A.M. Links: Cabinet Muzzled Over Cuts, John Brennan To Be Grilled, French Singer Slams Socialist "Mediocrity"

• Cabinet officials say they've been told to keep their mouths shut about looming sequestration spending cuts unless they get clearance from the Office of Management and Budget. The Pentagon is exempt, though, and the resulting chatter has reinforced the impression that the cuts are all defense-related.

• John Brennan is expected to face a few questions today about torture, drone killings and high-level leaks on his way to taking over the CIA and doing more of the same.
• The Supreme Court ponders whether government agents will need a warrant to collect DNA samples from suspects (the new professionalism includes a cotton swab).
• The alleged assailant in the shooting of a security guard at the D.C. offices of the Family Research Council entered a guilty plea.
• In the latest development in government transparency, a Virginia bill would make government documents presumptively unavailable for public scrutiny.
• A former LAPD officer is suspected in the shootings — one fatal — of three cops. He's already sought in the killing of the daughter of a former LAPD captain as well as the woman's fiance.
• Johnny Hallyday, the celebrated Gallic pop singer of such hits as … Well, anyway, he slammed his country's Socialist government and the political Left in general for breeding mediocrity.

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Comments

[AuH2O]

FOR GREENDALE on 3!

[PS]

Pop...puh...puh..puh...

[AuH2O]

POP WHAT?!

[PS]

Jeffrey it's your friend the Dean, I'm safe!

[Fist of Etiquette]

This thread is streets behind.

[PS]

Now, FOE, how many fingers am I holding up, and, more importantly, are they still made of clay?

[Rich]

Six finger!

[Auric Demonocles]

There are 4 fingers!

[MJGreen]

Denny's is for winners.

[Fist of Etiquette]

John Brennan is expected to face a few questions today about torture, drone killings and high-level leaks on his way to taking over the CIA and doing more of the same.

AKA Senate grandstanding.

[Ted S.]

AKA standard operating procedure.

[wareagle]

curious what the Dems, who were apoplectic about water-boarding under the evil Bush, will have to say.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Crickets.

[BigT]

Dem: Congratulations on actually taking out those nasty terrorists. Bush's fault as he didn't clean up the mess since he only waterboarded them.

[Pro Libertate]

Wait a second. John Brennan the Pak protector?

[LTC(ret) John]

He only drones those that don't pass the smell test.

*Sniff*

"Not mine... drone for you!"

[Pro Libertate]

At least it's a well-defined process.

[CampingInYourPark]

"John Brennan To Be Grilled"

Wonder if it's a BYOB party

[WTF]

A former LAPD officer is suspected in the shootings ? one fatal ? of three cops. He's already sought in the killing of the daughter of a former LAPD captain as well as the woman's fiance.

I sense a paid vacation coming on.....

[Kaptious Kristen]

Nope, he'll go straight to jail without passing go. Because the people he killed were cops & their families. You know, our betters.

[gaijin]

plus he is a 'former' cop...so no longer part of the union tribe.

[WTF]

I know, I was attempting sarcasm.

[John]

No he killed other cops. He is going to death row. He killed actual human beings. If he had killed some lesser human, then it would be some paid time off and anger management.

[db]

Ex cop, I thought. Will they rehire him to give him extra leave time?

[Drax the Destroyer]

If this happened in San Francisco, I'd wonder if they finally caught up with Dirty Harry after his actions in Magnum Force. I always wondered how he explained that away.

[Brett L]

"A man has got to know his limitations."

[sarcasmic]

He killed noblemen and will be treated accordingly. Had he killed mere peasants not much would have happened, but he killed knights of noble families.

[Way Of The Crane]

Did he at least shoot their dogs too?

[Matrix]

"former LAPD officer" implies he is no longer employed by LAPD.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I'm glad they have a suspect. The double murder he perpetrated in Irvine was horrific, senseless and cruel. This piece of shit needs to die in the darkest hole we can find.

[Bobarian]

I don't see him being taken alive.

[Andrew S.]

It actually gets better if you read the article. The reason he's a former LAPD officer? He reported a superior for beating a mentally challenged man. The mentally chalenged man's father also reported the beating. The superior officer denied it. So the guy got fired for "lying" about his superior officer.

So that's hy he's not getting a paid vacation.

[this is not to say he shouldn't be thrown into a deep dark hole for his crime. Because he obviously should.]

[mr lizard]

I'll be the asshole and say that feedback is a bitch.

[Lord Humungus]

Krauthammer: 'I Really Don't Understand Hysteria' Over Drones
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....-botwinick

On Special Report tonight, Charles Krauthammer explained why he was unfazed by the use of drones to kill Americans without a trial. He pointed out that, "thousands of Americans died at Antietam without due process" and "when we stormed the beaches at Normandy on D-Day, and Americans approached a German bunker, I don't think anyone asked, 'Is there a German-American here? I want to read you the Miranda rights.'" Unfortunately, the administration's guidelines "were probably written by someone in the lower quintile of his law school class" because "they want to pretend that you can only hit an American al-Qaeda operative who is an imminent threat and then define him as a threat out of existence by saying al-Qaeda is continually hatching plots so he's always an imminent threat."

derp.

[WTF]

Krauthammer is actually pretty smart, and even he can't come up with a non-idiotic justification for this.

[John]

Question, should we have tried to capture Bin Ladin instead of just shooting him? If not, why not? He wasn't an American citizen, but since when are American courts only open to American citizens. He was clearly not an imminent threat. And it is not like the Pakistanis haven't been willing to capture people for us before. They captured KSM for us.

[Restoras]

Question. Are you advocating for the elimination of due process and trial by jury for US citizens at the whim of government official?

[John]

Am I advocating for the summary execution of Roger Godell? That would be about as intelligent of a question as yours.

If you are in another country who refuses to do anything about your activities and you are actively waging war against the US, no you are not entitled to a jury trial.

[Restoras]

Sure, John, whatever. The Bill of Rights for you and those who march in lockstep with you. Everyone else, not so much. Got it.

[John]

So we can no longer kill people in war? We seem to have killed millions in the past. Is that no longer allowed?

You can't just scream bill of rights. You have to make a case why terrorism is just ordinary crime and not an act of war, even though it has been treated as such for pretty much the entire history of man.

American citizens were liable to be hanged as pirates in the 18th Century. This doesn't look any different to me.

You guys are so retarded and emotional about this issue, you don't even understand your own arguments much less the other side's.

[Almanian.]

I know you are, but what am I?

/Pee Wee

[SugarFree]

President Obama appreciates your support, John. Maybe he'll send you a pack of Air Force One playing cards or something.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Air Force One M&Ms; are the rage. I need toc heck ebay to see what my Bill Clinton ones are worth.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Fuckin-a. The typing!

[generic Brand]

We went over this MULTIPLE TIMES yesterday, John. Where is the evidence that these targets are "waging war against the U.S." besides the words of an administration official?

[John]

We went over it multiple times. And you apparently never read a single thing I wrote. I said on multiple occasions that the Al Alwaki killing was probably illegal under the terms of the administration's own memo.

But pay no attention to that. That might require you to think.

[generic Brand]

But my point is that it extends beyond Al-Awlaki and his nephew. If all we have is the administration's word that the people getting bombed are "probably" terrorists, that's not good enough. Especially when civilians are getting caught up in the bombing.

It's one thing when the enemy is hiding in a crowd while still SHOOTING at you, and that is understandably a touchy subject anyway; it's an entirely different thing when people are just meeting in a place with many civilians around.

[John]

But my point is that it extends beyond Al-Awlaki and his nephew. If all we have is the administration's word that the people getting bombed are "probably" terrorists, that's not good enough.

I don't think it is either. But no one here bothers to listen to that. They are too busy shouting and being retarded.

[Pro Libertate]

This is why we need a process to limit what the president is authorized to do when it comes to the use of force. While I do think we're wasting our time and a lot of other things meddling in the Middle East, if we're going to take on terrorism, we need something more than an open-ended "Go kill them all."

Congress needs to do something, for once.

[John]

I agree Pro. There ought to be a set process for this beyond just "Obama wants it done". But that process is not going to be and doesn't have to be done through the courts. This situation is why you have military tribunals. And Obama is too much of a moral coward to do that. So instead he takes the easy way out and just kills people knowing he will never be held accountable for it and no dead man ever conducted a terrorist attack.

[Sh?n Y?]

But that process is not going to be and doesn't have to be done through the courts. This situation is why you have military tribunals.

Isn't a military tribunal basically a "court?"

[John]

Sure it is Shun. But it is not a federal district court and doesn't have to live by the rules of said court.

[Sh?n Y?]

But it is not a federal district court and doesn't have to live by the rules of said court

Understood. But would this not be the proper venue, if you cannot go through the federal court system, to determine if someone should be assassinated* or not?

*Assassinated as in targeted kill.

[Restoras]

Did you just take your vitamins?

[mad libertarian guy]

and no dead man ever conducted a terrorist attack.

No, they don't. But the many neighbors, friends, and family members of the innocent people who have been killed by drones do.

[John]

No they don't MLG. Go find me a single instance of that happening. That is nothing but a fairy tale you people tell yourselves.

[Restoras]

So, you can prove it doesn't? Or is this just more derp?

