Reason Morning Links: Lessons From the Afghan Chinook Crash, the London Riots' Welfare Roots, Scandal at the USPS

• The special forces troops who died in a helicopter crash Saturday were on a mission to rescue a different group of special forces troops. Joshua Foust explains why this is a problem. 
• The Guardian's liveblog of the London riots. 
• Spiked's Brendan O'Neill analyzes the welfare-state roots of the London riots. 
• Real estate scandal embarrasses the USPS. 
• Conference attendees discuss allowing concealed carry on college campuses. 
• Would Rep. Paul Ryan's plan have dissuaded the S&P from downgrading the U.S.? WaPo says no.

New at Reason.tv: "Federal Education Policy with Former Assistant Secretary of Education Bill Evers"

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Guardian's liveblog of the London riots.

Yet somehow when I liveblog the riot that is Stossel no one gives a shit.

[capitol l =muttonhead]

After your shocking admission that you don't actually watch Stossel, and just post random comments when the show is on, I'm not surprised.

That truly was the day the music died.

[Fist of Etiquette]

What's worse is that I literally phone it in, posting my comments via my Droid.

Also, Stossel is on at 10PM on the Foxbiz Thursdays. Half you geezers don't have that channel and the other half have their teeth out and are in bed by ten.

[capitol l =muttonhead]

I was thinking of finding an empty dive bar and convincing them to put Stossel on the teevee so that I could do the deed without having to get cable.

What's the most libertarian friendly shithole bar in Pittsburgh? If you tell me Jack's I'm going to jump through the intertubez and Roethlisberger your ass...to DEATH!

[Libertymike]

Ben is a gentleman who has been falsely portrayed. I tell you its downright scurrilous.

[Robert]

Never mind the London riots, what about the Milwaukee riot last week?

[Libertymike]

Racist! Black folk don't do mob violence!

[Au H20]

Is SugarFree gonna have to slap a bitch? TSA takes a pregnant women's insulin for no good reason.

Actually, the amazing thing here? The TSA actually apologizing and kinda-sorta admitting that maybe possibly not really they could be wrong.

[SugarFree]

Ahlstrom said ice packs are only allowed if they're completely frozen and the woman's were not.

Is it possible they were melted because of the excessive goddamn amount of time she spent waiting in line for security?

I'd be really fucked in this situation. The type of insulin I take requires a prescription and not very many pharmacies carry it (basically, only hospital pharmacies.)

[Yuno Hoo]

Ahlstrom said ice packs are only allowed if they're completely frozen

Completely frozen "ice packs", then. Thanks!

[Maxxx]

A completely frozen ice pack is clearly a deadly weapon that could be used by al queda operatives to seize control of a plane.

As such anyone attempting to board with one will be arrested and prosecuted.

[Rich]

I had a moderate encounter with airport security over a souvenir paperweight. After several agents examined and re-examined it (and me), I was allowed to board with the offending object.

[Mr. FIFY]

Anyone click on this link in the story Au posted?

http://www.thedenverchannel.co.....etail.html

It's an update on the woman who "groped" a TSA monkey a few weeks back. Wondered what happened to this brave soul...

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Maybe I'm just not understanding the physics here, but isn't the purpose of the ice pack to keep something cool? And if it is "completely frozen" it hasn't absorbed any heat and hasn't cooled anything. How is an ice pack that remains "completely frozen" of any use for the purposes to which ice packs are usually put?

[White Indian]

"Civilization Syndrome."

Multiple needle pokes into flesh every few hours, every day of life.

Being that diabetes is a Disease of Civilization, "nasty, brutish, and short" appears to be an accurate description of life in the City-State.

But fishing and hunting all day in the clear air and sunshine, no worry about a home mortgage and paying property taxes....horrible.

______________
Diabetes as a disease of civilization: the impact of culture change on indigenous peoples
JR Joe? - 1994 - books.google.com
Page 1. Jennie R. Joe Robert S. Young (Editors) Diabetes as a Disease of Civilization
The Impact of Culture Change on Indigenous Peoples de gruyter Page 2. Page 3. Diabetes
as a Disease of Civilization

Hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease
H Trowell - Western diseases: Their emergence and prevention, 1981 - books.google.com
... 8 Chapter 1 Hugh Trowell disease, diabetes, dental caries, appendicitis, gallstones, varicose
veins, pernicious anaemia, renal calculus, thyrotoxicosis and ... stresses of civilized life caused
essential hypertension and contributed to the aetiology of all diseases of civilization.

Visceral obesity: a" civilization syndrome".
P Bj?rntorp - Obesity Research, 1993 - ukpmc.ac.uk
... prospective, epidemiological studies that the subgroup of central, visceral obesity is particularly
prone to develop cardiovascular disease, stroke, and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. ...
Visceral obesity may therefore be an expression of a "Civilization Syndrome."

CIVILIZATION AND DISEASE.
[PDF] from nih.govCP Donnison - BOOK REVIEWS, 1938 - pmj.bmj.com
... CIVILIZATION AND DISEASE. By CP DONNISON, MD Bailliere, Tindall & Cox. 1937. ... Page 2.
264 BOOK REVIEWS August, 1938 Dr. Donnison has noted that not only are certain types of
so-called organic disease, as eg, hyperpiesis, diabetes mellitus, Graves' disease and ...
Cited by 19

[Byron]

If it is cooled below the freezing point, it can absorb some heat without any thawing.

[R C Dean]

Won't they thaw while they are on the plane anyway?

[SugarFree]

The ice packs are really a distraction. The seizsure of the insulin is what is nuts. Insulin bottles are typically 10ml, 1/10th of the 3.4 oz limit.

They just took them for the fuck of it, basically.

[Au H20]

Also, Jezebel reader finally had a non-retarded idea (blind squirrel and all that): Someone needs to start a blog titled, "Shit I got through airport security."

...

Wait, why am I telling you guys this? I need to start this blog and make crazy amounts of google ad money off it!

[Quetzalcoatl]

Isn't that the name of Bruce Schneier's blog?

[Robert]

"Shit I got through airport security."

Missing a comma, or not?

[Apple]

Not

[TSA]

Correct. You may ship it home via FedEx.

[Tim]

Have we won in Libya yet?

[DJF]

Days not weeks.

[O2]

have the wealthy [JOBZ] creators created [JOBZ] yet?

[Barack Obama]

Not as quickly as I can destroy them.

[Il Douchey]

It's still illegal to create jobs.

[Almanian]

Are we involved in some sort of Kinetic Action? in Libya?

[Ska]

Have you seen my bear?

[Ska]

That was not, in fact, meant to be a reply to Almanian.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I found him.

[hmm]

We did not got there to win. We are not fighting a war there. It is not a win/lose situation. It is a humanitarian aid program designed to not depose a dictator and not place a loose band of murderous thugs in power.

[Bardas Phocas]

I'm just here for the guzzoline.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP-AbRTYNhI

[Joe M]

Top-Tier: Ron Paul polls at third place in Iowa and nationally

Compare that to how he was doing four years ago:

August 9, 2007

[pagal]

The 2007 poll illustrates how little these early polls mean. The top two were Giuliani and Fred Thompson. I recall some pundits claiming that Giuliani and Hillary were locks for their respective party nominations.

[Joe M]

Giuliani tried to break the traditional path to the nomination. Thompson never really gave a shit. They don't compare.

[kinnath]

After six weeks of tropical heat and humidity, it is finally nice here in Iowa. I'm torn between heading to the Ames Straw Poll to vote for Paul or spending the day on the course.

[Cabeza de Vaca]

Kinnath,

Yeah, It's nice the heat & humidity are back to normal. I would like to go to the straw poll, but it's the first Saturday of the State Fair. I would lose out on several hundred dollars if I didn't park cars in my yard.

[R C Dean]

I grew up in Texas, and have lived here again for the last seven years, but the hottest I have ever been in my life was in Wisconsin.

[Gray Ghost]

I had thought I was acclimatizing to this state, finally. But this summer has just been ridiculous.

Still not as hot as Death Valley in July though. With an overheating radiator, and the accompanying running heater. There at least, you can drink water (lots of water) to feel better. Here, with this humidity? Not so much.

[Libertymike]

Why not come to a place like Newport, RI or Bar Harbor, ME or Stowe, VT?

[Citizen Nothing]

So what happens if 2014 is an Obama-Biden, Romney-Pawlenty, Paul-Johnson three-way?

[Citizen Nothing]

Or 2012. Wait, what year is it now?

[DanD]

Then Obama handily wins a second term, no question. Think Perot.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Conference attendees discuss allowing concealed carry on college campuses.

What's next, allowing free speech at universities? No, if weapons are going to be allowed on campus, it will only be those of the Che-style firing squads for the uneducable in correct thinking.

[Almanian]

allowing free speech at universities

Watch it, Fist. That is straight up eliminationist rhetoric, that is.

[Matt Damon]

Intrinsically paternalistic.

[Matt Damon]

Intrinsically MATT DAMON.

[Au H20]

Yeah, I don't get where you're getting this whole "Free speech" idea from. Words can hurt, and in an educational environment, if even one person's feelings are hurt by words* then they shouldn't be spoken.

*Unless they're one of those retarded ass Rethuglicans, am i rite?

[Warty]

First riot death

How do you riot for three days and only have one death? English hooligans are pitiful, it seems.

[Football Hooligan]

'ello, guvna!

[Cheeseburger]

The rioters are more concerned with looting.

[Quetzalcoatl]

The rioters same most of their energy for important things. Like soccer.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I say, a bit of a cock-up going on, isn't it? Not very sporting, if you ask me.

[T. T. Cheerio]

We buried a rioter the other day. Had to. Dead, you know.

[Neu Mejican]

http://youtu.be/bivsP_h6l0s

Some riot music.

[Brett L]

Did you see this one at Mrs. Sudermans? Rioters queue up politely to steal shit. They really are a different people.

"gangs of youths were free to break into stores at nearby Tottenham Hale retail park and in Wood Green, with looters forming an orderly queue in broad daylight to steal from a sports shop"

[R C Dean]

Hardly a shock that you get widespread looting in a welfare state (which creates a sense of entitlement to the property of others) that has stripped its citizens* of the means and right of self-defense.

*I think "subject" is probably more correct in every sense, no?

[Maxxx]

The welfare state is wide spread looting.

[Imp of the Perverse]

We've had riots long before welfare states existed.

[Au H20]

Ah, yes, but the welfare state was supposed to stop rioting, which it has failed at.

[Imp of the Perverse]

That's too big of a claim to make. Rioting will be with us as long as we have cities. It is fair to say though that the only countries in which Communists (the real kind, not strawman) have taken power (where it wasn't imposed by the Red Army in any way) lacked adequate welfare systems.

[Kreel Sarloo]

In which countries have any kind of Communists taken power where it wasn't imposed by the Red Army?

And how will I tell these "real" Communists of which you speak from the erzatz type?

[Fatty Bolger]

And how will I tell these "real" Communists of which you speak from the erzatz type?

You can tell by their earnest expressions and hearts of gold.

[rts]

means and right of self-defense.

