Zimmerman Faces Charges, Presidential Race Could Hinge on Four States, FBI Pays Damages Over Improper Raid: P.M. Links

• If Obama and Romney start spending a lot of time in Miami and Vegas, don't be surprised. The Presidential race could depend on the outcomes in just four states.

• Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who became a national lightning rod after shooting Trayvon Martin, will face criminal charges over the incident.
• A key ally of Arizona's controversial Sheriff "Generalissimo Joe" Arpaio was disbarred over politically driven investigations of opponents.
• The president surrounded himself with rich people who like him to call for higher taxes on rich people. No word yet on how many attendees made their mint in tax planning.
• Shockingly, Charles Manson has been denied parole and won't be eligible again until 2027.
• Still struggling with that constitutional learning curve, the FBI and UC-Berkeley police agree to erase improperly seized data and pay damages and attorney's fees to settle lawsuits over raids on two radical groups.

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Comments

[jacob]

first?

[End Child Unemployment]

firstFist!

FTFY

[Auric Demonocles]

Yesterday I said "overconfidence" and the spam filter thought it was too short and content-less, but this gets through?

[sloopyinca]

Overconfidence.

[sloopyinca]

Uberconfidence.

[sloopyinca]

Overconfidence.

[Warty]

Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who became a national lightning rod after shooting Trayvon Martin, will face criminal charges over the incident.

So we get to enjoy this circus for years to come. YAYYYYYYYYYYY

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Was there a chance in hell she was going to risk having her (possible) address tweeted by not bringing charges?

[Brutus]

Especially now that Eric and Al are circle-jerk pals and the local NBPP is panting for some honky/cracker/pig blood.

[plu1959]

It puts me in mind of the scene in Miracle on 34th Street when Fred Mertz tells the judge he should go on a little vacation in order to avoid the Santa Claus case.

[Brett L]

The OJ trial gave us Gretta van Sustern and the Kardashians... wait. Fuck!

[Anacreon]

And Johnnie Cochran, and Dancing Itos, and Kato Kaelin, and "If the glove don't fit.." and Jeffrey Toobin, etc, etc. We are all doomed.

[DesigNate]

Don't forget the Chewbacca defense.

[WWNGD?]

Would you prefer the riots if he was not charged?

[Warty]

Those would be over quickly, so...yes.

[Mickey Rat]

Whether there would be riots or not should have no bearing on whether Zimmerman gets charged or not. The only thing that should matter is if the prosecutor thinks he has decent case to prove that Zimmerman committed a crime.

No one should be made a sacrifice for social peace.

[Pip]

"Shockingly, Charles Manson has been denied parole and won't be eligible again until 2027."

You build up a commune, provide housing, food, shelter and a sense of belonging to homeless youth and it's no big deal. But just carve up a few people and use their blood to write political speech on the walls and suddenly everyone calls you a monster.

[John]

A few followers got out of hand. That wasn't Charlie's fault.

[WWNGD?]

Besides he was a grovey musician at heart.

[Chupcabra]

It wasn't murder-murder.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I'm not saying he should get out or anything but "notorious killer Charles Manson" doesn't really gibe with my recollection of why he's in prison.

[John]

Well he is kind of notorious. And he did murder a bunch of people. He was at the La Bianca murders just not the Tate ones.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

They got him on conspiracy, not actually doing the killings. Calling him a killer on those facts would be like calling a getaway driver a killer because they got him on felony murder.

That doesn't mean he wasn't responsible, but it's an imputed killing, not an actual killing.

[John]

He actually killed several people. He was convicted in the actual murders of the LaBiancas.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

[citation needed]

[John]

From Wiki

According to Atkins and Kasabian, Manson disappeared up the driveway and returned to say he had tied up the house's occupants; then he sent Watson up with Krenwinkel and Van Houten.[2]:176?184, 258?269 In his autobiography, on the other hand, Watson stated that, having gone up alone, Manson returned to take him up to the house with him. After Manson pointed out a sleeping man through a window, the two of them entered through the unlocked back door.[50] Watson added that, at trial, he "went along with" the women's account, which he figured made him "look that much less responsible."[49]

As Watson tells it, Manson roused the sleeping Leno LaBianca from the couch at gunpoint and had Watson bind his hands with a leather thong. After Rosemary LaBianca was brought briefly into the living room from the bedroom, Watson followed Manson's instructions to cover the couple's heads with pillowcases. He bound these in place with lamp cords. Manson left, sending Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten into the house with instructions that the couple be killed...

That is more than conspiracy. That is accessory.

But yeah, he didn't actually pull the trigger.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Also from Wiki:

He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction. He was convicted of the murders through the joint-responsibility rule, which makes each member of a conspiracy guilty of crimes his fellow conspirators commit in furtherance of the conspiracy's object.

[kinnath]

If you're directing traffic, it is more than accessory.

