Reason Morning Links: Arresting Anonymous, Restoring Rahm Emanuel, Lying in L.A.

• Both protests and repression surge in Egypt.
• Five people are arrested in Britain as part of an international crackdown on Anonymous.
• An American official in Pakistan shoots two gunmen.
• Rahm Emanuel is back on the ballot in Chicago.
• The Senate eliminates secret holds on legislation.
• The White House gets a new press secretary.
• An L.A. cop who claimed to have been shot in an attack was lying.

Comments

[heller]

They don't have self defense in Pakistan?

Also,

He declined to elaborate further on the case, which the head of the Los Angeles Police Protective League called an "embarrassment to law enforcement."

And when cops shoot innocent people, we never hear anything like this. A cop lying about being shot is an embarrassment. A cop killing someone he wasn't supposed to is not worth mentioning.

[Jerry]

To Live and Lie in L.A.

[CaptainSmartass]

That was my thought when I saw the Pakistan story. Two guys try to rob you, damn straight you better shoot their sorry asses! Hopefully the State Department doesn't throw the poor guy to the wolves and they work a deal to get him out of there.

[Isaac Bartram]

In Britain or Australia (depending on the state) he'd likely suffer the same fate pretty much. Not sure about Canada but probably not; he would certainly be up on a weapons charge even if the self defense was recognized.

Britain especially has pretty much abandoned any recognition of any right of self defense and has done everything it can to deny everybody the means to defend themselves.

Having read the story, I'm not even sure that there aren't a few states here that wouldn't recognize this as self defense, either.

[Aresen]

In Canada, the rule is that you may use sufficient force as is necessary to protect yourself, but not more than that. If the criminal turns to flee, you are no longer protecting yourself as the threat to your person has ended. TBS, there is usually a charge laid in such cases and it often goes to trial. There was a case in Calgary a few years back where the owner of a small store shot and killed the robber. Charges were laid, but he was eventually found to have acted in legitimate self defense at the trial.

Without knowing the exact circumstances of this case, it is hard to say whether the test of 'legitimate self-defense' would be met. It would probably have to be decided in court.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rahm Emanuel is back on the ballot in Chicago.

I did not see that coming.

[Almanian]

Really, who could have seen it coming?

[wylie]

Who? The Spanish Inquisition.

[Aresen]

OTOH, if it had been some third-party wannabe - Green, Libertarian, whatever - you can be sure that the Illinois SC would have held differently.

/obvious mode

[EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy]

Likewise, just try claiming an intent to return to some other jurisdiction for the purposes of getting out of Illinois income taxes.

[joshua corning]

As much as the guy makes my skin crawl any citizen who leaves to serve his county should not loose his rights as a resident.

That fact that there was any any question to his residency is bullshit.

[GoNavy]

Rahm took a job, a primarily political job, with the government located in Washington, he was not serving his country.

[Suki]

Rahm Emanuel is back on the ballot in Chicago.

Just getting around to that one?

[Bob Smith]

Several news articles about Rahm were written in such a way as to imply the writer knew a fix was in. Turns out they were right.

[Bucky]

awww, Lipschitz

[Johnny Longtorso]

Why do greens keep mentioning the war?

Where the cash goes, the Democratic policy flows

[Johnny Longtorso]

"The War" means WWII and their dream of bringing wartime rationing back.

[-]

"You can easily arrest individuals, but you cannot arrest an ideology." Anonymous says the cyber attacks are in retaliation for censorship.

Hilarious. Anarchists pretend to have an "ideology," and prove their free-market, free-speech philosophy by attacking capitalism and free speech.

[heller]

I doubt Anonymous is free-market...

[-]

Certainly not. But their actions are supported by many so-called "anarcho-capitalists," a contradiction in terms if there ever was one.

[affenkopf]

One example of support of anonymous by ancaps?

[l0b0t]

Also, please explain how free markets are incompatible with anarchy? Where do you see a contradiction?

[Citizen Nothing]

You do know you're arguing with a punctuation mark, no?

