhode Island teacher firings on a comment thread last week. We had a huge discussion on it. You should read your own boards.

[Jesse Walker]

If I read every comment thread, I wouldn't have time to write, report, and edit. At any rate, if you click through this link you'll see there's some new developments in the story as of yesterday.

[Johnny Longtorso]

But if you read every comment thread, you would become a better person. How can you consider yourself an educated man without exposing yourself to the wisdom of our daily Steve Smith jokes?

[BeesInTheBrain]

Those developments are so yesterdays daily links thread.

[John]

My boyfriend likes looking at naked women, what am I to do? Honestly, I think a woman like that would be better off married to a religious Muslim or a very strict Jew or Christian. I am not kidding. Those types of men frown upon pornography and like their women covered up so other men don't leer at them. I think that woman doing the posting would oddly enough be very happy under a hi jab somewhere.

[SugarFree]

I did mean to throw that on the the main thread, not as a response to Jesse stealing your link.

(I keed, I keed, Jesse.)

[John]

I sent it to the tip e-mail address. No response, no hat tip, just exploitation. Maybe I should start posting on Feministing.

[Suki]

You must be new here 😉

[Jesse Walker]

I sent it to the tip e-mail address.

Oh. Well, I probably did see it then. So this is what it feels like to be a ruthless exploiter.

[R C Dean]

Feels good, doesn't it?

BWAHAhaha . . .

[BeesInTheBrain]

Is this where the big Tips puns start coming in?

[Suki]

John,

I think you are giving too much credit to "those type of men." They just like telling others what to do, especially their captives wives and daughters. Don't expect to find a lot of them who follow their own rules very well.

[John]

Some do and some don't. I am not defending those kind of men. I think their views on women are barbaric. I am just pointing out that the radical feminists views on women are in their own way just as barbaric and they are not as far away from strict religious people as they think.

[Suki]

Sorry, missed that and yes, those women are the same kind of weird.

[Skip]

And they don't allow cucumbers near the tomatoes at the market because such a paring is just too suggestive.

[Boys to men]

John,why would she need an oppressive society? Boys eventually become men (especially when they have their own daughters). The girl (she is in college) already has learned the truth about boys her age. "I simply learned that men are men, deep down, regardless of their theories about equality, objectification, and commodification...that it was about tits"

[SugarFree]

It's still about tits when we grow up, we just get better at keeping it to ourselves.

[Boys to men]

Off topic, Sugarfree did you have any near death experiences when you nearly died twice?

[SugarFree]

Nope, but I was very young for one and the other I was anesthetized on a operating table.

I do remember drowning, but it is mostly impressions of looking up at the sunlight through the water and then my dad pounding on my chest. He swears my heart was stopped.

I tortured my father when I was young, the first time he ever stayed with my alone when I was a toddler, I promptly swallowed a nickel and couldn't breathe. This was pre-Heimlich. After pounding me on the back and shaking me up and down by the ankles, he finally just dug it out with his fingers. And I threw up all over him.

[The Gobbler]

I had to do that with my dog. I gave her a peanut butter stuffed madjool date and the crazy bitch swallowed it whole. I had to cram my hand so far down her throat that her molars gashed my wrist. And unlike SF's dad, I didn't pull it out, I just puhed it the rest of the way down.

Ever since then, her butter stuffed madjool dates are presented pre-sliced.

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

The fact that you feed a fraggin' dog peanut butter-stuffed madjool dates...words escape me. I certainly hope that it did not vomit on it's cashmere sweater vest.

[The Gobbler]

My dog, just like me, gobbles up resources. BTW, the peanut butter is 100% organic. As are the dates.

[Boys to men]

Dates for dogs? PB is crazy enough.

[Boys to men]

KFP, you win and you made me laugh

[Boys to men]

Let me guess? Only child 🙂

[The Gobbler]

No. Two older brothers and a younger sister.

Thank god for inherited 19th century-produced wealth!!!

[The Gobbler's Dog]

And pistachio-encrusted Copper River Salmon. Yum!