[BakedPenguin]

John, one of the links today was a guy who became the domestic equivalent of a terrorist because he was fired from his job. Are you really saying that if his family had been shot instead, he'd be okay with that?

[tarran]

Yes... Bin Laden should have had his day in court.

It wasn't likely; I don't think he would have surrendered but think he would likely have fought to the death.

[wareagle]

and what would have been the point of a trial? Particularly a civilian trial. I could see a military verions like those after WWII.

[tarran]

The idea is that nobody gets whacked on secret evidence.

Today its going to be bin Laden... in 100 years its going to be Badnarik or you.

[wareagle]

I'm with you on this drone thing being bad to the extreme. Not so much on a trial for Bin Laden.

If you re-read the Krauthammer quote, he's actually right on target regarding the tortured wording of this thing.

[SweatingGin]

s/100/2.5/

[John]

I think you have to say that or forfeit your outrage over this memo. If you think terrorism is just crime and not an act of war, then it is crime in all cases. We don't drone strike ordinary criminals even if we can't extradite them.

[Capt Ace Rimmer]

Terrorism is just a crime and not even a particularly deadly crime if you line it up against other types of crime.

[John]

There are thousands of dead people in places like Iraq and Peru who would disagree.

Terrorism is a lot more than 9-11

[Bobarian]

Terrorism is not an act of war. Acts of war are given special dispensation in the international community.

But Terrorists are also not common criminals.

The problem with the current use of drones is that there is no way of knowing if the target is actually a terrorist, or an ordinary criminal, or just someone standing in the wrong place.

Using a drone to strike targets in a war zone is covered in Laws of Land Warfare.

Using drones to murder unconfirmed targets away from the battlefield is a significantly different issue.

[Capt Ace Rimmer]

Right, they're not even "common" criminals which makes them even less of a threat. They are once in a blue moon criminals.

[Bobarian]

Targeting individuals in this case should have very high and open standards of review. Droning an unconfirmed someone on hidden evidence in an area away from the battlefield smacks of international war crime...

[Capt Ace Rimmer]

We have elevated these common criminals to god like status and we're bankrupting our treasure and values in the process.

[Mike Laursen]

It is just crime. I haven't seen any declarations of war by Congress.

[crashland]

It's a bit hard to declare war against a tactic, oh and terrorism isn't just for jihadis, the guy who shot a security guard plead out to charges including "one count of committing an act of terrorism with the intent to kill." Silly me, I thought just murdering somebody was crime enough, now everybody can be a terrorist.

Plus Congress declaring war is sooooo yesterday. POTUS doesn't need a permission slip to get his kill on. Right Chris Rock? He's our daddy and he can kill who he wants and we should just shut up or he'll beat us with his belt.

Blowing shit up because you want to induce fear, is worse than blowing shit up to just kill people. Just like saying "die queer, die" as you shoot your gay neighbor makes you both a murderer and a "hate" criminal.

War can only be declared against a nation state. Not against a club for radicals who hate us because we're so suave and sexy.

I live near All-Clad's factory. They use lots of "metal" to make things. Their name includes some of the illegal letters like A, L, D. I hope they don't get droned because somebody thinks they are an affiliate of Al-Qaeda.

[Francisco d Anconia]

If you think terrorism is just crime and not an act of war, then it is crime in all cases.

Well gee...

I'm pretty sure it can be both. It's simply a crime UNTIL Congress declares war on the perpetrators. AT THAT POINT, it's war.

[Raven Nation]

IIRC, there were a lot of contradictory messages coming out of the administration over what orders were given to the SEAL team i.e. were they ordered to kill regardless or was it try to capture but kill if resistance? I'm not sure that was ever clarified.

Plus, if you're sending in a military team, you're kind of implying lethal force.

[wareagle]

if you're sending in SEALS, capture is not the goal.

[Francisco d Anconia]

ST6 does not "capture" prisoners.

[Francisco d Anconia]

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST THIS IS A STUPID CONVERSATION!

Declaration of war = war = Executive has authority to whack those against whom war was declared WITHOUT due process

No declaration of war = NO whacking ANYONE without due process

Why is this so fucking hard people?

[John]

We have a declaration of war. You don't like the fact that we do. But we do.

You are right though, it is not hard. It just doesn't give the answer you want. But life sucks sometimes.

[Warty]

We have a dishonest halfass sort of declaration of war. But even if we didn't, you know Obama would be doing the exact same fucking thing as he is now. Congressional oversight is a quaint anachronism.

[Francisco d Anconia]

No John, we don't. We have an authorization for the use of force against those responsible for 911. The authorization specifies (PAST TENSE) those that perpetrated 911. I'm fairly sure that the Taliban getting whacked in Pakistan had absofuckinglutly nothing to do with the planning, execution or aiding those involved in 911.

[R C Dean]

Question, should we have tried to capture Bin Ladin instead of just shooting him?

Who knows what really happened, of course, but if you've got two helicopters and a bunch of SEALs face to face with the guy, it sounds like capture was not impossible.

But supposedly it was shoot to kill from the get-go.

[Francisco d Anconia]

That's what ST6 does.

[crashland]

Damn, I want to be POTUS so I can have my very own kick-ass ST6. Having an ST6 is so much cooler than just a rifle when those damn kids won't leave your fucking lawn.

[Tonio]

Two things:

1) My understanding is that the orders were to try to capture OBL if possible but to just shoot him if that didn't work out.

2) John is on a real shit-stirring, time-wasting kick of late. See also "should we have entered WWII" from several days ago. That shit happened. We can debate until the cows come home and it won't change anything. I feel that it's a far better use of time to debate current drone policy.

[Stormy Dragon]

The impression I got was number #1 is true, but with "if possible" defined so narrowly that everyone understood the intent was that they not find it possible.

[VG Zaytsev]

Question, should we have tried to capture Bin Ladin instead of just shooting him?

Yes we should have.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Why?

[crashland]

Are we really sure the guy killed was bin Laden? Basically these trustworthy government officials said it was him, said the DNA evidence proved it but nobody bothered to whip out their cell phone and snap a pictures of public enemy #1's corpse?

[Stormy Dragon]

Question, should we have tried to capture Bin Ladin instead of just shooting him?

It don't want to win by just proving we can out-Herod Herod and be just as viciously ruthless as Al Qeda. What better way to show how much better we are then by beating Osama by capturing him alive, putting him on trial, and then making him rot in prison for decades rather than doing it his way?

[PS]

Another neocon who can go suck his own dick. Oh noes, I'm making myself look like an ass again because only John knows the real definition of neocon, and he's not telling.

[John]

I know what it means, it means the person using the term is a moron who has nothing interesting to say.

[Restoras]

Derp!

[John]

It is the equivalent of Liberals saying ROADZZZ or Nihilist. Every time you us it, you make yourself look stupid and uninformed.

[Restoras]

Oh noes! I am teh stupid and uninfirmed! Tkae awaze my Bill of Rights priveridez!!

[John]

ROADZZZ!!! DRONES!!!!

Just type that. It is quicker and makes just as intelligent of a point.

[Restoras]

No way. My way is far more fun and clearly irritates you far more.

[Chris Mallory]

How about "cowardly American who puts Israel before the United States and who loves war, even though they never had the guts to sign enlistment papers"?

[John]

It can also mean person using it is an Anti Semitic moron Chris. I forgot that definition.

[Chris Mallory]

The NeoCons don't support Israel before anything else, no matter what their religious or ethnic background? I didn't say a single thing that is "anti-Semitic". Refusing to fight to the last drop of American blood to defend Israel is not anti Semitic.

[crashland]

How many Americans have died protecting Israel?

[$park?]

So, you don't like it because it applies to you? You don't like it because it doesn't apply to anyone? As far as I can tell, PS used it exactly as it should be.

[John]

How does it apply to me? Am I Jewish? That will come as a hell of a surprise to my parents? Am I a former communist who turned conservative later in life? I must have been in some kind of fugue state in my youth and forgotten it.

It is a meaningless idiotic term uttered by stupid people who have no real arguments. You just make yourself look stupid when you use it.

[$park?]

I don't see how Jewish has anything to do with it. I can see by your belief that it has anything to do with communism means you don't know that the meaning of the word changed in the '60s. Seems like you don't like it because it's a pejorative, and calling people stupid instead is just better.

[John]

That is what "Neocon" means. It is a word used to describe a group of Jewish intellectuals who were communists in their youth and later became conservatives. Think David Horowitz. He is the oringal Neocon.

I don't have feelings one way or another about the "word". But the people who use it use it like liberals use ROADZZ or Somalia!! It is just a epitaph flung by someone who apparently has nothing or chooses not to have anything interesting to say about a subject. It is about as intelligent as calling someone a shoe and even less interesting.

[tarran]

Neocons aren't simply communists who became conservatives. They were Trotskyites who believed in a worldwide revolution and continue to apply that bellicose approach to spread their political ideas.

Nor are they particularly conservative, they have little respect for institutions that get in the way of their jeremiads.

[$park?]

It is a word used to describe a group of Jewish intellectuals who were communists in their youth and later became conservatives.

Yes, that is the original meaning of the word. But, as is the way of language, that meaning has changed over time. If you're going to be angry about people using it, you should probably put a little effort into finding that out.

