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Politics

Romney Booed by NAACP, Russia Restricts Internet, Where Is Jesse Jackson Jr.?: P.M. Links

Scott Shackford | 7.11.2012 4:30 PM

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  • Mitt Romney's speech at an NAACP convention prompted boos when he pledged to repeal ObamaCare and told attendees he was the candidate who would make life better for the African-American community.

  • Because some California public employee contracts don't put any caps on the amount of vacation or sick leave time that can be accrued and then cashed out, retiring police chiefs in the state are getting final paychecks in the hundreds of thousands when they retire. Downey's former police chief earned $594,000 in 2009 after cashing out more than 3,300 hours of unused leave.
  • The president of Florida A&M University resigned today in the fallout of a marching band hazing incident that left a drum major dead. Eleven band members face felony hazing charges, and the victim's family is suing the university.
  • The Russian Parliament passed a law today allowing the government to impose restrictions on the Internet. While introduced as a typical "for the children" law to curb sites devoted to pedophilia and drug use, opponents are concerned that the quickly-drawn-up law would be misused on behalf of authorities. Given that Russia is drastically increasing its fines for violating protest laws and seeks to make slander a criminal act, why would anybody think the rules would be abused?
  • House Democrats are urging the family of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Chicago, to explain the circumstances of Jackson's mysterious, unexplained month-long medical leave. Jackson's wife, Sandi, said she hopes doctors will release details soon. Jackson's office had said he was being treated for exhaustion but later said that Jackson's condition was "more serious than [they] thought" and will require extended treatment, without explaining what the condition was.
  • Actress Roseanne Barr will not be appearing on the presidential ticket of the Green Party. On Twitter she wished the party luck and then said, "The green party has never been interested in anything I have to say."
  • Journalists, bloggers, and writers from around the world are invited to enter the 2012 Bastiat Prize for Journalism, which will honor commentary, analysis, and reporting that best demonstrates the importance of freedom and its underlying institutions.

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NEXT: House Obamacare Repeal Passes

Scott Shackford is a policy research editor at Reason Foundation.

PoliticsGreen PartyLawsuitsMitt RomneyRussiaCongressCampaigns/ElectionsInternetWorldScience & Technology
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  1. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

    Downey's former police chief earned $594,000 in 2009 after cashing out more than 3,300 hours of unused leave.

    The man was all-go-no-quit. He ate at his desk, for shit sake. He deserves a half a mill on his way out the door.

    1. db   13 years ago

      My former employer(a publicly traded corp) allowed employees to bank vacation for many years. It was not unheard of for retirees to take 6months of banked leave priot to their official separation date or walk away with a large lump sum. In recent years, the company discouraged the vacation option because of the cost of benefits and headcount issues.

      We're talking about people who earned thousands of hours of vacation by sacrificing their lives for a high stress job. In my mind, not worth it. I wouldn't assume that government employees created the same level of value nor experienced the same stress levels as my former coworkers.

    2. R C Dean   13 years ago

      How many people believe that he actually had foregone 3300 hours of leave, as opposed to just not reporting time off?

      1. Spartacus   13 years ago

        This, and...the rate works out to $180 per hour. Policing must pay a lot better than I thought.

        1. The Hammer   13 years ago

          Policing pays a lot better than any police officer wants you to know.

        2. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

          He was the chief.

        3. SugarFree   13 years ago

          It doesn't breakdown his annual salary for 2009 to which the 3,300 vacation hours were added to.

          3,300 hours is 1.58 work years (40hrs X 52 weeks), so his base salary could have been in the 190K range, with a 300K vacation bonus dropped on it.

          Still means he made $91 an hour to be King Pig.

      2. generic Brand   13 years ago

        That was my first thought as well.

        1. Scarcity   13 years ago

          Mine too, but then I RTFA and realized that was his total comp for the year in which he retired, so it includes a year of salary.

          Isn't salary for a man of his stature already like $2M in CA? Sounds to me like he took a selfless pay cut and Reason is just fanning flames with ignorance! What a hero!

      3. SugarFree   13 years ago

        Don't underestimate the insanely high amounts of time off worked into pubsec contracts.

        1. Brett L   13 years ago

          It was originally in lieu of truly competitive pay. Then at some point in the late 80s to early 90s, pay caught up, but the extra time never went away.

        2. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

          What the fuck is three weeks of "leave" for if you already have a month of vacation?

          1. SugarFree   13 years ago

            Seven weeks of vacation. Duh. Can't you do simple math?

            1. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

              Not without my fancy engineering programs at work.

              1. Dylan   13 years ago

                I'd be embarrassed to reveal some of the arithmetic I've entered into Matlab.

                1. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

                  I've always got a window or two of MATLAB open, so it's often faster to just alt+tab to it then think about it for a couple of seconds.

  2. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

    The Russian Parliament passed a law today allowing the government to impose restrictions on the Internet.

    The Russians have already self-imposed restrictions on their internet, what with those queer keyboards they have to use.

    1. gaijin   13 years ago

      queer keyboards

      an odd type?

      1. Scarcity   13 years ago

        golf clap

  3. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

    "The green party has never been interested in anything I have to say."

    I never thought I would have anything in common with the Green Party.

    1. rac3rx   13 years ago

      You know you're TEH FAIL when the Green Party, who nominated this nut for President, thinks you're a complete whackadoodle.

    2. WWNGD?   13 years ago

      You seem to be interested in not being interested in what she has to say.

      1. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

        Very interested.

    3. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

      Rosanne accomplished the impossible in making the Green Party look sane.

    4. Laird   13 years ago

      You have to give credit to whoever took that photo of Roseann Barr. I almost makes that hideous bitch look halfway attractive. Almost.

      1. amelia   13 years ago

        The alt-text is awesome! She is looking very much like Susan Lucci in a particular shot that keeps showing up on my Facebook (Lucci fan here). When I saw the pic I thought of Lucci right away :0

  4. Archduke PantsFan   13 years ago

    A Manitoba judge said the "gloves are coming off" against drunk drivers as he sentenced a first-time offender with jail time.
    Provincial court Judge Raymond Wyant handed Jesse Friesen a 14-day jail sentence on Wednesday, along with a 15-month driving prohibition and two years of supervised probation.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/.....iving.html

    Be stunned by the poll results.
    Or not.

    1. Brett L   13 years ago

      I imagine its "they should shoot them!!1! Unless its my cousin or nephew or daughter who are just misguided angels who didn't really do anything wrong!"

      That seems to be the usual sentiment.

    2. General Butt Naked   13 years ago

      Stunned? Nope.

      People will take any chance they can to throw victimless criminals in jail. It makes 'em feel all righteous and shit.

      1. Tulpa the White   13 years ago

        Standing in the middle of the park with a blindfold on firing a gun in random directions is usually going to be a victimless crime, too.

        1. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

          ...and parking perpendicular to traffic.

        2. Archduke PantsFan   13 years ago

          just like punching someone in the dark!

        3. Coeus   13 years ago

          Every fucking time with this shit.

          For the slow among us:

          The purpose of firing a gun is to destroy what you're pointing it at. If the purpose of driving a car was to destroy what you're pointing it at, you'd have a point.

          Getting in a car with a BAC higher than an arbitrarily assigned limit is in no way analogous to randomly firing a gun in a populated area. Now, if we were talking about reckless driving in traffic, you'd actually have a point.

          This is not a difficult point, tulpa. It's actually pretty simple to comprehend.

          1. SugarFree   13 years ago

            Coeus, this might help: As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

      2. Night Elf Mohawk   13 years ago

        I'm not a fan of BAC-based determination of impairment. That said, do you think there is there any point between driving erratically and killing someone at which driving under the influence should be treated more seriously than driving erratically? Or should drunk drivers be treated just like the sober guy who screwed up and went the wrong way on a one way street, or the sober guy who made an illegal lane change and cut someone off, or whatever indicators of dangerous driving are used?

        1. Fluffy   13 years ago

          I'd settle for DUI only coming into play if you drive erratically.

          I'm not concerned about the range between driving erratically and killing someone.

          I'm concerned about the people pulled over who aren't driving to endanger but are presumed to be a hazard anyway.

          You may not believe this, but I actually am totally fine to drive after three beers. My evidence for this is that I've done it for 25 years and not hit anything.

          Especially now that the safety neurotics have produced all sorts of testing data showing that "distracted" driving is "just as dangerous" as driving with a .08. All that proves to me is that driving with a .08 mustn't actually be that dangerous.

          1. Emmerson Biggins   13 years ago

            +1.

            I'm forced to agree that there is a point where DUI is a threat to other people, even if nobody else gets hurt that particular time.

