Black Friday Shoplifter Dies, Police Secrets Rain on Parade, Catalonian Independence Gets a Boost: P.M. Links

• Black Friday isn't just about shoppers beating up each other at the mall: An accused shoplifter at Walmart died while in the custody of company employees. A security officer who no longer works there may have placed the alleged thief in a choke hold.

• In other holiday news, Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade attendees discovered something special in the confetti thrown about: confidential information from the Nassau County Police Department that had been shredded but was still very readable.
• A Utah man might not be able to claim he was defending his home when he opened fire on a SWAT team coming to serve a search warrant, killing one. The defendant has said he thought people were breaking into his home to rob him.
• Supporters of Catalonian independence in Spain got a boost from regional elections, nearly doubling their seats in local parliament.
• More and more union workers are turning against their own organizers, frustrated at what they are – or aren't – doing.
• The federal appeals court in Virginia will hear evangelical Christian Liberty University's challenge that the Affordable Care Act violates the college's religious beliefs.
• The law against providing "material support" for terrorist groups could land social media companies like Twitter in trouble for not blocking people like members of Hamas from using it.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

More and more union workers are turning against their own organizers...

Union workers are just going to have to unionize against union leadership.

[Pro Libertate]

Union unions? My God, that's brilliant! Clearly, union management is out of touch with the problems of the rank and file, and union unions would be more democratic.

[Joe M]

Who unites the unions?

[Pro Libertate]

The metaunion!

[Rich]

It's unions all the way down.

[Pro Libertate]

A union of union republics.

[Cdr Lytton]

Funny about that. I'm familiar with one group of unionized SEIU employees, that is employees of SEIU itself represented by another union, and their workplace is just like any other unionized workplace fill with the same grievances and union/management antagonism. It's hilarious really.

[Tim]

WORKERS OF THE WORLD DISUNITE!

[Almanian.]

Knot Removers of the World, Untie!

[Caleb Turberville]

"Hipsters unite, come alive for the big fight...."

[Fist of Etiquette]

Supporters of Catalonian independence in Spain got a boost from regional elections...

Does Spain's Case Blanca website respond to secession petitions?

[Tim]

How can Spanish people be racists?

[Almanian.]

I'd aks a Messican or Chilean.

[Pro Libertate]

Growing up, my Cuban friends explained to me how the real problem was the Puerto Ricans. And vice versa. Now they are in more harmony, as they gang up on the Mexicans.

[Almanian.]

I do love these explanations to doltish Whitey from the various ethnic grounds.

"Now, let me tell you why da Haitians are dee lowest form of people on da Ert." /Jamaican college friend

[Pro Libertate]

Now a Mexican friend told me that Mexican Spanish is the best, which is why so many Spanish news anchors are Mexican.

Really, one needs a chart to keep up with it all.

[Almanian.]

My second cousins are 1/2 Mexican (Their Dad, who left when as soon as the last one was born....who is like supermodel fucking gorgeous, BTW).

They live in the DFW area, are to the right of Attila the Hun politically, devout Roman Catholics, and got NO time for the....Mexicans.

I don't try to figure it out.

Of course, I say all this, and then make fun of the English cause I'm of drunken Scots-Irish ancestry so...lulz on me.

[Spoonman.]

My wife's grandmother, who grew up speaking Polish in NE PA, hated a lot of people, but had the most hate reserved for those damn Polskis back in Poland.

[Gojira]

Hmm. I too live in the DFW area, and appreciate supermodel hot women.

Is your cousin single?

[Lewisite]

The Ulster Scots were a thirsty people.

[Lewisite]

In ref to ^

"Of course, I say all this, and then make fun of the English cause I'm of drunken Scots-Irish ancestry so...lulz on me."

[T]

No, the Brits had a simple, useful system: wogs suck, and the wogs begin at Calais.

I just sub in 'people' for 'wogs' and it's never let me down.

[Almanian.]

The English are still pissed about 1776, so I just remind myself (and them) of that when they get uppity.