[mr simple]

Feminist finds out she is dating a straight guy

Barely, although I do kind. Get the I'm

[mr simple]

I don't know what happened there. I was saying I kind of get the impression the guy is into feminism for the sex.

Also, her father didn't hug her enough as a child. Or hugged her too much.

[I do know what happened here]

"I kind of get the impression the guy is into feminism and everything else for the sex." FIFY

[Fluffy]

The funny thing is that she thinks she understands "gender identity" and all that nonsense, when this incident clearly shows that she doesn't.

The GoDaddy girls are playing a scripted role that combines hypersexuality with implied availability.

She's all like, "Wah, wah, you find 'body parts' attractive and not women!" and nothing could be farther from the truth. Porn is porn not because of body parts, but because the women display every possible social marker to let you know that they're easy and want to fuck basically everyone. And that's a personality attribute and not a purely physical attribute.

[John]

I don't understand you can claim to be "all about Porn" and then object to something like the GoDaddy girls. Would something like dominatrix porn be the only kind of porn acceptable to her? Aren't those women in the commercial being confident with their sexuality? I would be curious to see just exactly what kind of porn she likes so much.

[SugarFree]

John, Fluffy actually covered that too. It's about rejecting any sexuality designed to invoke the dreaded male gaze.

Porn is fine as long as straight men don't care for it. To the Feministing crowd, porn is fine as long as it is gay guys, or amateur porn with "alternatively attractive" women. Women-produced porn.

Third-wave feminists are very sensitive about being lumped in with the second-wave's anti-porn, anti-sex attitudes. But it is a project that will ultimately fail because they have those same attitudes, but deny they do by re-defining the terms.

Feminists refuse to accept the authenticity of male sexuality. The only thing they want to be attractive is what they profess to finding attractive.

[John]

So it is okay for an ugly chick to spread her legs and let some guy take her up the ass with the camera doing a close up for the world to see. But if an attractive woman does that, it is exploitative. Yeah, that makes sense.

[The Gobbler]

My lesbian sister gets off on gay male porn. Go figure?

[John]

That is really messed up. Free country and good for her for watching what she likes. But, WTF? And I am told that is pretty common among lesbians. Straight women generally find gay male porn revolting. But lesbians seem to like it. I don't even know how to begin to explain that.

[All]

women are intrigued by male porn. Rather like a 'cousin' to men watching two women.

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

I completely blame my evolutionary wiring for the fact that I look at an attractive woman the same way that a lion looks at a gazelle.

[BeesInTheBrain]

Feminism allows her to not address her own insecurities that a good-looking, able-bodied, cis, hetero-, upper-middle class white kid can find women who are thin and white with straight hair attractive. While at the same time not having to address her own sexist and bigoted beliefs that women who have idealized tits and asses have no brains. Feminist tend not to be real strong on self analyzation.

[Fluffy]

That is the other thing that is immensely offensive about her statement.

Her boyfriend, by her own statement, is good-looking. And white. And able-bodied. And I'll bet that I can conclude some things about his personal appearance based on the fact that she says that he's upper middle class. AND I can conclude that he's not elderly, since she calls him a kid.

So she has demonstrated FIVE DIFFERENT WAYS IN ONE SENTENCE in which she herself employs "look preference".

So she obviously considers herself entitled to be more attracted to, you know, attractive people than to unattractive people. It's just her boyfriend who's not entitled to do that.

Basically, what a "feminist" like her really wants is a social situation where it's OK for her to like good-looking young men with both arms and legs, but where the men have all gotten together and agreed to be attracted to elderly deformed handicapped women who are "beautiful on the inside". Because then she'll feel safe from potential abandonment.

"Unless men rewire themselves psychologically to be attracted to the horrifyingly ugly, it's possible that at some point I might get dumped. And that hurts my leetle feelwings and fills me with fear! But I still want to get to like hot guys and not losers, because that's like, totally fair!" That's her post translated into honest and direct speech.

[D-FENS]

Actually, since she called him a "kid," she is clearly far superior in her emotional development than he is. She should pursue someone much older, who has grown to enlightenment. Of course, he may not be as attractive, but maybe he'll have lots of money.