[plu1959]

I'm not sweating it. He's as culpable as a guy who hires a hit man to take out his wife.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Absolutely. He's completely culpable. He just wasn't convicted of actually killing anyone.

[kinnath]

Charles Manson wasn't the getaway driver in a robbery gone bad. He wasn't an accomplis of someone that went over the line unexpectedly.

Charles Manson planned, initiated, and directed not one, but two viscious sets of murder.

He was the most culpable of all the Manson crew.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Totally culpable. Also totally not convicted of killing anyone.

[kinnath]

I'm not saying he should get out or anything but "notorious killer Charles Manson" doesn't really gibe with my recollection of why he's in prison

He is still in prison now, and for another 15 years assuming he lives that long, because he is one of worst fucking murderers to come along during my lifetime.

You wondered why he was in prison, not what he was convicted of.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

He's not in prison because of what he was convicted of?

[rho]

Did he actually commit murder?

It was really before my time, and I haven't exactly studied up on it, but what I recall is that he didn't actually kill anybody, he was just accessory enough to rope him in for good measure.

[John]

Yes. He was a participant in the LaBianca murders. He also killed one of the hands at the Spawn Ranch over a drug deal

[rho]

What I do recall is that people were annoyed because his "family" covered up for him, saying he didn't actually do anything, and we hadn't invented CSI Miami yet.

YEAAAAAAH!

[Night Elf Mohawk]

He was "only" convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.

They kind of had to Capone him.

[kinnath]

I don't recall if Manson actually thrust a blade in any of the victims. But it is clear that he planned and directed the murders. That makes him the criminal mastermind behind a bunch of brutal murders.

So yeah, Manson is a notorius killer. Actually, that's too nice.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

So he's a killer who didn't kill anyone?

[John]

Yeah. Dick Hickock of In Cold Blood Fame, didn't ever kill anyone. He just broke into the house and watched Perry Smith kill everyone there. Yet, Hickock got convicted and hung for murder. If you commit a crime and your buddy kills someone while doing it you are just as much of a killer as they are, at least legally.

[plu1959]

I knew Smith cut the father, but did he do all the shooting as well? I forget.

[John]

We will never know for sure. But it appears so.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Being culpable for the acts of others is not the same as having committed those acts yourself.

[Pip]

You know who else didn't actually kill millions?

[Elspeth Flashman]

thank you, Pip.

[kinnath]

The mob boss that orders the execution of competitor is a murderer even if he doesn't pull the trigger himself.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

[citation needed]

[Killazontherun]

Maybe that is why Obama is losing so much weight and withering away before our eyes. He thought assassination would be so easy. But he sees Al-Awlaki in his sleep at night. Wakes up in a cold sweat. Does not understand why his conscience bothers him over a piece of shit like that. Whatever the public persona, the liberal politician believes himself to be the ubermensch. The one above commoner morality. But he finds himself riddled with guilt. Pure nonsense. Makes a liar out of everything he believed himself to be. He knows. he knows he is not up to the tasks the job requires, yet he can't admit defeat.

Okay, enough indulging my inner Truman Capote. Nothing supple about Obama's person. He is just an asshole.

[sloopyinca]

So he's a killer who didn't kill anyone?

You know who else was accused of being a murderer, yet never killed anyone?

[Pro Libertate]

I bet he killed someone in WWI.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Lizzy Borden?

[Killazontherun]

Actually, I recall Hitler did shoot someone.

[Killazontherun]

The killing of a political rival, if I'm not mistaken.

Anyway, at the very least, he did shoot himself.

[sloopyinca]

I swear, why do people have to Godwin every thread? I was talking about Bob Crane.

[Paul.]

I swear, why do people have to Godwin every thread? I was talking about Bob Crane.

Nice.

[Paul.]

So he's a killer who didn't kill anyone?

NEF, your pedantry is going too far.

We call Adolf Hitler one of history's most notorious killers. There's no evidence he thrust a knife into any Jew.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Yes, pointing out that a "killer" wasn't convicted of killing is pedantry. And calling someone who wasn't convicted a killer because he was involved in something really bad is intellectual honesty.

[John]

What is your recollection of why he is in prison? Because he is an avid Beatles fan?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Conspiracy to commit murder.

[Pro Libertate]

He'd have been on the hook for felony murder, too, I assume.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Probably so. But felony murder, like conspiracy to commit, is just a way of punishing all members of a group even if they didn't take part in the actual killing.

Again, though, Manson is absolutely culpable for the murders, which is not the same as saying he committed the murders. He was not convicted of killing anyone, hence not a killer.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I suspect Charlie killed some people himself. Not that the state proved it. Because he's fucking insane.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

If I had to bet, I'd bet he probably killed someone, somewhere. It wouldn't completely surprise me, though, to find out that he always manipulated someone else into doing it for him.

[Pro Libertate]

There's something wrong with you if you can be influenced by good old Charlie. But I think that's possible. No way to know for sure.