Plus the whole "bailing your stupid motherfucking saggy white asses out of not one, but TWO fucking world wars..."

Just to tweak them some more.

They usually that July 4 is "English Thanksgiving", which I do think is funny.

[generic Brand]

The English are still pissed about 1776, so I just remind myself (and them) of that when they get uppity.

No kidding! There are so many not-so-veiled attempts at humorous payback in Assassin's Creed 3 that I wish I could strangle the NPC Shaun.

[Fist of Etiquette]

They're European. It's built in.

[Pro Libertate]

It's casa blanca. You know, like the movie.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yeah, my first foreign language typo here. Enjoy.

[Pro Libertate]

So when did you start hating the Spanish-speaking?

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's the upside down punctuation. It makes me loco in my cabeza.

[Pro Libertate]

Here's a better reason: The Spanish word for English is ingl?s. The Spanish word for two or more groins is ingles.

[OldMexican]

Re: Pro Libertate,

Here's a better reason: The Spanish word for English is ingl?s. The Spanish word for two or more groins is ingles.

I understand your predicament. The Spanish word for "suck my dick" is ch?pamela, with the "dick" implied as the word only means "suck mine". The pronunciation in Mexican Spanish is with the accent in the first syllable as indicated by the orthographic accent above, while in other places it is pronounced with the accent in the first "a" as in chup?mela.

Take your pick and ch?pamela.

[Ted S.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIbQbGq-jIE

[Xenocles]

ch?pamela

If I understand Spanish grammar properly, that implies that the word for dick or penis is feminine in gender.

[Almanian.]

At the Copa. Copacabana. The hottest spot north of Havana.

I know some of teh Spanish...

[Pro Libertate]

I learned Spanish in school and growing up with Spanish speakers, though my Spanish is more of the able-to-read-some variety.

My German I learned strictly from World War II comics like Sgt. Rock and Hogan's Heroes.

[Almanian.]

Fucking Sgt. Rock was the BEST! Sgt. Fury was the badly-drawn knockoff.

Sgt. Rock and the Unknown Soldier were the BEST. I never got into Spiderman and BAtman and shit - LOVED the "war" comics.

[Pro Libertate]

Me, too. And I agree--the DC war comics were generally better.

What was the one with the tank that was haunted?

[Almanian.]

I don't remember that one. I still remember a lot of the stories from those comics.

[Pro Libertate]

The ghost was Jeb Stuart, I think. Dangit, what was it?

[Almanian.]

Your are correct, sir - now I remember!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_Tank

[Pro Libertate]

That's it! G.I. Combat.

Weird War Tales was another one.

[Corning]

And so now I have the image of a tank jumping into the air to ram into a plane....

If DC had better war comics i would hate to see what Marvel's were like.

[Pro Libertate]

I didn't mean to imply that they were fine literature, to be sure.

[Restoras]

I read Sgt. Rock back in the day. The one comic I remember most (except the name of it) featured two sailors in the bowels of a carrier under kamikaze attack playing cards...they were trapped but kept playing, end eventually succumbed before ht rescuers could reach them. When the rescuers did reach them one of the sailers had drawn a royal flush, and that was the beginning of my poker education.

[T]

We have faith in you, Fist. It's but the first of many.

[db]

CASO PESADILLA VERDE

[Ted S.]

You must not forget this:
A hug is not a kiss,
A wheeze is not a sigh;
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by.

[Almanian.]

An accused shoplifter at Walmart died while in the custody of company employees.

SEE?! SEE??!! WAL MART KILLS!

[Gene]

It kills me that I was to tired after my final midnight shift of the cycle to battle the local yahoos and get one of the ten, eight drawer wheeled toolboxes that they had on sale for 88 bucks. Came loaded with crappy tools as well. One can never have to many Large red boxes on wheels in the garage.

[anomdebus]

That's not even mentioning Bangladesh.