[Citizen Nothing]

And not one of the good ones, like "!" or "," either.

[SugarFree]

It's not even an em-dash.

[JW]

I'd trust an umlaut before a hyphen. They're always up to something, those hyphens, keeping words apart that just want to be left alone.

[Sovereign Immunity]

Nihilism is the unavoidable result when self-interest overrides ideology.

[sloopyinca]

Must be exhausting.

[Walter S]

Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos

[Whiny Nihilist]

But its not FAIR!

[Uncle Joe]

Siberia is calling!

[Azathoth]

there's no such thing as an
'anarcho-capitalist'. The term is what socialists and collectivists who like to call themselves 'anarchist' use to describe actual anarchists.

'Anarcho-capitalists' are the ones who think anarchy means no 'archy'--as opposed to those who believe that anarchy means 'voluntary' collective society.

[-]

Correct. "Anarcho-capitalists" are collectivists who want to have their cake and eat it too.

[cynical]

Surely you meant "corporatism". The actions of the companies they attacked were generally assumed to be as a result of pressure from or ties to the U.S. government, not a personal statement.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Examiner Editorial: Time to get real about public-sector pensions
Despite the dire financial condition of his state, and the fact that it was (and still is) a sovereign deadbeat that fails to pay its bills, Illinois Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn found room to cut a sweetheart deal with its public employee unions in September. They were guaranteed two years of cost-of-living increases and no layoffs. Quinn, in turn, got the union's endorsement and won his 2010 election by less than 1 percentage point. ...

The Birth of the Blues
...Over the centuries, New England has changed its theology while remaining loyal to its cultural foundations. The Calvinist orthodoxy of the seventeenth century yielded increasingly to Deism and Unitarianism in the eighteenth ? and Harvard officially became Unitarian in 1803, dropping its belief in the divinity of Christ. In the nineteenth century literary and intellectual New England hedged its bets, backing a range of horses from Emersonian transcendentalism to the more evangelically flavored Calvinism of the Victorian years. During the second half of the twentieth century the mind of New England became more secular than in past generations? but nothing has ever changed the deep belief in this cultural stream that, however defined, morality exists and that it is the job of the state to enforce true morals and uphold right thinking....

[Johnny Longtorso]

The Birth of the Blues: The Secular Left = The Religious Left = The Religious Right

[Johnny Longtorso]

Religious Left = Religious Right, particularly if you've ever read the left's rhetoric about entering WWI (at the time) and compared it to the right's concerning Iraq.

[Johnny Longtorso]

GOP budget cuts hit Democratic campaign cash sources hard

Mercury Players Theatre kills off right-wingers in The Last Supper

[Jesus]

Who played me?

[Rectal]

Your blog sucks

[Rather]

Your comments suck more-and not in a good way bitch

[Good One]

Dumbass

[Rather]

Good one, I'm starting to think you're a Chinese mother.

[Yawn]

Is it worse that you're boring, or that you're stupid? I can't decide.

[Pip]

DADDY!

[Tim]

+1

[Ragin Cajun]

What is it with lefties and their violent, eliminationist rhetoric?

[sarcasmic]

That's how they express tolerance, inclusiveness and diversity - by being intolerant of and excluding anyone who does not conform.

[Lefty]

We do, of course, have an innate love of diversity; however, we cannot tolerate intolerance of conformity! This would go against everything we believe in.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Sullivan: The Mortgage Deduction Heavily Favors Blue States

Burning other people's money
... "Are people willing to pay to burn other people's money? The short answer to this question is: yes. Our subjects gave up large amounts of their cash to hurt others in the laboratory. The extent of burning surprised us?Even at a price of 0.25 (meaning that to burn another person's dollar cost me 25 cents), many people wished to destroy other individuals' cash."

?"Are People willing to Pay to Reduce Others' Incomes?" Daniel John Zizzo & Andrew Oswald, July 2, 2001...

[Jerry]

Sullivan: The Mortgage Deduction Heavily Favors Banks Blue States

FTFY.

