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A.M. Links: Obama Decided Not to Arm Syrian Rebels, Top Republican Questions Drone War Legality, Wisdom, LA Manhunt for Ex-Cop Continues

Ed Krayewski | 2.8.2013 9:00 AM

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  • President Obama apparently bucked the CIA, State Department and Department of Defense  and blocked plans they endorsed to send arms to the rebels in Syria.

  • Bob Corker, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says President Obama's drone war may not be legal, and it may be creating more terrorists than it's killing. Baby steps.
  • Sequestration looks increasingly likely to happen as Republicans reject the president's latest proposal to postpone it. Baby steps.
  • Following heated open city council sessions, the mayor of Seattle's suspended plans for police to deploy two surveillance drones. Baby steps.
  • More than 100 officers from the LAPD went door-to-door looking for the ex-cop Christopher Dorner, alleged to have shot several people yesterday. They were hoping to find him overnight in Big Bear Lake before he kills again.
  • A former police lieutenant from Abita Springs, Louisiana has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for distribution of cocaine as a "habitual offender."
  • George H.W. Bush's e-mail was apparently hacked.

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NEXT: GOP Senator Thinks Drone War May Not be Legal

Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

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  1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

    Stop searching for a Valentine’s Day gift – he/she wants, no, NEEDS, the gun-shaped egg fryer

    1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

      What kind of egg has that much white?

      1. Atanarjuat   12 years ago

        Dodo eggs.

        1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

          Dido eggs.

          1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

            Ditto, eggs?

            1. Proprietist   12 years ago

              Dildo eggs?

      2. Bobarian   12 years ago

        Initially read this as

        What kind of egg has that much hAte?

      3. Zeb   12 years ago

        Large ones. Or Jumbo, but they often have double yolks.

        1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

          I use large and extra large and they barely fill the round forms I use. No way in hell one would fill that one.

      4. Apatheist ?_??   12 years ago

        I’m guessing Ostrich eggs would be too much but they would certainly fill it.

      5. hamilton   12 years ago

        RACIST

  2. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    More than 100 officers from the LAPD went door-to-door looking for the ex-cop Christopher Dorner…

    No sitting around sipping coffee ignoring calls when it’s their ass on the line for those coppers.

    1. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

      Now that Dorner’s torched truck was found, do you think the LAPD will stop opening fire on people driving in similar vehicles?

      1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

        I thought they were busy shooting newspaper deliverywomen, not their trucks?

        1. a better weapon   12 years ago

          News outlets said their truck was “riddled” with bullet holes. I’m guessing that means at least 2 cops unloaded an entire magazine on the vehicle and only managed to hit one girl in the hand and the other in the back. These are trained and seasoned shooters who could barely hit their targets with 30+ rounds. Why would you or I ever need more than 10 bullets, they say.

          1. Ted S.   12 years ago

            I’m guessing that means at least 2 cops unloaded an entire magazine on the vehicle and only managed to hit one girl in the hand and the other in the back.

            Thank goodness for the ban on large magazines which means they were only able to “riddle” the truck with two bullets.

            1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

              Here’s the truck that the shot up.

              http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix…..38×425.jpg

              Here’s a picture of Dorner’s burned out truck.

              http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix…..34×356.jpg

              Notice any differences?

              1. some guy   12 years ago

                Only make, model, color, number of occupants, race of occupants, gender of occupants and number of guns possessed by occupants.

                Close enough.

              2. Cunctator   12 years ago

                Now, admittedly, I’m not much of a gun guy so I may be mistaken, but it looks to me like the rounds were fired from behind the vehicle. The police said yesterday that the vehicle was approaching them.

                1. Fisthardcheese   12 years ago

                  Now, admittedly, I’m not much of a gun guy so I may be mistaken, but it looks to me like the rounds were fired from behind the vehicle. The police said yesterday that the vehicle was approaching them.

                  No, that would be the OTHER truck they shot up yesterday that did not match any type of description of the suspect or suspect’s vehicle.

              3. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

                Notice any differences?

                Dorner drove a Nissan Titan, the truck they shot up was a Toyota Tacoma.

                And since the truck was shot from the rear and I can clearly make out what make and model it is from the picture, that means so could the cops and they are fucking trigger happy idiots.

                1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

                  The cops confused and SUV style truck driven by two asian women for a pick up style truck driven by a large black man.

                  Real American Heroes.