            The govmt should have to prove that you are an actual threat though. Not just declare arbitrary lines, and then proclaim those lines to be evidence of the threat.

          2. Brett L   13 years ago

            I had a friend who got popped. 0.2 (that's 2.5x .08, not a typo). Lawyer told him if he hadn't blown, he could have gotten him off based on the field sobriety test. I know another girl who I wouldn't let operate a vehicle after one glass of wine. Some people tolerate it better than others. Its a dicey subject, but I would still rather we held people responsible for the outcome of their behaviors rather than an arbitrary standard that lets pearl clutchers sleep peacefully.

          3. Night Elf Mohawk   13 years ago

            I'd settle for DUI only coming into play if you drive erratically.

            Agreed, hence my first sentence. It's still technically victimless at that point, though.

        2. Fluffy   13 years ago

          BTW, I think the sober guy who drives the wrong way on a one way street should be punished much more severely than the guy who drinks two beers and drives home perfectly normally with no incident at all.

          I have never, in my life, drived the wrong way on a one-way street. That's about 100x more dangerous to others than just about anything I've done in a car since I was 21. (That was the year I stupidly sprayed washer fluid on my windshield on a 16 degree day in a car that hadn't warmed up yet, freezing my windshield over and blinding me, sending me over the curb into a pole. An action which was much stupider and more dangerous to others than any of the times I drank wine with dinner before driving home on deserted back roads in frickin' depopulated southern Vermont.)

          1. Night Elf Mohawk   13 years ago

            Again, agreed.

            I don't care how "drunk" someone is if he is driving well. I don't care how sober someone is if he isn't driving well.

            I think it is appropriate for being under the influence to enhance the punishment on driving unsafely and I think blowing a .08 (or whatever) is irrelevant if that is the only "evidence" of impaired driving.

  5. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

    See the soaring new heights our grand governmental design has taken us to.

    A bill to ban shopping bag bans.

    It's a tongue-twister to say -- and could be just as difficult to sign. But Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has to make that decision, as he considers whether to endorse a bill on his desk that would prohibit local governments across the state from banning plastic shopping bags.

    1. Scarcity   13 years ago

      There's some middle-school girl who is getting her 15 minutes because she (paraphrasing articles I read over the weekend) "understands that this bill, which at first glance appears to place strict rules on bag makers, actually removes the ability of local communities to ban the scourges of our pristine countryside." And so she's asking Quinn not to sign it.

  6. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

    "I'm hopeful that my husband's doctors will be able to release something soon," she told the Tribune. "I'm in constant talks with them about Jesse's condition and his medical prognosis going forward."

    So it's the doctors who are stonewalling constituents. Let's hope it's nothing more serious than a mild case of corruptionitis.

    1. R C Dean   13 years ago

      Reporters are morons. They swallow the most transparent evasions. Did none of them have the brains (or balls) to ask la Jackson "Have you authorized the physicians to release an update?"

      1. John   13 years ago

        They are not morons. They are just hacks who don't want to report anything that might embarrass their team.

        1. Episiarch   13 years ago

          No, they're both.

          1. John   13 years ago

            Good point.

            1. Eduard van Haalen   13 years ago

              Has anybody in history *actually* checked in to be treated for exhaustion?

              1. Anacreon   13 years ago

                No, I have been working in an ER for 25 years and have admitted thousands of patients to the hospital. Never once has ANYONE been admitted for "exhaustion". I have seen this used by celebs many times in the past (with an all-too-willing press) to cover "possibly embarrassing" admissions such as psychiatric conditions, substance addiction, or even illnesses which might cause mockery, such as genital diseases or plastic surgery.

    2. Aresen   13 years ago

      Uh, a politician is missing.

      Why should I think this is a bad thing?

      1. perlhaqr   13 years ago

        Because what he has might be contagious, and he isn't at work sharing it!

  7. John   13 years ago

    Lapdog Media play up NAACP boos for Romney, ignore applause for support of traditional marriage

    http://twitchy.com/2012/07/11/.....-marriage/

    1. Bitter Taxpayer   13 years ago

      This is why the comments are an integral part of HnR.

    2. wareagle   13 years ago

      Obamacare boos support the narrative; marriage cheers do not.

      1. ShagNasty   13 years ago

        Statisticaly speaking, black people are one of the most homophobic demographic groups.

      2. Eduard van Haalen   13 years ago

        Did they boo Obama?

        Oh, wait, Obama had a scheduling conflict so he sent Biden instead.

  8. AuH2O   13 years ago

    Dumbass wife of Nebraska Senatorial candidate Bob Kerrey allows Jezebel to come up with a new kind of shaming- "state shaming"

    The comments are great, but basically amount to, "But some of us are good progressives!"

    1. John   13 years ago

      She is a writer for SNL. So she can't even claim her comments were just funny.

      1. Apatheist ?_??   13 years ago

        HAH

  9. DEG   13 years ago

    A White House official called for broad regulation of the Internet:

    http://www.nextgov.com/cio-bri.....use/56713/

    It's dated yesterday so I don't think I can say that the US doesn't want to be left behind by Russia in the realm of Internet regulation.

    1. Metazoan   13 years ago

      Ah, what "they think the Internet needs." Right, because a collection of retarded lawyers and middle-Chinese basket weaving studies graduates know what an international network of billions of devices needs.

      Oh right, they are Top. Men.

  10. John   13 years ago

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/.....-take-down

    Some Spanish economist of the Austrian school destroys little Pauli Krugnuts in a debate. Pauli refuses to shake hands afterwards.

    I haven't watched it yet. But it is billed as being an epic beat down.

    1. Jerry on the road   13 years ago

      It wasn't as epic as was advertised, but the economist still made some good points.

      1. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

        Yeah it was epic.

        Krugnuts is about to cry at the 39-40 minute mark.

        It's probably the first time that anyone has called a bullshit to his face.

    2. Palin's Buttplug   13 years ago

      ZeroHead has no credibility at all.

      The idiots shorted bank stocks in mid 2009 after Obama made them raise capital.

      1. The Hammer   13 years ago

        Poor shrike; your hero has been completely emasculated by someone who has actually done some work in economics in the last 4 years. Must be tough.

        1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

          Say... doesn't Soros make money by fucking with money?

    3. ant1sthenes   13 years ago

      He was very irritated at the attempt to stop the audience from confusing celebrity with expertise.

  11. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

    But can you watch porn on it? Should you?

    But if you're looking to get in God's good graces, or you're simply in the market for a family-friendly tablet, you may want to check out Family Christian's Edifi.

    Billed as the world's first Christian tablet, its genesis came with the inevitable intersection of technology and religion, according to Brian Honorable, a technology supervisor at Family Christian, the group that sells the tablet.

    1. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

      The tablet can only list ten things.

      1. General Butt Naked   13 years ago

        Damn you.

        1. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

          Thou shalt have no other comments before me.

        2. Rich   13 years ago

          Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's comment.

    2. General Butt Naked   13 years ago

      Billed as the world's first Christian tablet...

      Wouldn't that be the ten commandments?

      1. Archduke PantsFan   13 years ago

        That's a Jewish tablet.

        1. Episiarch   13 years ago

          Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is how a good joke is done WITHOUT BEING A FUCKING PUN.

          1. General Butt Naked   13 years ago

            Rohmite.

            1. Episiarch   13 years ago

              "Hors d'oeuvres...vich must be obeyed at all times vitout qvestion!"

    3. Agammamon   13 years ago

      That has got to be one of the most useless electronic gadgets I've ever seen aimed squarely at a market segment that won't know any better.

      Shitty specs, "safesearch" software you could install on any tablet, and a list of christian internet stations that you could create yourself with 15 minutes of google. All that to sell an e-book version of the bible and its not like there aren't a lot of those around.

      1. WWNGD?   13 years ago

        But it is cheap... not cheap enough but...okay get one of those discount $70 refurbished Android 2.3 things.

  12. AuH2O   13 years ago

    For the ladies, classic edition.

    Burt Reynolds:

    http://www.smashboxstudios.com.....rtless.jpg

    And Scott Bakula:

    http://ilyasiben.blognownow.co.....008_01.jpg

    1. AuH2O   13 years ago

      Also, for Kristen and nicole, Mr. Michael Chiklis:

      http://imageshack.us/f/197/mic.....astic.jpg/

      1. Episiarch   13 years ago

        I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you probably have no idea which men the ladies find attractive. I know I sure as hell don't. You're probably not linking them any favors.

        1. Apatheist ?_??   13 years ago

          Nope those two said so earlier today.

          1. Scarcity   13 years ago

            I'm a straight guy, but I don't feel insecure at all recognizing who the girls are likely lusting for.