Also, your penchant for calling people stupid, idiot retards doesn't go unnoticed when you whine about people using pejoratives you don't like.

[John]

You are right Sparky. The word has striped of all meaning. And now it just means "I don't like you". Thus, that is why it reflects so poorly on the people who use it.

[$park?]

For fucks sake, John. Here's a link you can ignore because you might learn something.

[bostonaod]

Also, your penchant for calling people stupid, idiot retards doesn't go unnoticed when you whine about people using pejoratives you don't like.

Yeah, this. It's amazing how the topic of drones apparently brings out the stupid in every single poster except you John..

[BakedPenguin]

It is just a epitaph

uh...epithet?

[Restoras]

Words change!!11!eleven!

[Tonio]

Red Tony strikes again.

[Don Mynack]

Yeah, and the rest of the family in the house is guilty, too. Those kids will all grow up to be Al Queda!

[bostonaod]

"thousands of Americans died at Antietam without due process"

And we all think that was swell, so what are you guys bitching about??

the whole "Krauthammer's Take" on NRO is easily the creepiest feature on the site

[Eduard van Haalen]

The difference I don't see discussed (unless I missed it) is this: War generally involves attacking a particular position or attacking an enemy force - with those who offer to surrender being taken alive. Droke-striking involves singling out an individual *by name* and allowing his killing, apparently without regard to whether he offers to surrender or not.

The point of war is that, within its proper scope, there's a lot of things done which would not be tolerated under the rule of law - like killing people. To say, "it's wartime so we can kill whoever we want" pretty much defeats the purpose of *any* limits on govt power. That's why keeping warlike actions within proper bounds, and carefully delineating the boundary between acts of war and acts of justice, is so important.

Ezra Pound wasn't droned or assassinated (though he could legitimately have been killed in an Allied bombing raid, etc.) - he was arrested and tried for treason. Are we dumber than FDR for failing to observe these kinds of distinctions?

(Yes, I know about Yamamoto)

[Fist of Etiquette]

Cabinet officials say they've been told to keep their mouths shut about looming sequestration spending cuts...

We're about to see bureaucrats jumping out windows like stock brokers in 1929.

[Rich]

"Do more with less fewer."

[Drax the Destroyer]

"Do more with less fewer nothing."

[Rich]

"Doing nothing is not an option."

Of course, that obviously means "Doing nothing is the standard/default."

[Almanian.]

"DO SOMETHING!"

[db]

I hope some of them wear GoPros.

[Almanian.]

+1080

[db]

Better if they use 720p/60fps for better slo-mo capability. Or get a Hero3, with better res/framerate combinations.

[Almanian.]

Yeah...I...wait...whatever.

/clueless about all that shit

[gaijin]

which is interesting since the removal of carrier groups from the persian gulf has been reported as 'related to sequester cuts'. Which haven;t even happened. and of course, there is nowhere else to remove forces, so we have to take them from the gulf. It's like extortion. No, it is extortion.

[John]

The problem with sequester is that they have put it off so long, all of the cuts will now be done in six months rather than a year. If they had just done it January 1, it would have been spread out over the whole year and made sense.

More importantly, since the cuts are not done via a budget, they do nothing about the long term problem of spending. What agencies should be doing is laying people off and cutting programs to reduce their spending now and in the future. But since sequestration is just a one time one year cut and not an actual cut in the budget, they can't do that. So instead it will just result in a short term shut down of government through furlows and reductions in deployments and such. But it won't result in any actual reduction in the agency's budget. As soon as the fiscal year is over, the budget goes right back to where it was before.

This is why the Democrats refuse to pass a budget. Doing so would make them actually cut agencies and the size of government rather than make a few one time cosmetic cuts.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Sequestration is $1.2T over 10 years, half of which must be applied to military spending.

[Pro Libertate]

Typical at all levels of government. Don't shut down wasteful programs first; go after popular ones. Like how local governments always start shortening library hours or suggesting the fire departments might not be fully funded.

[Brett L]

Right. Cuts go to closing parks, increased income gets spent on additional layers of administration.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm frankly stunned at what we tolerate these days. I guess the relative affluence and comfort of our society makes us too soft and cozy to rebel. And it's not even a matter of armed revolt--we could easily roll back government considerably in an election or two. But no, why do something rational and beneficial?

[Brett L]

Because the people who care are the ones who stand to lose much, while the people who don't stand to gain little. Also, rationality is never a criteria for public office decision making. Not even rational self interest.

Having begun to date someone who sometimes cares more about what she feels than what she thinks when making decisions, I'm very afraid that most of the world is like that.

[Way Of The Crane]

We're about to see bureaucrats jumping out windows like stock brokers in 1929.

Too bad none of the buildings in DC are as tall as those in NYC.

[R C Dean]

Nah. It's all defense cuts, on the fire-cops-and-firefighters-first principle.

[Lord Humungus]

Virginia moves closer to creating state's own currency
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02.....-currency/

Lawmakers in Virginia say they want to keep their options open in case the value of the U.S. dollar ever collapses ? so they're considering minting state coinage.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that a proposal to study the effectiveness of such a plan "sailed through" the state's lower house this week:

[sarcasmic]

Kiera Knightley or Maria Menunous?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....z2Jw2rvyBx
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....z2Jw2rvyBx

[John]

Knightly actually looks better in winter clothes. It covers up the fact that her body looks like that of a concentration camp victim.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I thought her thighs were getting a little thick.

[sarcasmic]

I'm sorry. Is this more to your liking?

[Restoras]

I think her future was easily foreseeable based on that Baywatch pic.

[RBS]

She's like 4 times her Baywatch size and someone tell Spiderman to get some sun.

[Restoras]

Kiera is definately prettier.

[Ted S.]

Why not both?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Don't be greedy Ted.

And I would say Maria.

[Ted S.]

It's not greed. It's my birthright.

[WTF]

Yes

[RBS]

Maria's got some weird looking legs or maybe it's just those pants.

[Restoras]

Pants are too tight and her legs aren't toned enough for pants.

[sarcasmic]

Google "Maria Menounos bikini malfunction"

*Warning* results may not be safe for work.

[Groovus Maximus]

Kiera Knightley or Maria Menunous?

Dr. Podruga Groovova.-)))))))))))

[Ted S.]

Pics or not real. 😉

(I have a feeling we're going to be in trouble when Grazhdanka Groovaya sees this.)

[Groovus Maximus]

I simply don't need sarc's Daily FAIL links. Envy me.-)

I have uploaded pics twice with her permission. If you weren't there, too bad. Ya snooze, ya lose, Zheodor.

Protip: For those who date or want to date a Russian or UKR wimminz, one thing that helps is Russian culture does not encourage giving compliments flippantly and high praise is difficult to earn (none of that "Everyone gets a trophy shit here). So, I make sure and give her a sincere compliment every day, as women here love a good sincere compliment.

[Pro Libertate]

"Dearest, I don't need to test you with the gom jabbar--I know you're human."

[LTC(ret) John]

"You are so gentle for a woman who has gone through the spice agony!"

[Auric Demonocles]

This is as foolish as the God Emperor trusting that girl the Ixians sent him.

[Pro Libertate]

Dude, he did all of that on purpose.

[Auric Demonocles]

Committing suicide is foolish too.

[Pro Libertate]

To save all of humanity? Maybe, but everyone should be glad he did it. Well, will do it, tens of thousands of years from now.

[Auric Demonocles]

Okay, you do the suicide to save us all, I'll go for the spice orgies.

[Pro Libertate]

He was a living spice orgy. That's how he got through the day.

[Auric Demonocles]

Spice is a hell of a drug man.

[Pro Libertate]

Charlie Murphy!

[LTC(ret) John]

Doc, its a binary solution set - Dr. PG is not in it... heh heh.

[$park?]

Listen, he knows his usage is being monitored and thus is he (rightly) frightened of saying any non-approved messages.

[Groovus Maximus]

Binary is for The Matrix.-)

[sarcasmic]

There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who do not.

[Restoras]

Ok, I laughed.

[LTC(ret) John]

Me too. +2 for Sarc.

[$park?]

You mean +10?

[Restoras]

Or +01?

[edcoast]

I say, I think Dr. M is . . um . . smitten.

[Almanian.]

Yes, please!

[sarcasmic]

Postcards from the 1950s.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....z2Jw2rvyBx
PRUNE JUICE WILL SET YOU FREE!

[Capt Ace Rimmer]

nice

[Lord Humungus]

Supermarkets cry foul as FDA proposes new food labeling rule under ObamaCare
http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....od-labels/

The rule stems from an ObamaCare mandate that restaurants provide nutrition information on menus. Most in the restaurant industry were supportive of the idea, but when the FDA decided to extend the provision to also affect thousands of supermarkets and convenience stores, the backlash was swift.

The proposed regulation would require store owners to label prepared, unpackaged foods found in salad bars and food bars, soups and bakery items. Erik Lieberman, regulatory counsel at the Food Marketing Institute, said testing foods for nutritional data will require either expensive software or even more costly off-site laboratory assessments.

[VG Zaytsev]

... but when the FDA decided to extend the provision...

WTF?

So the bureaucracy can just change laws on the fly now.

[sarcasmic]

Is this the Country Kitchen Buffet?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....z2Jw2rvyBx

[Ted S.]

