Reason Morning Links: D.C. Richest City in America, San Francisco Mandates Cell Phone Info, Cops Indicted for Post-Katrina Massacre

• Washington, D.C. now the richest metro area in the U.S.
• French parliament votes to ban face veils in public.
• San Francisco passes law requiring manufacturers to post information about cell phone radiation.
• DOJ charges six New Orleans police officers with murder for Danziger bridge massacre after Hurricane Katrina.
• Anonymous group in Utah leaks names, personal information of 1,300 alleged illegal immigrants.

Comments

[John]

http://radioequalizer.blogspot.....oiled.html

According to Bill Press, Americans are unworthy of their President. His tears are quite yummy.

[theocrat]

"...basically spoiled. To the point where it makes me wonder if it's even possible to govern today."

So stop trying to run everything.

[Bee Tagger]

Maybe if the government didn't treat us like children, we wouldn't be so spoiled.

[Jordan]

Yeah, the people who don't feel entitled to other people's money are spoiled. Shut the fuck up, Bill Press.

[Mike M.]

When the lefties start outright insulting the country, that's when you know that even THEY know they're headed for a major beatdown.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

The thing that strikes me about Press's comments is that he either doesn't know American history all that well, or he hopes that nobody else knows it. (From what I hear, the latter is a pretty solid bet.)

Other presidents, including the ones he refers to (Lincoln and FDR, naturally), faced criticism and opposition too. For pity's sake, people in past generations had difficult problems and tough choices too. The one who needs to stop whining is Press.

[Fist of Etiquette]

San Francisco passes law requiring manufacturers to post information about cell phone radiation.

Regardless of whether that information is credible or not.

Anonymous group in Utah leaks names, personal information of 1,300 alleged illegal immigrants.

...and straight onto the national sex offenders list.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...(AKA the Democrat voter rolls.)

[Gomer Pyle]

Greater Washington, D.C. is the nation's metropolitan region with the highest income.

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

[Corduroy]

The freaky thing is that it probably includes Anacostia in that statistic.

[John]

Yup. And it also didn't get that way from public employees. They can only make $150K max. That is a lot. But it doesn't make you the richest place in America. It is the contractors and lobbyiests. They are making millions. It is truly a boom town. People buy houses just to tear them down and build mansions. It is unbelievable the amount of money flowing through the city.

[dbcooper]

My friend sent me a job advert recently for a fellowship with AAAS at the Dept of Agriculture for analysis of the biofuels market. Starts on $75k and I assume that one could jump into a lobbying or analyst position after a couple of years, which would pay a lot more ...

[dbcooper]

(position is in DC area)

[John]

Tough to live on 75K in DC.

[dbcooper]

Very true, is good for a fellowship though.

[Corduroy]

$75K + benefits for doing next to nothing. Not bad.

[Pope Jimbo]

You don't get to do nothing. You have to spend at least 8 hours in your office porn surfing.

["Telecommuter"]

I'll have to call bullshit on this.

["Telecommuter"]

@ Pope Jimbo.

[J sub D]

Me too. You can usually sneak out after 6 hours.

[Suki]

No wonder whenever I am working in DC everyplace is full of suits with lanyards, no matter what time of day it is.

[Just sayin']

This article ranked Metro areas by median income. I would guess that if you went by average income San Francisco and NY would come out higher than DC. DC has lots of well-paid, 100K-200K-type jobs, relatively few of the $1m kind of jobs you find those places.

[Rich]

The full veil [FITB] "is the banner of a sectarian ideology" and threatens "human dignity"

Contest? My entry.

[Enough About Palin]

Where'd you get the pic of Warty?

[Rich]

Internet.

[SugarFree]

San Francisco passes law requiring manufacturers to post information about cell phone radiation.

Maybe they will also finally break the national silence about those widespread manticore attacks.

[Corduroy]

Having worked as a RF and microwave engineer for quite a few years, the only side effect I ever experienced from exposure was a distinct repellent effect on the opposite sex.

[J sub D]

Hmmm, RF exposaure doesn't have that effect on firecontrolmen. 😉

[Pope Jimbo]

Having a genetically enhanced killer from Manticore show up at your door to kick your ass is nothing to laugh about (even if it does look like Jessica Alba).

[J sub D]

DOJ charges six New Orleans police officers with murder for Danziger bridge massacre after Hurricane Katrina.

So the authorities were correct in assuming they should confiscate firearms during a civil emergency.

They just misjudged what group of peopole should be disarmed.