[yojimbo]

she needs to kill herself

[SugarFree]

Feminist finds out she is dating a straight guy, is horrified.

Link

[Seward]

Jesse Walker,

There was a major divide in Britain over the American Revolution (or War of Independence, depending on your POV); meaning that there were numerous supporters - both famous and powerful and the not so famous and powerful - in Britain of the cause. How that plays out in modern British politics I have no idea. I haven't read but a historian of the last name Cohen has monograph on the subject concerning the "middling" sorts who supported the American Revolution. One primary source is Richard Price's pamphlet's supporting the Revolution; Price was a member of Parliament prior to he Revolution. Probably more than you ever wanted to know. 🙂

[John]

Edmond Burke was a big supporter of American independence. The Revolution and the resulting war with France divided Britain a bit like Vietnam divided America.

[dwcarkuff]

And wasn't there also a debate along the lines of our current Iraq/Afghanistan debate - that it would bankrupt the empire to fight to hold onto the colonies, waste of lives and resources and such? I may be full of it, but that is an impression I have.

[John]

They had already gone broke fighting the seven years war. Then they got stuck fighting the American revolution that turned into another long war with France. Then ten years later they got stuck fighting France again, first in the wars following the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic wars. If you ever feel bad about US's financial state, go back and look at what happened to England at the turn of the 19th Century. It was pretty grim. Yet, things turned out okay for them.

[BakedPenguin]

Adam Smith argued in Wealth of Nations against colonies - including America.

[Seward]

Plus, the loss of America sent them in a paranoid tizzy about losing India.

[Kolohe]

On the other hand, the loss of America checked a lot of assclownery in a lot of the other parts of the Anglosphere, which is why Canada & Australia took much longer to go their own way. (and technically, still haven't quite cut the umbilical)

The Raj governance of the 18th century and early 19th was quite light handed compared to the latter part of the 19th century. A theory I like is that when the Brit Foreign Service Officers were on their own, they had to be nice to the locals to get under the (female) local's saris. (and this involved being nice to both the young ladies and their fathers). When the brits could bring their wives over from England with the rise of steam transportation, they started to set themselves off in walled compounds and were a lot less connected with the populace.

[Off with your head]

Kolohe, The Canada Act 1982 ended all technical dependence on the UK and we had "legislative autonomy from the United Kingdom in 1931". The connection with the UK leans more toward sentimentality towards the royal family.

[Off with your head]

Off with my own head till I learn to read my preview

[BakedPenguin]

Do you still put that broad with the tiara on your money?

[Off with your head]

I'm living in Texas but I am pretty sure we do. Y'all, I just checked and I am right.

[robc]

Julia Mancuso? Why would they put an American skier on their money...oh wait, she does own their podium.

[BakedPenguin]

No, the British one with the pumpkin coach. If I was talking about Mancuso, I would have said "hot American skier"

[Jesse Walker]

Yes, of course. But I wonder how this stuff is taught in British schools. If you say "Boston Tea Party," Americans pretty much automatically think positive thoughts, unless they've independently reconsidered the revolution or decided the Tea Party was a redface minstrel show. I suspect it isn't like that in the UK -- that the spin is more neutral if not negative.

When I was a kid my family went to England, and I got my parents to buy me a book about pirates. I was surprised to find a chapter on John Paul Jones, who was derided as a terrible traitor.

[Cabeza de Vaca]

I read an article on a english blog about the American Revolution one time. I was amused by all the Limeys in the comments that are still angry about losing America. They were calling George Washington a traitor & that the king was far too tolerate with traitorous colonists.

[Seward]

Hmm, well, FWIW, there is a replica of Houdon's statue of George Washington outside the National Gallery in London. Anyway, I could definitely a whole, well, almost sub-altern population in Britain that deeply admires he American Revolution, one which dates the Revolution and things like Pitt the Younger's tyrannical fits.

[Isaac Bartram]

Can't speak for Britain, but the treatment the Revolution got in 1950-60s high school history classes Australia was quite sympathetic.