Sales of bats and batons are up 5000% at Amazon's UK site:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/mov.....=zg_bs_tab

[wingnutx]

As are calls for Amazon to ban their sale.

[Sean]

There are no riots in North Korea

[CE]

with looters forming an orderly queue in broad daylight to steal from a sports shop

Cutting in line is frowned upon, even when stealing.

[cynical]

The British underclass is peacefully queueing up to rob their fellow man? Sounds like they've gotten things back to normal there. Good job, everyone!

[iguanodon]

Keep calm & carry off this telly, what what

[John]

It is because the Brits are unarmed and running for their lives. So the mob is free to burn the place down. If they would just start shooting the rioters on sight, their problems would be solved very quicklyl.

[Imp of the Perverse]

Yes because certainly there have never been any bad riots in the US thanks to the Second Amendment!

[Almanian]

Hang on! The 2nd Amendment prevented the 1968 Detroit riots, and the recent riots after the Saint Rodney King Incident!

You take that back!

[Montani Semper Liberi]

In the last big riot (Los Angeles 1992), Korean store owners stood their ground and defended their property with deadly force. How many of their stores got broken into and robbed?

[Atanarjuat]

While I respect their right to defend their property, wouldn't insurance cover their losses and save them the trouble of risking their lives?

[Gray Ghost]

I wonder if they even had insurance, considering their location, and what small margins grocers/convenience stores operate on normally.

Moreover, there's no guarantee that the looter is going to be satisfied with just your stuff, if you/your family members are around to provide entertainment. I guess you could avoid that by just not being around.

[NoVAHockey]

Little Italy in Baltimore did not burn in 1968 because the restaurant and shop owners were on the street corners with shotguns and the roofs with rifles.

[Imp of the Perverse]

Did you ever think maybe it didn't burn because the neighborhoods that burned down where the ones the rioters lived in?

[NoVAHockey]

No, considering there were fires and looting very close to that area.

[hmm]

South Central Korean style. Get the whole family on the roof armed. Nail a few looters and leave them in front of the store, no one else loots that store...

Although the the state may try to prosecute you for protecting your life's work.

[Imp of the Perverse]

A quick clarification: I'm not against the right to bear (defensive) arms, but some gun rights advocates can get as irritating as the marijuana advocates that insist that marijuana can cure cancer, aids, depression, diabetes, solve the world energy crisis, and end world hunger. What I hate is exagerrated claims and phony machismo.

"Man, if I was there I'd TOTALLY nail those rioters!" Yeah, sure.

[Neu Mejican]

Indeed.
I have a friend who went and bought himself a big shiny 44 to protect his home and property since he lived in a bad neighborhood in Albuquerque. One day, while taking a shower, he hears someone in his garage. He goes, gets the gun, and finds someone stealing his tools (worth a lot of money). He's standing there, naked, with the gun cocked and ready to fire. The guy, calmly, tells him "hey man, you don't want to shoot me. I'm leaving." He walks off with the tools and my friend lets him. He sold his gun shortly after that realizing it wasn't gonna be useful for much.

[John]

If your friend isn't willing to use the gun, he shouldn't own it. And the guy with the tools deserved to die. Your example shows why every state should have the castle doctrine. Not sure what the rule is in New Mexico. But in a civilized state, your friend could have shot the guy and faced no legal sanction.

[Imp of the Perverse]

Nobody truly knows if they're ready to shoot someone until they're in that situation.

[Neu Mejican]

I disagree with your assertions, but it wasn't the fear of legal sanction that kept him from shooting.

[John]

I am a little more hard nosed about this. I think that people's homes are sacred. If you break into someone's home you have forfeited your right to live. Moreover, we should never expect people to make snap decisions about an intruder's intentions. If you are there and you shouldn't be, I have a right to assume you are there to do me harm and have a right to kill you on the spot, period. I have never shot someone in my home. And I would like to avoid it. It is a messy prospect. But I have no doubt that I would do it if necessary and sleep like a baby the night after.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I have never shot someone in my home.

He could have waited until the guy was on his driveway.

[Lord Humungus]

bloodstains are easier to clean.

[Brother Wolf]

See the film "felon"

[cynical]

"I think that people's homes are sacred. If you break into someone's home you have forfeited your right to live."

Ah, but now we get into the technical discussion of whether the garage is actually part of the "home", or just a covered attachment to the home. After all, most people have the same level of security (in terms of door strength and locks and whatnot) on garage doors as they do with outside-facing doors, suggesting that the garage is part of the "outside" in a certain sense.

[John]

And if your friend is worried about killing someone, he should consider a tazer or other non lethal weapon. He could have tazed the dumb ass and got his tools back and not even killed him.

[MP]

Usage of deadly force is a big step to take for most people. I don't think I'd do any more than threaten deadly force if facing a property crime. 99% of the time, that will be enough to end the crime. If the guy gets away, I think I could live with that more than having killed him, right or no.

But having the gun is good for the 1% of property crimes where the perp decides to step towards you rather than run. I wouldn't have sold the .44.

[John]

That is a very good point MP.

[wingnutx]

I would have sold the .44 and got something more practical.

[R C Dean]

Not sure what the rule is in New Mexico. But in a civilized state, your friend could have shot the guy and faced no legal sanction.

Would have been easy enough to put hammer in the corpse's hand and have a good self-defense case in any state.

And I agree, until you're looking over the sights at an actual human being, you have no way of knowing if you will pull the trigger or not.

[Amish Farmer]

"Friend, I would not harm thee for the world. But where thou standest, I am about to fire."

[SFC B]

That was your friend's fault for letting him leave with the tools. I'm not going to risk taking a life if I don't have to, but he isn't leaving with my stuff. The intruder can drop my things and walk away, or he can try to walk out with my stuff and get shot.

[Mr. FIFY]

Shoulda dropped the SOB in his tracks.

Edwin should be along any minute now to admonish us for standing up for property rights...

[Fluffy]

He should have kept the gun, because that criminal was the 1 in 100 guy who walks away carrying the tools instead of running like hell with empty hands.

Your friend got rid of the gun because he got out-badassed by a statistical anomaly.

The next 99 times that situation arose he'd keep the tools.

[Neu Mejican]

Your friend got rid of the gun because he got out-badassed by a statistical anomaly.

The next 99 times that situation arose he'd keep the tools.
reply to this

Maybe. But it is easy to be outbadassed in Albuquerque.

[Fatty Bolger]

Selling the gun was stupid. I can't say if I would shoot somebody over tools, but imagine the same scene *without* the gun. Yeah... could get ugly, huh? That alone should have made him want to keep the gun.

[cynical]

How exactly does he know it wasn't useful for much? What would have happened to him if he accidentally walked in on the guy and didn't have a gun?

I mean, the guy was armed (presumably, given that most tools double reasonably well as a melee weapon).

[Brett L]

Squirrels not only screw up our posts at H&R, they are also on a mission to destroy our interwebz tubes.

[Mike Laursen]

Time for a Trail of Squirrel Tears

[Brett L]

Never take a science project like this in your carry-on. Even if you are coming from a science fair.

[Rich]

Breault said the student is working on a doctorate, but did not release the student's name or other details ? such as the type of science project that prompted the scare.

The type of science project was: Would you put your finger in this hole for a Klondike Bar?

[Lord Humungus]

advanced finger box
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/fingerboxes

[Pope Jimbo]

Finger? Sure. Other body part probes are gonna cost you 2 Klondike's though.

[Going Postal]

"There is no indication that Mr. Kessler improperly influenced or even attempted to improperly influence the Postal Service on this matter,

At least he didn't shit on your neighbor's lawn.

[Au H20]

Man raped, then forced to pay child support to the woman who raped him

Now, I could have linked to the Jezebel version of this, with some nice victim blaming and man hating, but I'm being nice this morning.

Also, as to the link: Remember kids, "reproductive rights" only applies to women. Seriously, that shit is fucked up.

[sarcasmic]

One look at her and she's guilty.

[Au H20]

Also, you gotta love the tone of the article, "We don't really know the facts, we just have this guy's word, who knows what really happened" which is so much sensationalistic than the standard media story on crime, where they always assume that the perp must be guilty.

[Amakudari]

"There are serious reasons to why men don't get an opt out- the least not being that child support isn't a punishment to the father or right to the mother, but a right to the child."

[Amakudari]

As for kindness, I just want y'all to be stronger. Which is kind, in its own way.

IOW click that Jezebel link.

[Au H20]

The best are the women who claim that this can't be comparable to female rape, but it isn't as traumatic. Except apparently, at thew wrong angle, the dick can break of the foreskin tear off.

[Zeb]

"child support isn't a punishment to the father or right to the mother, but a right to the child."

Which is total bullshit in cases like this one where the state is going after the father because the mother went on welfare. The state is trying to collect from anyone they can. It has nothing to do with the child's welfare.

[sarcasmic]

Here's something you never hear a guy say: "Stop sucking my dick, or I'll call the police!"
-George Carlin

[TRTB]

To be fair, you never hear a woman say that either.

[Brett L]

I'm not really about men's rights or women's rights. Much more about if someone grabs your junk and you're not about it, warn them once, then punch them in the eye. See if they still want to go. I'd rather have the shit beat out of me first. It would make my shrink bills lower.

[Au H20]

Yeah, but one problem is that men in society are taught not to inflict violence on women. Also, I feel if some chick grabs your junk, and you fight her off, who are the police gonna believe when she goes and charges you with assault?

[Michael Ejercito]

Yeah, but one problem is that men in society are taught not to inflict violence on women.

Why is that?

And how is that better than what men in Islamic countries are taught?

[Fist of Etiquette]

He said he tried to push Jessica off. He said he tried to pull the door handle to open the car door. He said she slammed her hand over the lock. He said it was over pretty fast.

That last part I believe.

Also, sue for joint custody. Women hate it when you do that.

[R C Dean]

If you can hang a felony jacket on her, you can get sole custody. And then, you have a valuable asset you can turn into cash.

If you know any libertarians, anyway. Fresh babies always bring a good price from libertarians.

[Zeb]

The market for four year olds is not so good though. He really missed the boat on that one.

[Leonard Smalls]

"Now there's people - and I know 'em - who'll pay a lot more than $25,000 for a healthy baby. Why, I myself fetched $30,000 on the black market. And that was in 1954 dollars."

[Michael Ejercito]

Man raped, then forced to pay child support to the woman who raped him

Now, I could have linked to the Jezebel version of this, with some nice victim blaming and man hating, but I'm being nice this morning.

Also, as to the link: Remember kids, "reproductive rights" only applies to women. Seriously, that shit is fucked up.

It is important to remember these words when reading about cases like this.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth

[Au H20]

Reasons to wish you were to Chinese: Too many Chinese Women, Mr. Right is bald, fat, and faithful.

Now I know why the Truth loves China so much!

[Au H20]

Goddammit, homonym fail!

[Quetzalcoatl]

Yeah, if anything they have a shortage of women.

[Lord Humungus]

Is Obama Smart?
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

[John]

No. The irony is that he is everything the Left claimed about Bush. Remember how everyone claimed that Bush was "intellectually incurious"? How Bush was surrounded only by people who agreed with him? How he didn't understand anything but his own world view? That pretty much describes Obama. He is completely incapable of understanding that those who disagree with him might have a reasonable point. In short he is a typical narrowminded faculty lounge liberal.

