Cop Kicks Pregnant Woman, Japan Wreaks Havoc on Social Game Companies, Teen Expelled for Defending Self: P.M. Links

• An officer in DeKalb County, Georgia, is under criminal investigation for kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach while responding to a child custody argument. The officer has had two other complaints of unnecessary force filed against him, including a lovely two-fer where he shot a dog while responding to a call at the wrong address. (via Radley Balko's Twitter)

• Japan declares certain gambling-style systems in social media games are illegal, prompting massive stock drops in some gaming companies. (via Reason.com commenter Ty)
• Gay Indianapolis teen who got into trouble for bringing stun gun to school to protect himself from bullies (after the school failed to do so) gets expelled.
• Leaders of 30 free market think tanks in Latin America sign an open letter to the Cato Institute hoping the conflict between Cato and the Koch brothers is "resolved in the best way possible" and that they will continue getting assistance.
• European nations agree to give Greece 5.2 billion euros (about $6.7 billion) to help the nation meet financial obligations.
• Supporters of Chen Guangcheng in China turn to the constantly morphing Internet meme environment to bypass political censorship and spread their message.
• Fannie Mae says that for the first time since 2008, it will not need money from the Treasury Department to balance its books. It has received $117 billion in aid since 2008.

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Comments

[Mo' $parky]

What kind of weird time warp is this?

[Bobarian]

It must be like the old drinking meme -- 'It's 5 o'clock somewhere!'

[Ken Shultz]

Fannie Mae says that for the first time since 2008, it will not need money from the Treasury Department to balance its books. It has received $117 billion in aid since 2008.

I didn't expect them to send me a thank you note, but you'd think I'd have at least gotten a Christmas card.

[Ken Shultz]

Oh, wait! That money came from the Treasury Department?

Whew! For a second there, I thought it was coming from the taxpayers.

[Alack]

Thank god for free money!

[R C Dean]

Fuck me, but if I had pocketed a cool $117BB, I think I could probably get by for a year or two without any help.

[Brett L]

Just for comparison, Elon Musk has built and flown rockets into space for 0.5% of that number.

[The Other Kevin]

Probably their sales for Mother's Day put them over the top.

[Mr. Love]

So Fannie Mae got 17.5 times as much as the last round of Greek bailout? Daaaammn... (Now, to be fair, the total size of the Greek bailout is about three times the size of the Fannie Mae bailout, but even that is hardly believable that a poorly managed country needs is within the same order of magnitude as a single company under presumed government oversight.)

[John]

Gay Indianapolis teen who got into trouble for bringing stun gun to school to protect himself from bullies (after the school failed to do so) gets expelled.

Sorry kid, but liberals hate guns and love government more than they like gays. And besides, the kid would have done more for the cause if the bullies had beaten him to death. Who is he not to be willing to martyr himself for the cause?

[Alack]

Yeah, he would've gotten a law named after him and everything! What's life when the legislature can make you immortal?

[Rich]

Wait, what? He's *black*?! Where TF is the Reverend Al Sharpton?

[o3]

so the bullies were lub-rahls? or maybe u meant the administrators beat him up? damn conflation is a unreconstructed abyss

[John]

Try again. And think real hard how punishing a kid for trying to defend himself and the phobia of guns created this.

[Zeb]

Even things that are called guns, but bear no resemblance to an actual gun, apparently.

Honestly, a rule banning weapons in school seems reasonable to me. My question is, if these other kids have actually been beating him up or something for which a stun gun woudl be an appropriate response, why aren't those other kids expelled and in jail?

That's what really gets me about all these new bullying laws. If people are beating you up and stealing your lunch money, those things are already crimes. Why is a new law necessary. And if they are just being mean, suck it up. People are assholes.

[wareagle]

because schools have a zero tolerance policy regarding violence. Feel free to read that as zero common sense but that is how it is. Getting your ass kicked? Don't fight back or you, too, will be suspended, maybe expelled like this kid. Thugs win.

[ant1sthenes]

Why aren't those other kids expelled and in jail?

What would be the point of kicking them out of one prison system just to put them in another one? Kid's lucky he got a ticket out. Maybe he can find someone to help him get an education.

[Mo' $parky]

Here's a nice local story.