[R C Dean]

The details on the Utah homeowner:

Utah law allows a home?owner to use deadly force in defense of habitation if he "reasonably believes" the intruder intends to commit a felony in the home or there is a threat of personal violence. However, the law also states that force can be used only to prevent "unlawful" entry or attack of a person's home.

While Richards called defense of habitation an "obvious issue," prosecutors say it's not one he can bring to trial.

"I do not believe that defense is available to them legally," Deputy Weber County Attorney Gary Heward said. "Police entry was not unlawful. It was exactly the opposite."

[Pro Libertate]

So anything the police do is automatically lawful and not subject to judicial review? Um, I don't think that's right, leaving aside the question of whether the guy knew they were cops, which is a fact-based question in and of itself, I suppose.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Armed agents of the state are always welcome in your home.

[Pro Libertate]

Soon, it will be a crime not to offer them a drink and a snack.

[Silver Fox]

And a dog to shoot.

[Spoonman.]

...Third Amendment?

[Almanian.]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!

You and your pitiful little piece of hundred year old paper

[Spartacus]

So it's up to the prosecution to decide what defense strategies can be used? I guess it's good to be the king.

[R C Dean]

Whether the po-lice entry was lawful or not is still a live issue.

Was the warrant valid? Was it properly served? Was knock-and-announce appropriate? Was there, in fact, a knock, an announcement, and a suitable period of time for the homeowner to respond?

[Tulpa Doom]

The unlawfulness would have to be something the homeowner knew about. If the warrant had some technical fault that's not enough.

[Tulpa Doom]

They had a K+A warrant so it was definitely a lawful entry (under possibly unfortunate SCOTUS jurisprudence).

The main issue is whether they announced their entry to the extent that the homeowner would have known they were police. Things would be much simpler if the cops recorded their entries on video, no?

[db]

The only difference between breaking and entering and a knock and announce by police is state sanction. ANYTHING is lawful if you can get a state permit to do it.

[CE]

Because armed home intruders would never pretend to be cops.

[Whahappan?]

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but isn't this the case where the cops thought he was out of town or something, and basically admitted they didn't knock and announce?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is it appropriate to serve warrants on people at 8:30 PM in winter (which would usually be after dark in that season)? How was he supposed to see the POLICE lettering they were wearing at night? Did they allow him to examine the warrant?

Or did they just kick the damn door and start waving guns?

[Suthenboy]

Say RC....I heard this archaic term the other day. I thought I would ask you what it meant.

Mens Rea.

What the hell does that mean?

[Cdr Lytton]

It's something superfluous, just like actus reus.

[Ted S.]

It means you're a fool if you think it's over.

[Episiarch]

By the way, unsurprisingly, Red Dawn is terrible. It's not even fun on Dilaudid and booze. It's not the hilarious, good kind of bad, just...bad.

Skyfall on the other hand is very good.

[Almanian.]

Thanks for the tip. My son and I were going to go this weekend but I took a pass.

We'll see "Skyfall" in the theatre instead, and wait for "Son of CLASSIC Red Dawn" on TEEVEE.

[Ice Nine]

Skyfall is pretty good but you'll think it...will......never............end.

[Almanian.]

So bring an extra cup to pee in if we get the Large Coke.

Thanks

[Fist of Etiquette]

Thanks for the spoilers, dick. I guess those are two movies I don't need to bother going to see now.

[Episiarch]

EVERYONE DIES. Especially Harry Dean Stanton.

Spoiler: there is no "AVENGE ME" line in the movie.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It sounds like it should have been your line walking out of the theater.

[Rich]

Saw a trailer with the prescient line "You'll be begging for a bullet before it's over."

[Translucent Chum]

+100. Just laughed and my wife looked at me like I had a stroke.

[Tim]

Bart: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, contrary to what you've just seen, war is neither glamorous or fun. There are no winners, only losers. There are no good wars. With the following exceptions: the American Revolution, World War II and Star Wars trilogy.

[Caleb Turberville]

Skyfall rebooted a reboot.