[Mike Laursen]

True, but to be fair, Bush was everything the left claimed about Bush, too.

[DJF]

The only major difference between Bush and Obama is that Obama is better at using a teleprompter

[Ice Nine]

"Is Obama Smart?"??! Of course, he's smart - really smart. The guys who decided that Hillary is the smartest woman in the country told me so. I'm afraid I don't understand the question.

[Quetzalcoatl]

All of the smartest people go into politics! Or punditry!

[Mainer]

Not politics..."public service"

[Neu Mejican]

Obama is not wise. A wise man would not have wanted the job of cleaning up after Bush. A wise man would not have done such a poor job of it if convinced to try.

Smart, sure, reasonably so.

[John]

It is all Bush's fault. Poor Obama.

[Mr. FIFY]

Using that logic, NM... who would want the job of cleaning up after Obama?

[Neu Mejican]

Using that logic, NM... who would want the job of cleaning up after Obama?

I am wiser than that.

[Neu Mejican]

I blame Bush for his failures and Obama for his (notice I said he's done a poor job), but if you are not willing to acknowledge that Bush left a mess for the next guy to clean up you ain't paying attention to reality.

Another example of John being unable to read what is in front of him due to partisan filters.

[cynical]

He might be smart. But to nerd out for a second, there are three mental stats (INT, WIS, and CHA). The right is often accused of being hostile to INT, but fewer people note that the left erroneously seems to think that INT can act as a replacement for WIS. Of course, most politicians pretty much short both of them for CHA anyway, as it's their primary class stat.

[Tim]

The problem with big old helos is that when they go down they take a lot of soldiers with them. We have spent trillions and trillions on weapons but our infantry are still fighting with weapons and systems that the average Vietnam era grunt would recognize.

[John]

I would like to know why they put 30 SEALs on a single plane. SEALS are highly trained and highly valuable assets. And they are supposed to work in small teams. Now they are working at the platoon and company level. That is not what they were trained or designed to do.

When you think about the Bin Ladin raid, it was more of a ranger operation than an SF operation. Eighty guys taking down a compound is a ranger operation. We are wasting our SF assets.

[capitol l =muttonhead]

I, a stoopid civvy, thought the same thing when I heard that they were transporting SEALS thirty at a time on shithooks.

If you read the AP Bin Laden piece it's intimated that SF's carry out raids like that with high frequency, which seems dumb to me. If these type of raids aren't rare occasions then we are spending millions to train elite fighters to go after mid-level(and easily replaceable) taliban fighters.

I guess if they're good enough to troll around SAmerican jungles hunting down (easily replaceable)commie drug dealers...

[John]

It is empire building and bureaucratic rivalry. The SEALS have gotten their asses handed to them several times by trying to go into places and do jobs that are better left to Rangers and company or larger units. But, the Navy wants to get their war on to and not let the Army and Marines have all of the fun.

[Abner]

I think it's more like a SWAT team mentality. "Hey, we got all these well trained guys with really cool shit. Lets use 'em!"

[Gray Ghost]

Evidently, they were the QRF for a Ranger assault, for an area that looks like it had one way in and out by helicopter. The Rangers got pinned down, the SEALS came in, and they ran into a flaktrap on the way out.

Why you're using multiple-million dollar apiece commandos as a QRF is another question... I agree with you that doesn't seem to be the sort of mission that's most efficient for them. (See, e.g. Paitilla Airport raid) This crash wipes out, what, a third of Team Six? (If it's approx. the size of Delta) That's going to literally take years upon years to replace.

As Ice Nine points out, big helicopters take a lot of people with them when they crash. It could be worse, at least the U.S. doesn't use anything like the Mi-26. Google the Khankala 2002 crash for more. 126 dead in that one.

[John]

The problem is that the Taliban have their shit together in Afghanistan. It has become a company and battalion level war. And SEALS just don't belong in that kind of environment. It is idiotic to use multi million dollar assets in a company level battle. But, the Navy wants to play too. And no one ever wants to admit that jeez, maybe we spend a few hundred million dollars on the Army and the Marine Corps for this kind of shit and leave some general out of the fun. So, this is what we get.

[Gray Ghost]

Another thing I find galling is that we're going on 10 years in that miserable country, and the Taliban stillhave enough power to fight off helicopter infantry assaults supported with CAS. God help the U.S. if we ever have to fight a war without total air superiority.

10 years?! What the fuck have they been doing all of that time? (I know, I know: the Taliban and AQ have sanctuary in the NWTA, we won't invade and clean them out, and as long as we won't, we'll never, ever end the insurgency. See, Cambodia, Laos and S. Vietnam.)

2800 raids last year alone, according to the Wired article. You run that many raids, you're eventually going to get some of your people killed. Which is hideously expensive, never mind the logistics costs to go raiding throughout Central Asia. At what point does it become cheaper to just find a couple of chiefs, give them duffle bags of cash, gold, and porn, and call it a day?

[T]

Incremental improvement, Tim. The M4s fielded today are a lot better than the A1s we hald in Gulf I. Plus, they're issuing optics now as opposed to having drawn out arguments as to whether or not we could put our personally owned optics on our issue weapons. The crunchy equipment has gotten a lot better, but it's not particularly flashy, so nobody notices.

Hell, they finally got rid of M60s for M242s. That's worth something.

[Ice Nine]

The problem with big old helos is that when they go down they take a lot of soldiers with them.

The H47 is a heavy-lift, big load helo. It's not a matter of its age. Old or new, such a helo is going to take a lot down with it when it goes down.

[Au H20]

Black Hat researcher shows it is possible to remotely control a diabetic's insulin pump without person's knowledge

"A SCADA security expert by day, Jerome Radcliffe himself is a diabetic and had been curious about the security of the devices that keep him alive. He looked into both continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and insulin pumps within his research, with the findings from his pump-tinkering offering the most dramatic hackability.

According to Radcliffe, it is possible for a hacker to not only illicitly turn off the pump remotely, with the device only offering a small chirp as a response, but also to remotely manipulate any setting on the pump without it notifying the user at all."

And now, all those movies where hackers had vastly too much power because, hey, none of that shit could really happen, are becoming true.

[SugarFree]

It's just SugarFree nightmare day, isn't it?

[Au H20]

Yeah, basically. I wanted to stick with a theme, all right?

[Au H20]

Also, my dad has the diabetes, so it's decently scary for me to, but he does shots.

[SugarFree]

I don't have a pump, either. I know a few people who do, and I just don't see the point.

[Warty]

If you look in the FDA's medical device failure database, you'll see a fairly large number of insulin pump failure reports, and I think some fatal ones. I wouldn't trust a damn robot to keep me alive.

[Almanian]

One of my guys at work's son got a pump. He's has The Joovy Diabeetus. 13 years old, works like a charm for him.

It's been amazing to watch him adapt - it just hit last year, and he controls it like he's had it his whole life. Amazing...

[Quetzalcoatl]

Kids these days and their tekmology!

[SugarFree]

I don't think they are worthless, but I don't want to walk around with what amounts to a fancy beeper with an IV in my side all the time. Call me when they can go in the body, kthxbi.

[Almanian]

I want to send a young, mini Raquel Welch into your body in a mini submarine to implant the device when it's invented, SF. Cause I like you.

[SugarFree]

"No, a thousand times no. I'm not letting those clowns shrink my $40 million secretly funded submarine to go fight the fucking cavity creeps."

[Wilford Brimley]

FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

[Almanian]

Holy crap, that is scary.

[Mike Laursen]

Not so scary. Just don't hook the stuff up to the Internet.

[Mr. FIFY]

This could work out well for Obamacare proponents: Remote-control fuckups on a few of the dissenters with such devices would be a great leveraging tool.

[hazeeran]

London burns and leftists compare tea partiers to terrorists.

wow.

[Almanian the Lefty]

*blank stare*

And your point is...?

[John]

http://blogs.the-american-inte.....tinderbox/

Interesting William Mead article on the growth of flash mobs and the racial tinder box that is America. The lower middle and lower class whites have pretty much had it. God help us if they start to get violent.

[Warty]

[Readers frequently write to ask why I capitalize "Black" but not "white". Often the question comes with racial resentment attached: there is a feeling that the use of the capital letter reveals some sneaky political agenda. The reason is not some kind of bending-over-backwards PC leftie orthodoxy; it is because I think the terms refer to two different kinds of groups. African Americans are an American ethnic group like Irish Americans, Mexican Americans, German Americans or Jewish Americans. We normally capitalize the name of such ethnic groups: Tibetans, Kurds, Jews, Gypsies. White in America is not one ethnic group; it is a larger, less defined group who do not share the kind of strong common identity that smaller groups do. White is an attribute but it is not an identity. I don't capitalize black when referring to black Africans or Jamaicans; using the capital letter is a way to specify American Blacks, not blacks at large. It's eccentric, maybe, but it seems logical.)

Makes sense.

[Fist of Etiquette]

White is an attribute but it is not an identity.

I identify wholly as a White. It is very much who I am. I enjoy ice hockey, Dane Cook and Hitler. I am proud. But not too much.

[Chupacabra]

What about Tractr Pullz?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Don't be racist.

[Fatty Bolger]

lol

[cynical]

Dane Cook? You monster.

[R C Dean]

But apparently black is an identity, except when its not.

I don't capitalize black when referring to black Africans or Jamaicans; using the capital letter is a way to specify American Blacks, not blacks at large.

[scratches head, polishes monocle, shrugs, saunters off.]

[Rich]

I don't capitalize black when referring to black Africans or Jamaicans; using the capital letter is a way to specify American Blacks, not blacks at large.

So, it's "American Blacks", but "black Americans". Got it.

ADJECTIVIST!!

[Neu Mejican]

I would have to dig for it, but Samuel Delaney has a nice essay which takes apart this argument quite nicely. Essentially arguing that the ethnic cohesion claimed here is artificial.

[Au H20]

Well, of course it is. Slaves came from many parts of Africa. But it is a handy shortening.

[Neu Mejican]

No, you are confusing genetics and culture. The claim is that there is a cultural cohesion that allows the term to be a legitimate signifier of the group. But that is false.

[T]

It's handy if you're trying to claim legitimacy as a self-chosen representative of a group, though. By increasing the size of the group you claim to represent, you increase your perceived power.

[Warty]

I guess I should have made my sarcasm more obvious. Oh well.

[Rich]

Wingdings. That is all.

[Quetzalcoatl]

It would have been clearer if he added "HURR DURR" at the end.

[Imp of the Perverse]

I like to think that Americans learned in the 1960s that rioting is at best ineffective.

[WTF]

I like to think that Americans learned...

Well, there's your mistake then.

[DJF]

Depends on what your are trying to accomplish. If you are trying to change some major part of society then you are probably right. If you are trying to snag a 50 inch flat screen TV or if you just want to destroy stuff then it can work for you.

[NeonCat]

And do the youth of today know that? I suspect they do not. They probably don't even know there were riots back then - it's like sex, every generation thinks it invented it.