The incident happened about 4:38 a.m. at an apartment in the 238 Maple St. complex, according to a press statement issued by the Agawam police. It stated officers arrived and could hear yelling and noise inside. "As police entry was made, the weapon of one of the responding officers was discharged. The bullet struck a female party within the apartment causing a non-fatal injury," the statement reads.

Robert Connell, who identified himself as the woman's uncle, said she made it through emergency surgery, but will have a long road to recovery.

Connell said the young mother of two is pregnant and recovering at Baystate Medical Center after suffering a gunshot wound to her jaw.

[Alack]

Entry was made and the weapon was discharged. You can tell the cops aren't to blame, because of the passive voice.

[Mo' $parky]

And you can also tell this gun is magical. It floated up out of the holster, after unbuckling it, and aimed itself right at the poor defenseless woman's face.

I guess there's another clue it couldn't be the cop's fault. He couldn't have hit her in the face in one shot if he was trying.

[Mad Scientist]

Damn, with guns like that around, it's no wonder the left wants to ban them.

[John]

the weapon of one of the responding officers was discharged.

You gotta love the passive voice. It is as if the weapon had a mind of its own. Is it really that hard to write "One of the officers shot the women"?

[Alack]

Yes, it is. Because that would imply liability, and no one is liable.

[John]

Even if you shoot someone, you are not necessarily liable. Maybe it was justified. Maybe it was a legitimate accident that couldn't be prevented. Whatever it is, weapons don't discharge themselves. If it went off, it was because some cop pulled the trigger and shot someone.

[robc]

Maybe it was a legitimate accident that couldn't be prevented.

That is the problem. That is all but impossible, as its impossible to accidentally fire nearly all modern firearms (that a cop would be using) by accident if they cop is following proper procedure.

And we know how much they love to say they were just following procedure.

If it went off, it was because some cop pulled the trigger and shot someone.

Exactly. Passive voice wouldnt have been used if the shooting was justifiable.

[Xenocles]

I don't know about that. The passive voice pervades our written language these days; it may not have been a conscious decision on the author's part.

[R C Dean]

Better, of course, would be "One of the officers shot a pregnant mother of two, in the face."

Why did I flash to the taser scen in The Hangover when I read that?

[Rich]

"All Agawam P.D. press statements will be written in passive voice."

[Alack]

Doors will be kicked, dogs will be shot, and procedures will be followed.

[Andrew S.]

Why do I continue to torture myself by reading the comments to those types of articles?

[Gojira]

Here's the best one, posted by "conservative watch dog":

1. A domestic disturbance call at 4:20 am involving a 21 year old with two kids and one on the way....
(I'm profiling here but my first thought is this girl probably isn't an outstanding, tax paying citizen, normal people are not still awake at this time)
2. All these replies are saying that she was unarmed? Wrong. I'm willing to bet if you respond to a domestic disturbance call at 4:20 am on someone and you come in the house, they will not be unarmed. Think, gun, bat, knife and so on.
(I'd also say, there is also a good chance this isn't the first time an officer has seen this "upstanding" young womans face.)

So basically it's her fault, she must have been armed, and no "normal" person should be in the early hours.

[Mad Scientist]

It's amazing to me how many conservatives slurp that cop cock. I know conservatives tend to be rule-based and authority-respectin', but why does that always seem to equate to "cops can do no wrong" as well? Cops are people just like everyone else, and pointing out that one of them is a complete moron isn't an attack on rules or authority.

[ant1sthenes]

I'm more surprised about journalists. I mean, I know they need access, but you would think there would be a second layer that repackages public information in a less weasel-worded fashion.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Fannie Mae says that for the first time since 2008, it will not need money from the Treasury Department to balance its books.

It got an email from a Nigerian prince.

[Rich]

Don't be silly.

Fannie Mae has merely cut out the middleman and is borrowing money directly from China.

[Episiarch]

A swaggering, overbearing, tin-plated Nigerian dictator with delusions of godhood?

[Fist of Etiquette]

That sagging old comment is designed like a garbage scow. Half the blogosphere knows it. That's why they're learning to speak Fistonese.