            So I have to say: Chiklis? Really? Wife and I have been watching the Shield on DVD over the past couple of months; I usually ask her if she thinks some guy in a show is hot. Never crossed my mind to ask about Vic.

            1. Episiarch   13 years ago

              It has nothing to do with insecurity. I just honestly don't know, and I know I don't know. If someone pointed to Jon Hamm walking down the street, I'd dismiss him in a second. And I'd apparently be utterly wrong.

              1. T   13 years ago

                I know what my wife finds attractive, because she's told me. Although judging by revealed preference, she might be fibbing. But the rest of the ladies? I got no idea.

              2. Apatheist ?_??   13 years ago

                I agree, but in this case goldwater was told directly.

              3. Brett L   13 years ago

                Archer informs me that Burt Reynolds was and is still hot. And that even straight men can find him attractive.

                1. Warty   13 years ago

                  Phrasing!

                2. rac3rx   13 years ago

                  No way dude, that shot of Burt Reynolds freaked me the fuck right out. Not good.

                  Bakula, albeit thin, isn't hot, but isn't too bad. I love me some Quantum Leap though.

                  I don't know what is a Michael Chiklis, but it doesn't really seem my type either.

                  /unconventional tastes

            2. Agammamon   13 years ago

              Yeah, I have to agree - I'm straight, Burt's still hot, Bakula's attractive, but Chiklis? Really?

              Especially in that picture - he looks like Evan Handler's character in "Californication".

              1. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

                The Chiklis thing is a joke from this morning. But that's not important right now. What is important is that the ladies like testicles. Big ones. Everyone knows that.

            3. Hell's Librarian   13 years ago

              I have to agree with that one. Not down with the Chiklis (but Kristen tends to like different menz than I do anyway).

              1. nicole   13 years ago

                Actually my joke on morning links was misinterpreted. I was +1ing sloopy. I like, um...well, since we were talking about young Kirk from the Star Trek movie before, I liked young Spock much better.

      2. Coeus   13 years ago

        It is heartening for my prematurely balding self to hear that Chikless is considered attractive by at least a few people.

      3. Coeus   13 years ago

        It is heartening for my prematurely balding self to hear that Chikless is considered attractive by at least a few people.

    2. Agammamon   13 years ago

      You know what's scary about Burt? The hair on his legs is so long that it actually obscurs the flesh colored speedo. Burt Reynolds is not a man - he's a (barely) shaved ape.

      Still awesome though.

  13. Brett L   13 years ago

    How to make cavity causing bacteria drug resistant

    1. John   13 years ago

      I think that looks like a pretty cool deal.

      1. Brett L   13 years ago

        It'll work great for 15 years. Then superbacteria will inhabit our mouths and eat our flesh. Or something.

        1. DJF   13 years ago

          "Or something"

          Turn you into a zombie, but with great teeth and gums.

        2. WWNGD?   13 years ago

          yea but Obamacare will have taken over and pay for implants for everyone because of fairness and equality and because free everything for everybody because it is a right. and stuff.

  14. AuH2O   13 years ago

    Jezebel proclaims Mitt Romney will not win the single female vote

    But this is because, according to the linked comment:

    Moral of the story? People get stupider and selfisher as they get marrieder.

    1. John   13 years ago

      He is way ahead among single women. They think the Julia cartoon is a documentary.

    2. nicole   13 years ago

      People get stupider and selfisher as they get marrieder.

      That has got to be the stupidest thing I can even imagine. GAH.

      1. John   13 years ago

        If you have a husband and children Nicole, you are not as committed to the collective.

      2. Episiarch   13 years ago

        You should read more Jezebel if that's the stupidest thing you can imagine. Because you won't have to imagine anything.

        1. nicole   13 years ago

          I think it's probably the stupidest thing I can imagine because I've read too much Jezebel. Killing brain cells and whatnot.

          1. Episiarch   13 years ago

            Maybe you should switch to booze?

            1. nicole   13 years ago

              Well I think we can do better than that.

              If nothing else, though, there should be a Jezebel add-on for the Reason drinking game.

              1. Episiarch   13 years ago

                Cocaine?

    3. OO=======D   13 years ago

      They expect only one female at the polls?

      1. Paul.   13 years ago

        The Queen, yes. They're going to pry her out of her hive to vote.

        1. Agammamon   13 years ago

          Dun dun dun dun dun FLASH! AHA! SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERS!

    4. Skip   13 years ago

      I read somewhere that Republicans usually slightly win the single white women vote so maybe they should all just become black.

  15. Brett L   13 years ago

    Where is the FDA when we really need it?

    "Now entrepreneur Michelle Mone wants to cash in on those feeling the burden of a bigger bosom.

    The 40-year-old is launching a new USculpt range of creams which claim to offer the first 'breast reduction in a bottle'."

    1. OO=======D   13 years ago

      "the first 'breast reduction in a bottle'."

      Meth?

      1. Paul.   13 years ago

        From my experience it's having children... but yeah, that's the fast-track.

    2. Bitter Taxpayer   13 years ago

      Michelle Mone is the enemy of my people.

    3. gaijin   13 years ago

      Just don't let that shit touch your male junk...

  16. Brett L   13 years ago

    Where is the FDA when we really need it?

    "Now entrepreneur Michelle Mone wants to cash in on those feeling the burden of a bigger bosom.

    The 40-year-old is launching a new USculpt range of creams which claim to offer the first 'breast reduction in a bottle'."

    1. Brett L   13 years ago

      Its the circle of life

      Or, idiot feeds self to tigers.

      1. Brett L   13 years ago

        WTF squirrels?

        1. Agammamon   13 years ago

          Idiot climbiung into tiger caged and getting killed is not news.

          Man climbing into the squirel cage and getting devoured - now that's interesting.

      2. db   13 years ago

        Is that like responding to your own comment?

        1. Brett L   13 years ago

          My other personality got loose for a second. The drugs are taking hold as we speak.

      3. Scarcity   13 years ago

        BATH SALTS!!1!

  17. Mike M.   13 years ago

    It's pretty obvious that J.J. Junior is either in rehab, or he had some kind of mental nervous breakdown. Rumors have even been floated that he might have tried to commit suicide.

    Of course if a normal person doesn't show up to work for a month and disappears without telling anyone why, he almost always ends up losing his job. There's no doubt about it: it's pretty damn good to be a member of America's modern ruling class.

    1. Rich   13 years ago

      I thought that "rehab" and "nervous breakdown" had both been destigmatized. It has to be something more scandalous. Maybe he's good the goods on Holder?

      1. Rich   13 years ago

        *Got* 'em, even.

    2. Jerry on the road   13 years ago

      At moments like this you would hope that Breitbart was still alive, because he would have found out.

    3. Scarcity   13 years ago

      His office made the first acknowledgment of his absence ("being treated for exhaustion") 1 hour before the deadline for a candidate to file to run against him in the fall.

      1. Scarcity   13 years ago

        http://chicagoist.com/2012/07/.....ed_in-.php

        The timing of announcing Jackson's leave of absence has taken on an added significance. Jackson's spokesman Frank Watkins released the statement at 5 p.m. June 25, which coincidentally was also the deadline for independent candidates to file paperwork with the State Board of Elections to run against the congressman in the November general election. Watkins told the Tribune the timing was merely a coincidence.

  18. Karl Hungus   13 years ago

    Caller: "Hello, 911? I haz the sadz and I'm gonna eat this whole bottle of aspirin!"

    911 Operator: "So you want to die like a little bitch then."

    Caller [sniffling]: "No! I wanna die like a man!"

    911 Operator: "Well the Copenhagen Zoo just opened a new tiger exhibit . . .

    1. Brett L   13 years ago

      Dammit! I blame the squirrels.

      1. Karl Hungus   13 years ago

        Ha! A minute apart!

        1. Paul.   13 years ago

          If you're not last, you're first!

    2. Paul.   13 years ago

      "The tigers attacked him and killed him. It is likely that a bite to the throat was the primary reason for his death," Borg said

      According to modern police passive-voice doctrine, it was lack of oxygen to the brain that killed him.

  19. Mint Berry Crunch   13 years ago

    Jackson's office had said he was being treated for exhaustion

    Hopefully his "exhaustion" doesn't make him get naked and jack it in San Diego like the Kony 2012 guy.

    1. R C Dean   13 years ago

      "Exhaustion": the traditional Hollywood euphemism for snorting so much coke your nose could host the Winter Olympics.

    2. Rich   13 years ago

      Jackson's wife, Sandi, said she hopes doctors will release details soon.

      "Sandi"?! Could it ... Nah.

    3. WWNGD?   13 years ago

      You make it sound like that is a bad thing.