Maybe she was trying to recreate a scene from The Italian Job.

[Way Of The Crane]

She must have been hauling ass to not only bridge that gap but to do so despite the railing.

[generic Brand]

The driver, a 70-year-old, was taken to hospital after his Toyota Camry crashed into Rady Children's Hospital.

So after he crashed into a hospital, he was taken to a different hospital? I understand that this is a "Children's Hospital", but they can't just treat him since he's right there?

[Ted S.]

Obamacare regulations.

[Bobarian]

Because Obamacare Cares...

[mr simple]

When Arthur Children founded that hospital, he had put in the charter that no one over the age of 18 yrs, to the day, was to be treated in that hospital, or it would be shut down.

[Stormy Dragon]

He was just taking the Jim Carrey Challenge

[Drax the Destroyer]

I think government agents certainly should need a warrant to collect DNA evidence. Who knows what kind of shenanigans could be perpetrated if they could rifle through your garbage and rub fresh wadded Kleenexes all over the dead hooker in their black sedan. Then again, we are probably already there.

(Drax commences burning all of his garbage in perpetuity)

[gaijin]

I think government agents...

What you think does not matter. It only matters that an informed, high-level official thinks is sensible.

[Drax the Destroyer]

I forgot my place, Barbarian. How much blood and sweet will atone for my transgression or is seppuku in order?

[Way Of The Crane]

Seppuku? What makes you think that you're allowed to own knives or swords?

[Drax the Destroyer]

So, death by attending public school then?...........

Too soon?

Satan, turn up the heat, I'll be back by dinnertime!

[Zeb]

I'm pretty sure a warrant requirement won't do much to stop a cop illegally framing you. But I agree.

[sarcasmic]

Scaffolding from around the world.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....z2Jw2rvyBx
OSHA would not approve.

[db]

I love it.

[a better weapon]

What an odd subject matter

I'm shocked they didn't add this one

[Lord Humungus]

ripe for a Jackie Chan movie

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Coolness.

[Restoras]

Brilliant alt+text, JD. Well done.

[db]

I always hate reading these because the alttext is invisible on my mobile browser. I miss all the good ones.

[Restoras]

It reads, "I swear...one more question about torture and someone is getting waterboarded"

[db]

Thank you! That was excellent.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

To be honest, db, most of the alt-texts are insults about you. Along the lines of, "db smells funny" or, "db's got weird eyebrows". The only alt-texts that aren't about you, are about your mother. It's one big joke, at your expense. I'm sorry you had to here it from me, but...

[db]

The creepy part is that I do have weird eyebrows.

[Groovus Maximus]

Well, may I suggest better waxing techniques for the unibrow? Combing them to look more Vulcan probably doesn't help either...

[db]

They're less a unibrow and more a David Lynch Mentat.

[Groovus Maximus]

David Lynch Mentat

DOES. NOT. COMPUTE.

[Pro Libertate]

Yeah, what is he talking about?

[db]

I knew that would blow your mind.

[sarcasmic]

Jay Leno recreates Super Bowl commerical kiss. Kind of.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....z2Jw2rvyBx

[sarcasmic]

Having a whale of a time in Maui
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....z2Jw2rvyBx

[Fist of Etiquette]

A former LAPD officer is suspected in the shootings ? one fatal ? of three cops.

The union doesn't know what to do.

[DJF]

Paid vacations for everyone?

[DJF]

Navy's aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman deployment to gulf is delayed due to budget cuts.

http://www.defense.gov/news/ne.....?id=119218

[Bardas Phocas]

We stand defenseless in the face of ayrab agression.

I'm going to have to buy more guns.

[DJF]

Good news however is that this means it will be available to back up drone strikes against Americans on the east coast of the USA

[Pro Libertate]

Riiiiiiggght.

[mr lizard]

That rumble you hear is 4000 Sailer cheering... The high pitched whine is from their CO

[Lord Humungus]

What Would Orwell Make of Obama's Drone Policy?
http://www.theatlantic.com/pol.....cy/272882/

This kind of language -- imminence that isn't, consent at gun-point -- runs throughout the white paper. It authorizes, for instance, not just the killing of Al Qaeda leaders, but of any "an associated force." Who determines what constitutes "an associated force?" The same people ordering the killing.

I don't want to be thick-witted here. I understand that on some level a democracy generally elects human leaders who will not abuse the spirit of the law. I think Barack Obama is such a leader. That is for the historians to determine. But practically, much of our foreign policy now depends on the hope of benevolent dictators and philosopher kings. The law can't help. The law is what the kings say it is.

and another derp.

[Almanian.]

a democracy generally elects human leaders who will not abuse the spirit of the law

About that "don't want to be thick-witted here" - too late.

[Spartacus]

I understand that on some level a democracy generally elects human leaders who will not abuse the spirit of the law. I think Barack Obama is such a leader.

snicker snicker

BWAHAHAHA!!!!

[sarcasmic]

Tony Bennett says the U.S. will become Nazi Germany if there is not more gun control.
http://www.realclearpolitics.c.....rmany.html
That's right. Unless the people are disarmed and the only people with guns are government goons, the U.S. will turn into Nazi Germany.
DERP!

[Drax the Destroyer]

What a dumb middle-aged lesbian.

[Rich]

He left his brain in San Francisco.

[Zeb]

Ugh. Why can't celebrities keep their mouths shut about things other than what they are good at. I like Tony Bennett, but now I have to think that he is a retard.

[wareagle]

Tony Bennett says the U.S. will become Nazi Germany if there is not more gun control.

didn't the Nazis impose gun control? This is the same culture that took away Jews' right to own weapons and that worked out quite well for that group, didn't it?

[Almanian.]

Nick Gillespie said they only instituted gun control on teh JOOS. I read it on the internet. Right here.

[Don Mynack]

We imposed gun control on the Germans post-WWI, Weimar restored limited gun use, the Nazis put it on the Jews post-Kristelnacht. At least from what I understand.

[wareagle]

and all those worked out quite well, didn't they?

[crashland]

Damn straight Tony, we need more Americans with more control over their own guns. Do your part to fight for gun control! Take a shooting lesson from an expert.

[Pro Libertate]

Maybe the whole problem is that we let fuzzy-minded liberal arts types run everything. Hitler? Artist. Stalin? Priest in training. Mussolini? Journalist.

[Groovus Maximus]

You're right! We need more lawyers in government! I have it on good authority that Poly Sci is a hard science. Surely, surely nothing can go wrong there!

[Pro Libertate]

Lawyers are fuzzy-minded liberal arts types, dude. As are, of course, political "scientists."

[Groovus Maximus]

Wait, you always quote the Animal House, "Pre-Med, Pre-Law, what's the difference?", line!

What are you trying to tell me here, Pro'L Dib?

**narrows eyes**

[Pro Libertate]

Doctors can be okay. Like Paul, for instance. But you must be watched carefully, as many of you are fuzzy-minded liberal arts types.

[Groovus Maximus]

But you must be watched carefully, as many of you are fuzzy-minded liberal arts types.

We call them, "Pediatricians," and, "MD/MPH's."

[Drax the Destroyer]

Hell many scientists today are untrustworthy wanks who write poorly reviewed(AND WRITTEN!) papers and worship at the altar of Star Trek fantasy progressivism. Look at fucking Neil DeGrasse Tyson. For every thing he says that sounds cool/makes some sense, he spouts diatribes about how I/US should be ashamed and shackled to unproven/disproven ideas conjured up by the teenage logic of Gene Rodenberry. Fuck that guy.

[Pro Libertate]

Many scientists are fuzzy-minded liberal arts. This doesn't necessarily break down by profession, by the way.

[tarran]

LAPD Rookie drops a dime on his training officer for brutality. HE gets fired. Since his life is over (because it's impossible for a fired cop to get another job somewhere else 🙂 ) he's now killing cops and their families.

What a fucking loser.

Ex-cop suspected in shooting of 3 police officers, O.C. couple

"Your lack of ethics and conspiring to wrong a just individual are over. Suppressing the truth will lead to deadly consequences for you and your family. There will be an element of surprise where you work, live, eat, and sleep," he wrote, referring to Quan and several others.

"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own, I'm terminating yours," he added.

Quan apparently served as Dorner's representative, according to the manifesto. Of Quan, Dorner wrote: "He doesn't work for you, your interest, or your name. He works for the department, period. His job is to protect the department from civil lawsuits being filed and their best interest which is the almighty dollar. His loyalty is to the department, not his client."

[tarran]

... And maybe I should read the morning links before posting my own stuff....

[Warty]

Maybe it's a good thing that he didn't become a police officer, maybe.

[Lord Humungus]

Obama Administration Errors Set The Stage For The First Green Trade War
http://www.forbes.com/sites/re.....trade-war/

Trade wars benefit nobody, but we may need to brace for one soon. This month, China is set to decide on whether to place a tariff on U.S. chemical imports?specifically polysilicon?used in the solar cell manufacturing process. Chinese polysilicon producers accuse the U.S. of dumping said chemicals onto the Chinese market. If the Chinese do impose a tariff, American polysilicon producers will lose access to a significant market while the cost of solar panels will rise significantly everywhere?making everyone a loser. Yet this bad outcome is likely because the Obama administration has already fired shots in what could become the world's first "green" trade war.