[NeonCat]

It's disgusting the way DOJ has its priorities these days. Going after the valiant thin blue line when there are pornographers and drug paraphernalia manufacturers and sellers plying their trade, laughing at law and decency. Oh, it makes me mad.

[T]

NOPD corrupt? It only took somebody, what, 215 years to figure that out? Good work!

Seriously, I'm glad they're charging the cops. NOPD has been a bucket of fail for as long as I can remember, and Katrina just made the problem impossible to ignore.

[Michael Ejercito]

Seriously, I'm glad they're charging the cops. NOPD has been a bucket of fail for as long as I can remember, and Katrina just made the problem impossible to ignore.

The Port au Prince police most likely look down on them.

[James Ard]

Justice for the Bartholomew family would be stringing every one of those cops up. It would also serve as a good example to the rest of the force.

[John]

http://www.washingtonexaminer......76744.html

This really is different than 1994. In 1994 no oe thought Cogress would change hands. People were laughing at Gingrich. It wasn't until September that people started to think something was up. We are now in July and even Democrats are admitting it could be bad.

[J sub D]

French parliament votes to ban face veils in public.

Iran Issues Approved Haircuts Catalog

The secular French and theocratic Iranian governments agree, the way to promote indigenous culture is to stifle change.

[Corduroy]

"...the upcoming Modesty and Veil Festival..."

If SNL were still relevant, they would use this.

[Rich]

Iran Issues Approved Haircuts Catalog

[grrizzly]

The French just love to ban things. They ban face veils in public. And they also ban the "sausage and booze" party in a Muslim neighborhood in Paris.

[Reri Weeds]

OH wow, looks like its gonna be an interesting day for sure.

Lou
http://www.privacy-tools.es.tc

[Fist of Etiquette]

DOJ charges six New Orleans police officers with murder for Danziger bridge massacre after Hurricane Katrina.

And yet Bush remains scott free after causing the situation in the first place!

[J sub D]

Don't you know anything about chaos theory? Katrina was caused by a butterfly in the Amazon rain forest flapping its wings.

[Brett L]

This is why we should clear-cut the Amazon.

[Enough About Palin]

Yes. I sure miss the days when a president could control both the weather and killer cops.

[J sub D]

Taxpayer subsidies for buying Government Motors, and only Government Motors, automobiles.

Production of the first salable Volts is to begin in November. GM plans to make 10,000 by the end of 2011. Buyers will be eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit.

GM declined Tuesday to disclose details of the consumer initiative, but earlier this month, the Detroit automaker said the first 4,400 Volt buyers may be eligible for a 240-volt home charging station from ECOtality or Coulomb Technologies, under a program administered by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Who could have possibly forseen this development?

[Jordan Elliot]

ECOtality? That sounds like it should be in the next Mortal Kombat game.

[John]

Taxpayer subsidies for buying UAW and UAW only cars.

That is a bit more acurate I think. It is not like Obama gives a shit about GM just the UAW

[UAW]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[ACORN]

Anonymous group in Utah leaks names, personal information of 1,300 alleged illegal immigrants.

We're on it.

[Fluffy]

The veil ban will have the opposite effect of what its proponents claim to want.

The women who would prefer to be veiled just won't leave their homes. Ever. Wow! Their freedom has been really enhanced.

If the government of the US became dominated by Ursula Leguin and Margaret Atwood and the ghost of Mary Daly, they might decide that to "free women" from "paternalist concepts of ownership" they would pass a law requiring all women to appear in public topless. The covering of breasts, they believe, is a function of the fact that their breasts aren't really theirs, but "belong" to their paternalist dominators, who are the only ones allowed to "take them out and see them". Therefore, they would reason, banning the covering of breasts would break this paternalist cycle, and lead to "true freedom" and the end of "false consciousness".

But if they passed such a law my wife would never leave the house again. Ever.

To Muslim women who wear the veil, this is no different. We may think that it's stupid that they wear the veil, and we may think that the only reason they have this bizarre concept of body modesty extending to the face is because it's been "imposed" on them by evil paternalists, but that's not really relevant. Once you have a personal concept of body modesty, you've got it, and its source is irrelevant.

[Catholic High School Girl]

"Once you have a personal concept of body modesty, you've got it, and its source is irrelevant."

Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Jack Mormon]

Works for me too.

[Fluffy]

Hey, I've got one of my own.

I do not want to appear in public waving my dick around.

Or even wearing a speedo, for that matter.