[Almanian]

This is cute - how the President's SOTU address demonstrates that the 2010 elections were all a terrible mistake. Yes, that's what I took out of it....(well, I didn't watch, but whatever).

http://www.realclearpolitics.c.....stake.html

[John]

You should be careful reading that stuff Almanian. That kind of stupid is contagious. I couldn't even get through it. When I got to the part about how high speed rail and "decently compensated teachers" and green energy is necessary for global competitiveness I had to stop.

[Aesop]

but it's such a great narrative

[Almanian]

Yeah, I'm sorry, I probably should have posted stronger warning about teh stoopid content in this one.

[JoshINHB]

Is that article a parody?

[Johnny Longtorso]

Frances Fox Piven and the New York Times's dishonest campaign for "civility."

[Fluffy]

Yeah, I've been pretty stupefied by the almost limitless intellectual dishonesty displayed by the people who claim that Beck advocated violence against Piven and that Piven hasn't advocated violence herself.

[John]

It is also amazing to hear the same people who think what we need are Greek style riots talk about how the climate of fear created by the Tea Parties. So it is okay for a bunch of people to get together and burn shit down for the Left cause. But if people get together and have marches and wear geeky patriot outfits and waive "Don't Tread on Me" flags, that is a threat to our democracy. Okay.

[Sovereign Immunity]

Silly John...you of all people should know that Progressives always, and without fail, exempt themselves from the very standards they impose on others.

Much like police officers. It must be a statist and authoritarian trait.

[nekoxgirl]

With Progressives it's not about the means but the ends. If they are protesting it's "for greater social justice." If Conservatives are protesting it's to "protect the profits of the Koch brothers."

[Fluffy]

Right, exactly.

But I think in this case the disparity is even more acute, since what we have here is this sequence of statements:

Piven: "Kill people and burn shit down! That will scare people and lead to greater social justice!"

Beck: "Hey, this Piven lady wants people to riot."

Liberals: "Beck is advocating violence because people will independently conclude that Piven is dangerous!"

So Piven is not responsible for her open advocacy of violence, but Beck is dangerous merely for making people aware of Piven's existence.

Shouldn't liberals be mad at Piven's publisher, too? After all, by publishing her words, they're doing every bit as much as Beck to create a situation where people might become aware of her comments and independently decide to respond to her with violence of their own.

[John]

Exactly. Ann Althouse said it perfectly

"Do academics mean to have influence or not? Are we supposed to think of them as oversmart flakes who are tucked away in institutions where they won't screw up real life for the rest of us? Because that's the only way in which it makes sense to portray Glenn Beck as the villain. He took an academic seriously, as if she meant what she said and expected real people to hear and act."

[Tonio]

The incident sparked a massive police response that inconvenienced thousands of people for the day as officers blocked roads, locked down schools and refused to let people in or out of a 7-square-mile area.

"Inconvenienced." I'd say "had martial law imposed upon them" is more like it. And seven square miles can hold a lot of people in a dense urban area.

In my fantasies, all of the people in the seven square mile area are members of a class action suit, the monetary damages from which bankrupt LA.

[Fluffy]

Since I had packed it in before he posted in the Biden is an Ass thread, I want to post here:

I completely agree with John on the Egypt issue.

The people of Egypt deserve to live in a free country and we should find a way to deal with whatever government comes about there if they achieve one.

I also think, BTW, that if we just made this our policy, the number of theoretical potential Egyptian governments that would actually have a problem with us in the medium and long term is very small.

[Coptics]

So we no longer have to endure dhimmitude and persecution?

[cynical]

I certainly support efforts to help persecuted peoples relocate to areas where they will be treated more fairly. Sort of an Underground Railroad International.

[Almanian]

The White House gets a new press secretary.

Saw this last night. I'm gonna miss Gibbs - he was entertaining, as he struggled to make shit smell like petunias. What a doofus.

This new guy looks like he won't be as much fun...we'll see.

[Nigel Fawlty]

Worst. Press Secretary. EVAR. Somehow, Scott McClellan won't even be the worst press secretary of the new millenium, century, or even decade. That makes me sad.