[AuH2O]

Oh, FFS, China is the biggest paper tiger ever. There is a reason why they have never became more than a regional power, except briefly under the Mongol Ming.

[AuH2O]

Why Anti-Legal Abortion people beat Pro-Legal Abortion people

But the pro-choice majority doesn't run this country, because a lot of its constituents don't really care. They don't march or phone-bank for women's health or equal rights. They just want to be left alone. They don't vote on abortion unless they're scared. When the debate is quiet, it's pro-lifers who hold the upper hand.

...

Across six Gallup polls taken from 1996 to 2012, self-identified pro-choicers consistently outnumbered self-identified pro-lifers. But in each of these surveys, among respondents who said they would vote only for a candidate who shared their abortion views, pro-lifers outnumbered pro-choicers. The pattern held in 1996, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012.

This corresponds to my observations. As someone who is personally for legal abortion, I can vote for someone for, say, the House of Representatives, who is against legal abortion, because they ultimately have no say in it- it is up to the courts largely.

Were the situation reversed in its current legality, I would feel more strongly about it.

[OldMexican]

You're in favor of legalized killing?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Depends on the circumstances: the killing of what? when?

[VG Zaytsev]

...But the pro-choice majority doesn't run this country,...

More people are pro-life than pro abortion in this country.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Another problem with the choicers is that many of them are uncomfortable with their position, which is at odds with what they see of the realities of human development. There's a guilt and awkwardness there which hampers them in a way it doesn't hamper prolifers.

Also the young people are getting more prolife than their elders - some say that theirs is a generation which sees their in-the-womb baby photos on the refrigerator, so they are more inclined to accept the scientific reality of the humanity of the fetus.

[Lord Humungus]

Philip K. Dick, an uneasy spy inside 1970s suburbia
http://herocomplex.latimes.com.....-suburbia/

Orange County, he wrote, was "far to the south of us, an area so reactionary to us that in Berkeley it seemed like a phantom land, made of the mists of dire nightmare? Orange County, which no one in Berkeley had ever actually seen, was the fantasy at the other end of the world, Berkeley's opposite."

Kidding aside, there were certainly times when suburban SoCal, and life as a married father, didn't satisfy him. "I hadn't realized before how [expletive] dumb and dull and futile and empty middle-class life is," he wrote in a 1975 letter. "I have gone from the gutter (circa 1971) to the plastic container."

[SugarFree]

That Tessa Dick is looking at a Congressional run as a Libertarian is amazing. Probably would have horrified her father, though.

[Groovus Maximus]

Why do you say that, Saccharin Man? I am not familiar with his family, I just read some of your library suggestions last year.

[SugarFree]

PKD's politics were all over the place. He attended Berkeley and claimed to have dropped out because of the ROTC requirement. He was a chronic drug user, and wrote a novel about the absurdity of the drug war (and the evils of the rehab industry), yet filled the afterword with a huge number of people he claimed were killed or driven insane by drugs. He convinced himself that the FBI had ransacked his house over his subversive writing. He was staunchly anti-abortion, but only after a girlfriend aborted a child if his. Even his stance on Orange County was contradictory: He hated it and felt he was surrounded by Republicans and conservatives, yet lived there for almost a decade when he had the means to leave.

And all that is before you get into the whole "a satellite hiding on the dark side of the moon that might be God is beaming images into my brain."

[Groovus Maximus]

Huh. Fascinating. Given that hodgepodge of "wow", it is little wonder that he produced such riveting works. Definitely a man of extremes, though it may be the "running for office" thing that would horrify him more than the particular TEAM choice, I wager.

[SugarFree]

His life was stranger than any book he managed to write. The Sutin biography is a great read.

[Groovus Maximus]

On the list, Bro! Bol'shoe spasibo!-)

[Fist of Etiquette]

...a Virginia bill would make government documents presumptively unavailable for public scrutiny.

Next step: actions are presumptively illegal unless stated otherwise in secret government documents.

[Doctor Whom]

What's that saying about the innocent and about having nothing to hide? Help me out here, O benevolent overlords in government.

[BakedPenguin]

Well, that statement is true in a way. The government hides nearly everything it does now, which I think is pretty good proof it's guilty as hell.

[Lord Humungus]

Jerry Brown calls Texas Gov Rick Perry's ad 'barely a fart'
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capito.....-fart.html

One day after Texas Gov. Rick Perry released a radio ad in California criticizing the Golden State's business climate and encouraging businesses to relocate to Texas, California Gov. Jerry Brown said today that Perry's campaign is "barely a fart."

"It's not a serious story, guys," the Democratic governor told reporters at a business event here. "It's not a burp. It's barely a fart."

The ad buy Perry announced Monday is relatively small, at about $24,000, but it gained widespread attention in the media. Brown called the amount "the smallest entry into the media market of California."

[db]

Why doesn't Jerry just whip out his dick and dare Perry to a measuring contest? Jerry/Perry: a swordfight for the ages.

[gaijin]

there is an app for that.

[Rich]

Is there an app for determining where the base is?

[LTC(ret) John]

Perry's in ur base, killin' ur dudes.

[Ted S.]

We actually had a creepy but interesting discussion on cruising apps back on Tuesday.

[gaijin]

the paid media buy was a catalyst for a wider awareness campaign to be carried by the unpaid media...Jerry Brown is too dumb to realize he's been played by that articulate genius Rick Perry...or at least someone on his staff.

[wareagle]

when you have been played by Perry, that speaks volumes.

[$park?]

NEEDZ MOAR LABELZ!

The proposed regulation would require store owners to label prepared, unpackaged foods found in salad bars and food bars, soups and bakery items. Erik Lieberman, regulatory counsel at the Food Marketing Institute, said testing foods for nutritional data will require either expensive software or even more costly off-site laboratory assessments.

Lieberman said failure to get it right comes with stiff penalties: "If you get it wrong, it's a federal crime, and you could face jail time and thousands of dollars worth of fines."

[WTF]

We really did have to pass it to see what was in it.

[Lord Humungus]

The top 10 ObamaLeaks John Brennan needs to explain
http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/.....o-explain/

When John Brennan appears for his confirmation hearing as the next CIA director tomorrow, he needs to explain to the Senate these ten major leaks of classified national security information from the Obama administration ? including the strange timing of most of these disclosures.

List in link.

[Rich]

Government urged to legislate against growing problem of sorcery-related killings

[Drax the Destroyer]

Did this world just get interesting?

[Rich]

"She's an enemy combatant! DROOOOONE HER!!"

[Dr. Frankenstein]

How can you tell if she's an enemy combatant?

[Whahappan?]

Look at her nose.

[LTC(ret) John]

"get" or "remain"?

[Way Of The Crane]

The alleged assailant in the shooting of a security guard at the D.C. offices of the Family Research Council entered a guilty plea.

I think we can drop the "alleged" part now.

[LTC(ret) John]

Indeed - one can switch from "alleged" to "admitted"

[Enough About Palin]

"John Brennan To Be Grilled"

To Serve Man

[db]

"Brennen" in German is "to burn."

[Drax the Destroyer]

...Makes me wonder what his ancestors did as an occupation.

I wonder if there is a name that translates into "To rape and pillage." I bet it's Nordic or Mongolian.

[Marshall Gill]

You sure that isn't Bremen?

[LTC(ret) John]

Bremen war gebrandt!

[$park?]

This is why Chicago cops can't be bothered with non-emergency calls.

Chicago police Sgt. Jeffrey Allen claims in the suit that the city owes him and fellow officers overtime pay for work performed on department-requisitioned BlackBerry phones. If the plaintiffs eventually prevail, it could mean millions of dollars in back pay.

The issue impacts workers everywhere, Allen's lawyer said Wednesday after a hearing in the case.

"Everybody can relate to this because people are being asked all the time these days to work for free and they are being told to work for free using their phones," attorney Paul Geiger said.

[mad libertarian guy]

But I thought they were selfless heroes looking only to serve the public?

[Enough About Palin]

These fuckers claim to be professionals, so why not make their pay type salaried exempt?

[Groovus Maximus]

The Supreme Court ponders whether government agents will need a warrant to collect DNA samples from suspects (the new professionalism includes a cotton swab).

Teh STEVE SMITH wept.

[LTC(ret) John]

STEVE SMITH LEAVE PLENTY DNA ... EVERYWHERE!

[EDG reppin' LBC]

It's all semen!

[Bobarian]

I refuse to click that^^

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Baltimore pays $460,000 to find out it has no money and high property taxes.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/ne.....7154.story

[Drax the Destroyer]

Not to mention the highest crime rate in the country(or it used to...) and it's certainly starting to smell like the aborted hate-child of Shittsburgh, Filthadelpha, and Newark.

[LTC(ret) John]

"the aborted hate-child of Shittsburgh, Filthadelpha, and Newark"

Now that is quotable!

[EDG reppin' LBC]

What? No witty nickname for Newark?

I suggest: Pewark

[Bobarian]

Newark is a shitty enough name in its own right.

[Drax the Destroyer]

That's what I was going for.

[Stormy Dragon]

They've actually done a good job cleaning up Pittsburgh and it's a pretty nice city now...