Now, you could argue that this has been imposed on me by environmental conditioning.

I would counter-argue that this doesn't matter, because I don't care if I only want to cover my dick because I was raised that way. That is intellectually interesting to think about for a moment or two, but it doesn't have any impact on the fact that I, me, personally don't want my dick hanging out now.

[Robert]

Some of us develop that way and others don't. Really the only reason I don't cover up when it's more comfortable not to is that it would bother other people, because I never got to the point where it would bother me. I just got the idea that if grown-ups want you to be that way, OK, but it's not like I have to like it.

[Catholic High School Graduate]

God you were so good at giving head.

[BakedPenguin]

Tangentally related - I've never understood why a 300 pound guy can mow his lawn without a shirt, but if Anne Hathaway went topless, it would be considered "indecent".

[OO========D]

Mmmmm....Anne Hathaway.

[wingnutx]

http://www.topnews.in/files/Anne-Hathaway.jpg

[OO===========================D]

Thanks!

[Episiarch]

Because it's not about "freeing women" in this case. It's about sending the message that wearing veils is not "French culture", and if you want to live in France you better get with the program. Just because they couch it in terms of "freeing women" doesn't mean that's what it's really about.

[R C Dean]

I think you're generally right, Fluffy, especially that a law is the wrong way to tackle this.

I would be curious, though, how many women who live under a bag would do so if they weren't embedded in a violently misogynistic culture where beating and even killing women who step outside the lines is tolerated, if not encouraged.

Fundamentalist Muslims are barbarians, make no mistake. The way to civilize barbarians, though, is (1) to make civilized culture so appealing that they lose the next generation to it, and (2) to relentlessly punish, rather than excuse with flabby multiculturalism, their violation of civilized norms (beating, killing, etc.).

[JW]

Fundamentalist Muslims are barbarians, make no mistake. The way to civilize barbarians, though, is (1) to make civilized culture so appealing that they lose the next generation to it, and (2) to relentlessly punish, rather than excuse with flabby multiculturalism, their violation of civilized norms (beating, killing, etc.).

QMFT

We have a Saudi embassy mission in our building, that seems to process dozens of young Muslims every day. They bring them in by the vanful and dump them out front like clockwork.

I've seen every kind of variation on the women's clothing, from the obviously been-here-for-a-while westernized Saudi women who dress indistinguishable from American women all the way to a complete and total burqa, which, no matter how many times I see it, is just fucking creepy. Especially when they're next to their chain-smoking husband, who's wearing shorts and flip-flops.

Yes, it's completely barbaric and I simply don't understand why anyone would continue to subject themselves to such obviously unfair and disparate treatment, once they've seen what life is like outside of 12th century mores. But then, I feel the same say about the native-born orthodox Jewish women in the neighborhood near us and why they would continue to endure 2nd class status with their wigs covering shaved heads and long skirts.

The French are idiots, but I repeat myself. I don't respect for a minute the choices these women have made, but I would never dream of forcing my mores on them. The choice is theirs to make.

[zoltan]

I don't respect for a minute the choices these women have made, but I would never dream of forcing my mores on them. The choice is theirs to make.

This needs to be yelled from rooftops.

[ManikMonkee]

+1

[Enough About Palin]

Why is you wife ashamed of her tits?

[Fluffy]

She is Irish/Polish Catholic.

Also, she's 40. Because her breasts don't look the same way they did when she was 20, she would cover them up in public even if she didn't have the Catholic upbringing.

Ever see a middle-aged mom in public wearing clothes that aren't appropriate for her age? Well, my wife is not that woman.

[Citizen Nothing]

Incumbent Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, a Democrat, has received the NRA's endorsement over Republican challenger John Kasich.
Discuss? (I'd especially like to hear John's take on this.)

[Episiarch]

The NRA will frequently give an endorsement to a Democrat. As annoying as the NRA is, and as much as they are pervaded by certain social concepts that tend to completely fit with rural, red-state values, when it comes to endorsements, they pretty much tend to go almost solely on gun issues.

So the (D) or (R) is pretty unimportant; wanting an "assault weapons" ban is.

[Partisan Douche]

But... But... this does not fit into my TEAM RED/BLUE narrative! Does not compute! *head explodes*

[PA System]

"Cleanup on aisle 3."

[Ska]

Well that one-sided Massengil isn't going to clean itself.

[Citizen Nothing]

Ironically, I'm considering casting my first vote ever for an R or D (in 30 years of voting) for Kasich.
I happened to meet him in the lobby of my office the other day. Strangely, he was completely alone. No handlers, no assistant, no security. It was like meeting a Libertarian candidate (except Kasich doesn't have blue skin).