                  1. R C Dean   12 years ago

                    Even if it had been the same make and model, pumping bullets into it from behind is what you do if you are going to kill on sight, not if you are going to try to make an arrest.

                    I look forward to the LA taxpayers making these two women comfortably well-off, as well as giving the no-doubt traumatized cops an extended paid vacation, and perhaps even a nicely funded disabilitirement.

                2. Zeb   12 years ago

                  Close enough. They’re both Japanese and start with T. They all look the same anyway.

                  1. $park?   12 years ago

                    They’re both Japanese and start with T. They all look the same anyway.

                    Vely funny, loundeye. Prus one.

          2. Restoras   12 years ago

            Cop Myth: They are trained experts with thier firearms.

            This is not true. They have to display “proficiency” – meaning they can load it, unload it, and shoot it.

            They do not have to display anything meaningfully close to marksmanship.

            1. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

              Most departments can’t afford ammunition for officers to practice (budgets are too tight with pensions and OT). That is why many local firing ranges provide Police with free ammunition and time on their ranges.

              1. Restoras   12 years ago

                Seems to me, at least in major urban areas where marksmanship might be more of a priority given the potential for innocent bystanders to be wounded/killed by stray police bullets, the departments could find some money for actual proficiency.

                It’s not like the LAPD is underfunded and scraping by with second-hand cars and 50 year old .38 Special revolvers.

                1. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

                  I’m sure that would make sense to a lot of sane and logical people, but this is the LAPD we’re talking about.

                2. WTF   12 years ago

                  And the police union would no doubt bitch about requiring cops to spend the time to go to the range regularly. They would likely want them to be paid time and a half for range time or some shit.

                  1. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

                    LAPD prefers that that time be spent training to diffuse domestic disturbances.

                3. R C Dean   12 years ago

                  Or at least find somebody’s brother-in-law to give the ammo contract to.

                4. Clich? Bandit   12 years ago

                  A firend of mine who became a cop…awkward i know…told me they don’t have a large ammo budget and I asked how much he practices. He told me they give them about 500 rounds a year and require them to practice at least 12 or so hours. He was kind of whining it wasnt more until I pointed out that I PAY for the range and ammo for my own practice and I go more than 12 hours a year.

        2. Ted S.   12 years ago

          Are they good enough shots to differentiate between the two?

          1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

            Apparently not!

    2. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

      Why are LAPD cops going door to door looking for Dorner in Big Bear which is eighty miles from LA and in a completely different county?

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        [cop kicks VG in the face, shouting “STOP RESISTING!]

      2. sarcasmic   12 years ago

        Something about a drunk looking for keys under the lamp post.

      3. SugarFree   12 years ago

        That’s where they found his burnt out truck.

        1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

          What are LAPD cops…

          1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

            Why… goddamnit.

            1. SugarFree   12 years ago

              Ah, sorry… misread the object of your complaint.

              The answer is:

              a) Fuck you, that’s why
              b) New Professionalism
              c) LAPD takes care of its own messes*
              d) A santoriffic broth of all three

              *when they become so public they can’t sweep it under the rug any longer, hey fellas let’s get this crazy [redacted] in the ground and go back to SWATting celebrities on the word of a giggling 12-year-old.

        2. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

          Well sure, my point is that Big Bear is very far from the city limits of LA and I’ve never heard of a posse of city cops going that far to be part of a man hunt.

          For people not familiar with SoCal, LA only has about 15% of the population of the metro area, so its not like they’re aren’t tons of cops more local to Big Bear. So again, why are LAPD the ones doing the manhunt out in the mountains?

          1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

            Because it’s personal.

            1. some guy   12 years ago

              And they’re scared, as evidenced by the fact that they somehow mistook two Asian women for a black man. You have to be hysterically scared to make a mistake like that.

              They want to bring this guy down as quick as possible so they can sleep soundly again.

              1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

                Hundreds of scared men with guns who face no consequence for their actions are nervously roaming the streets. Glad I don’t live in Cali.

                1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

                  I would feel safer in Baghdad than SoCal.

                  1. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

                    You’d be safer in Baghdad than SoCal.

              2. Zeb   12 years ago

                Well, sometimes if they are very close together and lined up just right two Asian women can look like a large black man trying to kill you.

                1. SugarFree   12 years ago

                  two Asian women can look like a large black

                  “Usually we just tape a bunch of cats together.”

          2. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

            The Big Bear cops might mess up the collar by letting Dorner live through it.

      4. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

        Because fuck you?