[Doctor Whom]

Baltimore has every reason to succeed. Besides having the port, it is just a short drive from the magic fountain of other people's money on the Potomac, which fountain has made most other nearby areas fabulously rich. It is also the most politically powerful part of the state, so it gets to drink from the other magic money fountain in Annapolis. I get the feeling that Baltimoreans couldn't sell water in the Sahara.

I remember when a state politician told me that Baltimore was just one state bailout away from economic Nirvana. That was in 1982. When is the magic supposed to kick in?

[wareagle]

Baltimore has every reason to succeed.

it also has the people who run it, plus those in the State House, meaning every reason to not succeed.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Yep, those evil Rethuglican Teabag...

Oh.

[John]

The worst part about the memo is that it is unsigned and undated. Say what you want about John Yoo, but he at least had the intellectual integrity to put his name on the memo and publicly defend his views. How big of a crapweasel do you have to be to write such a memo and then refuse to sign it? IF the shit ever hits the fan over this memo, I can just see Jay Carney explaining how the legal intern who wrote it was not offered a position at the Department.

[AuH2O]

They need to get Seaborn'd

[Almanian.]

So "Anonymous" is now WH Counsel?

[Jerry on the boat]

Usain Bolt among top stars given tax exemption to race in London:

Usain Bolt and other overseas athletes will be able to compete tax-free in this year's London Diamond League event at the Olympic Stadium after the chancellor agreed to a "one-off" exemption.

[AuH2O]

Cat replaces Iron as New Monopoly token

Watch out, though. If someone else chooses the dog, the game isn't ending until the two of you either fuck or fight. There can be no other resolution.

[Groovus Maximus]

YES!!!!!!! KITTEH! Ironing? How pedestrian. Ever heard of dry cleaners?

[Almanian.]

I find it interesting (now, in hindsight) that I was always the Tophat.

Probably because there was no Monocle.

I wonder if it's gonna be a Big Neck Fur? kitteh?

[Groovus Maximus]

Clearly, it must be a Persian kitteh!

Here, have some Russian Blue Mancute!

[John]

http://www.volokh.com/2013/02/.....nsularity/

Statutory rape of a 13 year old yields no jail time because defendant was a Muslim and as such was part of a culture that said such things were okay. Yeah, the UK is pretty much gone.

[Drax the Destroyer]

I advocate the use of private "bounty hunters" to enact reprisal is such situations. Leave the fuck paralyzed.

[Matrix]

From the comments...
Joe Green?2 minutes ago?

My visceral reaction is in line with the perhaps apocryphal story about Sir Charles Napier's encounter with Hindu suttee. As the story goes, the Brahmins protested that suttee was their custom. Napier is said to have responded that the British custom was to hang people who burned women alive, so the Brahmins could build their pyre, and the British would build a gallows.

This schmuck followed his custom. The Brits ought to retain the gumption to follow theirs.

Great retort!

[WTF]

The Brits have fallen far since Napier's day.

[Almanian.]

The sun never sets on the remnants of the British Empire.

[Brett L]

This was the perfect opportunity to pull out the old "your culture rapes 13 year olds, our culture jails those who rape 13 year olds. You do as you will and we shall do the same."

[Night Elf Mohawk]

That would presume that England still has culture.

[Rasilio]

Ok, there are some things that don't add up in this story.

The guy is inexperienced with women and lacks assertiveness and yet he "groomed" a 13 year old over Facebook.

Somebody is lying their asses off.

Either this is some dumb schmuck 18 year old who just wanted to get his freak on and was never told that 13 is too young (entirely possible given the age and insular culture defense) and he didn't groom her, he courted her (there really isn't much if any difference) and really the case should never have been considered Statutory Rape.

Or the guy is lying his ass off, knew what he was doing and was putting on one hell of an act for the court when he got caught.

[Don Mynack]

That judge is complete idiot who needs to held accountable.

[mr simple]

To be fair, the boy is only 18 and the girl was very willing, so it's only rape in the statutory sense. 18 and 13 seem far apart, by today's standards, in general, but may not be in individual circumstances. The judge did give him a suspended sentence.

[Sevo]

John| 2.7.13 @ 9:23AM |#
"Statutory rape of a 13 year old yields no jail time because defendant was a Muslim..."

In the US, you need to be a film director to get away with that.

[Brett L]

Technically, you have to move to Europe to "get away with it" in the US.

[John]

http://washingtonexaminer.com/.....le/2520719

Just six and then millenials have jobs and only half of those have full time jobs. But Obama was so cool. And birth control is really important and everyone likes Big Bird.

[AuH2O]

Just six and then millenials have jobs and only half of those have full time jobs

Are you writing an 18th century statistical argument for turning the New World into a giant penal colony?

[Brett L]

6 in 10 for those of you who can't read John's autocorrect.

[Palin's Buttplug]

But Willard never articulated a jobs plan. He didn't have one at all.

And don't lie and say tax cuts create jobs - that myth is dead.

200,000 jobs a month is just ok.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Tax cuts don't create jobs? Tell that to Dem poster boy Andrew Cuomo. The commercials he was running in upstate NY last week said exactly that.

[Restoras]

Kristen, two things.
1) Please don't feed the troll. Pretty please.
2) I think Andy-boy is furiously running a deflection campaign to counter the complete PR disaster his idiotic gun bill has created. He's lost massive support in rural NY. He'll say anything to bolster his image, short of, you know, rescinding/repealing his own stupid law.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I was just gobsmacked that he, dynastic liberal political insider that he is, made a direct correlation between tax cuts and jobs. I mean, direct correlation. Wish I could find the ad on YT.

[BakedPenguin]

It's Thursday, Kristen.

[BakedPenguin]

Ah, refresh before posting.

[Don Mynack]

Obama's jobs plan found here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/site.....bs_act.pdf

Calls for tax cuts in the very first bullet point. Then calls for tax cuts in the next one. Then calls for a tax cut in the 5th one.

Then it gets to the real stupid with the never fire a teacher nonsense, but please - tax cuts are part of every candidate's jobs plan, because they do work.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Despite numerous tax cuts the Bush administration created no net new jobs 2001-2009.

The only reason to cut taxes is to let workers keep more of their earnings.

Don't hide behind a lie.

Taxation is theft.

[iggy]

I don't know how in the world you can argue that tax cuts on small businesses won't result in those small businesses hiring more labor.

[Auric Demonocles]

Dude, why get a job when you get free birth control and insurance through your parents' plan?

[BoscoH]

You guys have to read LAPD guy's manifesto.

http://content.clearchannel.co.....213161.pdf

There is one very rich paragraph:

Don't honor these fallen officers/dirtbags. When your family members die, they just see you as extra overtime at a crime scene and at a perimeter. Why would you value their lives when they clearly don't value yours or your family members lives? I've heard many officers who state they see dead victims as ATV's, Waverunners, RV's and new clothes for their kids. Why would you shed a tear for them when they in return crack a smile for your loss because of the impending extra money they will receive in their next paycheck for sitting at your loved ones crime scene of 6 hours because of the overtime they will accrue. They take photos of your loved ones recently deceased bodies with their cellphones and play a game of who has the most graphic dead body of the night with officers from other divisions. This isn't just the 20 something year old officers, this is the 50 year old officers with significant time on the job as well who participate.

[WTF]

Unfortunately, I have no doubt that waht he says there is 100% correct.

[Virginian]

Damn. The guy clearly has some issues, but I really think he had a breakdown because he saw the full scope of the brutality that is modern law enforcement.

Reporting his training officer for kicking a suspect is so naive. I think we found the guy who honestly thought the cops helped people.

[BoscoH]

I wonder if there is a special app for the photo thing. It should have a like button for each photo and a leaderboard. And it would track your overtime prizes for you.

[jasno]

But wait, there's more!

If you had a well regulated AWB, this would not happen. The time is now to reinstitute a ban that will save lives. Why does any sportsman need a 30 round magazine for hunting? Why does anyone need a suppressor? Why does anyone need a AR15 rifle? This is the same small arms weapons system utilized in eradicating Al Qaeda, Taliban, and every enemy combatant since the Vietnam war. Don't give me that crap that its not a select fire or full auto rifle like the DoD uses. That's bullshit because troops who carry the M-4/M-16 weapon system for combat ops outside the wire rarely utilize the select fire function when in contact with enemy combatants. ...

Seriously, read it... he covers quite a few topics, including movies and music. Shit, this guy should have holstered his gun and started a blog.

[Ken Shultz]

"Cabinet officials say they've been told to keep their mouths shut about looming sequestration spending cuts unless they get clearance from the Office of Management and Budget. The Pentagon is exempt, though..."

Now that they've all seen the protocols for when Obama uses drone strikes to target Americans, maybe they're scared they'll be next on his kill list.

[Rich]

sarcasmic's postcard link inspired me to look this *great* commercial up. I would pay "less than $2.00" to hear reactions from today's nannies!

[RBS]

I loved this thing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpw5rtU1p9U

[Rich]

"Radioactive monster brains" explains a *lot*.

[Yuno Hoo]

Anybody who possesses one of those things is a terrorist. What other justification could there possibly be?

[Capt Ace Rimmer]

fucking awesome!