[Brutus]

Please, this is supposed to be a happy occasion! Let's not argue and bicker about who killed who...

[Zeb]

Whenever I think of Manson, I think of the awesome response to some question in an interview with Barbara Walters (I think it was around the time of one of his previous parole hearings). I wish I could remember what the question was, but his response: "I'm a gangster, woman, I take money".

[Warty]

Snakes for the Divine

[T]

Snakes of Christ?

[Joe M]

Ron Paul wins do-over St. Charles County caucus.

Supporters of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul took control of St. Charles County's second-try Republican caucus Tuesday night, winning all of its delegates to later stages of the state GOP's presidential selection process.[...]

The caucus Tuesday night picked 147 delegates to attend congressional district conventions April 21 and 147 to the GOP state convention in June.
Those meetings in turn will choose most of Missouri's 52 delegates to the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Story also mentions that Santorum supporters were scarce. Looks like Paul will get a plurality of delegates for Missouri.

[jacob]

St. Charles County is the county directly west of St. Louis County. It's the place where a lot of folks moved to when they wanted to "escape" St Louis (I believe this has been referred to as "White Flight" in the past). It's very middle class, generally contains a good cross-section of America. I'm happy he won there. If he can win over this county, there are a shitload more places where he could win.

[jacob]

"Some of the charges that Zimmercan could face range from involuntary manslaughter to voluntary manslaughter to second-degree murder"

Nice article there, speculating on what he's going to be charged with.

I know there have been some heated debates on these boards about Zimmerman's guilt. Personally, if he's charged with homicide, I think it's unfair, unless this was just a move by the prosecution to induce a plea for manslaughter.

If I had my druthers, Zimmerman would possibly get a conviction for a lower felony (manslaughter or something lower if that's possible) and receive a suspended sentence. I simply can't say for sure he murdered Trayvon or even did anything wrong. He's been through enough and I'll be happy when we get this all behind us.

[A Serious Man]

Involuntary manslaughter makes sense since there was undoubtedly an aspect of self-defense in the shooting even if Zimmerman bears responsibility for the altercation happening.

[jacob]

Agree 100%

[plu1959]

Sounds about right.

[rsi]

Martin didn't have the right to Stand His Ground?

Zimmerman was armed, chasing someone (against the advice of the police)who hadn't done anything .

Martin was supposed to meekly surrender to some maniac?

[shrike]

Officers who initially responded to a report of a person hit by a vehicle discovered that Sylvia Junn, 44, had shot her 45-year-old husband, Charles Junn, and another woman, whose name has not been released, Gwinnett police Cpl. Jake Smith said.

"She shot them both, then got into a white Lexus and fled the scene," Smith said." Charles Junn was run over as she left."

Smith said Sylvia Junn returned to the scene "almost immediately, and was still armed with the handgun."

Sylvia Junn refused the orders of officers to drop her weapon, Smith said, but "before the officers could take action, the suspect shot herself in the head."

http://www.ajc.com/news/gwinne.....13003.html

[Pip]

Nest week on shrike reads the paper...

[Brett L]

Angry women and cars is a bad combination.

[Libertymike]

Doris Duke calling.

[fish]

Priscilla Ford anyone?

(Bonus for having the same name as a brand of car!)

[gaoxiaen]

And guns.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Shockingly, Charles Manson has been denied parole and won't be eligible again until 2027.

They're prejudiced against murderous freakshows.

[PantsFan]

Rehabilitated? Well, now let me see. You know, I don't have any idea what that means.
I know what *you* think it means, sonny. To me it's just a made up word. A politician's word, so young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and a tie, and have a job. What do you really want to know? Am I sorry for what I did?
There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man is all that's left. I got to live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit.

[affenkopf]

Obama wants to silence Arpaio because of the birth certificate!

[Soc Indv Sparky]

I think the fact that Obama's son was shot in Florida is going to win him the sympathy vote down there.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Arpaio has denied wrongdoing, but the three-member disciplinary panel of the Arizona courts said Tuesday that evidence suggests the sheriff conspired with Maricopa County's former top prosecutor to intimidate a judge with unfounded criminal charges.

J. Edgar Hoover he ain't.

[John]

Obama versus Romney. What a cripple fight.

[shrike]

Four more months of Romney and the GOP Convention will look like a Marlins game.

[Paul.]

I didn't even get that and I still laughed. Is the joke that Marlins games are poorly attended?

[Chupcabra]

He means the GOP will profess their love for Castro.

[Juice]

I can't decide if it's worse than Gore versus Bush in 2000.

[Paul.]

In the first term, Bush actually excited conservatives, while outside of the staff of Grist, liberals cringed at Al Gore.

Right now, Agent Smith is whispering into the collective GOP ear saying, "That's the sound of electability...".

Liberals are disappointed with Obama, but deep down, they still love him, like a mother loves a disappointing child.