[Wind Rider]

I was somewhat disappointed the pick wasn't Olbermann - THAT would have been guaranteed comedy gold.

[Almanian]

YEah, someone else suggested that. How awesome would that have been?

[John]

The new guy looks like the douche bag frat boy who tried to con your girl friend into going up stairs with him.

[John]

And his wife is some newsbabe for ABC. But I am sure that won't affect her coverage at all. No not at all. No conflict of interest here. Move along.

[Almanian]

Perfect - that wasn't mentioned in the news last night (SHOCKER!)

[-]

Claire Shipman, Carney's wife, is Senior National Correspondent for ABC news. Here are some more examples of D.C. incest for the strong of stomach:

Roberta Baskin: Chief investigative correspondent for CBS's 48 Hours becomes senior communications adviser in Department of Health and Human Service's office of inspector general.

Warren Bass: Washington Post deputy editor of the Outlook section becomes adviser to United Nations Ambassador Dr. Susan Rice.

Daren Briscoe: Newsweek Washington correspondent becomes Deputy Associate Director of Public Affairs for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Teddy Davis: Deputy Political Director for ABC News becomes Assistant Director of Communications at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Linda Douglass: ABC News Washington correspondent (previously with CBS News) becomes senior strategist and senior campaign spokesperson on the road for the Obama campaign, later Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services and leading spokesman for Obama's health reform.

Kate Albright-Hanna: CNN producer becomes director of "new media" for the Obama campaign.

Peter Gosselin: Los Angeles Times Washington correspondent becomes speechwriter for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

Sasha Johnson: CNN senior political producer becomes Press Secretary at the Department of Transportation.

Beverley Lumpkin: Justice Department correspondent for ABC News becomes Press Secretary at the Justice Department.

Rick Weiss: Washington Post science reporter becomes communications director and senior policy strategist at the White House Office of Science and Technology.

Jill Zuckman: Chicago Tribune Washington correspondent becomes Director of Public Affairs for the Department of Transportation.

[Jill]

Too bad congress has no spine to strip all moneys from all these gov agencies these duds and many others are running immediately

[BakedPenguin]

It's the 3/4ths estate.

[-]

The other day I saw CNN anchor John King interviewing his wife, CNN analyst Dana Bash, concerning an important national story. Their relationship was never disclosed. It's hard not to be cynical when such conflicts of interest have become commonplace in the national media.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The sites of PayPal, MasterCard and Visa were knocked offline or compromised late last year after each stopped the flow of donations to WikiLeaks following the whistle-blower site's release of U.S. diplomatic cables.

PayPal should have put up one of those editor's notes on their site. "We reserve the right to delete any partnership for any reason at any time."

[Because]

Anarchists have a problem with the concepts of voluntary trade and property rights.

[cynical]

Paypal also has a problem with property rights, which is why they have made it very difficult for clients to bring money out of their accounts at times.

[Because]

You're free not to do business with Paypal.

[cynical]

Yes. You're also free not to hire embezzlers, but it has no bearing on whether or not they're thieves. Legal disclaimer: Merely an analogy, not an implication of criminal activity on the part of Paypal.

[John]

If Reason already posted this, sorry for the double post and missing out on the conversation. But this Barbara Ehrenreich column yesterday is a pile of stupid that must be read to be believed. It is the tyranny of the well armed.

http://www.latimes.com/news/op.....8860.story

[Fluffy]

I actually don't have a problem with what Ehrenreich wrote. I actually would proudly embrace it as an element of American political theory.

One check on majoritarian abuses in a democracy is that set-upon minorities will respond to government abuses with armed violence.

To me, that's the entire point of the Second Amendment.

Ehrenreich just apparently woke up to this notion the other day. I guess she's a little slow on the uptake, but she got there eventually, right?

Oh, she certainly whines about it and uses loaded language, but fuck her, I don't care. Not as long as she gets the point.