  20. AuH2O   13 years ago

    So, if you missed the orginal "Pregimony" editorial, here it is, and it is digusting:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07.....ytemc=rss


    Former spouses are often required to pay alimony; former cohabiting partners may have to pay palimony; why not ask men who conceive with a woman to whom they are not married to pay "preglimony"? Alternatively, we might simply encourage preglimony through the tax code, by allowing pregnancy-support payments to be deductible (which is how alimony is treated).

    The most frequent objection I hear to this idea is that it will give men a say over abortion. A woman's right to choose is sometimes eclipsed by an abusive partner who pressures her into terminating or continuing a pregnancy against her will, and preglimony could exacerbate this dynamic. But the existence of bullies shouldn't dictate the rules that govern all of society. In the name of protecting the most vulnerable, it sets the bar too low for the mainstream, casting lovers as strangers and pregnancy as only a woman's problem.

    It's also possible that preglimony could deter a different form of abuse by making men who pressure their partners into unprotected sex, on the assumption that the woman will terminate an unwanted pregnancy, financially liable for the potential result.

    1. R C Dean   13 years ago

      But the existence of bullies shouldn't dictate the rules that govern all of society.

      No doubt she (and the NYT) apply the same principle to gun control.

    2. nicole   13 years ago

      This is just a sign of me not understanding women, but I really don't get why anyone would think this was okay, let alone desirable. I don't think, "this could deter...men who pressure their partners into unprotected sex"; I think, "this will make a lot of baby-wanting crazy women 'forget' to take their pills."

      I mean, I feel the same way about child support. Everyone this morning was crowing about how obviously this just proves pro-choice people wrong, blah blah, and as a pro-choicer I obviously don't agree; I just don't think fathers should have to pay for anything since it's the mother's decision to have the child. I can't imagine doing that to a dude--"Oh hi honey, I decided I wanted a little one, so you get to pay for it! Thanks!"

      1. John   13 years ago

        That is because you are rational and consistent Nicole.

        And people were not saying this means the pro-choice people are right or wrong. They were just saying you can't be pro choice and claim life begins at birth and then demand pregemony.

        1. nicole   13 years ago

          Right, no, I know, I was eliding the argument. Fathers' rights arguments have always made a lot of sense to me, and I don't get why other women don't agree. Except for the irrationality thing.

          1. DEG   13 years ago

            It's easier to believe and act according to "Women have choices, men have responsibility for those choices" than it is to believe and act according to "Individuals have choices and individuals have responsibility for those choices."

          2. wareagle   13 years ago

            women like you are a threat to the sisterhood which sees females as better than men or hapless victims, depending on which viewpoint scores political points. The sisterhood has no place for a woman who actually enjoys being a woman with its advantages and disadvantages.

      2. Palin's Buttplug   13 years ago

        Many of the "libertarians" here are statist Aborto-Freaks.

        1. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

          Needz moar -- wait, I'm truly puzzled by what this is even supposed to mean.
          Nevermind.

          1. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

            Really. I just can't wrap my mind around this. Would an Aborto-Freak get their freak on by having an abortion, or by banning one? And would a statist Aborto-Freak have a different outlook than a voluntarist Aborto-Freak?

            1. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

              And now I'm imagining a Dickens character named Abortofreak Crisparkle. I AM just imagining that, aren't I?

            2. nicole   13 years ago

              Based on earlier comments from our friend, an Aborto-Freak is a pro-lifer.

            3. Palin's Buttplug   13 years ago

              Banning. Fake LPers like "John" want to build a state apparatus to protect zygotes in all stages.

              1. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

                Needz moar Monty Pythonz.
                Ahhhh. Back on firm soil, again.

                1. Episiarch   13 years ago

                  Normally I would admonish you for responding to the idiot sockpuppet, CN, but that was pretty good. Can I call you Abortofreak Crisparkle from now on?

                  1. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

                    Sure. Have at it.

                2. Scarcity   13 years ago

                  Barely related sperm song. Can't find audio, but here's the lyrics. I was at Ravinia when this PHC was recorded on Father's Day, it was f'n hilarious, whatever your general thoughts about GK.

                  http://prairiehome.publicradio.....hood.shtml

                  O nothing could be fina
                  Than to swim up a vagina...

                  You can get it from a bank
                  Or from Bill or John or Frank
                  But today is Father's Day and there is one guy to thank.
                  Buy a tie to thank your pa
                  That he did not withdraw

              2. generic Brand   13 years ago

                Just because you love your MP3s doesn't mean there's no place for the old farts and their records, PBP. I don't know why you keep getting hung up on the LPers when there are still people DJ'ing cassettes in the world!

                1. General Butt Naked   13 years ago

                  Can I be a pro-choice Aborto Freak?

                  It has a good ring to it, and I'd really like to self identify with it.

                  Hi, my name is General Butt Naked, Aborto Freak and proud.

                  1. SugarFree   13 years ago

                    "She's a very freaky girl,
                    The kind you don't want to be a mother."

            4. ant1sthenes   13 years ago

              I thought an aborto-freak was a baby that survived an abortion attempt, but was horribly mutilated and disfigured as a result. But such a person would probably be a hardline pro-lifer, so I could still be on the same page as shriek.

        2. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

          Many of the "libertarians" here are statist Aborto-Freaks.

          No, none of them are crypto-progressives.

        3. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

          There ARE other topics of human interest, shrike.

          Is it too late to abort you?

          1. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

            Wait, wait... YOU, calling OTHERS "statists"?

            That's a fuckin' laugh, Mister Obama Supporter.

      3. OO=======D   13 years ago

        My neighbor across the alley is pregnant again. She'll now have 3 guys paying her child support. She's tried to date me, but I'm not that stupid.

        1. Ska   13 years ago

          "You're just thinking with your dick."

          ...

          "Maybe your dick's not so dumb."

    3. Apatheist ?_??   13 years ago

      In the name of protecting the most vulnerable,

      Lol, you can't have it both ways pro-choicers.

      1. wareagle   13 years ago

        but that is the beauty of it...

      2. ant1sthenes   13 years ago

        Not if by "most vulnerable" they mean "women suffering through the disease of pregnancy".

    4. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

      it sets the bar too low for the mainstream, casting ... pregnancy as only a woman's problem.

      As long as she is allowed to get an abortion without consent of the father, yes it is her problem alone.

    5. Agammamon   13 years ago

      "and pregnancy as only a woman's problem."

      If you want to ensure that something gets completely screwed up, make more than one person responsible for it.

      Given that a woman naturally has to do all the heavy lifting in a pregnancy and can't just take off to another town to escape the consquences it would seem that making her accountable for the pregnancy would give her incentive to ensure that the dude is either someone she's done her due diligence on or that good birth control is used.

      1. DesigNate   13 years ago

        But that's not FAAAAAAIIIRRR!

        1. Eduard van Haalen   13 years ago

          As I suggested, the choice crowd* is jittery every time there's a discussion which suggests that the unborn have some sort of human characteristics.

          We've seen it with this debate, the debate over whether murderers of pregnant women should be held responsible for the death of the unborn child, etc., etc.

          Rigorous choicer logic would suggest that nothing be done to recognize the humanity of the unborn in these situations, but then the public gets all uncomfortable.

          *I'm not thinking of prochoice libertarian commenters, but of the organizations, elected officials, journalists, academics, etc. who make up the Choice establishment.

  21. R C Dean   13 years ago

    Mitt Romney's speech at an NAACP convention prompted boos when he pledged to repeal ObamaCare and told attendees he was the candidate who would make life better for the African-American community.

    Good use of selection bias to push a lefty media narrative.

    He was also cheered, I believe, on the traditional marriage issue. If I had to pick which was actually news, I would go with the latter. Everyone expect the NAACP to be reflexively hostile to the Repub; getting cheers from them is a surprise.

    1. John   13 years ago

      That part is not being reported. Shame on Reason for mindlessly following the lefty narrative.

      1. Tulpa the White   13 years ago

        It is a shame. Scott Shackford was looking like an even handed fellow to at least mitigate some of the harm done by Reason's recent pickups like Tucille and Krayewski.

        1. Episiarch   13 years ago

          Can you make this thread totally Tulpical too? Please?

        2. Apatheist ?_??   13 years ago

          http://cdn.memegenerator.net/i.....711683.jpg

          1. Episiarch   13 years ago

            I have another Tulpa meme for you, but you have to have seen Brazil to get it.

      2. generic Brand   13 years ago

        I think the boos from blacks was used as a counterpoint to the boos against blacks in the FAMU story.

    2. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

      They can't let it out that many blacks dislike gay marriage. Then they'll be accused of being racist!