[Ryan]

Or like a cowardly piece of shit that loves someone who fosters their delusions.

[Rich]

Manson was initially sentenced to death for ... what prosecutors said was an attempt to incite an apocalyptic race war between whites and blacks during the country's massive social unrest.

Looking bleak for George Zimmerman.

[Loki]

And yet Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Morris Dees are still walking around breathing free air.

[rac3rx]

...and Louie Farrakhan...

[John]

http://www.whitehousedossier.c.....-room-gym/

Michelle turns East Room of the White House into a gym. So much class and sense of history there.

[Warty]

Not even a good gym. I would at least have turned it into a barbell- and chalk-filled dungeon and brought in a bunch of roided-up gorillas.

Also, PWND.

christine April 11, 2012 at 2:07 pm
So you think americans should be proud of their epic diabetes, heart disease etc. Being a slob is the American way? really? I guess the beyond-morbidly-obese Chris Christie is the patriot for you

[Chupcabra]

"Being a slob is the American way?"

I'm surprised Michelle didn't open up a Burger King franchise there.

[shrike]

Didn't Nixon put a bowling alley in the White House?

[John]

Not in the east room you half wit. It is kind of an historic place. Making it a gym is kind of like putting a slot machine in the Lincoln Bedroom.

[Episiarch]

John, come on, man. It even fucked up earlier today and broke character. Ignore it.

[shrike]

You two deserve each other. And I mean that.

[Warty]

HI MISS RECTAL

[Episiarch]

No, no, Warty...it says it isn't a sockpuppet run by Mary, so that must be true. Even when it breaks character.

[Warty]

Dude, that 1337 hacker who terrorized us so badly wasn't Mary. He totally said so! Why would someone who PWND us so badly lie?

[John]

That is right Warty. It was a team of people Reason is hated so badly. They all just disappeared upon registration out of coincidence I guess.

[Warty]

OCCUPY VIRTUAL SPACES!

WE ARE LEGION

[Loki]

Didn't they put one of those electronic singing basses in there?

[Warty]

That was Michelle, you racist prick.

[Wilt Chamberlain]

Actually, they should just turn the entire room into a casino.It would probably be a more symbolic representation of the executive branch than anything currently in the White House.

[rac3rx]

OH...like Bill Clinton...

[kinnath]

This doesn't really seem like the proper use of this exquisite, historic chamber ? a national treasure that has hosted events like presidential press conferences, the signing of landmark legislation like the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the funeral of Abraham Lincoln.

Low class.

[Pip]

Oh I don't know. When you think about it, during the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, I bet no one there had even an inkling of a thought that in just 38-years some shovel-faced black woman would be sweating up the floor while doing squats and push-ups.

[Ted S.]

1964 + 38 = ??

[DesigNate]

It's 2002? Sweet! That means there's still time to stop them from going into Iraq and passing Part D....aww fuck it, I'm just going to bet on the world series and the superbowl.

[Auric Demonocles]

This pool is our bootstraps. It's lifting us up to the middle class.

[Kwanzaa Cake]

She was never proud of her country until it elected her husband POTUS so why should she care?

[Mickey Rat]

I don't remember if it was Nixon, but yes there were bowling lanes installed in the White House at one point. In the basement, if memeory serves, which is where a gym should be if the Obama's want someplace to work out. Putting it in the East Room is just an ostentatious display of pharisaical piety to the first Lady's pet cause.

[Warty]

Did you watch that clip? I can't describe how much I want to strangle that bearded guy.

[John]

No. That was Michelle you racist bastard.

[Warty]

Is that Bob Harper? I see his face on the shitty little kettlebells and whatnot that you see at Target. It must be a nice gig, getting on a bullshit pseudo-fitness show and then selling your face to hawk overpriced cheap garbage to the ignorant fat masses.

[Juice]

Michelle turns East Room of the White House into a gym.

And not a single fuck was given that day.

[John]

http://www.openmarket.org/2012.....taxpayers/

The great law student caused depression is coming.

[Fist of Etiquette]

That scenario has Obama losing Florida, which was among the states hardest hit in the recession and one where the economy remains bad. Others think Florida will stay in play down to the wire.

No sympathy vote from Floridians over the loss in their state of his son?

[A Serious Man]

Maybe he should say Ozzie Guillen acted stupidly in his comments about Castro.

[John]

Maybe him, Ozzy and Castro should all have a beer in the Rose Garden.

[Jeff]

Heaven forfend. What Obama and Ozzie do to the English language on their own is already akin to what the Manson Family did to Sharon Tate. I don't think our poor abused tongue could survive the two of them getting together.

[nicole]

Thought Catalog is usually one of the most awful things on the internet (yes, worse than Jezebel, because of the terrible writing), but this article finally gives me the line I needed as a comeback when my bf says H&R misogyny is getting me down: "Society doesn't really actually value these things in women yet. Stop lying to me."