[John]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ml?hpid=z1

I think the bell is about to toll for Bob Menendez. The Washington Post is now actually investigating the case and reporting on it. When the Pravda turns against you, the Party is not going to be far behind.

[OldMexican]

When the rot smells so much it hurts when pretending it doesn't, then your friends will abandon you to your sad fate.

[John]

The rumor is that there are a lot of other Democrats who are connected with that Dr. in Florida. They don't want Menendez fighting the good fight on this because that would lead to names being named. So they are turning on him hoping to run him out quickly and stop the bleeding.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Medicare fraud get you elected governor in Florida. No one there cares.

[John]

Unlike sick fucks like you, the rest of the world does care about underage girls.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Ratfuckers are working hard.

The sex claims will dead end. He might get a censure for the free plane trips though.

[John]

Good to know you think it is okay to fuck underage hookers. God you are a repulsive bag of puss.

[Brett L]

This is almost certainly true. Shut up, take the fall, come back as a "consultant", where your hush money will be paid.

[Ice Nine]

I read somewhere that Menendez is not a particularly well off man, to the extent that that $58K he paid is something like a third of his net worth. Yeah hard to believe but if it is even in the ballpark, nothing says "guilty" - and desperation - like a willingness to quickly fork over that kind of percentage of your net freakin' worth to try to make the problem go away. And yeah, he is history.

[Groovus Maximus]

Good. Any draining of the swamp is always a good thing. He's a sleazy, sleazy man.

[John]

If he was really nailing 13 and 14 year old hookers, he is just sick. Seriously, I can't imagine sleeping with a high school girl. At some point you get older and it just feels gross. That is unless you are some kind of deviated prevert.

[Groovus Maximus]

I agree. It really is disgusting, any way you slice it. Is he married? I assume so. So, he's not only a deviant, sick, pathological sexual pervert, but an adulterer as well, assuming the allegations are true.

There's the "Spring/Autumn" romance, and then there's just...evil.

[John]

He is divorced since 05. I would love to hear from the ex wife.

[Ice Nine]

I heard that the divorce settlement stipulated no public comments until she turns eighteen.

[Groovus Maximus]

THREADWINNER!

[Ken Shultz]

It's certainly a lot worse than being outed as a closeted gay person, which is what the left went bananas over regarding Larry Craig.

I mean, if the left eviscerates somebody for being in the closet, what do they do to one of their own if he's flyin' around screwing little girls?

[John]

The Larry Craig thing was a big nothing. I think people who hook up in public bathrooms are perverts. But that is not anything like screwing underage girls.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Larry Craig pled guilty, for crying out loud.

And he still completed his term.

[John]

Guilty of what being gay? So being gay is like screwing underaged girls? Got it

[Ken Shultz]

Sometimes, Shrike, your partisanship really does blind you.

You must have known you were walking right into that one, right?

Is it a crime not to come out of the closet, Shrike?

And suggesting that being gay is in any way comparable to having sex with underage girls? That is so homophobic of you, Shrike. You should be ashamed!

[Palin's Buttplug]

No, you two idiots.

Larry Craig was arrested for lewd conduct and entered a plea later.

And liberals wanted him to stay around for PR purposes. The hypocrisy of the right still works today.

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug| 2.7.13 @ 10:53AM |#
"Larry Craig was arrested for lewd conduct and entered a plea later."

You stupid shit, he was charged with being gay, regardless of the title of the law.
It's no wonder you're such an ignoramus; all that spinning makes you dizzy.

[Ken Shultz]

Yeah, if he'd been a Democrat, the left would have gone after him just as hard...

They wouldn't have claimed he was being persecuted for being gay and in the closet!

Shrike isn't even taking himself seriously.

[Tonio]

Craig got eviscerated for hypocrisy. And there were those unporoven allegations of Craig molesting teenage boys serving as senate pages.

It's not always about left/right. Sometimes it's just about right/wrong.

HTH.

[Ken Shultz]

Hypocrisy?

From a senator?

Here in the United States of America?!

How could such a thing happen?

[John]

And Tonio,

Menenedez did a bunch of grand standing over the USSS hooker scandal. So he has just as much hypocrisy as Criag. More I think. Craig never said no one should be gay, just that they shouldn't marry.

[Drake]

If $58k is a quarter of his net worth, Menendez should also be investigated for hiding his wealth offshore.

He's an old-school corrupt crony, No way is he worth less than the average Jersey Dentist.

[R C Dean]

I'm struggling with the concept of a US Senator from the fabulously corrupt state of NJ who isn't wealthy. I mean, how stupid is this guy that he has less than a quarter million in liquid assets?

[John]

Hookers are not cheap, especially high risk underage ones.

[Ken Shultz]

I suspect raising money for something you don't want anybody to know about has a much higher degree of difficulty than just raising money.

[Ken Shultz]

Geez, it's getting so you can't even trust--underage prostitutes in the Domincan Republic--to keep their mouths shut anymore!

If something happened, it's probably a pretty safe bet that somebody snapped a photo at some point.

Sometimes this stuff only comes to light after they couldn't get as much hush money as they wanted.

If something happened, there's some evidence of it somewhere. Crossing the U.S border to have sex with minors--that's a federal crime, isn't it?

[John]

Yes it is a federal crime and a serious one that carries something like a 30 year maximum and a multi year minimum mandatory.

[Ken Shultz]

Good, so there's no need for extradition!

And in the federal system, you have to actually do 80% of your time, last I heard...

LOL

From what I read, it sounds like there was more than one trip--so they knew he was comin' back? I'm tellin' ya, if this is true, there was a camera phone around there somewhere.

What is it about Progressives that they're always flying around the world tryin' to have sex with underage girls?

[Groovus Maximus]

Throw the book at the pervert, as far as I am concerned. He probably wishes he was a Limey MP right now.

[LTC(ret) John]

"He probably wishes he was a Limey MP right now."

Wait, would that not mean he would be found dead of auto-erotic asphyxiation, dressed in a pink tutu, plastic bag over his head?

[Groovus Maximus]

Perhaps I should have specified a Muslim Limey MP...

[LTC(ret) John]

Ah, yes, that does make sense then.

[Rasilio]

Hey, I wonder if he can use the Insular Cultre defense like that Muslim kid in England....

"I am sorry your honor but I have been in this Insular culture of the US Senate where we are told we are like Gods among men and nothing is forbidden us, therefore I didn't realize that there was actually anything wrong with what I was doing."

[Ken Shultz]

"Yes it is a federal crime and a serious one that carries something like a 30 year maximum and a multi year minimum mandatory."

And if there were multiple trips to the same spot, it would be pretty easy to prove intent to cross the border for the purpose of having sex with an underage girl, too.

I don't know how they're gonna prove that he knew they were underage, but maybe that's not as important as the fact that he did--if, in fact, any of this really happened.

[John]

You prove it by having the person who hooked him up with them testify that he told her that is what he wanted. The hookers themselves also probably told him how old they were since that was apparently his kink. That part is very easy.

[Rasilio]

Not sure about the wording of this particular law but generally with underage sex laws in the US your knowledge of the age of the person is irrelivant, all that matters is the fact that they are under the legal age and you had sex with them

[Raven Nation]

Didn't Menendez get this seat b/c the incumbent (Torricelli) got pushed out for corruption?

[Ken Shultz]

Check out his controversies sheet:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.....troversies

It's hard to believe there could be so many questions about possible improprieties regarding a politician from New Jersey!

Sometimes, they make Chicago's politicians look like boy scouts by comparison.

[Drake]

It's not hard - it's absolutely impossible to believe.

[WTF]

No, Lautenberg jumped back in from retirement to take the seat the Torch was likely going to lose.

[Drake]

No it was senile Frank Lautenburg who came out of retirement (after the filing deadline) to take the Torche's seat.

Menendez was appointed to his Senate seat when Corzine became Governor. He was reelected in 2006 and 2012.

[Enough About Palin]

LOS ANGELES - A former Los Angeles police officer sought for two weekend killings ? and who threatened to kill police ? is a suspect in an overnight shooting in nearby Riverside that killed one officer and critically wounded another, police said Thursday.

The shooting happened early Thursday morning in the Los Angeles suburb of Corona. The wounded officer is in surgery. A third officer suffered a graze wound.

Proving yet again that cops can't shoot for shit.

[OldMexican]

Guns are dangerous! Didn't you hear??? We should get rid of all of them! ALL, I say!

[DEG]

Family Research Council calls Southern Poverty Law Center a dangerous group which incites hatred. SPLC stands by its claim that the FRC is a hate group.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/06/.....?hpt=hp_t2

[John]

I am sure if some nut shot someone at the SPLC because he had been working at the FRC, the media would totally ignore the story and never hold the FRC responsible.

[Rich]

"I know I am but what are you?!"

[Eduard van Haalen]

Two reasons for the media not to cover this story:

-The shooter would have probably committed mass murder if an *armed guard* hadn't stopped him. So much for "armed guards don't do any good, derp."

-The shooter was a gay activist who targeted a conservative "anti-gay" organization, an organization which had been targeted by the SPLC, a liberal outfit. "Eliminationist rhetoric," anyone?