  22. Brett L   13 years ago

    "The president of Florida AM University resigned today in the fallout of a marching band hazing incident that left a drum major dead. Eleven band members face felony hazing charges, and the victim's family is suing the university."

    This has people pissed around here. Never mind that a man was beaten to death by his fellow bandmembers. How DARE they keep the Marching 100 off the field. Oh, and BTW, hazing has been going on forever, and wasn't stopped because the band is the pride of FAMU. (Imagine this was a football team hazing in the SEC or basketball team hazing in the ACC if you're confused as to how this could possibly happen.)

    1. John   13 years ago

      When they cracked down on hazing, most universities were too PC to go after black fraternities. It is amazing how much hazing still goes on in black college organizations.

      1. Ska   13 years ago

        Nothing says brotherhood like branding.

    2. Rich   13 years ago

      at the time of Champion's death, 101 members of the band were either not academically eligible or not enrolled in the marching band class

      Excellent.

      1. John   13 years ago

        So it was basically a gang masquerading as a marching band.

        1. Brett L   13 years ago

          Again, think football before Miami got the death penalty. Only with an HBCU that had such bad organization that nobody knew what the fuck was going on. (Seriously, FAMU has had one crisis after another related to administrative things like grades and budgets for normal enrollees.) Dr. Ammons did a lot to clean up that side of the culture. Unfortunately, he wasn't brave enough to take on the Band and their boosters, which are basically all of the exes and alumni.

          1. wareagle   13 years ago

            at FAMU, the band is bigger than the football team. That's true with a a lot of HBCUs. And I don't think Miami got the death penalty; it just decided that the thug culture instituted by Jimmy Johnson and nurtured by Dennis Erickson had become a huge embarrassment. Butch Davis left a fairly-well righted ship behind but it did not take long to backslide.

            1. Apatheist ?_??   13 years ago

              had become a huge embarrassment.

              What? 7th floor crew is beautiful poetry.

              If that bitch only knew...

          2. Anonymous Coward   13 years ago

            As a former (Praise Aqua Buddha) resident of Tallahassee, I honestly can't see why anyone would subject themselves to Florida AM. I saw and heard things about the administrative staff, from the Registrar's Office, to Financial Aid, to Career Services to Student Housing and everything in between, to wonder who but the most prejudiced of nutbags would pay for that sort of terrible treatment.

            Robert Champion bears some responsibility. He was a 26-year-old man. It is irrational that an adult man should consent to be beaten in the name of musical fraternity. But even if he did consent, against all good sense, to be beaten, he did not consent to being killed. His murderers (felony hazing be damned, this was murder), can spend the next 25-to-life asking themselves if getting their jollies beating a man to death was worth being stuck in a cage.

            1. Brett L   13 years ago

              Thank you, I meant to use the word 'murdered' at least once in the original post.

        2. Rich   13 years ago

          Yes.

          By golly, where are the lawsuits using the band-member ineligibility to have the court ruling invalidated?

      2. rac3rx   13 years ago

        Actually people being in a college marching band and not being enrolled in the marching band class (or the University for that matter) isn't really that uncommon. I'm not sure how one is academically eligible for marching band anyway.

  23. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

    why SHOULD there be a cap on the leave? good for the downey police chief. if he earned the leave, he should have a right to cash it out.

    i notice agencies vary widely on how they deal with sick leave. some allow people to cash out on a percentage basis (vs. vacation which is cashed out at 100%). iow, 8 hrs of sick leave get cashed out the equivalent of 4 hrs straight time (50%) or whatever.

    that's GOOD.

    agencies that don't allow people to cash out sick leave INCENTIVIZE sick leave abuse. think about it. if you have 100 hrs of sick leave accrued, you are going to retire in a couple of years, and you know you won't get paid anything for the leave, it incentivizes you to USE the leave. got a little sniffle? fuck it. call in sick. also, my agency allows officers to donate leave to other officers who may need it. i was fortunate to be the beneficiary of such generosity when i recently had some serious medical issue and exhausted my leave.

    again, we EARN this leave. the article seems to imply there is some sort of impropriety here. i don't see it.

    1. John   13 years ago

      You should be able to cash out sick leave. But you there should also be a cap on how much you earn. Make people use it or lose it.

      1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

        but again, that just incentivizes abuse of the sick leave. we DO have a cap on vacation (you have to use it) but NOT sick, since a cap on the latter incentivizes abuse.

        if you can't accrue more than X hrs sick leave, you are incentivized to TAKE sick leave whether or not you are sick vs. waste it.

        1. OO=======D   13 years ago

          Shorter Dunphy: Fuck morality!

          1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

            i'm not saying it's not immoral to abuse sick leave.

            i am saying it's a reality.

            incentivizes matter. libertarians recognize that.

            heck, my agency sets some good incentives in that if you don't use a sick day all year, you get (iirc) 2 days EXTRA vacation put into your account. if you use 1 or 2, you get 1 day.

            that's a way to incentivize stuff.

            here's a fucking hint. not everybody is morally perfect, and i am speaking of what happens in the real world, not in a perfect world where everybody acts morally.

            heck, my job would be pretty fucking boring if everybody acted morally.

            1. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

              Did you just admit that cops aren't perfectly moral?

              1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

                um, i have said a metric assload of times that cops are human, fallible, etc. that excessive force , corruption, etc. has always occurred and will always occur

                i have never claimed cops to be perfectly moral. i believe they are more moral than the 'average' person and on the whole we deserve (and get, according to polling and empirical data) and get great amounts of respect from the public.

                my viewpoint of cops has changed based on experience. i used to have many of the same views as the average reasonoid bigot, because i only saw select data. heck, even gillespie has opined that most cops do a good job, etc.

                contrary to what the lying bigots here say, i am hardly a cop apologist. i recognize that corruption happens, it's bad, and cops shoudl be punished

                what i *know* is that the "thin blue line' is MUCH MUCH less prevalent than in the old days, as the immense amount of cases i have shown where cops turn in other cops shows.

                cops in america do a damn good job and on the whole are damn good people

                they are also fallible.

                and again, "sick" is a somewhat subjective thing. excess fatigue, depression, aches and pains, etc. could all justify a sick day.

                and for officers who have diligently busted their asses and gone to work WHEN sick many times, so as to build up sick leave, i'm not going to lament that sometimes on occasion they may take a mental health day or a recovery day in addition to a day where they have bubonic plague

            2. wareagle   13 years ago

              moral imperfections are bit tougher to swallow when the public is paying for them. Folks in education have been doing for decades what this chief did; they just banked time in smaller increments.

              1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

                what moral imperfection is apparent in the case of this chief?

                he earned the leave, he didn't take it, and now he is cashing it out.

                good for him

                in my agency, if an officer calls in sick, we are so understaffed, it will almost always result in anotehr officer coming in to work overtime.

                which is ... expensive.

                so, by allowing officers to cash out sick leave on a percentage basis, it is certainly cheaper than if everybody took all their sick leave.

                1. wareagle   13 years ago

                  again, he did not earn it. You do not earn something by doing nothing. Sick leave is for when you are sick. It is supposed to discourage hero types from bringing their crud into the office, not to be used as a nest egg paid at public expense.

                  1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

                    he WORKED thousands of hours. that's how he earnedd it. sick leave is part of our compensation package. per our contract, it's EARNED.

                    1. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

                      he WORKED thousands of hours

                      How, moonlighting?

                2. Scarcity   13 years ago

                  Jesus dude, in the real world we get PTO. Sick, vacation, kids softball game? Don't give a fuck, just take it out of your PTO.

                  1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

                    some private companies have PTO. others have sick, vacation, comp etc.

                    my agency has the latter. markets work. different companies/ agencies offer DIFFERENT benefits and employees CHOOSE companies/agencies, partly based on what benefits they will receive

                    i chose my agency in large part based on philosophy, reputation and BENEFITS, just as i chose my state based on better privacy protections and RKBA protections

                    markets work. you want better cops, you pay better, and you offer better benefits

        2. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

          if you can't accrue more than X hrs sick leave, you are incentivized to TAKE sick leave whether or not you are sick vs. waste it.

          Or maybe pigs that abuse their sick leave should be fired.

          Your sense of entitlement is disgusting.

          Fuck You, cocksucker!

    2. Restoras   13 years ago

      Almost sounds like you believe you are ENTITLED to it. Right up until the taxpayers can't/won't foot the bill.

      This kind of largess is rare in the private sector. Expect it to become rare in the public sector as well.

      1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

        i EARN it. and i am entitled to it by contract.

        contracts... how do those work?

        1. Apatheist ?_??   13 years ago

          Well they don't usually work where the two parties are the same, the government.