[John]

All of this stuff is sort of confusing/ upsetting if you are intellectual, independently successful, curvaceous or overweight, unconventional looking, outspoken, aggressive or any other of the traits that women have pretty much historically not been allowed to be, hence all of the explosion of writing and blogging and tailored advertising fervently focused on letting you know that HECK YEAH YOU CAN and enforcing to the point of tooth rot how it's all so super okay that you are all of these things.

Yeah because being fat, ugly and obnoxious is the ticket to success for men. Why do women think it is their right to be affirmatively unpleasant and not face any consequences for it?

[nicole]

There is no cure for stupidity. I always do say y'all are just keeping it real.

[Brett L]

"fat, shrill and stupid is no way to go through life, miss"

[fish]

intellectual, independently successful, curvaceous or overweight, unconventional looking, outspoken, aggressive or any other of the traits that women have pretty much historically not been allowed to be.....

Jeez Nicole if you were any of these things the normal banter here probably wouldn't bother you all that much.

[nicole]

It doesn't. I am but a tool of the patriarchy.

[fish]

Carry on then.

[nicole]

The "joke," or something, is that it's my bf who thinks the stuff is awful, and that my recognition of the real world, and the fact that it involves a shelf life for women, is just a sign that I'm being oppressed. Which is to say, I wouldn't want to get married if dudes hadn't convinced me to be insecure about getting older/being single.

[Mad Scientist]

So your boyfriend doesn't see the irony in ignoring what you're telling him, and instead insisting you believe what he thinks you should believe?

[Anacreon]

"Help, Help! I'm being oppressed!"

[protefeed]

Sounds like you need a new bf who doesn't hate you for being in touch with reality.

Just sayin'.

[Alan]

I agree. Nicole should post pictures. 😉

[Warty]

How did you manage to read that? I didn't make it through a paragraph. RANDOM CApitaliZATION!!!!

[John]

Capitalization rules are part of the patriarchy you dolt.

[Warty]

MAIL GAZE

[Episiarch]

Fucking postal workers treat us like second-class citizens!

[Elspeth Flashman]

+1 long stare.

[Warty]

This stands out from that malarial swamp of self-pity:

or that it's not that exciting for The Hunger Games to have a female heroine because ultimately the story is about which guy she likes and ends up having babies with.

You know, it's OK to like having babies, girls. It really is.

[John]

It is all about choice for feminists, as in everyone making the choices feminists tell them to make.

[Alan]

Yup. Feminists wonder why they're getting so much flack lately - they still haven't figured out that Matriarchy is no better than Patriarchy (and probably worse for not being self-aware).

[Elspeth Flashman]

back in college I was involved in a Women's group. . . a few members had the guts to become moms. Other members were slack jawed about the giving up of "freedom" (or whatever) that these women chose.
I am so glad I got away from that group. Shockingly enough, it was some strident "you should act this way" behaviors that got me out of it. Trying to shame me for staying with my boyfriend at the time. (rolls eyes)

[0x90]

In other words, everything's kosher, just so long as your freedom to do as you will is being surrendered to the correct domineering group.

[Elspeth Flashman]

pretty much. Couple of drama queens who thought they could keep the rest of us less educated/sensitive/etc. women in line. (rolls eyes, once again).

[Juice]

Also, in most movies with male heroes the story is ultimately about getting the girl.

[Joe M]

Wanting a partner implicates you as part of teh patree-r-key.

[Chupcabra]

Don't you mean RAPING the girl?

[oncogenesis]

Plus, ultimately the story is not about which guy she likes and ends up having babies with. It's almost as if the writer hasn't read the story she is criticizing!

[nicole]

Duh, anything about a girl or woman that also involves that girl or woman wanting a guy is only really about the guy. No real woman would spend time thinking about guys.

[Brett L]

Types of Women Men Like Better Than Me

The type possessing a sense of humor
The type who isn't a whiner
The type who isn't totally self-absorbed

[edcoast]

Run. On. Sentences.

[rac3rx]

That was awful. I'm not even sure exactly what I read there.

[nicole]

I have to say I don't think it was completely awful. The ultimate cry of frustration was a little bit "refreshing," considering the Jezebellian alternatives. At least she recognizes that women are lying to each other. She might want that lie to be true (who wouldn't? I mean really), but she knows she's being played.

[Alan]

Seriously, your bf is arguing with you about this? You have alternatives, you know.

Yes, men like women who are hot, but intelligence and a sense of humor are nice bonuses.

[wef]

Trayvon and the hoody generation.

NPR whitey was Hoping for some post-racial love, and look what she got.

It is all because of Whitey on the Moon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zlcHUxlOpc

[Old Mexican]

Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who became a national lightning rod after shooting Trayvon Martin, will face criminal charges over the incident.

He will go to trial and then go free after a couple of mistrials.

[plu1959]

My money's on a plea deal.