[SugarFree]

Hipster Casting Call

CASTING!
For HIPSTERS ONLY (a Hipster is not "Hip Hop"): They typically live in Williamsburg and are overeducated, snobbish, androgynous, intellectual, liberal, artsy, trust fund kids and dress funky...or at least fit this prototype!
We are looking for great CHARACTERS...Hipsters that have HUGE personalities:
If you are an obnoxious jerk and curse often please show this.
If you are snobbish and mean please show this.
If you are supper intellectual and nerdy please show this.
If you are a total stoner and are out of your mind please show this.
If you are quiet, weird, peculiar and totally strange please show this.
If you are a classy bitch that's totally stuck up please show this.
If you are a drama queen and over the top and narcissistic please show this.
If you have tons of pain and angst in your life and cry often and are sad or angry at the world please show this.

[$park?]

Every type of person, eh? I'm not entirely sure I fit into any of those, but that's just me.

[Almanian.]

Wow - I'm NONE of those things. What a fucking LOSER....

*hangs head, kicks a ground*

[SugarFree]

Ahem.

If you have tons of pain and angst in your life and cry often and are sad or angry at the world

Ah, there you are.

[Almanian.]

I wish I could be happy about that...

*goes back to being a total buzzkill*

[Proprietist]

You're a zipster.

[Rich]

Hey, *I'm* a "supper intellectual"! Do you *have* to be a hipster to apply?

[RBS]

So, you're a foodie?

[LTC(ret) John]

"If you are supper intellectual and nerdy please show this."

I can spout off some pseudo-intellectual crap at dinner, and I think I have the nerdy part down.... I'm in!

[Almanian.]

Yay! LTC(ret)John's n the club!!

[Rasilio]

But do you buy Artisinal Mayo? That is the real question.

[Slammer]

This shit cracks me up:
http://lookatthisfuckinghipster.tumblr.com/

[Kaptious Kristen]

It's the only thing that's left now that Die Hipster is dead 🙁

[SugarFree]

Pouring out the chocolate milk and drinking the white milk?

RACIST!

[BakedPenguin]

You know who else was a racist hipster?

[Brett L]

This is obviously the guys behind Die Hipster getting ready to move to video blogging their weekly beatings of a hipster feature.

[John]

I really think things are going to end badly for Brennen. Republicans hate his guts for working with Obama. And Democrats at some point are going to want to have a scape goat to get some of their dignity back after giving it all to Obama. And I really can't think of a better candidate for that position than the Obama administration official who in a previous life worked for the evil BOOSH.

Does Brennen realize that his masters are going to turn on him?

[Almanian.]

They never seem to see it coming, when all around them do.

Enjoye watching - I know I am!

[John]

The other crapweasel in that story is Rand Beers. He is Mr. "I am resigning from the Bush administration over Iraq" who went on to work for Obama and is now rumored to be the guy who is going to take over for Brennen at the NSC.

You know the former Bush guys are going to be the first ones to get whacked. The narrative will be how Obama was a good man who was lead astray by a bunch of evil Republicans he hired trying to be bipartisan.

[Almanian.]

MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE!!!

I blame Bush.

[wareagle]

please. Dems don't give a shit about dignity. They would sell their souls and mothers for power. If the occasional bow to The Obama helps with enhancing personal power, a long receiving line will form. To the left, of course.

[John]

They will some day be out of power or there will be a political need to repudiate the things Obama has done. When that happens, they will need a scape goat.

[RBS]

I thought that dignity line was pretty funny.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Robert Gates fits that description too, you paranoid idiot.

[Tim]

Superman's home world found nearby?

Red dwarf stars also can be old ? far older than our sun ? which means their planets could be much older than Earth and their potential life forms much more evolved.

http://news.msn.com/science-te.....s-the-park

[Ken Shultz]

"Johnny Hallyday, the celebrated Gallic pop singer of such hits as ... Well, anyway, he slammed his country's Socialist government and the political Left in general for breeding mediocrity."

I think he's right about socialism breeding mediocrity, but, ironically, I think the French have a problem with a false sense of superiority, too.

[Drake]

They are proud of their mediocrity. Nobody does mediocre better!

[Tim]

Just look at the Maginot Line-it was one of the most pretty good fortifications of all time.

[Ken Shultz]

They've always had this thing about believing in the grandeur of France, even while hating the France of the present.

It's like they're chauvinistic about the idea of France--that's where their sense of superiority comes from--but the reality of France, they hate it for not living up to the billing.

Classic case of overpromising and underdelivering, something the Socialists are really good at--but then Napoleon and de Gaulle were really good at that, too.

[Brett L]

Unlike De Gaulle, Napoleon at least gave the French victories.

[Drake]

For a while.

[Proprietist]

Hey, Johnny Hallyday was pretty awesome back in the 1960s. Interesting that French celebrities seem to be predominantly conservative (at least compared to the general French population). See also: Brigitte Bardot, Gerard Depardieu, etc.

[johnl]

He sold 100M records. He's a big deal.

[Ornithorhynchus]

I've spent much of the past year watching '60s French music videos on Youtube. Johnny Hallyday had several good songs. And he married Sylvie Vartan when she was young and sexy.

[Proprietist]

I'm a humongous fan of 1960s French music. France Gall, Jacques Dutronc, Annie Phillippe, Zou Zou, Brigitte Bardot, Francoise Hardy... so much great stuff. Anything Serge Gainsbourg touched back then was solid gold.

[Ornithorhynchus]

Francoise Hardy is a total genius.

[Proprietist]

And arguably the most beautiful woman to ever walk the face of God's green earth.

[SugarFree]

COASE COASE COASE COASE

If Goethe were a 14-year-old girl living in modern times, his Faust might have played out like the real-life story of Rachel Baier, a Massachusetts teen who was convinced by her dad to quit Facebook in exchange for money.

Rachel's father Paul, a VP at an energy technology firm in Salem, drafted a legally binding "Facebook Deactivation Agreement" that guarantees his daughter a sum of $200 if she agrees to quit Facebook and relinquish her password.

[Tim]

14 years old? How much will he pay her not to date Senators?

[LTC(ret) John]

Depends if he can outbid The New Jersey PedoSen?

[Warty]

Also, is she hot?

[Tim]

Your daughter may not be interested in Warty, but Warty is interested in her.

[Groovus Maximus]

Oh beans! Now you've done it: you'll summon robc!

[Auric Demonocles]

Huh? I didn't see anything about signs on private property being legally binding or not.

[Bobarian]

So not having facebook is the same as going to hell???

I'm not sure what circle I'm in, but I seem to be enjoying my time in hell

[SugarFree]

To the dimwits at Gawker, taking a dump without your smartphone is just like being waterboarded.

[Rasilio]

Hey I always bring my smartphone when I take a dump. Much more efficient for playing Sodoku than bringing a book and pencil and then having to manually erase my notes on possible values of a square

[Bobarian]

Notes! Pencils?!?

Those tools are for weak minded amatures!

Sack up and keep track in your head, you tyro!

/more anal pedantry

[$park?]

Is this a bad thing? Am I missing something?

[SugarFree]

No, just pointing it out for robc.

Although $200 is pretty low. I would have shot for a monthly stipend. But she did wisely refuse to fall into her father's trap by declining to define what she could spend the money. That he worked that in smells like bad faith on his part.

[db]

If I were her, I would have attempted to calculate the cost to her father of that portion of her data plan attributable to Facebook use and negotiate a stipend based on his projected savings.

[Pro Libertate]

I have an idea. How about saying "No Facebook"?

[Warty]

"Have you ever tried simply turning off the TV, sitting down with your children, and hitting them?"

[Pro Libertate]

I've been advocating a system of fines to my wife for offering the family order. I used it last week to great success with one of the boys.

[Groovus Maximus]

Pain boxes and gom jabbars work better...

[Pro Libertate]

Paul turned out okay--emperor/messiah. Perhaps I should turn to the Atreides school of child-rearing.

[Auric Demonocles]

You want your children to be blind? You monster.

[Pro Libertate]

No, I'll make sure my children are fully versed on the dangers of the stone burner. And of launching jihads against the entire galaxy.

[Warty]

Use the carrot and the stick approach. If he gets straight As, you get him an escort. If he gets less than straight As, you burn him with a lighter.

[Auric Demonocles]

You don't need these bureaucratic systems to maintain control. You need fear. you need a battlestation.

[Pro Libertate]

That gives me a great idea. A hovering drone that follows each of my kids around. Nominally to protect them, but actually to guarantee discipline and obedience.

[Bobarian]

ED-E for a baby-sitter would be super cool.

[Auric Demonocles]

I could probably program that for you.

[Stormy Dragon]

to guarantee discipline and obedience

So you want to raise your kids to be statist drones that want the government to be their daddy because they never learned how to function without someone telling them what to do?

[Translucent Chum]

+1 paddle.

[Eduard van Haalen]

If Goethe were a 14-year old girl living in modern times, Faust would have been a high-school girl who sold her soul in exchange for marrying a vampire while keeping a werewolf in reserve just in case.

And Goethe's dad would have spanked her for writing something so silly.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Uber-nutcase Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) says Karl Rove and American Crossroads are out to get him and his supporters should pony up to stop them.

Keying off a quote from Crossroads President Steven Law in Sunday's New York Times, the likely Iowa Senate candidate sent an email to supporters Thursday seeking cash for a potential campaign.

Politico today