[Molotov]

By "Americans", do you mean police or citizens?

[Au H20]

Medicaid disqualifies patient from breast cancer treatment because he is a man.

Boy, I sure hope that this policy changes under Obamacare.

[Lord Humungus]

Four Reasons S&P got it right
http://www.hoover.org/publicat.....icle/88556

"The clear lesson to the S&P folks is that entitlement spending, which was immunized from the debt ceiling compromise, remains on autopilot. No matter how much discretionary spending is curtailed, the revenue situation will only get worse if entitlements continue to rise, which they will unless meaningful regulatory reform takes place pronto."

[Senate Banking Cmte]

S&P is gonna get it alright, steve smith style

[Pro Libertate]

I agree--what a stupid move for the Senate. Whine, whine, we don't want you to tell creditors and investors the truth! What do they think they're going to do, change S&P's mind?

I've heard a little nonsense about S&P's downgrade being politically motivated. Since they are only in business so long as they are more right than wrong (and they've been famously wrong before), they can't afford to be wrong on purpose.

It's interesting how the statists are now hunting for counterfactuals on almost every issue. No, no, the reality you perceive is incorrect, despite all the evidence. Really.

[OO]

the CEO admitted the S&P was wrong by TWO TRILLION DOLLARS! he said the downgrade was about the toxic politics in DC

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, and S&P was also clear that the problems are so serious that the two trillion didn't matter. And it's not two trillion for one year (it's over ten), either, so throwing around that figure isn't doing the left much good.

The responsibility for this fiscal crisis is shared by both parties and by Americans in general, so picking sides on this is silly and futile. At the end of the day, we're in trouble if we keep allowing the government to punt on this issue. We're spending way too much, and government regulation is so pervasive in so much of our lives that we're running out of steam to turn the engine of commerce. It's simple, but the cowards in DC will do nothing without all of us refusing to swallow the standard partisan talking points and demanding some major reforms.

[OO]

and yet the market ran to treasuries yesterday

[Pro Libertate]

That's a nonsensical remark.

[O2]

in wingnut - FINANCING the debt limit was a crisis created by the TEAPARTY. the markets have no such quams as evidenced by the flight to (downgraded) treasuries. >who's a libtoid to believe?...the RW media bubble?...or the [FREEZE] markets?

[SFC B]

S&P was off by TWO TRILLION DOLLARS! because they didn't use the CBO's numbers and, instead, did the foolish thing of assuming that congress wouldn't raise taxes in an election year and would continue the doc fix.

[Invisible Finger]

When considering total future committed payments , TWO TRILLION DOLLARS is only a difference of ONE PERCENT.

[Zeb]

I heard someone from S&P (can't remember if it was the CEO) on the radio last night and he made it quite clear that they do not believe that they made a mistake with the numbers. They simply decided that there were better numbers available than those int the CBO report and used those instead.

[Pro Libertate]

I've heard that, too. Even rejecting that claim, it doesn't really matter.

You have to be delusional not to understand that the U.S. is in financial trouble. The only thing preventing a serious meltdown on the creditor side is that the rest of the world is a mess, too.

[Gray Ghost]

There are a lot of ostensibly smart people who are delusional in that way, ProL. I don't get it either. It's like talking with someone for a few hours, enjoying the conversation, and then they let slip they believe in a Flat Earth. With no sense of irony or snark. I mean, what can you do?

I take solace in thinking such views are from the same camp that kept nominating Adlai Stevenson again and again---IOW they don't have the numbers to bring Obama back in '12---but their worldview is very perplexing to me. And many of them will not be swayed from it. Everything is the Teabaggers' fault.

[Lord Humungus]

I have a number of friends whose company I enjoy - but god forbid if we ever stray into the deeper sea of politics.

[Pro Libertate]

The problem is simple--they see everything as controllable by one entity, the state. When all of your perception of reality is governed by your politics, you have little hope of making rational judgments.

[Pro Libertate]

Another interesting thing is the instant meme shift. Before the punting, we were in imminent risk of default. If that were at all true, we'd already have been downgraded, so getting downgraded for doing virtually nothing makes complete sense, right? Especially if default was narrowly averted.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

What's going on in England now is a perfect storm of failed liberal policy. You have urban youth who have fed on the government tit for so long that they feel entitled to lifetime benefits, and when cuts are made feel that they have been robbed and seek retribution. On the other hand, the government has been disarming the populace for decades so that law abiding citizens have no means to defend themselves from the mob.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

Why is this surprising?

[Pro Libertate]

Frankly, I think this is a positive sign. I say that because I'm hoping that A Clockwork Orange becomes a reality, and I can move to England and hang out with my droogs, indulging in some of that old ultra-violence.

[Mainer]

I was just listening to some Ludwig Van this morning.

[Au H20]

PROTIP: If You're Going to Falsely Tell Cops a Guy Sexually Assaulted You, Don't Get Caught on Camera Announcing Your Plans

But Feminists tell me that women would never ever lie about a subject as serious and life changing as rape!!!

[Almanian]

So then, this wasn't rape rape, right?

What would Whoopi say?

[Whoopi]

So then, this wasn't rape rape, right?

Whoop Whoop!

[Pro Libertate]

Women have the right to revoke consent after the act. Furthermore, since all sex is rape, it doesn't matter what the woman says or thinks; she is simply a vessel of unthinking victimhood. Or so I understand from Jezebel.

[Michael Ejercito]

How is Sharia law worse than that?

[O2]

AIG sues BoA for [MISREPRESENTING] the quality of its mortgage-backed securities, including more than $28 billion it bought, and [LYING] to credit rating agencies about the underlying loans.

AIG said it examined 262,322 mortgages that backed 349 offerings it bought between 2005 and 2007, and found the quality of 40.2 percent of the mortgages was significantly inferior to what had been represented.

"Defendants were engaged in a massive scheme to manipulate and deceive investors, like AIG, who had no alternative but to rely on the lies and omissions made," said the complaint, filed in the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44....._business/
_
Looks like wingnut radio entertainers, like rushbeckhannity, were [MISREPRESENTING] & [LYING] saying the CRA was responsible for countrywide mortgage [MISREPRESENTING] & [LYING] its own products to its own investors.

[Restoras]

Didn't this die on the other thread?

To recap:
Bank sues bank because plaintiff is pissed it didn't think of it before defendent.

Fail. Move on.

[OO]

no insurance company AIG sues BoA over [LYING & MISREPRESENTATION] to investors like AIG. >wingnutz are forced to ignore the BoA's malfeasence to keep their false CRA meme alive for the info deprived

[Restoras]

Well ok then but I don't think that refudiates the problems caused by CRA.

[T]

We don't need to ignore BoFA's malfeasance to think AIG had a positive duty to verify what they were told. Caveat emptor ain't just for lumpy proles.

Besides, BoFA has plenty of malfeasance to go around.

[O2]

AIG's suit also accuses BoA of [LYING & MISREPRESENTING] to the rating agencies.

[Wilfred]

Well I got caught up on Falling Skies last night. I am now convinced the show is utter crap.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I've seen the first three episodes. It seemed alright. Sorta trashy sci-fi, but streets ahead of V.

Does it take a sudden turn for the worse?

[robc]

I think it gets worse in the middle and improves at the end.

But Im still not sure its any good.

My opinion: Every sci-fi show should have to hire me as creative consultant. I will do it cheap. And give them good advice like "dont hire Noah Wyle" and "get Sarah Carter naked".

[Doktor Kapitalism]

Wouldn't be surprised if they get there.

Also, it's been obvious Mason and Dr. Glass were doomed by the scriptwriter to get together since, what, the first episode? A little subtly, people!

[Quetzalcoatl]

Wait, they weren't together from the beginning?

[robc]

What Q said.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

No. But it was obvious they were going to be.

[robc]

I just assumed he was getting some on the side all season.

They didnt need to "get together", it was clearly happening late at night anyway, right?

[Au H20]

No, robc, he loved his dead wife too much for that!!!

*checks off cliche checklist*

[Doktor Kapitalism]

Bingo Cards, I demand it!

[SugarFree]

Mmm... Moon Bloodgood...

[Wilfred]

Not enough screen time, not enough exposed flesh.

[robc]

Too much screen time taken up by kids.

Except Jimmy. I like his character.

[SugarFree]

Yeah, they could kill off that little brat from the Highlander commercials for a little drama and that would be fine with me.

[Pro Libertate]

Explain to me why Toyota hasn't run an ad campaign for that SUV with the tagline: "There can be only one." I mean, that would kill. License the whole shebang, play the theme song, and pay Sean Connery to do the VO.

And swords.

[SugarFree]

CGI cars sword-fighting = WIN

[Pro Libertate]

Yeah, well, no. But sword fighting, special effects from the quickening, and someone shouting "There can be only one!" can't lose.

The 2011 Toyota Highlander is the prize for which the immortals contend.

[Au H20]

Yeah, the Jimmy kid is actually doing a good job with some occasionally shit material.

Like the part at the end of the first night of the finale two-parter. You should be able to guess the one I'm talking about.

Also, would it kill the creators to have Moon Bloodgood's clothes ripped into a scantily clad position. No women needs both a sweater and a shirt on TV damn it!

[robc]

The bullshitiest part was that jamming a frequency causes massive retreat. WTF?

In some ways, the aliens remind me of the aliens from Turtledove's Worldwar serieses. Dont get the concept of change.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

I was thinking that the humans adapted to everything the Lizards had, while the lizards were dumbfounded. Here, it seems like the skitters are better at prediction. But if a little thing like some frequency jamming scares them back to base, then they either a. are easily scared or b. unable to handle the idea of humans getting ideas.

[robc]

Yeah, it isnt exactly the same. But they are in competition for WORST. INVADERS. EVER.

[SugarFree]

Every alien invader is the worst ever. If an alien race can cross interstellar distances to attack us, we are utterly and thoroughly fucked, dead, and burnt.

[robc]

Nah, like Britain in the colonies or us in Vietnam, or us in Iraq, or us in Afghanistan, or us in Lebanon, or us in ... this is getting depressing ...

superior forces can be defeated.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

The War of the Worlds was an allegory for the British Empire's invasion of primitive nations. And having trouble with diseases.

[SugarFree]

It all depends on what they want. If they want slaves and if they will tolerate a resistance, maybe. But if they just wanted the planet, or to strip mine it... we'd be toast. It'd be like nuking a rain forest tribe.

[The Body Snatchers]

** laugh up sleeve **

[Pro Libertate]

It depends what their goals are. Obviously, obliterating the species would be easy for such a race. Subjugating it might be tougher.

If I were writing something like this, I'd limit their superiority to physics and related engineering--interstellar travel, big weapons of mass destruction, etc. Make them not so superior or even inferior on biotech and IT. Also, make it abundantly clear at some point that they have compelling reasons for not exterminating us (empire building, need a slave race to run the planet, whatever--just not anything stupid like they want to eat us or drink our water).

[Doktor Kapitalism]

"Also, make it abundantly clear at some point that they have compelling reasons for not exterminating us (empire building, need a slave race to run the planet,"

Skitters seemed to have that covered. But they clearly need kids, which I hypothesize are going to turn into skitters as time goes on.