          1. General Butt Naked   13 years ago

            I don't remember signing any contract, do you Apatheist? I think I would have remembered signing something like that.

          2. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

            our contract works damn well. we have very high standards, rigorous requirements for employement, and good rewards for doing good work.

            it means that our agency gets immense respect, even amongst criminals (i see it time and time again when they realize what agency they are dealing with) and we get amongst the BEST of cop applicants because we offer some of the best BENEFITS

            markets. how do those work?

            oh yea. jobs that offer better benefits get better/more applicants and can choose amongst a superior talent pool.

            contracts also work to let officers know that we will be dealt with fairly and given due process. it helps ensure that officers fired UNFAIRLY (as we have seen a few times) get rehired through arbitration, and that officers who are not fit get fired.

            you can joke about the new professionalism all you want, but i see it every day - smart, well intentioned skilled people doing a damn good job.

            and ceteris paribus, the better the contract, the better the quality of officer

            there's a reason why NOPD is famously rife with corruption (well, several reasons), and part of the reason is that they offer abysmal pay etc. such that talented prospects go elsewhere

            1. General Butt Naked   13 years ago

              Is it hard to type with your dick in your hand?

            2. wareagle   13 years ago

              markets. how do those work?

              in the public sector, they don't. Not when the sides negotiating are ultimately being paid by the same pool of money. And not when a portion of employee paychecks is being siphoned away to give to politicians who will do union bidding.

              1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

                simply rubbish. again, look at the agencies with crappy benefits etc. i can guarantee you , the officers in such agencies will be less talented than those in agencies with good bennies. i see it time and time again.

                many times, the less rigorous agencies are used as "stepping stones" by officers to get a foot in the door and then transfer to a better agency once they can prove their worth

                you want good employees, you pay them well and treat them well

                you want crap employees, you pay them poorly and treat them poorly

                it's simple market-logic and it works. every single day

            3. Fluffy   13 years ago

              Dude, this is crazy.

              Every last state trooper exam in New England is wildly oversubscribed. The requirements to be a state trooper are comparatively minimal.

              If we had a real market situation, wages would fall until the number of qualified applicants matched the number of open positions. You wouldn't have people scheming for years to get into a field that doesn't require much more than basic literacy.

              1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

                the requirements to be a state trooper in most states amongst other things require rigorous psychological, background, physical stress tests, polygraphs, etc.

                personally, i'd be bored as fuck being a concrete commando, but i know that MA state police has pretty high standards and good troopers. arrogant as fuck, but good in general.

                my understanding is CT has good troopers too

                it's a good job, with good benefits, that means you get a wider pool of applicants than jobs with shit pay/benefits, which means the employer has a greater pool of talen to choose from

                again, the better the pay/benefits/employment opps, the better the class of applicants, and the more talented people you will get.

            4. Apatheist ?_??   13 years ago

              markets. how do those work?

              Seriously?

            5. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

              our contract works damn well.

              For yo cocksucker.

              we have very high standards, rigorous requirements for employement, and good rewards for doing good work.

              Talk about bullshit spin.

              So when, has a cocksucking pig union ever wanted to fire one of their piggies for anything?

              Fuck you, you piece of shit.

        2. Restoras   13 years ago

          Sure, you are entitled to it by contract.

          Contracts can be changed. They can also be ignored. Or paid with worthless dollars. Or restructured following a bankruptcy.

          I hope you like being a mall cop.

          1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

            i enjoy being a cop. not a mall cop.

            contracts CAN be changed.

            fortunately, my employer is not anywhere near bankrupt and our retirement system is OVERfunded, which is nice.

            LEOFF-II is very healthy. LEOFF-I was a joke, but LEOFF-II is pretty reasonable and well funded

            1. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

              Fuck Off and die cocksucker.

    3. Brett L   13 years ago

      Traditionally, the cap is 200-500 hours of leave. Not more than 6 months. Leave is often paid at the full rate for vacation and half-rate for sick time.

      I've seen this deal in both the public and private sector. I actually think my father maxed his at his last job. 9 months worth of pay in one lump sum is a pretty serious chunk of change.

      1. nobody   13 years ago

        Goddamn I have a shitty job. Zero sick time (we're just told to call out if we're sick, but during our annual review the loss of billability due to sick time is considered) and vacation doesn't roll over (and is exceedingly difficult to get increased (I've been here five years, still get ten days vacation per year)). This place is fucking bullshit.

        1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

          hey, consider a career in law enforcement. i fucking LOVE my job.

          1. Rich   13 years ago

            "Where else do you get to see shit like *this*?" 😉

          2. Restoras   13 years ago

            No thanks. Rather not be a kapo. But you go ahead and enjoy it while you can.

            1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

              enjoyed it for 20 plus years! thanks
              and it's very rewarding and interesting

              1. Coeus   13 years ago

                That include the time as a narc? Cause if so, fuck you.

                1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

                  waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

                2. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

                  waaaaah!

                  1. DesigNate   13 years ago

                    Dude, the drug war is patently unconstitutional. Anyone that enforces those laws, be they cops, prosecutors, or judges deserves nothing but scorn.

                  2. Coeus   13 years ago

                    I don't believe that those tears of remorse are genuine.

          3. The Hammer   13 years ago

            Most tyrants probably love their jobs.

            1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

              that's a nice non sequiter (sp?) sentiment.

              anybody who thinks cops in the US are tyrants is woefully ignorant

              1. The Hammer   13 years ago

                Anyone who thinks they aren't conveniently ignores all the dozens of HandR threads per week where police tyranny is spelled out, usually with accompanying video evidence. But you don't know anyone like that, do you?

          4. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

            hey, consider a career in law enforcement. i fucking LOVE my job.

            Fucking over honest people.

            Stealing at will.

            Kicking the shit out of the homeless.

            Raping women during traffic stops.

            What's not to love?

            Oh yeah and killing family pets for kicks.

            Fuck Yeah!!!

        2. Brett L   13 years ago

          That was a job in the community college system. In addition to getting something like 25 days off and 10 sick days, he got 2 weeks at Christmas, spring break and a week in the summer off. It was a pretty cushy gig. But I'd go on a shooting spree if I had to deal with faculty at a community college.

          I say that as a cc grad who had some excellent teachers that were as good if not better than what I would have received at the local state U.

          1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

            i have to admit to having had some snobbery towards community college, since i came from a prep school/4 yr college/grad school etc. background.

            however, i admit i was an ignorant snob. there are some damn fine programs, teachers, and hard working students at CC's. and frankly, doing 2 yrs in cc before university is also a very valid alternative to all 4 yrs at university.

            hey, i can admit it. i was an ignorant snob. i repent

        3. generic Brand   13 years ago

          Whoa, do you work where I work???

    4. R C Dean   13 years ago

      Sick leave is hard to abuse if you require a doctor's note and actually police its use. Like private companies manage.

      I've never worked anywhere that didn't cap paid time off.

      And I wouldn't assume that the police chief actually earned the leave, either. In fact, given what he's accumulated (over 412 days worth) I'd be quite surprised if he never took any time off that wasn't charged against is leave.

      1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

        our agency doesn't require doctor note etc. until (iirc) you are out at least 5 days). because it would be ridiculous if you stayed home for one day to take extra time to go to a dr. and a huge waste of medical costs to get him to say "yea, you had a sniffle".

        again, i have no problem with capping VACATION and COMP leave. our agency caps both.

        we don't cap sick leave because it incentivizes abuse. and it's unfair. if a officer gets a serious illness and he has the leave, then good for him.

      2. Apatheist ?_??   13 years ago

        Seriously, real people will get fired if they abuse sick leave.

        1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

          among other things, it is difficult to prove (and yes, you need evidence and a standard of proof for civil service firings) sick leave abuse.

          furthermore, it is a violation of HPAA for an agency to even inquire into WHAT you are sick with? my old agency violated our rights by doing it and i refused to give in btw. it pissed them off, but they knew they were breaking the law.

          clearly, sometimes you can prove it. i am reminded of the honolulu officer who called in sick so he could enter a bodybuilding competition 🙂

          but suspecting that an officer is abusing sick leave and being able to PROVE it, especially with the protections under HPAA etc. are two different things.

          remember, we get due process (at least in most states).

          1. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

            Ah, once again police should be treated differently than normal people. Heaven forbid police have at will employment.

            1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

              lots of "normal people" have contractual protections at work JUST like police.

              heck, some police agencies (for example, in texas iirc) DO have at will employment

              there is no double standard here because PLENTY of private and other "normal " people have due process protections JUST like cops

              i personally would not have chosen to be a cop without due process protections, although my first (part time) agency WAS at will. when i sought full time employment, i considered benefits (markets, how do those work) and chose an agency that had strong protections and due process rights.

              just as i chose a state with stronger privacy and search and seizure protections than most other places.

              markets and choices. how do those work?

              plenty of cops choose agencies that are at will. good for them. i'll pass

              1. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

                Fuck Off and die cocksucker.