[JEP]

I wasn't a big fan of Skyfall. I think one of the writer's children called them 'old' one night, and that writer went into a screenwriting rage in order to show young whippersnappers how it's done.
Thus, being constantly beaten over the head with the 'old vs. new' theme.

I hated all the throwback stuff. I liked the new Bond series precisely because it was more serious, modern, and intellectual.

There's a reason the older movies are something of a joke(still fun to watch, though), and there's a damn good reason to revert back to them.

[Auric Demonocles]

I was confused at Daniel Craig being "old".

[CE]

44, pushing 45.... They should have started with someone 25, just out of the MI6 academy, and tracked his whole career.

[Auric Demonocles]

I thought he was playing him as a pretty young agent in Casino Royale.

[Stormy Dragon]

Problem is that the four years between Quantum of Solace and Skyfall (due to the MGM bankruptcy drawing out the production process) is one of the longest gaps between James Bond sequels in the history of the franchise, and the longest one where there wasn't a casting change for the Bond role.

And while 43 doesn't seem that old, it's pretty old to be doing the stunts required of a Bond type character post Jason Bourne.

[Kwanzaa Cake]

The people responsible for remaking Red Dawn should be shot and fed to actual wolverines

[Auric Demonocles]

Red Dawn is terrible

This does not compute.

[Episiarch]

Let me try and compute this for you: it lacks all of the retarded awesomeness of the first one, and makes even less sense logistically. At least Milius tried to make his mildly plausible. But...the North Koreans attacking Spokane?!? Also, the action scenes are filmed in the shakiest of horrible shaky-cam styles to the point where your eyes almost can't see what's going on. Plus everything else that's wrong with it.

[Auric Demonocles]

No, the part where it appears that you bothered to see it.

[Episiarch]

My cousins and I went just in case it turned out to be hilariously bad or, actually pretty good, because we all have fond memories of the first one. Plus, we did Dilaudid and then hit the bar for a few beers beforehand. So we figured we'd be OK, but it was quite bad.

[Auric Demonocles]

None of this excuses your crime against humanity of going to this movie. You're literally Hitler. No, you're Michael Bay.

[Episiarch]

I've never claimed not to be evil. I saw ID4 in the Ziegfeld at midnight on July 4th, after all.

[CE]

If I were a power mad North Korean dictator, attacking Spokane makes a lot of sense. The weather, climate, geography, culture and economy are similar, and it's far enough from the coasts to be lightly defended. You never take on a superior military power on the front lines, you encircle them from behind, with paratroopers. Didn't you watch Band of Brothers?

(Just kidding Spokaners....)

[Auric Demonocles]

I did watch Band of Brothers. Even the later ones when they were saved from eventual extinction by the rest of the military taking on the Germans on the front lines.

[Mad Scientist]

Pure awesomeness: Disaster on the Coastliner.

[Cdr Lytton]

Yes it is.

[Joe M]

A security officer who no longer works there may have placed the alleged thief in a choke hold.

Police departments, please take note of how the free market handles these types of incidents.

[Tim]

If Walmart was unioninzed he'd be on administrative leave.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Paid administrative lead, your procedureless prick.

[Tim]

With counseling.

[Silver Fox]

And sensitivity training?

[Almanian.]

Sensitivity training should have been provided to the asshole who DIED and started this whole mess.

Jerk

[db]

"... your procedureless prick."

It's called circumcision, and it's a great topic for discussion.

[Almanian.]

Release the Kraken!

[OldMexican]

It never gets old!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The defendant has said he thought people were breaking into his home to rob him.

Well maybe if he didn't have marijuana plants he wouldn't have been so paranoid.

[Almanian.]

The law against providing "material support" for terrorist groups could land social media companies like Twitter in trouble for not blocking people like members of Hamas from using it.

Because the internet is a series of tubes...and therefore....MATERIAL. Got it!

[Corning]

Why aren't phone companies held under the same standard?

[Cdr Lytton]

Because they rolled over for the warrantless wiretapping.