The same attitude seemed to prevail when I took my one year of high school history in Canada (1963-4). It was Canadian history, but the theme that ran through much of it was a definite "if the English hadn't changed their ways (introducing responsible government etc), we'd've rebelled too, but the Mother country treated us well, so we didn't".

Mind you, in the 1960s a Mcleans magazine poll found that close to one third of Canadians favored joining the US. It was something like 39% in Alberta, a little less in Nova Scotia and lowest (mid twenties) in Ontario.

My Canadian history teacher told us about being a child in Nova Scotia and listening to the oltimers complain about how they had been sold out in 1867. Most of their comercial and personal contact was with the New England states and thye thought that's who they should have joined up with.

[robc]

Back when Quebec had their secession vote, the governor of one of the maritime provinces commented that if it passed, they would be cut off and have to join the US. My first thought was "dont remember inviting you", but decided it would be okay, if the 4 maritime provinces agreed to form 1 state. The provinces west of Ontario can each be a state too. Ontario is the only part of Canada that is really Canada anyway.

[Isaac Bartram]

You probably mean Premier, not governor. Provincial Lieutenant-Governors are largely symbolic officeholders and as such are discouraged from taking political stands.

/pedant

[A bluff over your eyes]

Isaac, that is correct but they are not immune from politics. I was met by armed soldiers when I visited provincial Lieutenant-Governor with my dad during the FLQ crisis.

[Suki]

Did much of the funding for the revolution, or the new independent government, come from wealthy English investors? Have seen that several times but was never sure how true it was.

[John]

I have never heard that. I thought it mostly came from our own wealth and borrowing from the French. The colonies were very rich. That is one of the reasons why England was so pissed we wouldn't pay taxes.

[Suki]

I need to make a not of it if I see it again. The Google is not being my friend right now and neither is my coffee deprived memory.

[Off with your head]

A key to the "the Bastille, was presented to George Washington 1790 by the Marquis de Lafayette...served under Washington during the American Revolutionary War" A case of my enemy is your enemy and French mercenaries fought along with Americans

[John]

The Bastille was stormed and torn down in 1789. How was Lafayette giving Washington the key to it in 1790?

[Off with your head]

John, is that a joke? You never have show an inclination for a sense of humor.

[Seward]

Some money did come from Brits; also, a singificant number of Brits gave to funds which worked to release American sailors who had been thrown in British gaols.

[Seward]

Eeek, significant. I need to edit what I write.

[Solanum]

After the police shooting, officers arrested Lance Madison -- brother of one of the slain men -- and booked him on attempted murder charges, alleging he had shot at officers.

So murdering his brother wasn't enough; the police then decided to frame this man for something that could've sent him to prison for decades. And everyone up the chain of command covered for this. How do these subhumans sleep at night?

[Offisa Pup]

We sleep on our special "thin blue line" pillowcases, content to know that we are all that stands between good, decent people and criminal scum.

[Pablo]

I ask myself the same thing, even though I know intellectually that sociopaths do not have a conscience. Do these pieces of garbage ever wonder if they'll have to answer to God some day, and if so, what will they say?

[Tonio]

And it's this sort of thing that tempts me to cynically encourage religious belief among the less-educated. Doesn't seem to yield the desired results, though.

[In Time Of War]

After the hurricane, something like half the NO police force abandoned their posts and just vanished. Think about how many people would have been killed if they hadn't...

[Pro Libertate]

So, with the Democrats in controls, we get all the crap we got under Bush, but with more crap added.

The idea, folks, is to be the lesser of two evils, in case you didn't realize that. You're not the lesser right now.

[Rich]

investment advisers and money managers may give investment advice only if they don't get a commission for steering workers into funds with which they are affiliated

I presume this restriction will also apply to government advisers and managers. /sarc

or if their advice is based on an objective computer model certified to be unbiased by independent experts

Now *that* is funny!

[Seward]

See, we can't have any actual losses in a capitalist society; everyone must gain (at the level the government determines is best of course). All these efforts to protect against losses completes a rigid system that encourages large, systemic failures.