[John]

But she doesn't get the point. She is appalled by the people on the right having guns and that deterring the angry proletariat from burning the country down. She is not talking about the tyranny of the well armed government or majority. She is a ok with that. She is talking about the people she doesn't like having arms.

[Fluffy]

Who cares if she's appalled, as long as in her outrage she achieves awareness of the limits a free and armed populace sets upon her collectivist agitation?

[John]

Because her solution would be to disarm the country so people are free to grab their molotov cocktails and burn shit down without fear of anyone defending themselves. She is not talking about the "tyranny of a well armed government". If she were, I would agree with you. She is talking about the tyranny of the well armed right that keeps leftists brown shirts from pulling the shit here that they do in Europe.

[Sovereign Immunity]

She is talking about the people she doesn't like having arms.

Why the hate that someone has functioning limbs? Would she prefer a bunch of thalomide babies?

Either way, it's a fine example of that new civility I've heard so much about lately.

[Anonymous Coward]

She is talking about the people she doesn't like having arms.

You know who else didn't want people they didn't like to have guns?

[sloopyinca]

The Chicago City Council?

[SugarFree]

Fluffy,

That's not what I take away from it. To me she seems to bemoaned the "heavily-armed" as a reactionary force that keeps the "masses" from protesting for leftist social change. She may recognize that One check on majoritarian abuses in a democracy is that set-upon minorities will respond to government abuses with armed violence. but I take-away from the article that she thinks that's a bad thing and that she wants those guns taken away. (Even though she doesn't say it, I think it's an implied conclusion to the intended audience.)

Ehrenreich seems to me to be making yet another excuse as to why leftism isn't important enough for people to go out and march about any more.

[Almanian]

This is a BIG pile of stupid.

"Hunker down in the basement and polish your Glock"

a) is that what the kids are calling it these days?
b) how little do you know about guns to know that one of the benefits of "black guns" is NOT having to "polish" them.

Derp!

[Brett L]

Keep that plastic shiny!

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

I don't have a basement to hunker down in. And when I want to clean my guns (I don't have a Glock), I wouldn't "hunker down" anywhere to do it. I typically use the kitchen table.

[Zeb]

Great. Americans have no balls because they don't freak out like spoiled children when they don't get as much free stuff as they are used to.

[P Brooks]

raising questions for detectives about whether the officer shot himself accidentally and then fabricated a story

No kidding.

-and then-

Although many in the community expressed frustration and anger at the inconvenience caused by the size and length of the operation, LAPD officials defended the decision as necessary to protect the public from a suspect who was believed to have shot an armed officer. They noted that the incident was especially serious because it involved an attack against a fellow law enforcement officer.

Fuck you, Civilians!

[Cyto]

"The law enforcement community is disgusted," Weber said in a statement. "While Mr. Stenroos is a disgrace to the badge, his individual and dangerous actions should not reflect on the hard-working men and women in law enforcement."

So, faking getting shot is a disgrace. But shooting (and killing) an unarmed man in his underwear in his own home in the middle of the night while searching for drugs makes you a hero. Glad we got that straight.

Beat down a young kid (honors student and classical musician, no less) and you get paid leave and exoneration. Frame a mildly retarded minority for murder and get a commondation. Gun down an old man on his front porch while pretending to be a gang of drug dealers in his front yard because he warned you away with a shotgun - hero! But cover up accidentally shooting yourself with a bullshit story.... Now that's a disgrace!

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Rahm Emanuel is back on the ballot in Chicago.

I'm shocked. Who could possibly have guessed that would be the outcome?

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Oops, FoE beat me to it. But, really.

[Fist of Etiquette]

That one was public domain.

[Another Kevin]

Meanwhile, in a less-moneyed part of LA; store clerk gets gunned down at 8 PM on a Saturday - nobody talks, nothing gets shut down, the only coverage is the local rag:

http://www.lbpost.com/news/ryan/10988

[Almanian]

Well, duh - nothing to see here, move along, move along...

[The Other Kevin]

Now that we have the disclaimer at the top of each post, it's only a matter of time before the regulars get banned and the Kevins' evil plan to take over H&R comes to fruition.