[Silver Fox]

Vilma Soltesz, 425 Pounds, Dies After Being Kicked Off 3 Airplanes for her Weight.

There are health consequences for weighing as much as a baby elephant, especially when you're diabetic, have kidney problems and an amputated leg. Who would have thought?

[Rich]

Soltesz died and was buried in Hungary.

Oh, come on. Surely *some* airline would have shipped her corpse back.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If they went to all the trouble of lashing three planes together to try to move her and still couldn't, I think the airline went above and beyond.

[db]

Well, it is hard to survive a fall from even 10 feet up if you're that heavy.

[Jack the Reaper]

Hungary? Fat woman?

...nevermind...

[JW]

Perhaps she should have stopped carrying that leg around. Probably 75 pounds right there.

[OldMexican]

Pravda calls Obama a "communist".

Takes one to know one, some say.

David Frum goes bananas over what Pravda said about Obama but does not address any of the criticisms.

Takes one to defend one, some say.

[Delroy]

douchebag?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Heresy doesn't require rebuttal only outrage.

[Palin's Buttplug]

In Wingnuttopia everyone ELSE is a communist - even Warren Buffett.

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin's Buttwipe,

In Wingnuttopia everyone ELSE is a communist[...]

In leftnuttopia, everyone else who criticizes al se?or presidente, is a wingnut.

[Mr. FIFY]

You're still alive, shrike? Shit.

[ant1sthenes]

Buffett is a fascist, don't be stupid.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Frum already has a book out on why Romney lost? Boy, he didn't waste any time capitalizing on that one.

[CE]

You know who else hated the Communists?

[iggy]

Red Foreman?

[Entropy Void]

Trotsky?

[VG Zaytsev]

After Obama was elected in his first term as president the then Prime Minister of Russia, Vladimir Putin gave a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January of 2009. Ignored by the West as usual, Putin gave insightful and helpful advice to help the world economy and saying the world should avoid the Soviet mistake.

Recently, Obama has been re-elected for a 2nd term by an illiterate society and he is ready to continue his lies of less taxes while he raises them. He gives speeches of peace and love in the world while he promotes wars as he did in Egypt, Libya and Syria. He plans his next war is with Iran as he fires or demotes his generals who get in the way.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni41528603/

Looking to get fired?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Meh, as long as he shows up on set somewhat sober I doubt they're going to complain about a little free publicity.

[Almanian.]

First comment THREADWINNA:

Adam Bolden ? Top Commenter ? Creator at Sploich.com
The implication that Two and a Half Men has "fans" absolutely terrifies me.

[Voros McCracken]

From elsewhere: "At this rate 'Two and Half Men' is soon going to be renamed 'Man.'"

[JW]

Wait, Cryer isn't the halfsie?

[Joe M]

They could rename the show Halber Mensch and have Einst?rzende Neubauten do the theme song.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Neubauten's involvement would be pretty much the only thing on earth that could get me to watch that show.

[Doctor Whom]

I guess someone wants to follow in the august footsteps of Kirk Cameron.

[Almanian.]

Where the fuck is John to get his warboner on about Syria and Libya and Afghanistan and stuff?

Jooooohn!! Oh Joooooohn!!! Come serenade us with your desultory Team Red stylings!!!

[ant1sthenes]

I don't think John has a warboner for Syria or Libya. Droning random alleged terrorists, sure.

[OldMexican]

Supporters of Catalonian independence in Spain got a boost from regional elections, nearly doubling their seats in local parliament.

The Secession question was settled by bloody war! What don't they understand about that?

[Psst! This is Spain they're talking about]
[So?]
[So? The only secession question that was settled by 800,000 deaths was the secession of the American states]
[What? That's preposterous! A question that is settled only for some but not for others?]
[Well, nobody said that the Lincoln apologists were rational, bud!]

[OldMexican]

World's first (allegedly) chainless bicycle

http://www.gizmag.com/mando-fo.....tor/24330/

[db]

Thermodynamics says PEDAL HARDER!