[Pip]

And at least a dozen will die in the riots, brought to you by tonight's host, Al Sharpton.

This is exactly what Obama wants.

[Warty]

Brendon Small ? @_Brendonsmall Close
UPDATE: New Album Available on April 29th, 2012 // Season 4 of 'Metalocalypse' Premieres Sunday, April 29 at 12:15 a.m. (ET/PT)

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

[Episiarch]

You know, that show is really boring.

[Warty]

It's not my fault you're a complete moron. Why don't you go shit in your hand and jerk off to some more second-rate Eurotrash 80s horror movies, fag.

[Episiarch]

Second-rate?!?

[Episiarch]

Second rate?!?

[Warty]

You wouldn't know a good movie if it crawled up in your mom's corpse and popped out of her empty eye socket while you were dustfucking her. And for the record, I enjoyed Armageddon tremendously.

[Episiarch]

You just described a scene from Shock Waves.

Of course you like Armageddon. You identify so closely with Liv Tyler's character.

[Pro Libertate]

They had elves in Armageddon?

[Episiarch]

It had all kinds of imaginary creatures, such as Ben Affleck's acting talent or a non-annoying Aerosmith song.

[Pro Libertate]

No, no, now Ben is a awesome actor/director. You must love him.

So Armageddon is basically Lord of the Rings in space. I always wondered what it was about.

[Episiarch]

No, Armageddon is Krull in space. Idiot. The bomb is the Glaive and the asteroid is the Black Fortress. Ben is Colwyn, Liv is Princess Lyssa, and Bruce Willis is Ynyr. It's like, the exact same plot, dude.

[Groovus Maximus]

No, Armageddon is Krull in space.

So, who was The Beast?

[Episiarch]

Charlton Heston, obviously. Dumbass.

[Groovus Maximus]

Charlton Heston, obviously. Dumbass.

Well fuck me slowly for asking. Imbecile.

[Pro Libertate]

What's funny is that I saw Krull multiple times as a kid (it was one of those movies that was run over and over), and I can't remember a damned thing about it. There was a deadly frisbee or something?

[Groovus Maximus]

There was a deadly frisbee or something?

The MacGuffin of Krull was this shuriken with mystical properties. It was a drastically over-rated weapon.

[Pro Libertate]

Did it work in the film? I remember a frisbee with sharp edges.

[Groovus Maximus]

Did it work in the film?

Nope. It just cut a hole in a wall and got stuck in the antagonist. Didn't even put out an eye. It was pretty much worthless. The true weapon of Krull was...love.

[Elspeth Flashman]

not Krull! not sure if that is watchable. Well, it did get watched. But only in an "OMG, this is unwatchable" sort of fashion.

[Warty]

That's because I'm really an elf queen trapped in this hideous human male's body. Fuck you, you cisspecies prick. You know nothing about what it is to dream.

[Groovus Maximus]

That's because I'm really an elf queen trapped in this hideous human male's body.

That was you in Legend?

[Warty]

I AM LEGEND. Idiot.

[Pro Libertate]

The movie or the book?

[Warty]

The choose-your-own-adventure book, obviously.

[Pro Libertate]

Do those still exist? What's the point when we have games?

[Warty]

Some of us are refined, you prole.

[Pro Libertate]

I got a Kindle Fire, so now I can have games and books at the same time. Hamlet and the Angry Birds.

[Pro Libertate]

This from the guy who was snorting baby powder?

[Randian]

This was my favorite CYOA book. Dystopian nightmares FTW!

[Groovus Maximus]

This one was mine. Also my first. Medieval times FTW!

[Groovus Maximus]

I AM LEGEND. Idiot.

No wonder that movie sucked balls. Jerk.

[T]

Yeah, that's highbrow compared to the stuff you like, isn't it?

[Episiarch]

Stuff?!?

[Warty]

He means snuff.

[Episiarch]

OK, that makes a lot more sense.

[John]

I am told Eurotrash 80s horror movies have a big following in the fag community.

[Episiarch]

Big?!?

[Groovus Maximus]

You were told wrong, my friend. That dude was just using a worn out pick up line on you.

[Warty]

Wow, Courtney Love is not the good kind of crazy broad. But her daughter's quite a cutie pie, huh?

Dave Grohl's finest hour

[John]

Go Dave.

[Pip]

uh, no?

[Warty]

Well, look where the poor girl came from. She gets at least a 2 point handicap for that.

[Episiarch]

Uh, no?

[Warty]

Fuck you, Mr. I Only Bang Mid-Shelf Czech Street Hookers. You know as much about judging women as you do about judging cocaine.

[Episiarch]

So you're agreeing that I know what I'm talking about. Good to see you come to your senses.

[Warty]

Yeah, right. I remember that time you were snorting all that shit that was cut with baby laxative and raving about how great it was. You know nothing, Epi Snow.

[Pro Libertate]

Coke off!