[Episiarch]

I have never questioned the posts or the intelligence of any regular commenters on H&R. Until now.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I have comments around A.M. Links, I have comments around P.M. Links. The only reason those comments are there is because Reason wants them there. As for what you want... it has been noted and logged. Seacrest, out.

[General Butt Naked]

Awww, someone sounds cranky. Want a juice box, big guy?

[Fist of Etiquette]

That's like a virtual slap in the face to James "Jimmy Boy" Kirk.

[sage]

And a penchant for buggary.

[Episiarch]

I wasn't talking about you, sage. But way to go and make it all about you, as usual. Attention whore.

[sage]

Sorry. I was having a Mary moment.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Young's story has gained national attention. He and Grimes have appeared on CNN and "Good Morning America." Kris Jenner, the mother of the Kardashian sisters, tweeted a message of support to Young on Sunday.

Poor Arsenal Tech. They probably don't know what they're in for.

[Mo' $parky]

UNLEASH THE KARDASHIANS!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Kardashian occupations can be devastating and last for decades.

[JW]

Not to mention the millions of lives lost.

[A Serious Man]

Keith Judd, a convicted felon from Texas, gets 42% of the vote in the West Virginia Democratic primary.

[Brett L]

Behold the awesome power of the fully operational mullet.

[Episiarch]

This mullet is now the ultimate power in West Virginia!

[A Serious Man]

One Mullet to Rule Them All

[Mongo]

Cops give OWS protesters drugs as part of study/training:

http://blogs.citypages.com/blo.....pended.php

The OWSers have moved in to a local urban park. I thought that the disdain for them was due to right-wing hysteria but, man, those cats are filthy....

[Rich]

... as part of the State Patrol's Drug Recognition Expert program.

1) Dr. DRE

2. DREP dead

[Joe M]

It's really too bad that it's not the Drug Expert Recognition Program.

[John]

Dick Lugar proves to the world he is the prick everyone thought he was. From his concession statement

I hope my opponent wins in November to help give my friend Mitch McConnell a majority.

If Mr. Mourdock is elected, I want him to be a good Senator. But that will require him to revise his stated goal of bringing more partisanship to Washington. He and I share many positions, but his embrace of an unrelenting partisan mindset is irreconcilable with my philosophy of governance and my experience of what brings results for Hoosiers in the Senate. In effect, what he has promised in this campaign is reflexive votes for a rejectionist orthodoxy and rigid opposition to the actions and proposals of the other party. His answer to the inevitable roadblocks he will encounter in Congress is merely to campaign for more Republicans who embrace the same partisan outlook. He has pledged his support to groups whose prime mission is to cleanse the Republican party of those who stray from orthodoxy as they see it.

This is not conducive to problem solving and governance. And he will find that unless he modifies his approach, he will achieve little as a legislator.

[Brett L]

What a dick. He and Arlen Specter should do the world a favor and throw themselves off the top of the Washington monument to protest "partisianship". Wait. They can take Hatch, McCain and all the other members of the multiple decade gang with them for extra effect.

[John]

I love all of the whinning about how this puts Indiana in play and that is somehow Mourdock's fault. Why didn't that old bastard step away gracefully and support Mourdock when it was obvious he was going to lose?

[Bardas Phocas]

You think young interns suck 'retire' senator's dicks?

[robc]

It wasnt the young people voting Lugar into office the last 36 years.

🙂

[R]

So what you're saying is that Luger lost because old people confused Mourdock with Matlock?

[Rich]

reflexive votes for a rejectionist orthodoxy

Sorry, Dick, that Rhodes Scholarship can't save you now.

[R C Dean]

he will achieve little as a legislator

Well, he'll just be following your example. Dick.

[Joe M]

Shorter Lugar: "My opponent, whom the voters chose over me, should follow my advice and be more like me."

[ant1sthenes]

Just give him a little time in Washington.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Chen Guangcheng's escape from house arrest has caught the attention of China's vast Internet community, despite his name being blocked by the "Great Firewall of China," the nation's Internet censors. The vehicle that sidesteps the censorship? The Internet meme.

China is going to rickroll all those subversively clever calls for Chen's release. "Never gonna give, never gonna give, never gonna give you up..."

[Mo' $parky]

Challenging the no-fly list.

With terrorism fears heightened following the discovery of another plot to blow up a plane using an underwear bomb

They were?