[Old Mexican]

Rahm Emanuel is back on the ballot in Chicago.

Democracy has triumphed! Yay!

[Sovereign Immunity]

Oh please! Have you seen the other candidates on the ballot? I would actually vote for this shmendrik over the other choices.

It's that flipping bad.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Sovereign Inmunity,

It's that flipping bad.

Like I said: Democracy has triumphed. yay.

*sobbing*

[Sovereign Immunity]

Worry not, Chicagoans will get the government they richly deserve.

[Aresen]

I suppose, given the number of graveyard voters in Illinois, that it is entirely appropriate that there should be some brain dead members of their Supreme Court.

[Old Mexican]

Five people are arrested in Britain as part of an international crackdown on Anonymous.

Anonymous what?

Hacking

Oooooh!

[Old Mexican]

An American official in Pakistan shoots two gunmen.

... at the Head Toss Corral.

[Ok, bad joke.]

[Old Mexican]

The White House gets a new press secretary.

They should get a new speech writter while they're at it! That last SOTU was laaaaaaaame!

[Old Mexican]

An L.A. cop who claimed to have been shot in an attack was lying.

Balderdash! Glenn Beck told me cops are veritable angels that deserve "the benefit of the doubt", presumably because "we" need them!

[Pip]

[citation needed]

[Old Mexican]

Re: Pip,

Did you see yesterday's show? He said (and I quote) "When it comes to our police, we should give them the benefit of the doubt, because we need them."

Or words to that effect. I was kind of listening while watching the walkthrough videos of Dead Space 2 in youtube.

[Trespassers W]

OM, you're MNG'ing the morning links.

[Rich]

waves of baltageya, plain-clothes thugs allied with state security, were unleashed on the streets. ... a car load of baseball bats [was brought] into the grounds

Where do Brady, Schumer, Bloomberg, et al. stand on baseball bat control?

[Old Mexican]

Both protests and repression surge in Egypt.

And an ex-UN nuclear energy inspector is returning to his mother country of Egypt to seek the presidency....

Has all the proper elements for another John le Carr? novel!

[Paula Abdul]

I'm already in negotiations for the movie. I mean the choreography for the musical numbers.

[Sovereign Immunity]

Aren't you of Syrian descent?

[Paula Abdul]

Technically, yes. But really I descended from cheerleading.

[Brett L]

To what? Pill eating?

[Old Mexican]

The Senate eliminates secret holds on legislation.

What??? No Cask of Amontillado???

[Old Mexican]

Oooohhh, these are holds ON legislation.... I though they had secret holds [noun].

[Pro Libertate]

Sure there is. [Continues to wall in Old Mexican.]

[Citizen Nothing]

For the love of God, Pro Libertate!

[Tim]

Excellent.

[Pro Libertate]

"Yes," I said, "for the love of God!"

[Tim]

"THE thousand injuries of Old Mexican I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. "

[Pro Libertate]

I love that story--creepy, horror-filled Poe.

[P Brooks]

Barbie Ehrenreich finds it dispiriting that Americans don't riot in the streets for free shit from the government.

I wonder how many trash cans she has thrown through bank windows.

[Pro Libertate]

Rioting for freedom or rioting for the right to force others to support you. Which is the nobler cause?

[Sovereign Immunity]

Depends on the racial phylogeny(ies) involved. Religions too. Identity politics is just as, if not more, important as the cause itself.

[hmm]

I rioted for donuts once. I was young.

[Almanian]

I wonder how many trash cans she has thrown through pizza store windows.

Cause she strikes me as a Spike Lee fan.

[John]

She and Piven and people like them are just children. They like to dream of a revolution and bitch about there not being one. But they would never really want one or much less get their hands dirty trying to start one because doing so would require giving up their cushy jobs and Volvos.

[Tim]

She and Piven are akin to the intellectuals that the real Bolsheviks lined up and shot along with the tsars people.

[Almanian]

You know who else lined up and shot intellectuals....