          2. The Dan   13 years ago

            our sick is rolled in with personal leave, both of which are separate from vacation. this alleviates having to worry if people are really sick or not. It does not roll from year to year (unlike vacation), they see that as a plus. It incentivizes people to stay home if they have a sniffle. They see this as good, because you don't get the rest of the office sick too.

      3. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

        Even (unionized!) Federal employees are only allowed to carry over X hours of leave every year. They don't use it, they lose it. Anyone who is allowed to carry over all their leave every year is getting one helluva sweetheart deal.

        1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

          i agree. my agency does not allow it, EXCEPT for sick leave

    5. R C Dean   13 years ago

      I disagree, BTW, that you should be able to cash out sick leave. I've never worked anywhere, or heard of a private company, that did so.

      Sick leave is for when you are sick. If you aren't sick, you aren't "entitled" to it. This is not like vacation, which you are entitled to just by doing your job.

      1. Brett L   13 years ago

        I worked for a small private where you accrued like .8 leave days and .6 sick days a month. Sick time could be used for doctor stuff or as an "I can't come to work day", everything else had to be scheduled and approved. I think we eventually just went to PTO with the understanding that if you were out multiple days and had a valid note, they would work with you on the PTO chargedown.

      2. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

        ok, then we disagree. fwiw, not only can many agencies cash out sick leave *usually on a percentage basis iow not 100%* but they can donate it to sick officers (as i received). and again, "sick" is a very broad term, it can include mental illness (we refer to these as mental health days when you call in sick due to emotional overload from dead babies or whatever), chronic fatigue, virus, bacteria, etc. iow, it's not just cold/flu etc. but it encompasses all sorts of stuff that leaves you less than capable of doing your job at 100%.

        but i disagree. you ARE entitled to your sick leave (imo) such that if you don't use it, you get compensated for it (on a %age basis). that INCENTIVIZES people to use less sick leave vs. not allowing it to be cashed out which incentivizes abuse.

        as wambaugh said, this is amongst the most emotionally dangerous jobs on earth and mental health requires that some days when it's all too much, you take a sick day. that's much healthier than coming in to work and shooting a dog 🙂

        1. Agammamon   13 years ago

          It may incentivise you to use fewer days, but has your agency looked into the costs differential between you misusing a sick day early in your career and selling that day back 20 years later at a higher rate?

        2. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

          Actually that results in you having more days off.

      3. Fluffy   13 years ago

        I agree with RC.

        You should be able to cash out vacation time but not sick time.

        If you forego vacation time, you're showing up for days when you didn't need to.

        If you don't use sick time, you aren't showing up for days when you didn't need to. You just weren't sick and didn't need the courtesy of the paid time off.

        1. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

          If you forego vacation time, you're showing up for days when you didn't need to.

          If you don't use sick time, you aren't showing up for days when you didn't need to. You just weren't sick and didn't need the courtesy of the paid time off.

          Exactly. My companies solution is to have unlimited sick days.

        2. wareagle   13 years ago

          and how many folks bank sick time when they really should be using it, but instead they play the martyr, come in hacking up lungs and infecting everyone else. Sick time also exists for the protection of your co-workers, not as a supplement for your final check.

          1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

            excellent point, and a good counterexample.

            i am certain there are officers who do come into work when they shouldn't because they don't want to "waste " sick leave.

    6. OO=======D   13 years ago

      "again, we EARN this leave."

      No. No you don't. Seriously, go look up the word "earn".

      1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

        yes, i do. for every hour i work, i EARN a fraction of an hour of sick leave. it's a part of my compensation for working JUST like my wages, etc. are.

        1. Fluffy   13 years ago

          No.

          You're earning the right to not show up if you actually get sick.

          If you never get sick, the situation in which the time could be used never arises. Unless you lie, and claim to be sick when you aren't.

          Vacation time, comp time, and personal days you "earn", because it's your time unconditionally. The sick time is your time only on the condition that you get sick (under the assumption that you'll exercise good faith and tell the truth about when you're sick).

          Saying that you've earned it is like saying that I've earned a maternity leave even if I don't get pregnant.

          1. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

            Saying that you've earned it is like saying that I've earned a maternity leave even if I don't get pregnant.

            This is an even better point than your last one.

          2. Agammamon   13 years ago

            Which is why any business with sense gives you a lump sump of time off that you can use for vacation or sickness as needed instead of this split crap.

            Also they do like the military does and puts caps on how much you can acrue then you either spend it or lose it - that way you aren't selling back days earned at the start of your career for the salary you are earning at the end of it.

          3. Pip   13 years ago

            This^^ you stupid shit-eating pig. I have health insurance. If I break my leg it covers the expenses. If I don't break my leg, I get nothing, you sick, immoral, thieving, piece of shit pig.

            1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

              jesus, what a whining little pussy.

              i earn my sick leave. it's PART of my compensation package. it's EARNED

              as my contract says.

              you may not LIKE it, but it's contractual reality.

              and again, thankfully some officers with LOTS of leave were nice enough to donate to me when i needed it, something that might not have happened with a cap.

              good for me and them.

              there is no corruption here. as i said, i believe the optimum system is a PERCENTAGE payout, since it incentivizes responsible use of sick leave vs. a no compensation scheme which incentivizes abuse.

              reality trumps pip's whining

              1. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

                He's back to ISSH DA LAW!!!

                You earn the right to take time off when you are sick.

                1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

                  it's not THE LAW

                  it's THE CONTRACT]

                  contracts... how do those work?

                  furthermore, define 'sick'... many officers can and do take mental health days and they should...

                  excessive fatigue, depression, mental overload, etc.

                  it doesn't have to be bubonic plague or the AIDS

                  1. Night Elf Mohawk   13 years ago

                    The contract argument would be a lot more persuasive if it were more arms-length negotiation and less one hand washing the other with the soap paid for by third parties.

                    1. Night Elf Mohawk   13 years ago

                      Damn Submit instead of Preview.

                      I wonder if the contracts would look the same if people who were lucky to get two weeks vacation and a handful of sick days and didn't have 50 layers of bureaucracy protecting their jobs were doing the negotiating, rather than officials who can spend other people's money to buy union endorsements.

                    2. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

                      true dat. regardless, it's a lawful contract and it's why my agency GETS such good employees. because we offer such good bennies and wages

                  2. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

                    I can't tell if you're clueless or disingenuous. The reason you always fall back on "ISSS DAH LAWZ!1!" is because you're the only one have a procedural discussion. The rest of us are having a discussion on how things should be, so if you fall back on "due process" as to why you can't discipline cops from abusing their sick leave, you're not saying it's a market thing. You're saying cops should be given due process for everything. We're all fully in agreement that you fat assholes have fucked us over with ridiculous contracts, and that it's the law that you can do a "justified" shoot.

              2. DesigNate   13 years ago

                NO ONE "earns" sick leave. If you are not sick that is a time when you would ALREADY BE AT WORK.

                And you sure as shit shouldn't be able to cash in that time at the end of your employment on the tax payer dime.

                If you do that, you are a parasitic douchenozzle and deserve every ounce of ridicule and hatred that is thrown at you.

                1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

                  i earn sick leave . EARN it. per contract.

                  i dont' get ridicule and hatred. overwhelming majority of the public respects us, as poll after poll shows.

                  assuming i have sick leave at retirement , i CAN cash it out on a %age basis iirc. so suck it!:)

                  1. DesigNate   13 years ago

                    It must be nice to get a contract negotiated with people whose salaries you pay and whose campaigns are financed by your union dues.

                    I've tried to stay out of the bitch fests between you and, well just about everyone else on here, but thanks for confirming that you are a parasitic douchnozzle that would fuck over your fellow citizens because you can.

                    1. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

                      yawn

                      i am fairly compensated for a difficult and demanding job.

                      and again, i work for an agency with really good officers, partly because we have good pay/benefits

                      if you don't like it, tough shit

                    2. DesigNate   13 years ago

                      Cashing out 600k worth of "sick" days is not being fairly compensated for anything.

            2. Dunphy (the real one)   13 years ago

              btw,. the analogy between sick leave and health insurance is stupid... even for pip

              apples and oranges y0

        2. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

          yes, i do. for every hour i work,

          And when does that start, you peice of shit?

    7. perlhaqr   13 years ago

      Wait, what's wrong with using sick leave you've earned?

      Not sarcastic, serious question. How is it "sick leave abuse" to take time off you've earned?