      5. Chris Mallory   12 years ago

        Are California LEOs limited by jurisdiction or are they empowered throughout the state?

        In Kentucky, the government thugs have their powers throughout the state.

        1. robc   12 years ago

          I once got a ticket from UofL DIPS off campus.

          1. SugarFree   12 years ago

            Was it a state ticket? That’s what the UKops issue.

            1. robc   12 years ago

              I dont think so.

              I tried to fight it in traffic court, and I nearly won on a technicality (I was incredibly guilty, only fought it due to that).

            2. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

              I once had a UK cop explain to me that he was giving me a ticket off campus because he was the recipient of a FEDERAL grant to make a particular section of road between a campus lot and campus “safe again.” Like Virginia and Limestone is somehow unsafe.

              1. GozWa   12 years ago

                well not anymore it’s not 😉

    3. generic Brand   12 years ago

      Is that part about his manifesto that came out yesterday true? Is the media covering up parts of the manifesto because it is strongly prObama?

      I’d like to share the story on Facebook and the like–for the fact that the media is covering shit up more so than the fact that a madman seems to be a liberal–but not if it can’t be verified by more than one source. (See, this is why I can’t be a journalist.)

      1. Chris Mallory   12 years ago

        It was strongly pro Obama/liberal politician. The “sanitized” version that removed the names of his targets also removed all mention of politicians he liked.

        1. BigT   12 years ago

          Here it is:

    4. Slammer   12 years ago

      They broke up The Jump Out Boys too early, they could have sent them after this guy

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        What d you have against the Jump Boys?

  3. DJF   12 years ago

    While we are suppose to be running out of money, the Navy still has money enough to protect Europe from ballistic missiles. A ballistic missile threat that the Europeans don’t seem to worry about, and certainly don’t want to spend money on.

    “””The USS Barry has deployed to Europe to protect U.S. allies from ballistic missiles.”””

    http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/2…..z2KJbfkfUV

    1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

      I dunno …. I am in favor of Europe being the test bed/proving ground for this! If the system doesn’t work, is the world really worse off if a nuke missile lands on Friesland? It sure would be less populated by my crabby, distant relatives.

      1. T   12 years ago

        That means somebody will then start Nieuw Friesland. And you know what happens after that…

        1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

          Well, I suppose the grumpy Calvinists of the world need a homeland.

    2. db   12 years ago

      “Is the USS Barry protecting Europ from ballistic missles?”

      “Yes, Other USS Barry. Yes, it is.”

      1. Brett L   12 years ago

        +Cyborg

      2. MJGreen   12 years ago

        The USS Barry rocks a track suit.

    3. Chinny Chin Chin   12 years ago

      I thought we generally waited until a president left office before naming ships after him?

    4. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      We pulled Europe’s chestnuts out of the fire three times already. Time for them to pull their own damn chestnuts.

  4. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    George H.W. Bush’s e-mail was apparently hacked.

    Stronger passwords would have been prudent.

    1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

      Prezbo41 is a mix of upper- and lowercase, letters and numbers, and who would guess it?

      1. Jerry on the boat   12 years ago

        M155m3y3t.

        1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

          Wrong BOOOOOSH!

          1. robc   12 years ago

            I dont miss either Bush.

          2. $park?   12 years ago

            R34dM4L1pZ!

            1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

              “Read my lips. No new hax0rs.”

            2. Alack   12 years ago

              I read that as “Raid Mali Please”

              1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

                Nice – that gets you +1 internetz.

  5. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

    Swedish military recruitment ads “an attack on hipster culture”

    more

    1. RBS   12 years ago

      Uggggghhhhhh.

    2. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

      “The cultural pages of several influential Swedish newspapers were quick to dub them “an attack on hipster culture,” while one writer said it painted a negative picture of modern life.”

      Damn, too late for me to transfer to the Swedish Army.

      1. RBS   12 years ago

        If you don’t want people attacking your “culture” don’t be so fucking obnoxious.

        1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

          I rather liked the editorial reply:

          “I think you have to have an extremely tolerant notion of what constitutes culture if you include Instagramming your breakfast or taping yourself to a wall,”

          1. RBS   12 years ago

            Haha, nice.

  6. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

    BOOOSH! Oh, wait he was hacked… sorry, got a jump on the trolls – thought it read “GHWB hacked emails”. Maybe he joined some HaXxor crew in his retirement?

    1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

      You’re not showing the proper fealty.