[Episiarch]

Warty has already lost by admitting he's an idiot. You saw him do that, right?

[Warty]

I admit nothing.

[Groovus Maximus]

Sorry, Wartington. I was there; you distinctly grunted, "idiot". And I may throw in "moron", "deviant" and "misanthrope" for good measure.

[rho]

She looks like a mushroom.

A startled mushroom.

[Episiarch]

Oh no, here comes Luigi!

[protefeed]

I'd still do her.

[Alan]

I was going to say something insulting about Frances, but then I read the comments on the Rolling Stone article and found out that she has had to get a restraining order against her own mother - so no wonder she looks so angry in that photo.

She might not look so bad if she were smiling - and what she does with Mr Grohl is between her and Mr Grohl ... and his wife.

Courtney Love has some serious issues.

[TeamBarstool]

Hit & Run ranked 60th?

Needs moar Warty

[Warty]

Jezebel is 11? We deserve our impending doom.

[T]

Simple math. We go there to mock them. They don't come here to mock us. So they get their people, plus some of us.

[Anacreon]

beat the Onion, though

[sloopyinca]

Still struggling with that constitutional learning curve, the FBI and UC-Berkeley police agree to erase improperly seized data and pay damages and attorney's fees to settle lawsuits over raids on two radical groups.

That link sucks. It doesn't even tell me how long the armed robbers from the UC Police and the FBI got sentenced for their crimes. I mean, they did get sentenced, right? Charged? Investigated? Suspended with pay? Anything?

[plu1959]

Experts: Zimmerman should lay low, stop talking

He's already laid someone low, ya ijits! Are you saying he should do it again?!

[Joe M]

They're not grammar experts.

[plu1959]

One would think that reporters could at least get the grammar part of the job right. It's not as if they're making up for it with intelligence or investigative brilliance.

[Joe M]

Their deficiencies are legion.

[Eduard van Haalen]

For those who want a "national conversation" over a Florida criminal case:

Look at the Fifth Amendment in the u.S. Bill of Rights. One provision says that nobody shall be forced in a criminal case to testify against himself. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the states have to obey this one. Kind of a big deal.

Another part of the Fifth Amendment says that no person shall be held to answer (put on trial) for a capital or otherwise infamous crime [kind of like a felony] without being accused by a grand jury (in an indictment or presentment).

States don't have to obey that latter requirement, thanks to a 19th century precedent from before the time the Supreme Court got into applying the Bill of Rights to the states.

The grand jury thing is one of the few provisions of the Bill of Rights which the Supremes don't require the states to obey.

And a Florida prosecutor is about to bypass the grand jury to charge someone with some kind of felony criminal homicide.

Is this a problem?

[jacob]

And a Florida prosecutor is about to bypass the grand jury to charge someone with some kind of felony criminal homicide.

1. You need to cite where this happened. I haven't heard the charge was homicide at all.

2. Prior to Corley nixing the idea of a grand jury, all the Zimmerman supporters were on here whining about how "a grand jury could convict a ham sandwich" or something to that effect. It sounds like to me Zimmerman supporters are going to complain about it either way.

[Randian]

jacob, you need a clarification in terms. I mean that in a nice way. A homicide is any time one person kills another. For example, it would be linguistically and legally accurate to say "He committed a homicide when, after the maniac swung a giant machete at his head, he shot and killed him in self defense."

Unjustifiable homicides are charged on a sliding scale of (roughly - this varies by state) Murder 1, Murder 2, Murder 3 (or Voluntary Manslaughter), involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, etc.

[Randian]

Prior to Corley nixing the idea of a grand jury, all the Zimmerman supporters were on here whining about how "a grand jury could convict a ham sandwich" or something to that effect. It sounds like to me Zimmerman supporters are going to complain about it either way.

Embedded in that is two separate complaints:
1) the hijacking of a "low bar" hurdle that is supposed to stop the most egregious of prosecutions. If We the People ordained the criminal justice system, then We the People should have a direct say in whether we indict someone. The fact that the institution has been gutted is our first problem.
2) the second problem is kind of like the first: even assuming that the grand jury has transformed into a mere formality, the fact that they couldn't even bother to do that is a Bad Thing too.

[jacob]

1. I didn't mention homicide, the guy before me (EvH) did. All I said is that I had not heard where the charge was homicide. That is an accurate statement -really, I haven't heard what the charge is.

2. You did not address the point I was making - those standing behind Zimmerman have complained (pre-emptively?) that grand juries are too quick to indict. The Jonathan Ayers case goes against this completely (http://reason.com/archives/2010/03/23/another-senseless-drug-war-dea). Now we have someone complaining that a grand jury isn't being used. I take this to mean that those who are opposed to Zimmerman being charged are hedging their bets.

[Eduard van Haalen]

I am impressed by your obvious mind-reading capacities. Have you thought about going on the stage? Change your name from jacob to Zondarr the Magnificent? You'll make a fortune finding out everyone's true motives simply by scanning their brain waves.