    8. Jesus H. Christ   13 years ago

      I don't think the chief did anything wrong here either. IF he truly did not take the time off, then he deserves the pay. Assuming he's salaried, it's certainly possible he abused the system and took time off from work without designating it as vacation, but we don't know for certain.

      Before I started my own company, my previous employer offered a cash bonus of $1500 if an employee took off no more than 2 half days for sick leave. That is, an employee could leave work for a half day, twice, and still be eligible for the bonus. I got the bonus for each of the 3 years I worked for the company. That said, I came in to work VERY sick a few times. Would have been better for the rest of the employees if I had stayed home.

      1. DesigNate   13 years ago

        The difference being that was a private company and therefore not funded by the taxpayers dime.

  24. generic Brand   13 years ago

    Mitt Romney's speech at an NAACP convention prompted boos a boo when he pledged to repeal ObamaCare and told attendees he was the candidate who would make life better for the African-American community.

    FIFY. Let's be honest. There was only one person at a Romney speech put on by the NAACP.

    1. Rich   13 years ago

      The "Diversity Manager", I'll wager.

  25. Translucent Chum   13 years ago

    http://postmasculine.com/america

    Making the rounds on Facebook. I saw Postmasculine in the title and gagged a bit. The title should be 'Why America sucks" by an expat.

  26. Translucent Chum   13 years ago

    Why America Sucks by an expat.

    http://postmasculine.com/america

  27. Translucent Chum   13 years ago

    An expat explains why America sucks - http://postmasculine.com/america

  28. heller   13 years ago

    Does Jackson have AIDS? That's the only explanation I can think of.

    1. Bitter Taxpayer   13 years ago

      Maybe they're trying to cover, because nobody really knows where he is.

    2. Agammamon   13 years ago

      He probably has "old age".

      1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

        47 is old??? Fuck - I only have 7 more years til I'm decrepit!

        1. Eduard van Haalen   13 years ago

          Maybe he's "hiking the Appalachian Trail."

          1. Eduard van Haalen   13 years ago

            (Remember that one - it was hilarious!)

    3. Brett L   13 years ago

      I thought of that, too.

  29. Paul.   13 years ago

    $594,000 in 2009 after cashing out more than 3,300 hours of unused leave.

    What the deuce?

    Idiot math:

    3,300 hours @ the private sector rate of $25 per hour: $82,500

    How does 3300 hours turn into $600,000? I mean, I like to verbally rape the public sector like everyone else, but even at the ridiculously overpaid, overindulged levels, there has to be more to this story.

    1. Agammamon   13 years ago

      Overtime? It all get cashed in at once so after the first 8 hours they start paying time and a half?

      And I'd think a chief of police gets more than $25 an hour.

      1. Paul.   13 years ago

        And I'd think a chief of police gets more than $25 an hour.

        I'd think he would to. That was my 99%-er perspective.

        But still:

        Hourly rate====Payout
        $50 $165,000
        $100 $330,000
        $200 $660,000

        You can see just how much your hourly rate would be to earn 600,000 for a little over a year of work.

        1. db   13 years ago

          I think your numbers are off. $165,000 / $50 / 8 = 412 working days per year at 8 hrs per day.

          $50/hr is closer to $98,000/yr.

          1. db   13 years ago

            with 3 weeks of holiday+vacation days.

          2. db   13 years ago

            sorry, closer to $93,000/yr

  30. Paul.   13 years ago

    Mitt Romney's speech at an NAACP convention prompted boos when he pledged to repeal ObamaCare and told attendees he was the candidate who would make life better for the African-American community.

    Hey! Mittens! How's the concession speech going? Surely you've at least got the first draft done!

  31. Agammamon   13 years ago

    "The green party has never been interested in anything I have to say."

    Like much of the rest of the world then.

  32. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

    Disturbing incident: I was exiting my home Metro station this evening and I noticed a bunch of cops with machine guns standing around. This is not unusual when they are emptying the fare machines. However, as I got closer, it was clear they were conducting "random" bag inspections. I've known about this policy for a long time, but never seen it in action. It was not only ridiculous from a pure liberty-loving standpoint, but my home station has almost nobody entering it after 10am on a weekday because it's a suburban station whose riders are all exiting at 5pm. So, here are 7 cops (I counted) standing around looking all roided up and doing nothing.

    More disturbing: there was someone standing there with the cops that had "TSA Inspector" on her shirt.

    What the sweet fuck? TSA is officially part of local public transport now?

    1. Warty   13 years ago

      Your stupid concerns have already been pre-PWND, peasant.

      Tulpa the White|7.11.12 @ 4:53PM|#|?|filternamelinkcustom
      You don't think random enforcement is more of a deterrent than enforcement at known places and times?

      You don't need evidence for the negation of the absurd.

      1. Episiarch   13 years ago

        It's so Tulpical!

      2. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

        And - what about the TSA involvement, Tulpa-stand-in?!?! HUH??

        1. Warty   13 years ago

          Look, the Tulpa stand-in has presented his obviously correct arguments in a completely logical manner. It's not its fault if you're too emotional to accept them, but mocking it just further demonstrates your irrelevance.

        2. Coeus   13 years ago

          The TSA involvement is because you can legally refuse the search. With the TSA there, if you refuse, they sue you in civil court for $10,000.

    2. wareagle   13 years ago

      for their next trick, it's random bag inspections on the way out.

      1. Coeus   13 years ago

        They did that at the very first VIPR deployment.

    3. generic Brand   13 years ago

      Did you record them? I have heard that's quasi-legal depending which state you are in, and whether you are standing on one leg and have an eye patch (or equally absurd exceptions).

      1. A Serious Man   13 years ago

        I wouldn't risk recording cops armed with assualt rifles, regardless of if you have that right. The bigger gun, the bigger the dick these guys think they got and I wouldn't put it past them to whack a girl upside the head with the butt of their guns for disrespectin' their authori-tah'.

      2. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

        Luddite that I am, I leave my phone at home when I go to work, so no camera of any kind available. I guess there are uses for a phone other than calls.

  33. Warty   13 years ago

    Apparently people play Quiddich.

    Also, Hermitage kitties!

    1. Brett L   13 years ago

      Bah. Until the brooms fly, its all wanking.

    2. SugarFree   13 years ago

      Most libraries and archives had cats at one point. But we had to get rid of them. People with allergies fresked-out. So we now control bugs and mice with chemicals. Chemicals that I am very allergic to. Like my eyes swell shut and my nose bleeds sort of allergic to.

      Good job, guys.

      1. Episiarch   13 years ago

        "The Sufferings of Young NutraSweet"

        1. SugarFree   13 years ago

          "The Three Stigmata of SugarFree Vomitwitch"

          1. Episiarch   13 years ago

            You respond to my Goethe joke with a Dick joke? That's totally glib and unsubstantive.

      2. Warty   13 years ago

        My favorite part of going to bookstores and libraries when I was a kid was the store kitties. Obviously.

  34. Brett L   13 years ago

    I swear to Christ, if you cut me off again, I will shoot you with my crossbow!

  35. Brett L   13 years ago

    Dark matter detected?

    I still think the whole thing is baffling, but hey, that's why I became an engineer.

    1. ant1sthenes   13 years ago

      Those are just space lanes for warp travel. We should try to find a relay nearby.

  36. Brett L   13 years ago

    For Kristen: Firefly reunion at Comicon will have its own TV special. Tune in for some fresh Adam Baldwin.

    1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

      SCHWEET!

  37. Archduke PantsFan   13 years ago

    I think I found my next vacation Destination

  38. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

    Your post (#3131451) has been marked as spam by a third-party spam filter.

    I AM AN OFFICIAL COMMENTER, DULY REGISTERED, AND WILL NOT BE TREATED THIS WAY.

  39. DesigNate   13 years ago

    John types defending Kate Upton from sarcasmic types.

    http://www.ontheredcarpet.com/.....ry-8732431

    1. Brett L   13 years ago

      What? The Last Lion of the post-war stage retires? Nooo.

  40. Eduard van Haalen   13 years ago

    "The entire Twilight community [is] saddened by the death of a Comic-Con fan today due to a traffic accident during the hours leading up to this year's convention in San Diego."

    http://www.ontheredcarpet.com/.....rs/8732654

  41. alexdroog   13 years ago

    The funniest police sketch of a suspected rapist you'll probably ever see.

  42. Eduard van Haalen   13 years ago

    [insert drudge-style siren graphics and sound effects]

    The first Internet Cat Video Festival is coming!

    http://dailycaller.com/2012/07.....val-video/

  43. toxic   13 years ago

    I've never been a sheriff but being the head honcho of anything is pretty stressful.

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