As for what they want here, that's harder to say, because so far they've collected materials from the cities and kids, and nothing else. If metal was all they wanted, they could a. trade or b. go to the asteroid belt, which has a lot more easier to access.

[Pro Libertate]

No invasion story should ever, ever be based on the aliens invading for raw materials. Nothing we have on Earth can't be found somewhere else by a spacefaring race.

What could make sense is having us be really, really good at producing something they want and, for whatever reason, can't duplicate. Like superior photocopiers or something like that.

[robc]

really good at producing something they want and, for whatever reason, can't duplicate

Porn. Or War Movies*.

*hat tip to Larry Niven.

[Pro Libertate]

Porn. Perfect.

[robc]

Larry Niven

speaking of which, will someone please fucking base a series off of one of his books with Niven/Pournelle instead of starting from scratch.

The cost cant be that high.

Two good options:

1. Legacy of Heorot. The new colonizing the past show coming this fall reminds me of this, only dumber.

2. Footfall. Standard aliens invade, we fight back, we win. Only, you know, no frequency jamming causes retreat idiocy. Plus, the aliens are cool and complex and have internal division.

3 (yeah, I said two, deal with it). Lucifer's Hammer - post apocalyptic world.

4 (no seriously, deal with it). The Adventures of Renner and Bury. This is my idea, it follows them in that time frame between Mote and Gripping Hand. Part 1 of TGH is basically the model of an episode.

And, you know, that is just Niven/Pournelle. There are a fuckton of good sci-fi to work from. See HBO for how to pull this off (although that is fantasy).

[Pro Libertate]

Gil the Arm.

[robc]

Gil the Arm.

A winner is you.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm thinking a miniseries based on the short stories, then a whole series with Niven given considerable creative control.

HBO?

[robc]

HBO?

Of course, for Dr Taffy if for no other reason.

[Pro Libertate]

How come there's no "G" in HBO for "gratuitous"?

[R C Dean]

Nothing we have on Earth can't be found somewhere else by a spacefaring race.

Biospheres that can support carbon-based life seem to be quite rare. Its just really hard to plausibly claim a race has interstellar travel, but no genetic engineering/biowarfare technology.

When an interstellar predator arrives, we probably won't even know it unless they decide to gloat as the virus exterminates us.

[Pro Libertate]

Not necessarily. I don't think--with an example of one--that we can assume that all avenues of technological advance are open to every intelligent species in the same manner. For instance, humans may have had an early start on astronomy (and manned spaceflight) thanks to having a large moon.

[SugarFree]

And they might have an in-grown terror of certain technologies, like Star Trek and their absolute horror of technological/biotec implants and genome tampering.

(Which, yes, comes from The Augments... but then they went through a nuclear war and drive around the galaxy in giant anti-matter bombs.)

[robc]

When an interstellar predator arrives, we probably won't even know it unless they decide to gloat as the virus exterminates us.

Forge of God.

[Michael Ejercito]

What could make sense is having us be really, really good at producing something they want and, for whatever reason, can't duplicate. Like superior photocopiers or something like that.

Blood.

Imagine if hemoglobin can be used to make a drug with recreational effects on a certain alien physiology. It would give humans something to sell to aliens, at least.

[Pro Libertate]

Also good. A narcotic that naturally occurs in the human system that is difficult to create synthetically.

[Wilfred]

If you assume that the invaders want to colonize the earth (instead of just strip-mining it), then the invaders can't use a scorched-earth model of invasion. So it's not possible, even for a space-travelling group, to wipe out 6 billion people in short order.

So there is ample room to write a compelling story of resistance and rebellion, but it will only work on the fringes of the invader colonies.

This whole idea of "let's drive downtown and blow up the mother ship" is utter crap.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

"This whole idea of "let's drive downtown and blow up the mother ship" is utter crap."

I doubt either of us are military strategists, and who knows what sort of amateurs/experts are running the resistance show. Plus, as a coordinated attack, it might scare the invaders considerably, just to take a little damage all across the continent at the same time.

[SugarFree]

I'd be curious to see if they will go the When Heaven Fell route... interstellar culture is entirely based on slavery, a hierarchical structure leading all the way back to a "Master Race" that no one ever really sees.

[Au H20]

I mean, it's clear that the harnesses both control creatures, give them a creepy bond to their captors (which humans perceive as love) and change the biology. On the other hand, I don't think it turns humans into skitters, but rather in to something... not human.

[Wilfred]

Well, in last nights spoiler thread, I was lead to believe the two hour finale made the season worthwhile. I was bitterly disappointed.

The jamming frequency thing was one of the crappiest parts of the crappy show.

[robc]

I liked the introduction of the new aliens.

And that the skitters are harness victimes.

But, yeah, the jamming/retreat thing sucked.

And dont get me started on the whole Sanctuary sub-plot. That was brutally transparent from the moment the guy showed up at the school. The only good thing that did was bring Pope back.

Plus "Hey, you murdered our entire escort, but we will let you go free."

[Doktor Kapitalism]

It was supposed to be obvious. Though if it wasn't, they need a ****ing subtlologist to save them.

[Wilfred]

John Pope plus Ann Glass plus HBO. That would be a winning show.

[Au H20]

I do like the idea of the harness as a way to assimilate, through creepy feelings of love and dependency. Also, it leaves other possibilities open: What if the new aliens are also harnessed?

[Doktor Kapitalism]

Then it just gets even more weird. But I wouldn't put it past them.

[Quetzalcoatl]

It's aliens all the way down!

[Wilfred]

Your basic wi-fi connection in a cheap consumer device has already figured out how to cope with radio interference. Yet space-travelling invaders can toleate a null signal on a single frequency!?

[Au H20]

Yeah, but at least they've been teasing the radio idea all season, so it didn't come from no where.

[Wilfred]

Yes, but the fucked up the execution of the idea.

[Brett L]

I think you have to add that as hot as Morena Baccarin is, she's poison to sci-fi shows. I think she's too hot for the writers to use effectively.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I wouldn't put Firefly's death on her.

[Brett L]

How about V?

[Doktor Kapitalism]

I've seen the whole season, and enjoyed it. But it's very much a long-term show, so who knows how it will turn out?

Personally, I've enjoyed V, too.

[sarcasmic]

I liked Falling Skies as well.

[Au H20]

Yeah, it's not as good as BSG was (at the beginning, tho I haven't made it yet to when the show goes off the rails, or so I hear) but it has some interesting nuggets there that could develop in to something.

Also, I like how the season ends: With the survivors on the run, basically the last military asset in the area left...it could work well, honestly, now they have left the schmaltz blanket of the school.

[sarcasmic]

Have you watched Outcasts?
I haven't figured out what to make of that one. I think I like it but I'm not sure. It would help if they spoke American. Some of those accents are pretty thick.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

I've watched a few episodes, and I'm not feeling it. What's the point? Plus, everyone but the lunatics are statists.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

About Outcasts, that is. I liked BSG, but it was kinda longwinded and strange towards the end.

[sarcasmic]

I liked BSG, but it was kinda longwinded and strange towards the end.
I haven't gotten to the end yet, but I think I'm entering the longwinded parts.

[sarcasmic]

Plus, everyone but the lunatics are statists.
That's part of its appeal. It's like looking through the eyes of the enemy.

[Wilfred]

now they have left the schmaltz blanket of the school.

As far as I can tell, this show was designed to be Sci-Fi for soccer moms (how else do you explain Noah Wylie in the lead role). There will be another school (or whatever); and more emotional tension; and no coherent story ever.

[Au H20]

Wilfred, my one ray of hope: TNT has been pushing the whole, "We want to hear from fans" thing on its commercials. It is possible that fan demand could significantly darken the show.

Also, on the whole Noah Wylie thing: I gotta love that they made him grow a beard so that he looked older than his teenage son. Sans beard, I bet they are the same age.

Also, his teenage son has a distractingly massive forehead.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

Teenage son looks older than a teenager. But that always happens.

[SugarFree]

And the girl who is supposed to be in her first year of medical school looks 15.

[Au H20]

SF, I'd still tap that.

[SugarFree]

Well, she's 20, so I'd bang her like a screen door.

[robc]

She is 20. So probably 19 when they filmed.

And, Karen, the girlfriend, is 25. Playing a 17-18 year old.

But casting women is always weird, age wise.

[SugarFree]

Sarah Carter (Maggie) is 30. But they have never really defined her age. They have her flirt pretty heavy with Hal the "teenager."

"I was raped for weeks and weeks, but I'm fine now. lol"

[robc]

I think Maggie decided after they were captured that she was raped.

To connect two subthreads together.

[Resto Druid FTW]

Agreed, on both counts.

[Gray Ghost]

I've probably bitched about this before, but why does shit like Falling Skies, and Independence Day keep getting made, when Footfall is still sitting there? (Or pick another decent Sci-Fi alien invasion story.) Are Larry & Jerry asking for $100M for the rights or something equally ridiculous? Fuck, Rendezvous with Rama can't even get made. Is it so difficult, when you're spending $150M + for the FX and talent, to squirrel away a million or two for a script that doesn't utterly suck?

[Gray Ghost]

Sorry, should have read through and figured that robc would get there already.

[robc]

You hit on a general problem Ive had with most movies.

Take away 1 car chase, spend 1/2 that money on decent writers and pocket the other 1/2 as profit. Win-win-win. Well, okay, we lose one car chase, but, BFD.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Former reason intern and noted high-school graduate James Taranto summarizes the difference between conservatives and liberals:

whereas conservatives want freedom from coercion, liberals want freedom through coercion.

This definition, however, ignores the fairly substantial portion of self-identifying conservatives who are primarily social conservatives. In their case, the difference between a conservative and a liberal is solely which activities/inactivities they want to coerce.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Ai frogeat leenk.

[sarcasmic]

As a general statement liberals fear economic liberty and conservatives fear social liberty.
As a result liberals create government impediments to economic liberty and conservatives create government impediment to social liberties.
Neither side makes an effort to tear down the impediments that the other creates, and the logical conclusion is totalitarian rule.

[Jersey Patriot]

whereas conservatives want freedom from coercion, liberals want freedom through coercion.

Short, simple, and wrong. Perfect.

[OO]

socons luv social coercion. who u kidding?

[R C Dean]

Substitute "libertarian" for "conservative", and "statist" or "progressive" for liberal, and it works a charm.

[Mr. FIFY]

Liberals love it too, OO.

[Abner]

yup

[Robert]

Except that these days, the "social conservatives" spend so much effort fighting what the "social liberals" are trying to erect, they're really hardly initiating any coercion, but just trying to bend the existing coercion away from themselves.

[OO]

u mean like advocating federal action to superceed state initiatives on gay marrage? please explain how gay marrage damages straight marrage?

[sarcasmic]

Shifting the burden of proof.
Fallacies Rock!

[Michael Ejercito]

Shifting the burden of proof.
Fallacies Rock!
reply to this

Very good point.