[Anonymous Coward]

Pol Pot?

[Pro Libertate]

Sarah Palin?

[Pip]

David Weigel?

[John]

She finds it dispiriting that Americans can't riot and go burn the houses of those with the wrong political conscientiousness because people have guns and could fight back.

[Fluffy]

Well, this is part and parcel of the history of leftism in America, and labor advocacy in particular, which is Ehrenreich's specialty.

Look at the way they have made sacred martyrs of the Haymarket conspirators.

[John]

Yes. Ayers is another example. People remember him for the bombing. But his and Dorn's big show (or fizzle) was the "days of rage". They were going to show up in a rich neighborhood of Chicago and finally take it to the bourgeois. Of course no one showed up and it was a disaster. Even if they had, you could never do that kind of shit because people have guns. Indeed most of the hate mail Piven got after Beck publicized her comments was of the nature of "bring it on bitch we have guns and you are not burning down our town".

That is why leftists are so intent on disarming the country. It would allow their mobs to intimidate people.

[Tim]

Which is why you need that 58 round clip.

[The Gobbler]

^^THIS^^

[Tim]

I know, I was just chumming with that "clip" business to see who was paying attention. I should be ashamed.

[Tim]

As for the 58 rounds, no I was serious. Stopping a mob of looters from burning your family out requires more than a bunch of flintlocks stacked against the wall ala "unforgiven".

[Kreel Sarloo]

OK, googled Piven, of whom, I confess I had never heard and found that apparently she's a communist who threatened violence on people and the whole left-o-sphere got its knickers in a knot when the people she threatened said no way we're gonna let you do that. And the people who said they were going to defend themselves are violent evil oppressors but the bitch threatening them is a virtuous heroine because she's "FOR THE PEOPLE".

That about it?

[Mammoth Shaver]

From Wiki:

"...took place on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at the Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a rally in support of striking workers. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they dispersed the public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of eight police officers, mostly from friendly fire, and an unknown number of civilians."

Good to see modern police curriculums appear to stick to the proven basics.

[Mike M.]

+1! These whiny-ass lefty academic bitches who love socialism, Europe, and student riots and hate America and armed white trash almost never even bother to walk a picket line, much less start a riot.

[hmm]

Piven was part of the Columbia riots back in the day when she looked like a young cryptkeeper.

[Citizen Nothing]

But I do like her performance as Ari in Entourage.

[SugarFree]

Is Science Fiction Getting More Conservative?

It sort of unfairly mixes conservative, libertarian, and an-cap ideas, but it's a fairly good discussion.

The comments are uncommonly good. Lots of recommendations.

[Brett L]

I enjoyed the article. Will have to go back through the comments. PJM commentors can be, um, well their crazy tastes funny to me after hanging around H&R for a while.

[P Brooks]

What's really funny about this Piven vs Beck Deathmatch (of which I was blissfully unaware until just a few minutes ago) is that Piven, a lefty academic, wants to get her message of nobly violent redistributionist protest out in order to mold impressionable young minds in colleges and universities across America and the world, but when Glenn Beck makes her ideas known to a wider (and significantly less receptive) audience he is effectively doing her a violent harm.

[Kreel Sarloo]

Leftist bozo threatens to kill people, then complains when they say they won't let her.

[Kreel Sarloo]

What adds comedy is that she now claims she was writing metaphorically but the "reactionaries" are literally threatening her life.

[Anonymous Coward]

Piven's Money Sentence:

An effective movement of the unemployed will have to look something like the strikes and riots that have spread across Greece in response to the austerity measures forced on the Greek government by the European Union, or like the student protests that recently spread with lightning speed across England in response to the prospect of greatly increased school fees.

What happened in these wonderful Greek "we're not getting our free shit anymore" riots? Three employees of Marfin Bank died when a protestor threw a molotov cocktail through a bank window and were asphyxiated when they were unable to escape the subsequent fumes.

But that's 'good' violence. 'Bad' violence would be when someone defends himself from the righteous authority of the mob.

[EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy]

Apparently, in Piven's world Greece isn't broke and getting bailed out. Their economy is just "misunderstood" or something.

[Pip]

There is talk going around that she likes to do things with sheep. Terrible, unspeakable things.

[cynical]

Dirty deeds? Done with sheep?

[Brett L]

Wash Post wants the assault rifle ban back.

"Roughly 15,000 guns equipped with magazines with 11 bullets or more - the federal definition of high-capacity - have been seized by Virginia police since 1993; some 2,000 of these weapons were equipped with clips that held 30 or more bullets."

Pretty much every large frame semi-automatic in the world comes with 12-14 round magazines. Most medium frame .22-.38 semis could handle that as well. Somehow I don't think they're worried about a 4" .25 with a 15 round capacity (although it's a great little pocket gun).

[P Brooks]

They were going to show up in a rich neighborhood of Chicago and finally take it to the bourgeois. Of course no one showed up and it was a disaster. Even if they had, you could never do that kind of shit because people have guns.

Not anymore.

Not in Chicago.

Oh, wait- that's completely wrong, isn't it? Rich people don't have any problems arming themselves; it's just the (law-abiding) poor who are disarmed in Chicago.

[Mike M.]

Record snowfall and low temperatures for the past week stretch from the Mississippi River valley to New England.

Record Events for Fri Jan 21, 2011 through Thu Jan 27, 2011:

Total Records: 1323
Rainfall: 273
Snowfall: 478
High Temperatures: 101
Low Temperatures: 248
Lowest Max Temperatures: 173
Highest Min Temperatures: 50

[HemiTemi]

LOL, you would think "An0nYm0uS" would be a little more, anonymous.

http://www.privacy-tools.au.tc

[capitol l]

LOL!

[hmm]

Rather, take note. Anonbot knows how to whore and bot.

[Clich? Bandit]

most relevant anon bot post ever...stopped clock and all that.

privacy-blog-blahblah.com

[Brett L]

Germans should stick to designing cars.

[Tim]

Looking at Egypt does anyone still think that the US President needs his own internet off switch?

[Julius Genachowski]

Yes. Yes, I do.

[Cyto]

Judging by the footage running live on CNN.com, the Mubarak regime is about to fall. There are thousands of marchers in the streets - not rioting, just marching. Old, young, rich, poor... it looks like a slice of everyone is out there. Waving at the cameras, clapping and chanting. And the feed seems to be live from a Cairo TV station. All of that together with the widespread nature of the protests... I always pick wrong in these cases, but it looks like they are done for.

[affenkopf]

Don't know about CNN but the English version of al jazeera has great coverage of this.

Also I don't think that the regime is done yet, the protests after the elections in Iran were massive as well and yet futile in the end.

[Cyto]

And continuing my tradition of being wrong about authoritarian regimes: CNN and Al Jazeera are reporting that Egypt is sending in the military - with video of troop transports rolling in to town. We'll see who backs down. I would hope it would be the military that decides not to shoot and pulls out.

[affenkopf]

The military is on the street. Isn't it nice to see US tax dollars at work?

[Tim]

Chinese recycle Top Gun footage as weapon test

http://gizmodo.com/5745307/did.....ce-footage

[Clich? Bandit]

the is the definition of priceless...bonus points, how long before our betters in government figure out it is fake?

[heller]

Later, CCTV Sports featured Iceman playing volleyball for the People's Republic.

[Screwed?]

So am going to Cairo for a few days for Honeymoon in June. I am screwed? How long does a revolution usually take?

[Pro Libertate]

If you time things right, you may be declared the new Pharaoh.

[Almanian]

...or one of the new pyramid-building slaves - it all depends...

[Screwed?]

I do like working outdoors...

[Pro Libertate]

The pyramid workers were usually not slaves, just conscripted citizens. Idle hands, you know!

[Barack Obama]

Pyramids. Hmmmm....

[Anonymous Coward]

No, Barack! Bad Barack! High speed rail is your vanity project! No pyramids for you!