  7. $park?   12 years ago

    Don’t be a violent criminal in Germany.

    Roth’s study, according to Bild.de, was conducted for the German government on violent convicted offenders. He said the dark mass that he has identified appears in all CT scans of people with such records — and taking it out ended their “evil” behavior.

    1. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

      Lobotomies work wonders.

    2. Restoras   12 years ago

      So, Germany is on ce again at the forefront of experimental medicine to create a more perfect race?

      Color me surprised.

      1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

        +1 Dr. Mengele

    3. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

      Wait… it says the dark area was dark becuase it DIDN’T activate during violence. If the problem that it’s not activating when it should, isn’t it more of a good spot than an evil spot? Why would removing a non-functioning part of the brain do anything? Shouldn’t they try a DBS unit or something?

  8. Certified Public Asskicker   12 years ago

    Smithsonian Symposium says Redskins is a racial slur:

    http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/s…..-symposium

    1. RBS   12 years ago

      “I really don’t feel right wearing this stuff now,” Holland said. “And now I can’t even say ‘HTTR’ — which is `Hail to the Redskins’ — because that’s chanting something racist. I’m going to be a fan of Washington — a ‘Washington football team.’ Not the ‘Washington Redskins.”‘

      Poor guy.

      1. Certified Public Asskicker   12 years ago

        HTTFT!

    2. Certified Public Asskicker   12 years ago

      FWIW, names such as Braves, Indians, Seminoles, Cherokee, Warriors, seem fine to me. But I have always found Redskins to be a little much.

      1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

        Make them change the name to Pale Faces.

        1. Certified Public Asskicker   12 years ago

          Seems better than the suggestions for the high school mentioned in the article who is dropping Redskins.

          the school, located in the hometown of “The Last of the Mohicans” author James Fenimore Cooper, is considering “Deerslayers,” “Hawkeyes” and “Pathfinders” as alternatives.

          1. Restoras   12 years ago

            I like all htose names. Of course, I see nothing wrong with Redskins to begin with.

            However, Chief Wahoo is an affront – to everyone. That’s why he’s the best mascot in baseball.

            1. Slammer   12 years ago

              A friend once said the only thing that would make Chief Wahoo any better would be to put a bottle of Firewater next to him

              1. Restoras   12 years ago

                +XXX

            2. BigT   12 years ago

              Chief Wahoo was a name chose to HONOR a native Am:

              From 1903 to 1914, the team was called the “Cleveland Naps,” named after the legendary second baseman Napolean Lajoie. But upon Lajoie leaving after the 1914 season, it was apparent that finding a new team name was in order.

              Baseball writers in Cleveland were called upon to select a new name, a request that eventually found its way to the fans. Through this process, the name “Indians” was agreed upon, in honor of Louis Francis Sockalexis, who played for the team in the late 1890s. Sockalexis was the first Native American to play professional baseball, and he did so in Cleveland.

          2. RBS   12 years ago

            I think Deerslayers would be cool. Then they’ll have PEAT protesting their home games.

            1. RBS   12 years ago

              *PETA

            2. Ska   12 years ago

              Any team that takes the slayers suffix sounds OK in my book.

              The Washington Fuzzy Bunnyslayers. See? Powerful stuff right there.

              1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

                Opens up the possibility of jokes like “what if the opposing team *isn’t* a bunch of fuzzy bunnies?” Followed by a bunch of insults at the team’s record.

            3. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

              Their mascot could be Christopher Walken playing Russian Roulette.

          3. Don Mynack   12 years ago

            I prefer the Natty Bumpos, myself.

        2. alittlesense   12 years ago

          Just change the mascot to a potato….

          1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

            Anti-Irish bigot!!!!!

          2. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

            Why do you hate Idaho?

        3. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

          “Make them change the name to Pale Faces.”

          I go with Forked Tongues. It is DC after all.

      2. RBS   12 years ago

        Yeah, Redskins does seem to be the only one that’s actually a slur. (correct me if I’m wrong)

        1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

          When you hear “Redskins” do you think “wow, that’s a slur” or do you think “that’s the name of Washington’s football team”?

          I get the argument that it might be qualitatively different from the others, but when I hear it I think of a football team and nothing else. Well, I sometimes think of their weaselly owner and how the yellow helmets look better, but it’s still the same idea.

          1. RBS   12 years ago

            Oh I definitely think of the NFL team first.

          2. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

            When you hear “Redskins” do you think “wow, that’s a slur” or do you think “that’s the name of Washington’s football team”?