The true purpose of same-sex "marriage" was revealed when the Massachusetts Senate certified a question to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, asking if a
proposed bill that EXPLICITLY provides "eligible same-sex couples the opportunity to obtain the benefits, protections, rights and responsibilities afforded to opposite sex couples by the marriage laws of the commonwealth, without entering into a marriage" and that "spouses in a civil union shall have ALL the same benefits,
protections, rights and responsibilities under law as are granted to spouses in a marriage". Opinions of the Justices to the Senate, 440
Mass. 1201, 802 N.E.2d 565 (Mass. Sup. Jud. Ct. 2004). Several pro-gay
groups filed amici briefs arguing that civil unions are unconstitutional DESPITE the fact that the proposed bill EXPLICITLY stated that "spouses in a civil union shall have all the same
benefits, protections, rights and responsibilities under law as are granted to spouses in a marriage". In the GLAD brief, the GLAD
counsel admitted that "[t]he Goodridge plaintiffs understand the Senate reads this Court's declaration in Goodridge as limited to the
legal incidents of marriage rather than as about access to marriage itself." GLAD Brief, Opinions of the Justices to the Senate, at 11. And yet they called the civil union scheme "separate and UNEQUAL" and a form of "SEGREGATION", even though there
was no physical separation, Id. at 21, and claimed that the injury caused by civil unions is denial of the "social recognition" of
marriage. Id. at 24 See also Civil Rights Brief in Opinions at 12 (claiming that the proposed bill is unconstitutional because civil
unions would "mark [same-sex couples] as inferior to their heterosexual counterparts and diminish their status in the community"
regardless of whether they provided "the same benefits, protections,
rights and responsibilities under law as are granted to spouses in a
marriage") id. at 13 (claiming that civil unions "would not constitute equality, because their relationships still would not be recognized by the rest of society as being as valued as heterosexual relationships.")

To put it simply, this law's purpose is to assuage their egos.

[sarcasmic]

Social conservatives are quite "erect" about the war on drug users.

[Au H20]

"My Little Pony is the only group to take on 4chan and win. 4chan once took on the F.B.I. and won. So you might say that My Little Pony is more powerful than the F.B.I."

Don't worry. I hear that the FBI is adding a pony-shooting regimen to its dog-shooting training course.

[Brett L]

I'm at work, but there is an epic MLP/Wu-Tang mashup on youtube. Seriously, I laughed until I cried. And again when I started trying to figure out how many MLP cartoon-hours they must have watched to make that mashup.

[Amakudari]

Link'd

[nicole]

Thank you. Wow.

[Charlotte Sometimes]

My asthma is only triggered by two things: Cats and laughing riotously. I had to go hunt down the Ventolin after watching that.

[T]

"the usual photos of hardcore sex acts and dead things, which would traumatize the average internet user for life."

Yeah, that's not a bad description of /b/.

[SugarFree]

Nothing traumatizes me. I'm dead inside.

[T]

Average internet user, SF. Most of us here don't qualify for that statement by a couple of sigmas.

[SugarFree]

Your labia is why I drink.

[T]

Funny, that's why I drink, too.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The report listed four ways that deficit-reduction prospects could improve: The economy could perform better than expected; lawmakers could allow the Bush 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to expire, resulting in more revenue; the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq could end more quickly and cheaply than expected; and proposals made by President Obama and Ryan could form the basis for a bipartisan solution on the deficit.

If only there were other methods of reducing the budget deficit. But I suppose the report was only listing those conceivable to lawmakers.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I'm afraid that the old saying about Fast, Cheap and Quality may apply to ending the wars.

That is to say, the only way that we'd save money ending the war quickly is if we ended it poorly.

[T]

Lay waste, declare victory, get out. Quick, but not necessarily cheap.

[R C Dean]

The economy could perform better than expected; lawmakers could allow the Bush 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to expire, resulting in more revenue; the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq could end more quickly and cheaply than expected;

Hope is not a plan.

[Pro Libertate]

Instead of hoping for change, we should change so we can have some hope.

[Joe M]

Power is a sacred trust, not a PRIVate PRIVilege.

[robc]

Threadjack:

Thanks to whoever (RC Deam?) mentioned FXF (ETF of Swiss Francs) a week or so ago. I bought in about this time last Tuesday morning...in perfect timing on Wednesday the Swiss Central Bank lowered their rates because the Franc was getting too strong.

Despite that, Im up 4.69% in a week.

There were better short term ways to play the last week, but Im in SwFr for the long term (or until they start fucking up their currency).

[R C Dean]

You're welcome. Best investment I've made this year.

[robc]

The question is, why didnt I get in them 3 years ago?

[R C Dean]

Back when the tech bubble popped and gold starting what is now an inexorable, 500% rise, I thought seriously about moving a chunk of what I had left into gold. But, naaah.

Can't look back, dude.

[robc]

True. When oil was at $150 a barrel or whatever, I was telling everyone I knew to short oil and buy gold.

I did neither.

[Aqua Buddha]

Michael Moore MATT DAMON FOR PRESIDENT!
Michael Moore wants Matt Damon to run for PRESIDENT -- not just because he believes in Matt's outspoken politics ... but because he believes Matt might actually WIN in 2012....

[Matt Damon]

I'm Matt Damon, and I approved this message.

[the real Matt Damon]

MATT DAMON!

[Au H20]

SCUM Manifesto, here we come: Researchers use stem cells to create sperm.

The worse part? There are male researchers on the team. Guys, we need to have a talk: I know you think that this is for infertility, but in the immortal words of Admiral Ackbar, "IT'S A TRAP!!!"

[SugarFree]

"The few remaining men will exist as studs, breeding in the cow pasture. Or they could go off to the nearest suicide center where they'll be quietly gassed to death."

[Fluffy]

It's an interesting question -

How low would the percentage of men have to go before the remaining men couldn't easily win a revolution against the matriarchy in about five minutes?

I'm thinking the threshold is about 5%.

As long as men are more than 5% of the population, all they need to have Saudi Arabian social conditions is the will.

I just can't see a situation where me and 5 of my friends couldn't smash a matriarchy of 95 chicks basically using the contents of our pockets at any given moment. With less than 5 friends I might start to be a little concerned.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

In your scenario, do the men have guns? We probably wouldn't need that many armed men to take on a mob of Jezebelians. Maybe 1 or 2 with a sufficient amount of ammo.

[Fluffy]

I'm thinking both sides are armed.

But you could undermine that just by using a bullhorn and calling out to the armed women that you heard that the unarmed women said bad things about them in the break room. That tends to totally collapse any female solidarity pretty much instantly.

[Cheeseburger]

Or wait till one woman has to pee, then they all follow her to the bathroom.

[John]

And women are always going to want to be with men. Feminists have about as much chance of starting a matriarchy as gay men do of starting a all male society.

[SugarFree]

5%... if you had the right 5%. 20 to 1 odds if the 1 is a twee Brooklyn hipster is the eradication of the male sex.

A random 5%? Probably. Although I'd hate to be the guy who had to go up against BikerDykes.

[Fluffy]

Yeah, both sides would be randomly composed.

In my 5% I'd have a number of useless guys. That's already in the math.

The bikerdykes would be the easiest to deal with, because none of your boys would see any reason to keep them alive. I foresee many more difficulties overcoming the hot chick population, because you'd have ongoing difficulty with guys wanting to capture concubines instead of getting down to business.

You'd really have to drum it into everyone's head: "Patriarchy FIRST, concubinage AFTER WE WIN." It would have to be one of the rules everyone memorized, like "double-tap former field hockey players".

[Warty]

Dog, Esq.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Working pro bone-o.

[Rich]

Rosie 2012!

[Ice Nine]

Would Rep. Paul Ryan's plan have dissuaded the S&P from downgrading the U.S.? WaPo says no.

In other news: Sun rises in East.

[robc]

Would Sen Paul's plan have dissuaded the S&P from downgrading?

Isnt that the question to ask? Why is his plan being ignored in favor of all the pussy half-ass plans?

Not that Rand's plan was whole-ass either.

[T]

3/4 ass?

[robc]

Maybe 7/8ths ass.

[racist]

3/5th ass?

[Neu Mejican]

It wasn't all ass, like the final deal, but there was a lot of ass smell to it.

[robc]

I think in this analogy, ass is good.

[robc]

The final deal was zero ass.

[Devil Inchoate]

No, I think if something is half-assed, it's halfway f'ed up. The less ass in it, the better. I could be wrong.

[Brian]

I believe it derives from the phrase working ones ass off. Hence, getting the whole ass is good and only working at something hard enough to remove half the ass is to be avoided.

[Devil Inchoate]

Ok, I buy it.

[Neu Mejican]

The ass smell is never good, even if one is working ones ass off.

[J_L_B]

You guys should have really had a link to that CNN story about the Brazilian uncontacted tribe that was allegedly taken out by Peruvian drug traffickers.

It is truly a paradox for the left. Their mind cannot contemplate something like this being done by non-Americans.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Here's the way it works: they post six or so links and the rest of us fill in with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

tl;dr: Be the link you want to see!

[J_L_B]

Fair enough...

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011.....affickers/

[OO]

the "left" cannot contemplate drug traffickers? or gun violence?

[J_L_B]

No, they can't contemplate the idea that indigenous people can be hurt by non-Europeans, and specifically non-Americans.

[OO]

seems u know as much about brazilian tribes as "the left".

[J_L_B]

While I'm sure they're fascinating people, the intracacies of their culture aren't important to the argument. Books about them are not at the top of my Amazon wish list; so sue me.

The issue is with the left and how they perpetuate a narative of indigenous people suffering attrocities exclusively at the hands of Europeans (and most often Americans). Since the rule is absolute, evidence that emerges to disprove the absolute nature of that narrative is either denied or ignored.

[Zeb]

I don't think that is true at all. The locals do far more than Americans do to fuck over the indigenous tribes and it is no secret that that is the case. You're really reaching with this one.

[Imp of the Perverse]

I think liberals can very easily contemplate the drug war fucking up Latin America.

[Gray Ghost]

Not just the left, judging by some of the comments at the linked blog:

So, we are now taking the "Protect the indiginous!" approach with drug trafficking/smuggling? I'm sure there were about a dozen tribes, probably each with +100 members that got wiped out in the last 50 years. But what about the millions around the globe that die due to overdose?

Sad story all around. I'm sure the opium wars around the Thai/Burma/Laos/Vietnam borders have been awful for the indigenous tribespeople there too.

[Rhywun]

It will be blamed on the American demand for drugs. Duh.

[Almanian not White Indian]

But teh PRIVilege of PRIVation is PRIVate. What does White INdian thINk of the Military INdustrial [Complex]?

You libTARDians with your reTARDed development...don't get me sTARDed...

[Lord Humungus]

don't get WI started!

[Imp of the Perverse]

Anybody telling you that the riots in London are caused by poverty is full of it. The places with the highest unemployment have NOT rioted. Joblessness doesn't cause people to break into Sony distribution centers and cell phone stores. Thuggish behavior does.

This is not even remotely a political action against police brutality either. If it was they'd be burning down police stations, not breaking into Foot Lockers and looting sneakers.