[Pro Libertate]

No more greasy chains and a solution to childhood obesity! Time to mandatax these into every home!

[Almanian.]

My reaction - as I clicked on the link - was, "Surely SOMEONE'S created a gear-driven bike bef....oh...riiiiight."

Duh.

*slinks away*

/20th Century brain

[db]

That was actually my very first reaction too. I wondered about the weight of a shaft/gear arrangement vs a chain and sprockets with derailleur system.

[JW]

I don't know why this was the video suggestion at the top, but I'm not complaining.

[OldMexican]

U.S. Is Going To Be A Lot Worse Than Greece - Peter Schiff.

As Schiff has pointed out before, sharply higher interest rates will bring a huge downside risk with them. "In America, the problem is that interest rates are too low. They have to go up. We can't have an economy with interest rates at zero. If the Fed lets interest rates go up, we have to realize that we will have a deeper recession, we have to realize that banks are going to fail."

He also points out that the rush to the U.S. dollar and Treasuries as a "safe haven" is anything but safe. "There are a lot of people who don't understand what is going on. Look at how many people are buying the dollar. Look at people buying Treasurys. That makes no sense either. The risk lies in the dollar. The risk lies in Treasurys and other currencies being printed into oblivion."

A noted economist agrees with Schiff that a much worse stock market crash is coming. And unlike Schiff, he has given very specific details about just how bad it will get.

"The data is clear, 50% unemployment, a 90% stock market drop, and 100% annual inflation . . . starting in 2013."

That catastrophic outlook comes from Robert Wiedemer, economist and author of The New York Times best-seller "Aftershock."

[Palin's Buttplug]

Schiff must be taking Beck's place at Goldline.

Schiff - the only perma-doomer who managed to lose money in the 2008 market crash.

[JEP]

I can't believe I'm doing this...

Citation? Schiff was one of the only people who predicted the bubble popping...along with Ron Paul and some others everyone ignores.

Cassandra syndrome.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Sure. I am always armed with sources. By way of Wikipedia and the Wall St Journal:

In January 2009, economic blogger and investment adviser Michael Shedlock stated that "I have talked with many who claim they have invested with Schiff and are down anywhere from 40% to 70% in 2008".[67] Later that week an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal reporting that Schiff's broker-dealer firm "advised its clients to bet that the dollar would weaken significantly and that foreign stocks would outpace their U.S. peers" and that instead, the dollar advanced against most currencies, "magnifying the losses from foreign stocks Mr. Schiff steered his investors into".[68] Schiff responded to Shedlock's criticism, writing that "to examine the effectiveness of my investment strategy immediately following a major correction by looking only at those accounts who adopted the strategy at the previous peak is unfair and distortive".[69] Schiff also responded to criticism in the Wall Street Journal.[70][71][72]

Schiff got nailed by the Wall Street Journal itself.

[robc]

That doesnt say that Schiff lost money, but that his clients did.

He may have too, but you havent provided any evidence of it.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Schiff has one basic theme - that the dollar is doomed. He is either always wrong or doesn't eat his own dog food.

His clients should have all fired his ass by now.

The consensus now is that Uncle Buck is in good hands with Bernanke and Company.

(not LP consensus - real investor consensus)

[Jordan]

Mmhmm. And what was the consensus in 2003 when Ron Paul predicted the housing bubble?

[robc]

If real investors thought the dollar is in good hands, gold would be under $1700.

If Schiff bet $ vs other currencies, he was overestimating other countries' idiots.

Vs gold, the dollar has been horribly weak. Its lost half its value since 2008.

[robc]

Not in good hands:

http://research.stlouisfed.org.....30_378.png

[Corning]

The consensus now is that Uncle Buck is in good hands with Bernanke and Company.

If that is true then why has the dollar over the past 4 years lost value to every currency but the Euro?

The consensus (read the market) seems to be buy any currency but the US dollar and the Euro.