[Timon19]

What all did you discuss and what were his positions in a rough sketch? I'd love to have an actual libertarian excuse to kick Ted out.

[Citizen Nothing]

We just chatted briefly -- no politics.
But he has said he favors the (eventual) end of the state income tax. That's a very good starting point.

[John]

That is why they hold so much influence, the Republicans can't take them for granted. Contrast this with say the NAACP, which operates as a political arm of the DNC. Unsurprisingly no one gives a shit what they say because both sides know they are going to support Dems in the end no matter what.

[Isaac Bartram]

As noted above, the NRA bases its endorsements solely on a candidates responses on the NRA questionaire.

In the event that the candidates' scores are equal, they will generally endorse the incumbent, presumable on the basis of a solid favorable voting record on gun related issues.

I assume this is the case here.

Of course, many (R)s submit questionaire's that get them an A rating but have voting records that are not entirely in line.

As to where the NRA stands on other issues, its actually kind of a mixed bag. It's certainly fair to call them friendly to the police and the military and the WOD, but that is hardly something that necessarily makes them either (R) or (D) since nearly every pol wants to be seen that way. Naturally libertarians are rightly concerned to the cop and WOD positions.

If you read the American Hunter you'll find a boatload of concern about environmental and conservation issues as well a support for the parts of the farm bills that compensate farmers for wetland protection. Good duck hunting, don't you know?

But the primary thing to remember about the NRA is that its activism is directed at a single issue. All other political concerns take a back seat.

[John]

"But the primary thing to remember about the NRA is that its activism is directed at a single issue. All other political concerns take a back seat."

Which his fine. At least they have integrity and you know where they stand. They unlike many other advocacy groups, are not a political wing of a particular party pretending to care about an issue.

[Nick]

If the incumbent has a history in office of not opposing guns, the NRA has no reason to not support him. If they stick with their one issue, why not go with the devil you know?

[Isaac Bartram]

As I said above, this is exactly what the NRA does.

In a congressional race a few years ago they endorsed the Democratic incumbent who had the same "A" rating as the Republican. The incumbent gets extra points for have a solid voting record while the challenger is suspect because without a track record there is no real proof that they answered questions honestly.

[Isaac Bartram]

"In a congressional race in Florida..."

[BakedPenguin]

More fun with Philly's finest. Also, in case anyone was in doubt, Paul Krugman is still an asshole.

[Rhywun]

I'm not sure what the hell he's talking about, or whether he's "right", but yeah, the tone of the article is pure asshole.

[P Brooks]

If French Muslim women cannot wear their traditional face coverings, can they wear Halloween Jesus masks?

[John]

Sure, as soon as non muslims can wear their Halloween Muhamad masks.

[Trick or Treater]

Mohammed? Mohammed?! Does this look like Mohammed to you?!

[Timon19]

If a Muslim is going to get all pissy about depictions of Mohammed, he's almost certainly going to get pissy about depictions of Jesus. Islam recognizes Jesus as a prophet and he is afforded many of the same "protections" (PBUH, no pictures, etc.).

Yes, even the nutters.

[hmm]

They aren't held to the same standard. jesus was a prophet, MoMo was the lst prophet that brought all truth.

MoMo rocks their world.

[hmm]

lst = last

[Timon19]

They are held to a very similar standard. I never said "same" except that Jesus is afforded some of the "same" "protections" as Mohammed. You can disagree about the fact that Jesus is revered in Islam, but you'd be wrong. It doesn't change the fact that Mo is their main man, but it's still true.

[R C Dean]

No specifics, but I've heard from friends who look at such things that the feds post a ton of jobs that don't seem to require any relevant experience or training that start at $70K or more.

[Episiarch]

Another interesting aspect of federal jobs: when I was just out of college and looking for work (and still young and naive enough to even consider working for the government), I checked out some federal postings. Some of them paid quite well, and seemed like they might be a good fit--and then I started to read the several pages of instructions for how to fill out the even more pages of the application.

Trashed the applications right then. I inherently knew that 1) I did not want to work for any place that made it so prohibitive just to apply, and 2) I never wanted to work with people who would be willing to go through that bullshit for the meager pay, because it immediately indicates that they can't get anything else.