[Imp of the Perverse]

And for fucks sake I was unemployed for over a year and not once did "gee, I should really go knock over a Best Buy!" cross my mind.

[T]

Clearly a failure of imagination on your part.

[Rich]

What, no Best Buys *in your neighborhood*?!

[Bardas Phocas]

Would you take the bus? Do you know what kind of people ride the bus?

[Doktor Kapitalism]

There you go presuming that rioters are going to be logical. Remember the French riots a few years ago? Burning their own neighborhoods and the property of other rioters, as I recall.

[T]

Yeah, didn't the Watts rioters in the 60s basically burn down their own neighborhoods? Same thing in Detroit.

[Imp of the Perverse]

The French rioters had real grievances though (French society is incredibly racist towards immigrants). So did Watts.

The rioters in Britain seem to be spoiled brats who want sneakers.

[T]

I'm not arguing that rioters don't sometimes have legitimate grievances. But it still seems if you want to riot and fight the power, burning down your own neighborhood is not the brightest move. Nose, face, etc.

[Imp of the Perverse]

True. How many years did it take to rebuild U Street? It was a shell until the last few years.

A lot of the areas of Baltimore that rioted still are sadly.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

Well, I do have a relevent French riot. Last year the kids were out whining about how the retirement age was raised from 60 to 62. A couple of years ago, there were protests about how a new law allowed employers to fire people easier.

[Imp of the Perverse]

Those were protests, not riots really. I don't consider mild stuff like WTO protests where a McDonalds is smashed to be a "riot".

[Mongo]

I thought the genesis of the riots was a cop shooting someone.

[Rhywun]

"I thought the genesis of the riots was a cop shooting someone."

It doesn't seem matter any more - the "disenfranchised youth" angle seems to be the one that the media are running with. I am shocked.

[Abner]

PHILADELPHIA ? Mayor Michael A. Nutter, telling marauding black youths "you have damaged your own race," imposed a tougher curfew Monday in response to the latest "flash mob" ? spontaneous groups of teens who attack people at random on the streets of the city's tourist and fashionable shopping districts.

"Take those God-darn hoodies down, especially in the summer," Mr. Nutter, the city's second black mayor, said in an angry lecture aimed at black teens. "Pull your pants up and buy a belt 'cause no one wants to see your underwear or the crack of your butt."

"If you walk into somebody's office with your hair uncombed and a pick in the back, and your shoes untied, and your pants half down, tattoos up and down your arms and on your neck, and you wonder why somebody won't hire you? They don't hire you 'cause you look like you're crazy," the mayor said. "You have damaged your own race."

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....lash-mobs/

[R C Dean]

Mayor Nutter. [snerk]

[Ice Nine]

He's obviously a racist. Wait...

[db]

Deputy Mayor Tosser stated that the Mayor was in talks with prominent Council members today over how best to "take care of this."

[Brett L]

Mayor Nutter is no hoodie hugger.

[Rich]

The real scandal in Afghanistan isn't that Americans are getting killed. The real scandal is that we don't know why we're there.

I thought we were there for the vast reserve of minerals?

[Chinese]

too late. we got the contracts

[CaptainSmartass]

Opium. That's where the real money is.

[Na na, whataver]

Something to do with aeroplanes and big buildings I think.

[Pip]

Lansing ? Michigan has removed about 30,000 college students from its food stamp program ? close to double the initial estimate ? saving about $75 million a year, says Human Services Director Maura Corrigan.

Federal rules don't allow most college students to collect food stamps, but Michigan had created its own rules that made nearly all students eligible, said Brian Rooney, Corrigan's deputy director. As a result, the number of Michigan college students on this form of welfare made the state a national leader. For example, Michigan had 10 times the number of students on food stamps as either Illinois or California, Rooney said.

Cutting off the students is part of what Corrigan says is an effort to change the culture of the state's welfare department and slash tens of millions of dollars of waste, fraud and abuse.

http://detnews.com/article/201.....z1UXY8XlwC

[T]

I made about 2 grand a year in taxable income when I was going to college in 93-97. I can honestly say the idea of applying for food stamps never even occurred to me.

[Lord Humungus]

I earned zero during my college stay, except for the two summers I took off and worked.

I never got food stamps or even used charity - though the latter was popular with a few of my associates. I lived (PARASITE!) off a 2x month check from the parents - it was hardly anything $$$-wise and I pretty much survived on Ramen, Tamales, Mac, and hotdogs. At 6'2", I weight 155 pds out of college - but at least I was free to drink, er study without job worries.

[T]

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all you taxpayers for my college education. Between the GI bill and my dad, I did okay.

[Au H20]

So, I've been watching the coverage on the BBC, and I have one question:

What is up with Brits and constantly referring to "the community" as like this ephemeral thing divorced from individuals?

I saw the MP from one of the areas being interviewed, and she was saying, "These people are destroying their own community" and I was thinking, "So you mean the community is destroying the community?"

[Imp of the Perverse]

I'd consider criminals to be a "community" of their own. The vast majority of people in these neighborhoods are *not* rioting and are the biggest victims here.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

Police should be handing out guns to those trying to defend their property. Of course, how do you tell they're not just posturing rioters?

[Ice Nine]

Oh, I think that would be just a smidge to indelicate for the Brits - well at least according to one Theresa May:

"Cameron was expected to toughen the police response to rioters. Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May refused to outline what that might entail, but seemed to rule out more drastic measures.
'The way we police in Britain is not through use of water cannon,' she told Sky News. 'The way we police in Britain is through consent of communities.'"

[Ice Nine]

too

[Res Publica Americana]

She's one of those "I don't have money, so I'll conjure up an imaginary unicorn and pull money out of its ass" fantasy-minded collectivists.

[Na na, whataver]

Nice to know that Theresa May and "The Brits" are one and the same. I guess Obama and "The Yanks" are one and the same too, no?

[Ice Nine]

You got it, way too many of them - just like Theresa May and the Brits. Lighten up, ol' chap.

[Mr. FIFY]

Congress is a "community".

I rest my case.

[Zeb]

Seems like a reasonable thing to say. It is quite possible for part of a community to fuck shit up and ruin things for the majority of members of a community.

[Zack Metyers]

Pretty amazing stuff, I never even thought about it like that before. Wow.

http://www.anon-web.it.tc

[Rich]

Watch and learn, Anon-Bot.

[other roots]

How about the GUN-CONTROL roots of the rioting? BALKOOOOOOOOOOO!

"Violence first broke out late Saturday in the low-income, multiethnic district of Tottenham in north London, where outraged protesters demonstrated against the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four who was gunned down in disputed circumstances Thursday....

"Police said Duggan was shot dead last week when police from Operation Trident - the unit that investigates gun crime in the black community - stopped a cab he was riding in.

"The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating the shooting, said a "non-police firearm" was recovered at the scene, and media reports said a bullet had been found in an officer's radio. However, the Guardian newspaper reported that the bullet in the radio was police-issue, indicating Duggan may not have fired at the officer."

[Doktor Kapitalism]

Sloopy, you said Tuesday morning links for fantasy football results. I don't especially care, but at least uphold your promises.

[Au H20]

6 ways bacteria will save the world.

Take that, global warming AND Mars!

[Fluffy]

I like how all the UK liveblogs are talking about how the only safe areas are the places where Turkish and Kurdish shopkeepers are patrolling the streets to keep order.

Maybe those decadent English need to import some Goths and Huns to provide law and order, too.

[John]

When seconds count, the police will be there in minutes. The only thing that stops widespread rioting like this is groups of citizens defending themselves. Government lovers are loath to admit that. But it is true.

[Imp of the Perverse]

What I want to know is where the FUCK is the British equivalent of the National Guard?

[Restoras]

Does such a thing even exist? They probably have to mobilize the army for that.

[SugarFree]

The Home Service Force was disbanded in 1993.

[Trespassers W]

What's that thing that Gareth is a member of on The Office?

[mash]

territorial army
part time soldiers.

[db]

My impression was that they're stationed at Ramstein, Germany.

[Na na, whataver]

Or maybe, juuuuuuuust maybe we need a government that is not afraid to do it's job? For years we haven't even had a police force but a police "service" run by the class I like to call Oxbridge Cretins who specialise in political correctness and put community organizers on the beat.

I've witnessed the atrocious policing in this country first hand: when my house was burgled I had to stay up all night for the police to arrive. When they came about three hours later they took away the remains of the broken lock (which had been split along the middle) sent me a letter a few days later saying "you have been burgled" and an independent organization about dealing with being the victim of criminal behaviour sent me another letter a few days after that. Burglaries are so widespread because burglars know this kind of "policing" is the norm.

So what does that mean? That's right, abandon police and patrol the streets armed to the teeth knocking out the first stranger we meet. No. No. No. No. No. We just need a real police force. We've had one before we can have one again. That ridiculous hacking scandal has knocked the top Oxbridge Cretin from his job leaving us with a leaderless police force in the capital and the inevitable consequence of such a thing (a city burning itself to the ground ? armed citizens make no difference when that happens, they really don't.) Now maybe the time has come to start anew, building a real police force from the bottom up once again? Hopefully if Theresa May (and please, American readers, stop conflating her with "The Brits") doesn't get her way we may get a real leader in the form of Bill Bratton.

[Il Douchey]

"We just need a real police force."

You have one. Security comes from an empowered and vigilant community. Cops just clean up the failures.

[Na Na Na Na Na Na Na]

I give up.

[Restoras]

Or maybe just re-import some Norman vikings.

[T]

Something about danegeld and Danes seems relevant here.

[Trespassers W]

I like that, too. There's an actual lesson there about "community".

RESPECT to those Kurds.

[mash]

They have their own gangs.
maybe paying protection money is working

[CaptainSmartass]

I've got it. They find the leaders of the rioters, then pay them an annual sum (say, ?100k per year) to "keep the peace". By whatever means necessary.

[R C Dean]

Police should be handing out guns to those trying to defend their property. Of course, how do you tell they're not just posturing rioters?

Hand out enough guns, and it will sort itself out.

I like how all the UK liveblogs are talking about how the only safe areas are the places where Turkish and Kurdish shopkeepers are patrolling the streets to keep order.

I've only known a few Turks, but they were tough bastards one and all. I'm sure they consider a cricket bat laughably inadequate without a few nails driven through it.

[John]

The Kurds are even tougher. A Kurd versus some shit bag Marxist yob is not even approaching a fair fight.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

They need to airlift some Sikhs in. Shit would be over in an hour.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Also, Gorkhas would work if Sikhs are unavailable. India seems to have a high badass per capita ratio.

[Brett L]

Gurkhas are Nepalese. But both Sikh and Gurkha have ridiculous military traditions. They are also known for not being particularly violent outside of the military.

[P Brooks]

I got caught up on Falling Skies last night. I am now convinced the show is utter crap.

I watched the first episode-and-a-half, and decided I really couldn't give a shit less what happened to any of those people. Much like that zombie idiocy on AMC.

I must 'fess up to watching that Miracle Day thing; the Eeeeevul Kkkorporashunz Wipe Out Humanity and Destroy the Wurld For Lulz and Profitzes! story line is now at full throttle. Fuck them, too.