[Kolohe]

or if their advice is based on an objective computer model certified to be unbiased by independent experts

And heretofore, everyone though Skynet would come from the Defense Department.

[R C Dean]

This is elementary conflict-of-interest policing.

And then they blow a hole in it with their "objective computer model" crap.

[Xeones]

You're not the lesser right now.

Your cynicism-fu is weak, Pro Lib. The party in power is ALWAYS the greater evil.

[John]

Politicians can almost look human when they are out of power.

[Pro Libertate]

Agreed, but with all the socialism-lite they're tossing on top of the pile--during a major and very serious recession--they're making people wonder why the hell they even exist as a party.

[Skip]

CNN Poll: Majority says government a threat to citizens' rights

Washington (CNN) ? A majority of Americans think the federal government poses a threat to rights of Americans, according to a new national poll.

Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they think the federal government's become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens.

http://politicalticker.blogs.c.....U0NsCYbHCm

[Chad Wilson]

Wow, this is some pretty scary stuff dude.

Chad
http://www.true-privacy.es.tc

[P Brooks]

Feminist finds out she is dating a straight guy, is horrified.

I smell a lawsuit

Which will it be, "Theft of Services" or "Alienation of Affection"?

[SugarFree]

There was never any affection.

[BakedPenguin]

Check out definitions three and four.

[SugarFree]

Nice.

"Your affections were only ever obsolete!" is a great insult.

[P Brooks]

And they don't allow cucumbers near the tomatoes at the market because such a paring is just too suggestive.

So

awesome.

[Sandi Trixx]

Re: RI teachers - the caption under the embedded video says "Could Boston Schools Ever Suffer Same Fate As RI?". We can only dream.

[Suki]

Sandi,

Love your blog!

[Johnny Longtorso]

or if their advice is based on an objective computer model certified to be unbiased by independent experts

Like our climate models....

[Mike M.]

Outgoing senator Judd Gregg gives America about five to seven more years before meltdown.

[OO=====D]

Boner is dead!

http://www.startribune.com/ent.....:_Yyc:aUUT

[P Brooks]

Boner is dead!

First, Hummer goes down, now this.

Oh, WOE!

[P Brooks]

the first time he ever stayed with my alone when I was a toddler, I promptly swallowed a nickel and couldn't breathe. This was pre-Heimlich. After pounding me on the back and shaking me up and down by the ankles, he finally just dug it out with his fingers. And I threw up all over him.

I find this story completely and utterly believable.

[Ziggy]

I for one am enjoying this ass ramming Obama is giving his fierce followers who wept when he was elected and actually believed his hope and change BS.

I guess this promise has been broken: http://www.politifact.com/trut.....ght-on-go/

[BeesInTheBrain]

Feministing responds to woman convicted of falsely accusing man of rape. Decides that reporting of it is "Media Victim Blaming and Dehumanization".

[Slut Bunwalla]

I can't tell you how angry that column made me. The only thing that kept me from personally hunting down and killing the author was seeing that all of the comments on it are reasonable and correct. The woman is not the victim in this case, the falsely imprisoned man is.

[a]

A New Orleans cop pleads guilty to covering up a half-dozen shootings of unarmed civilians after Hurricane Katrina.

Cleanup on aisle nutcase! Send Moynihan to deal with conspiracy theory!

What next, Walker? You gonna tell us the cops were jooos?

You sicken me.

[The Gobbler]

Stupid up the butt much?

[a]

Read this, conspiracy theorist:
http://reason.com/archives/201.....so-immense

[SugarFree]

What does that have to do with anything? Police covering up crimes that one of their own committed is not some Birther/Truther fantasy. Especially since the guy doing it confessed.

You must have to put in a full day's work to be this much of a dipshit.

[The Gobbler]

What's your point, skullfuck?

[We're Cops. We Kill.]

LAPD reserve officer fatally shoots his son:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....&tsp=1

[EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy]

A damn tragedy no matter what the facts of the matter are.

[dave b.]