[Palin's Buttplug]

It hasn't. Check the DXY. The dollar trough was in March 2008 and it has steadily risen since.

Don't make me link it. I never miss.

[Corning]

The DXY is an index not a currency exchange.

It peaked in value in March of 2009 and has steady declined.

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin's Buttwipe,

Schiff has one basic theme - that the dollar is doomed. He is either always wrong or doesn't eat his own dog food.

He's not wrong - the dollar IS doomed. The ONLY reason why investors are still holding on to dollars is because they believe Bernanke's claptrap.

His clients should have all fired his ass by now.

The fact that they didn't and that his business is growing shows that he is still helping them grow their net worth.

The consensus [???] now is that Uncle Buck is in good hands with Bernanke and Company.

And you know how you can lose your shirt very quickly? Follow the consensus. Especially when it is based on a total misunderstanding of basic economic principles.

[Redmanfms]

The consensus now is that Uncle Buck is in good hands with Bernanke and Company.

Yet gold and silver continue their rise, hmmmmm.......

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin's Buttwipe,

Schiff got nailed by the Wall Street Journal itself

Really? Because you do not address Schiff's reasonable response, first. Second, you don't seem worried about Shedlock's claim that he talked to "many" who claimed they were burned by Schiff's investing. Just how many is "many"?

Last, you did not provide proof that Schiff himself lost because of the 2008 crash, only that some clients did, IF one believes Shedlock.

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin's Buttwipe,

Schiff - the only perma-doomer who managed to lose money in the 2008 market crash.

You mean the other perma-doomers didn't? I don't understand your assertion. Where is it coming from? And please, I don't want to make a cavity check on you to know from whence.

[Enough About Palin]

Murder charges: Rifle jammed, she laughed, so he killed her with a pistol

LITTLE FALLS, MINN. -- A 64-year-old man was charged Monday with murdering two teenagers who broke into his home on the outskirts of Little Falls, shooting each of them at close range in the head after having already wounded them.

Byron David Smith was charged in Morrison County District Court with two counts of second-degree murder without premeditation in the killings of Nicholas Brady, 17, and his cousin Haile Kifer, 18.

The criminal complaint says that Smith shot the two as they came down his basement stairs several minutes apart on Thanksgiving Day. The complaint adds that he shot them numerous times.

He then waited a day before asking a neighbor to alert authorities about what he had done, the document added. Smith showed investigators the bodies, was arrested and has remained jailed since.

Smith appeared for a 10-minute court hearing late Monday morning wearing an orange jumpsuit, his hands and feet in shackles. Bail was set at $2 million, with the prosecution noting the defendant's extensive travels to Beijing, Bangkok, Moscow and elsewhere overseas while he was working for the U.S. State Department

http://www.startribune.com/local/180853761.html

[T]

Laugh at the guy who just shot you. Smart move, dead girl.

[Enough About Palin]

I sort of see this guy's point. This is in rural Minnesota and he'd been burglarized several times. Also, the girl was a drug addict, which is likely why she and her cousin broke into the house.

[T]

911 takes a long time to show up out in the woods. But his described behavior struck me as a little extreme.

Of course, if I double-tap you in the crotch as you're coming down a flight of stairs, you're probably gonna bleed out before anybody gets there to help you, because I sure as shit ain't rendering aid.

[CE]

In Texas you'd just get a warning for not turning in the bodies sooner.

[Corning]

Smith dragged Kifer next to Brady as she gasped for her life. He pressed the revolver's barrel under her chin and pulled the trigger in what he described as a "good, clean finishing shot" that was meant to end her suffering.

ummmmm...

Yeah I don't think this guy is getting off on a self defense plea.

[The Late P Brooks]

While Richards called defense of habitation an "obvious issue," prosecutors say it's not one he can bring to trial.

"I do not believe that defense is available to them legally," Deputy Weber County Attorney Gary Heward said. "Police entry was not unlawful. It was exactly the opposite."

Because, well, you know...