"In the modern day, air travel is absolutely fundamentally important to how we travel on a daily basis," says ACLU attorney Nusrat Choudhury

It is?

"If terrorists knew they were on the list, they would change their identity or turn to an operative who may not be on the list to conduct an attack," the TSC official said.

They would?

"They can ask me anything they want about what I know, and I'll be more than happy to answer, because I have nothing to hide about what I've done in Libya, or how I've lived my life in the United States," says Tarhuni.

If you have nothing to hide...

[John]

They were? Yes

It is? Yes and even if it is not, it is still your right to travel

They would? If they can't fly, they would kind of have to.

If you have nothing to hide... then you have nothing to hide I guess.

Your point is?

[Mo' $parky]

Your point is?

My point is, you went away for so long that you came back an even bigger douche than you were before you left.

Also, your sarcasmometer is broken.

[Rich]

He was recently forced to take a 36-hour train ride to give a speech in Minneapolis. Then he drove 17 hours to Washington, D.C., to meet with the Libyan prime minister.

That's outrageous! Get that sucker on the No Ride and No Drive Lists, too!

[John]

And BTW, most of the people on the list come from countries who don't use the Latin alphabet. So spelling is shall we say liberal. Therefore, one person could be on the list four or five times for each of the known English spellings of his names. And if you happen to share that name, well good luck getting your name off the list. And if you should happen to come up on the list while you are overseas, well you can always swim back to the United States even if you are a citizen with a Constitutional right to enter the country.

[Rich]

Damn straight -- Don't forget the No Cruise List!

[Pip]

Minneapolis to DC in 17 hours?

[Brandon]

"With terrorism fears heightened following the discovery of another plot to blow up a plane using an underwear bomb

They were?"

Yes, if you consider the TSA terrorists. My boss is going to Germany for two weeks tomorrow, the first thing she said when she saw the underwear bomber story was "Dammit, the security line is going to be miserable now."

[Fist of Etiquette]

Dozier complained to the DeKalb Police Department, and authorities determined the officer's actions were within police policy, Channel 2 said.

We're allowed to kick preggos now?

[R C Dean]

Well, yeah, as long as you do it the way you were taught at cop school.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Raven Dozier said she was trying to help her brother calm down during a child custody issue that involved police. She said she started crying and questioning officers after a Taser gun was used on her brother.

"I think he really just didn't want me asking him any questions, questioning him, and when I did question him is when he kicked me," Dozier told Channel 2.

DeKalb police did not comment on the incident to Channel 2.

But instead kicked Channel 2 in its uterus.

[Brandon]

I'm assuming Dunphy is going to skip this thread.

[Banjos]

*runs and hides*

[nipplemancer]

Vidal Sasson is dead. I didn't even know that was a real person.

[Rich]

He was real, and he died Sassoon.

[Alack]

Vidal do well to learn a lesson from his great life.

[Zeb]

It surprised me as well when I found out that it wasn't just tone of those made up brand name words.

[John]

I just found out Mavis Beacon is not a real person. Who knew?

[nipplemancer]

I never bothered to read the obit, I do wonder if that was his given name. It's so ridiculous that it can't be real.

[John]

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/329123.php

Liberals face the prospect of enduring the unendurable.

[Gojira]

Shep Smith warns GOP not to be on the "wrong side of history" regarding gay marriage.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cu.....59510.html

[Alack]

Dear God, I'm beginning to think that man may actually be sane. Quick, someone give me a video about how he hates Mexicans or something so I can regain my natural aura of cynicism!

[nipplemancer]

Shep is the ultimate sleeper on FNC. He's obviously high most of the time to boot.

[Mo' $parky]

Shep kicks ass. He is the real deal.

[robc]

I didnt click the link...Shep Smith wants to end government licensing of marriage?

That is the only right side of the issue.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

They should get rid of Hannity and put Step in his time slot.

[Mensan]

Dozier complained to the DeKalb Police Department, and authorities determined the officer's actions were within police policy ...

See, nothing to worry about. Kicking women who are almost 9-months pregnant in the abdomen is within department policy.

On a side note: I really wish people in general, but particularly reporters, would learn the difference between the stomach and the abdomen.