Am I the only one who noticed (via the retirement link) that there is now a Middle Class Task Force? Undoubtedly staffed by multimillionaires who never worked at a real job.

[The Gobbler]

All your infused drinks are belong to us:

Cocktails are mixed with great sincerity at Bourbon and Branch in San Francisco. Take the Clermont Affair, a marriage of pear-infused Old Overholt whiskey, a liqueur called Amaro Nonino, barrel-aged bitters and a house-made tincture of cloves.

The $12 drink, the menu reveals, "tells the story of a flawed love."

But for state liquor license regulators, the concoction itself is flawed. On a recent Friday night, they entered the speakeasy-themed Tenderloin tavern and warned bartenders they were breaking California law by altering alcohol - infusing it with the flavors of fruits, vegetables and spices.

Mixing elaborate drinks - say, muddling mint leaves in mojitos - and serving them immediately is OK. But, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control agents said, Bourbon and Branch was changing the character of the booze by allowing it to mature on the shelf - "rectification" that is illegal without a special license.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....z0gexcVVLN

[dbcooper]

Sounds like someone didn't pay the kick-back to the license cops.

[Troy]

the first time he ever stayed with my alone when I was a toddler, I promptly swallowed a nickel and couldn't breathe. This was pre-Heimlich. After pounding me on the back and shaking me up and down by the ankles, he finally just dug it out with his fingers. And I threw up all over him.

"Torture when with Sugarfree" sounds like a redundancy.

[BG]

This is not related to any of the topics, and I'm not sure if anyone posted it yet but:

http://www.youtube.com/comment.....ature=fvhl

Libyan leader declares "Jihad" against Switzerland. At least we will have the entertainment value of left wing intellectuals trying to argue that this is blowback for their foreign policy.

In addition to a boycott, he wants Muslims to go to airports and prevent Swiss planes from landing. How are they supposed to do that exactly? I suppose it is good that he is at least not advocating actual terrorism (it didn't work out too well for him last time).

Note: The video mentions the Swiss Minaret ban. I am strongly opposed to all human rights violations perpetrated in the name of Islam (or any other religion). However, I fail to see how building a Minaret tower on one's own property is a human rights violation. I therefore consider the ban to be an unnecessary restriction on architectural freedom which I'd have opposed were I a Swiss citizen. It is a trivial issue however, and not something I consider a rational reason to boycott the country or get worked up about Swiss planes landing.

[BG]

The above link is to the comments page. Here is the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tydgAeuIIO4

[Fluffy]

Well, if you as the state tells me that I can't build on my property because of some environmental goal or some planning goal you have, I will consider it unreasonable and an usurpation of an illegitimate power that the state does not rightly possess, and I'll resolve to vote against you in the next local election, or maybe take you to court and take another shot at restoring property rights in this country.

But if you tell me I can't build on my property because I'm a Jew, and Jews are a blight on the healthy culture of the nation, I might decide to bypass those the two steps above, and just hit you in the head with a big pointy stick.

Both acts are outrageous abuses of power, but the latter act is more likely to trigger a violent response.

[robc]

If youve got a pointy stick, using it as a club is the wrong way to go. Or, at best, inefficient.

[Suki]

+1

[BG]

But if you tell me I can't build on my property because I'm a Jew, and Jews are a blight on the healthy culture of the nation....

I don't think that hypothetical is quite analogous to the Minaret ban. The ban doesn't say "you can't build anything at all on your property if you are a Muslim"; it merely prohibits one possible type of structure someone might want to build. It is more akin to a law making it illegal to build a synagogue above a certain height.

The ban is still undesirable. But it is not quite as heinous or bigoted as you seem to be implying.

I am neither Swiss nor a Muslim. But if I were a Swiss Muslim, I doubt that would be tempted to start sharpening sticks to use as weapons. And again, I'm not planning to boycott Switzerland any time soon (though I don't think I buy a lot from that country anyway).

[Suki]

Don't their guards have those shiny pikes?

How do you know if you stabbed them? They wear those flashy red uniforms and they can strangle you with the long toes of their shoes.

[.]

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