[John]

That is the interesting thing. The people who do the hiring don't work through all that stuff. What happens is if you want to hire someone you have to go to your management office. They then set rigid requirements for what has to be submitted. And they then throw out any application that fails to include even one document no matter how insignificant. They then give what is left to the hiring managers. I have seen hiring managers repost the job because they only got crap resumes after the trolls in management weeded everyone out for small mistakes. The whole system is nuts.

[trolls in management]

The system works, if you catch my drift.

[R C Dean]

They then set rigid requirements for what has to be submitted. And they then throw out any application that fails to include even one document no matter how insignificant.

That strikes me as valid pre-employment testing and screening for anyone going to work for a giant, hidebound, bureaucracy.

[Fluffy]

Actually, in general the jobs require X months of previous experience at a federal job, which neatly allows for the preservation of a closed or nearly closed shop, while still allowing the jobs to be posted online to satisfy the "nationwide search" requirement.

[BakedPenguin]

Obama's stimulus saved three million jobs, according to the White House Council of Economic Advisors.

We're spending our way to prosperity! Using this logic, I have to wonder why they were so cheap - apparently, the stimulus should have been $10 trillion. Then they could have saved or created ~20 million jobs.

[Paul Krugman]

FINALLY, someone talking some sense!

[Brett L]

Yup. Dumping cash from helicopters was a better stimulus plan. I've got to give Bernake credit on that.

[As God as my witness,]

I could swear that turkeys could fly.

[P Brooks]

The government just wants to keep the nice young boys and girls from having to sell their souls to evil corporations. Being a government functionary is a noble calling.

[guy in the back row]

Why should corporations buy what people are giving away?

http://newslite.tv/2010/04/06/.....-sold.html

[P Brooks]

It's about sending the message that wearing veils is not "French culture", and if you want to live in France you better get with the program.

Eerily familiar, somehow....

[John]

It is. And the Muslims are going to keep fucking with the Europeans and find themselves in ovens. I am not kidding. The Muslims might want to shut their mouths and ask the Jews how well being a small insular minority in Europe works out.

[wingnutx]

No, they'll find out how being a large, aggressive minority that outbreeds the locals works out.

[John]

they haven't outbred them yet. And the Europeans still own all the guns and all the power. The Muslims in the Paris slums may out number the old French people in Paris proper. But, the old people own the army and the police. Suicide bombing doesn't work very well when the other side just rounds everyone up and gasses them.

[wingnutx]

Fair enough.

[zoltan]

Banlieue 13 is going to happen!

[The Gobbler]

And they still have many of the ovens.

[Sidd Finch]

Weigel is now parroting Dem talking points in Sully's basement.

[Tonio]

Anonymous group in Utah leaks names, personal information of 1,300 alleged illegal immigrants.

So, this means that the Mormonosphere is now cool with publishing names of pro Prop 8 contributors? Kewl...

[WTF]

DOJ charges six New Orleans police officers with murder for Danziger bridge massacre after Hurricane Katrina

Meanwhile DOJ can't be bothered to fully and properly enforce the law against voter intimidation, because those doing the intimidating were inconveniently New Black Panthers.

[R C Dean]

Why does it take the feds to bring this case? Where is the New Orleans or Louisiana justice . . . .

Oh. Never mind.

[Dr Duck]

...as highly skilled people, high-tech industries, and high-paying jobs continue to concentrate in some regions and not others.

You mean geography is still destiny? But... but... the internet!

[Me]

Jeeze, I wonder what this wonderful product is that they are producing in the DC Metro area that is so amazingly popular it's producing umpteen millionaires??? Are there a bunch Microsofts or Apples there? Are there software giants lurking in the suburbs of DC???

[Corduroy]

Nah, it's all service industry stuff. Whoring, hooking, pimping, etc...

[Citizen Nothing]

Mugabe to diamond cartel: "Go fuck yourselves."
(Hard to know whom to back in this one.)

[John]

The diamond cartel is so evil they can make me side with Mugabe. Could maybe them, Mugabe and the head of DeBeers have kind of three men enter one man leaves death match?

[Isaac Bartram]

Probably a dead thread.

John, the trouble is that Mugabe already took the mines away from the old foreign owners and then because there was no capital to develop them turned them over to anyone who wanted to go dig there.

Now that he's decided he wants the income from the mines he's essentially sent the Army out to dispossess what are essentially people who staked claims in good faith.

Sending helicopter gunships out to mow down unarmed people so you can steal their land is over the top.

I long since gave up trying to fathom what depths Mugabe is capable of sinking to.

[PantsFan]

Happy Bastille Day!

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