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

I love how all the American, and even some British media, are framing the Catalonia elections as a "loss" for secessionists there. Apparently having more than 2/3 of your parliament controlled by secessionist parties is a "loss".

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

The beltway cosmopolitans are scared.

[Palin's Buttplug]

OK, now I am pissed off.

http://livewire.talkingpointsm.....-customers

Part Obama's fault - part all the hysteria about GAMBLING!

[Christina]

Paging SugarFree.

Are you aware of this new Jezzie fanfic feature, Your Imaginary Girlfriend/Boyfriend? Today's is about your imaginary girlfriend, Rachel Maddow.

I only know about it because my best friend in the 8th grade (who has grown up to become a lesbian, which is interesting because she was boy crazy in middle school. But I digress.) posted the link on FB a minute ago. Apparently she and her wife already had this thought experiment, but it ended very differently. From what I'm to believe about lesbians (from straight porn, of course), I think she means scissoring.

http://jezebel.com/5963346/you.....hel-maddow

[OldMexican]

I would think that this should be titled, to be more accurate, "Imaginary Boyfriend: Rachel Maddow"

[Julio Cesar Samper Uribe]

Julio Cesar Samper Uribe's Plan to Utterly Vanquish All of Spain's Secessionist Movements.

If I was Mariano Rajoy (Spain's Prime Minister), and I wanted to render all secessionist movements in the country moot, I'd do the following:

1) Call a press conference with all regional government heads in attendance.

2) After all the claptrap about national unity, utter the following phrase: "The King, Parliament and I will approve independence for the regions wishing it, on the condition that these future nations will assume their share of the Spanish state's public debt".

3) See the Catalan/Galician/Basque separatists embrace Franco all of a sudden with unending gusto.

[ant1sthenes]

So, basically they would only secede if they thought that debt would be higher and more demands would be made of them in the future, and that getting out now would leave them with a large but manageable problem as opposed to being stuck in a catastrophic situation?

Yeah, I can't even imagine them going ahead with it that way.

And I'm pretty sure the Basque separatists have deeper issues with Spain than the current economy.

[Julio Cesar Samper Uribe]

Nope.

Spain's debt is spiraling out of control.

ALL of Spain's separatist movements are left-wing in nature, and the potential Catalan/Galician/Basque nations would have to provide welfare states as generous as the one offered by the Spaniards as a whole, perhaps even more.

Having the prospect of being saddled with a ballooning debt (such debt won't stop accruing interest just because it's being held by e.g. Catalonia and not Spain) would certainly put a hell of a damper in their drive for independence.

The impetus would then be to REMAIN tethered to the Spanish state.

(As a side note, you're right about the Basques. Their ideology has a very nasty racialist/racist component that would make the Nazis cringe. Google Sabino Arana.)

[Ted S.]

I was under the impression that Catalunya was a net contributor to the Spanish state (and one of the few relatively robust regions in the country), so getting out would make it easier for them to pay off their share of the debt.

[Julio Cesar Samper Uribe]

True to a certain extent.

As they're set up right now, Spanish regional governments (or comunidades aut?nomas) are rather limited in scope, but (oddly) they can choose which responsibilities they assume and which they have the central government retain. Apart from education, language policy and (some) law enforcement, they don't do much.

All the heavy spending (health, social disbursements and all major infrastructure) is carried out by the central government.

And to further make the point of who holds the money bags, regions neither have the power to levy taxes nor to apportion. That's all the national government/Parliament. Regions certainly can budget, but they have to hand the tin can to Madrid to actually get the euros (formerly pesetas).

That's why an independent Catalonia would certainly collapse economically under the weight of a big welfare state and big debt, no matter how its economy is within Spain

[waaminn]

Comeon dude that makes no sense at all man, None.

http://www.Tru-Privacy.tk

[Tom P.]

When exactly did we start celebrating Macy's Day? And what did Macy's do that we as a nation should be thankful for? Even Macy's doesn't have a Macy's day. They still refer to the annual November holiday as Thanksgiving Day and hold the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to celebrate.