[Pip]

It is for Zimmerman.

[plu1959]

My guess would be that they nixed the grand jury here because they want to make a decision relatively promptly, with as little opportunity for grandstanding as possible.

This way, they can announce it, charge him, set bail, and let him out on bail by the end of the week, and everyone can settle into wait and see mode.

[Eduard van Haalen]

If that prosecutor was trying to avoid grandstanding, she had a funny way of going about it.

[Juice]

Fucking courts!

The fifth amendment doesn't have an "except for the states" clause. It's pretty absolute language. No person shall be held to answer...by anyone.

God damn it.

[Ranter]

The president surrounded himself with rich people who like him to call for higher taxes on rich people.

Oh don't worry about it - over at Boing Boing they're all talking about how everything will be goddamn hunky-dory if we just tax those bastard millionaires "their fair share".

Never mind that it's not even going to make a dent in the debt Obama's racking up daily.

[Pip]

quotebolditalicstrike

[Wilt Chamberlain]

http://io9.com/5900898/pop-cul.....h-eugenics

Io9 talks about eugenics and sci-fi. That thing always bothered me about Star Trek, how any sort of physical modification was either frowned upon or outright banned. Few good guys ever had augmentations, besides Geordi, and the two most obvious pop culture examples, Khan and the Borg, were villains bent on domination. It doesn't make sense that they can travel FTL, have massive AI's and sentient androids, and can heal almost any wound, yet actually wanting to make yourself physically better is considered taboo. It's an interesting counterpart to Dune, where AI was banned but everyone was obsessed with perfecting yourself, either with drugs or selective breeding.

[Joe M]

Dune is what happens after Star Trek.

[Pro Libertate]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay after.

[Joe M]

Oh it's not that long, geologically speaking.

[Wilt Chamberlain]

So Data goes insane and kills the Enterprise crew? That's what starts the Butlerian Jihad.

[Heroic Mulatto]

And yet, Picard is still around.

[Fluffy]

And this is after Picard got infected by the space vampires that came back on the space shuttle from Halley's Comet.

I think Picard is undead, like Nicholas Cage.

[Heroic Mulatto]

It must have happened before then. Picard was a memeber of the Tiberian Praetorian Guard.

[Juice]

That was before he sired Guinevere.

[Fluffy]

Wow, his multi-millennia reign of undead terror must be STOPPED.

[Juice]

Speaking of Picard, he has an artificial heart, so the argument is invalid.

[plu1959]

Who the heck is "Geordi"?

[Pro Libertate]

Dude, don't you know Shakespeare? Geordi Andronicus. Jeez, American education really is in the pits.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Star Trek has the "Eugenics Wars"; Dune has the "Butlerian Jihad". Both work to create an interesting aspect to their various milieu.

By the way, the character of Dr. Bashir was genetically modified.

[Mad Scientist]

Star Trek TNG has got to be the most anti-technology show ever done. The very first episode made it clear that the rest of the series was going to be a rank pile of shit: Q trumps the best technology of the entire federation with magic. Transporters can hurt you. Nanobots will turn everything into gray goo. The undercurrent of every show was that even in the future, when all diseases are cured and the galaxy has finally been rid of the evil of money, you will aspire to be a tiny, tiny cog in an incredibly pointless machine.

[Mickey Rat]

Besides the unpleasantness with Khan Noonian Singh and his people, eugenics also resulted in a significant number of hyperintelligent mentally disturbed people. It is difficult to justify experimenting on people to make them "better" when it is unclear what makes "good".

[Banjos]

33 Animals Who Are Extremely Disappointed In You

[Paul.]

#19 is the best.

[DengFing]

What a joke. All so the black community will shut up. Unless there is an ALL BLACK Jury, he will never be found guilty!

http://www.Get-Anon.tk

[RyanXXX]

What are you guys thinking of the new season of Game of Thrones? I think it's off to kind of a rocky start, but it's still in the "everyone get catched up on these blokes" phase

[Auric Demonocles]

Lots of set up. It might have too many characters now to juggle effectively.

[DrakeLeona]

my roomate's mother earned $15217 the prior month. she is working on the laptop and got a $403600 home. All she did was get fortunate and put to use the steps reported on this website (Click on menu Home more information) http://goo.gl/31Y2C

[Mike M.]

Trayvon Martin's own mother has apparently just come out and said that she believes the shooting was an accident. His mother!

If she herself believes this, how in the world is any prosecutor ever going to convince twelve jurors that Zimmerman is guilty of second degree murder? It's utterly absurd.

[Phrygian]

see this same post in every thread...can someone clue me into the meaning that I am missing?

[Pip]

derp

[Pip]

It's about neck-wear:

http://www.zazzle.com/catch_up.....3850601341

[Paul.]

With registration, certain trolls are guaranteed a space.