[Au H20]

Dr. Who>Torchwood, every day of the goddamn week.

It comes back August 28th. And Rory punches Hitler in the face.

[SugarFree]

Bag of dried assholes > Dr. Who > Torchwood

[Au H20]

Them be fighting words, SugarFree.

[SugarFree]

Save the blindingly hot redhead, nuke the rest of the Who universe from orbit.

[dbcooper]

+1

[JW]

I approve this message. Is there a different reason to watch Dr. Who?

Also, fuck Torchwood with rabid badgers.

[Zeb]

You'd better just be talking about the new, fake, Dr. Who.

[Rhywun]

I was hoping the story was not going in that direction - seems a little too obvious to me. At this point I wouldn't be surprised to see a Phicorps dude pull off his human-mask and it's one of those flatulent fatso aliens from awhile back.

[Res Publica Americana]

http://www.latimes.com/news/lo.....5488.story

CA: San Diego Police Officer Suspected In Hit-and-Run Case Found Dead

A San Diego police officer facing hit-and-run and drunk driving charges was found dead in the backyard of his home Monday morning, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

David Hall, 41, was discovered slumped against the rear wall of his home in the Clairemont Mesa neighborhood of San Diego. His wife called police shortly after the 10 a.m. shooting.

--------------

[R C Dean]

As someone familiar with the police, I'm sure his wife had the good sense to leave the family dog with the neighbors before calling.

[Res Publica Americana]

She put it out of its misery by skinning and burning the dog alive, sparing it the agony and pain it would have suffered had the cops discovered it in the house.

[Il Douchey]

I'm glad I don't live in your mind.

[Pip]

And nothing else happened.

[Res Publica Americana]

http://www.ammoland.com/2011/0.....un-owners/

CA: California Tries to Intimidate Airsoft Gun Owners into Giving Up?Will You?

B 798 is alive and well! California SB 798 is still going strong, but representatives in the California State General Assembly are playing games!

Sen. de Leon, author of the bill, heard the overwhelming objections about forcing airsoft, pellet and BB guns to be either clear or brightly colored and changed SB 798.

He's rewritten the bill and is leaving it up to individual cities and counties to make laws similar (or more restrictive) than his original bill proposed. SB 798 has become a permission slip for any county or city to force all airsoft, BB and pellet guns in an area to be clear or brightly colored.

[Res Publica Americana]

http://host.madison.com/news/o.....03286.html

"WI: Gun system will force poor to pay for permits

The left claims to be advocates for the poor. Yet, instead of passing constitutional carry, the left forced Wisconsin citizens to settle for a permit system. The poor, who live in the most crime-infested areas, will be forced to pay for a permit to be lawfully armed if they want protection in the urban jungle. If any other fee hit the poor hardest, the left would be screaming, yet this doesn't bother them in the least."

Workers of the world, unite?

[R C Dean]

Workers of the world, unite pay up?

[OO]

obviously that letter writer doesnt realize their gov & legislature is gop

[Res Publica Americana]

Are you really this stupid, dude?

[SugarFree]

Yes. Yes he is.

[OO]

Constitutional Carry Legislative Session Recap(WI)
Ammoland.com ^ | 15 July, 2011 | Nik Clark

Posted on Saturday, July 16, 2011 10:16:44 AM by marktwain

Wisconsin --(Ammoland.com)- As you all know, the Wisconsin legislature passed, and Governor Walker signed into law, a shall-issue type permit system last Friday.
http://www.freerepublic.com/fo.....9451/posts
_
looks like Res, SF, AND the letter writer are "really this stupid".

[Res Publica Americana]

What the fuck does this have to do with anything?

[Warty]

lol ur gop & ur dum

[OO]

res wrote - "The left claims to be advocates for the poor. Yet, instead of passing constitutional carry, the left forced Wisconsin citizens to settle for a permit system."
_

my link clearly shows it was the GOP gov & legislature who enacted this law...not "the left".

[Res Publica Americana]

1) I don't give a shit weather it was passed by the Communist Negro Vaginal Cyst Yabba-Dabba-Doo Party, the Republican Party, or the Democratic Party -- statists are statist, and fuck them all.

2) It was a combination of being statists themselves and kissing the Wisconsin left's ass.

[Res Publica Americana]

*Whether

[jasno]

Looks like the results of the fed audit are out: http://sanders.senate.gov/news.....060dcbb3c3

[jasno]

From http://www.guatemala-times.com.....oans.html:

The central bank of the United States had dished out a whopping $16 trillion between December 2007 and June 2010 in interest free secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses...

the Federal Reserve donated $2.5 trillion to Citigroup, while Morgan Stanley received $2.04 trillion. The Royal Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank, a German bank, split about a trillion...

the Fed lacks a comprehensive system to deal with conflicts of interest ... the Fed provided conflict of interest waivers to employees and private contractors so they could keep investments in the same financial institutions and corporations that were given emergency loans.

[P Brooks]

A San Diego police officer facing hit-and-run and drunk driving charges was found dead in the backyard of his home Monday morning, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

Good.

[Invisible Finger]

Who's dog was he aiming at?

[Res Publica Americana]

"Imp of the Perverse|8.9.11 @ 10:21AM|#

What I want to know is where the FUCK is the British equivalent of the National Guard?"

The Territorial Army?

[Trespassers W]

That's what I was thinking of. Thanks.

[P Brooks]

I clicked on that gun permit link (R P A's), and found this awesome jewel:

According to this Huffington Post article, a good number of young people, mostly women, are paying for college or paying down student debt by hooking up with "sugar daddies" ? wealthy men who pay for companionship and sex.

And according to information provided to the Huffington Post, the University of Wisconsin is among the national leaders in producing "sugar babies" ? young adults willing to provide these services.

"This phenomenon has been around for some time," Janet Hyde, a UW-Madison professor of psychology and women's studies wrote to Campus Connection in an email. "I have never had a UW student actually tell me that she was in such an arrangement, but it wouldn't surprise me that there are some out there."

Based on third-hand salacious innuendo, the "Womyn's Studies" professoress is convinced. I wonder if she will use this in her next assault on the patrirchy; How the Patriarchal Oppressor Teabagsterdz' Heartless Budget-Slashing Destroys the Flower of American Womynhood.

[Brett L]

I knew at least one girl while I was in school who did this. It was 1999 and her sugar daddy was a mainframe guy who was making buckets of money. I used to see him with her and then with a hot Asian chick taking Japanese lessons in the coffee shop I worked at. Maybe that's why I quit my English major and became a computer programmer.

[Kristen]

I was watching True Life on MTV yesterday, and there was a computer programmer looking to find him a sugar mama. Times have changed!

[Brett L]

I've been looking for the right woman to make me a kept man for a decade. I just have nothing to offer but boundless (and indisciplinable) intellect, great eyes and a healthy sex drive. Everything else about me is merely average. Oh, and I can cook and will clean.

[nicole]

Hey, haven't we met somewhere before?

[Brett L]

I'd remember someone as well read as yourself.

[P Brooks]

I wonder if some hot young UW coed would fuck you in exchange for a vote to recall an evil Tea Party Republican?

[Au H20]

Secret ballot for the win, buddy.

[Res Publica Americana]

She'd let you do unimaginable things in exchange for that, I'd imagine, not just offer sex.

Full-body rapturous orgasms and quadruple ejaculations all around!

[Pip]

Better get a bucket.

[Res Publica Americana]

Greatillustrations of such cultural impotency can be found at home, and you don't even have to look to Britland.

And popular TV is a great example. Some dumb fucking thug with a knife or a Glock gets on a packed bus, shows his weapon, and everybody shits themselves and cowers in fear, as SWAT and federales are called in to deal with the situation. PMG SUSPENSE! Nobody on the bus is armed. And it almost always takes place in shitty, monotonous cities plagued by government-imposed sterility to a point that it's painful to watch.

There were many places not so long ago where many/most people carried weapons -- it was a second-nature part of the culture.

But comparing our mindset of dependence and subservience to the Limeys, abominable as it may be, is just not going to work -- they're so far-gone, they don't think about it in any recognizable terms or concepts. Armed civilians are like unicorns over there -- PMG OMG WTF BBQ AMAZE FEAR CALL THE POLICE OH MY OH MY!!!

[T]

We always laugh about how none of those scenes are ever set in Texas. It's always Calfornia or New York.

Of course, I watched a movie yesterday claiming to be set in Houston that had mountains in the background of an exterior shot. I question much pop culture portrayal of the world outside LA.

[Res Publica Americana]

The difference in what people are made of can be seen easily in those sorts of encounters.

Pull a gun out on a street in Los Angeles, and you'll cause a national media frenzy, cause titanic stampedes and wailing crowds, scare everybody on the street into cardiac arrest, and warrant the appearance of fully armed and armored paramilitary personnel.

Do it in, say, North Carolina (I've got personal experience only with NC) or small-town Kansas, you get grannies wondering why the silly man is standing in the middle of the sidewalk with a drawn gun. And if you do anything with it, instead of causing a major bloodbath, you'd probably get your balls shot off.

That's the difference.

It's extraordinary how not only international culture, but also mainstream American culture views places like Iowa, Kansas, New Hampshire, and such, and even Texas, as quirky, silly, ridiculous little backwaters and LA and NY and Chicago as THE SHIT *cue retarded hipster disco music*.

[Pete Mynack]

Terry McAuliffe trying to scam the state of Alabama. Chinese moguls using obscure law to "buy" green cards. Clintons involved, at arms length, of course.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/08/clinton's-sleepover-fundraising-maven-breaks-ground-for-300000-car-factory-in-inner-mongolia-while-chinese-head-to-the-u-s-on-500000-green-cards/#more-406377

[Clich? Bandit]

How did THIS not make the MLs???

The California prosecutor whose office is investigating the death of a homeless, schizophrenic man after a violent fight with police in the college town of Fullerton says he hasn't seen evidence suggesting the officers intended to kill.

DAMN

[Brett L]

We'll take negligent homicide.

[Clich? Bandit]

M2 is as low as I am willing to accept.

[Res Publica Americana]

FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK. What the fuck happens now?

[Pip]

Promotions all!

[Amakudari]

They clearly just wanted to maim him.

Mistakes happen.

Case closed.

Money quote: "The police department has called the case an isolated incident and put the officers on administrative leave."

[Clich? Bandit]

I totally refrained from highlighting that quote...just couldnt bring myself to do it.

[R C Dean]

There was a "violent fight"? I thought the victim was lying on the ground begging for mercy.

[R C Dean]

Oh, and nothing else happened.

[Res Publica Americana]

Here's hoping some crackpot gets stopped by the chief beater and shoots the fucker. He deserves it.

[P Brooks]

I was watching True Life on MTV yesterday

Kristen...

I am disappoint.

[RyanXXX]

What kind of moron commander jams 30 of our most valuable commandos into one chopper, and uses them to bail out a group of lesser commandos?

This whole "rescue mission gone awry" story seems fishy. Unless the SEALs were in the area for a hit job or something, heard about the Rangers under fire, and decided to help their buds.

Either way, the Talib who shot down that chopper has to feel like Chuck Norris on Ecstasy right now