            And this is why they shouldn’t change the name… it is so well branded that the only people who associated it with a racial slur are the busy bodies trying to change it. Everyone else hears “Redskins” and thinks “RG3.”

            1. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

              Correction… I would support a name change to the Washington Foreskins, but only if the mascot is an uncircumcised penis with a football helmet.

          3. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

            When you hear “Redskins” do you think “wow, that’s a slur” or do you think “that’s the name of Washington’s football team”?

            The fact it makes us think of that particular team is why we think it’s a slur.

        2. generic Brand   12 years ago

          You’re wrong. People with thin skin are gonna have thin skin, I say fuck em before they force all teams to change names and you have the Kittens playing against Puppies.

          1. T   12 years ago

            I think Kittens would be a hilarious name for a hockey team, especially if you made it just a straight-up goon squad.

            1. Brett L   12 years ago

              Send in the Hanson Brothers.

          2. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

            “Sunday at 1 – the Washington Wildcats play the Tampa Bay Wildcats”

            1. robc   12 years ago

              Rough Riders vs Rough Riders.

              1. BigT   12 years ago

                That’s so …..what’t the word … don’t tell me ….

              2. Agammamon   12 years ago

                Rough Riders v Leather Daddies

        3. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

          You are corrected, sir.

      3. robc   12 years ago

        My high school was the Redskins (notice the tense). Considering the HS was named after an Indian tribe (or a local park, but same thing), changing it to warriors or something would have been appropriate. But no, its now the Red Hawks.

        The thing is, Al Capp licensing my HS, and only my HS, to use his Lonesome Polecat character as our mascot. So, we didnt have a generic mascot. Which was cool. Admittedly, he is pretty much a racist characterture. But still.

        One teacher I had, who was still there when the change happened, suggested they change to the Polecats and keep the mascot.

        1. generic Brand   12 years ago

          All right, I’m confused. I googled “Lonesome Polecat” and for some reason I get a lot images from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (a good movie if you like musicals). I also got a few pictures of planes with those words painted on the side. So what is it?

          1. mr simple   12 years ago

            Here’s a small picture of the original mascot.

            Here’s a pic from the lil abner comics.

            1. robc   12 years ago

              Lonesome is still on front of school

              But when did that fence go in?

        2. mr simple   12 years ago

          I was there when the name was changed. I was against it at first. Then I was at a meeting on the name when a black man stood up and talked about how he was against the name change at first, but then realized that while he wouldn’t be upset at a mascot name like Zulu warriors or something (paraphrasing) he would be upset at a mascot called the darkies or something like that. I can see the point of being upset at ‘Redskins’ as it is only a racially derogatory term, not something descriptive or an actual AI tribe like Braves or Seminoles, which I totally support.

          1. robc   12 years ago

            Hence my comment about changing to Warriors or something. Can keep the mascot that way.

            But Red Hawks is just stupid.

      4. Raven Nation   12 years ago

        IMO stupidest name change was when Hofstra stopped using “Flying Dutchmen.” Cool name and how many Dutch patricians were actually being offended by it.

        1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

          Being Netherlando-American, I would have preferred they keep it. Rik Smits wept.

        2. Zeb   12 years ago

          That’s right up there with people who get worked up over “scotch tape”. Which is actually more offensive, if you are a total twerp.

        3. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

          They changed the name because they finally found true love.

    3. DJF   12 years ago

      How about the Washington Tax Wasters?

      1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        Washington Bureaucrats

        DC Enforcers

        Top Men

      2. Restoras   12 years ago

        Isn’t that the same as Senators?

        1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

          Your answer is discriminatory against Representatives! They demand equal recognition for wasting tax money.

    4. a better weapon   12 years ago

      1991 called, it wants its PC outrage story back.

    5. Andrew S.   12 years ago

      One of my best friends is Native American. He’s generally right libertarian, but he gets pissed off about the Redskins (and about Chief Wahoo). Can’t blame him. Obviously government shouldn’t have a place in forcing a change, but I’d love to see it happen.

      Plus, as an Eagles fan, screw that team in DC regardless of what it’s named.

    6. some guy   12 years ago

      Again, the only person who can control whether you are offended is you. No one else is responsible for something that only you can control. If the team wants to re-brand itself, fine. If not, leave them be. Either way, let the market decide.

      Oh wait, this is DC we’re talking about, isn’t it?

    7. Ska   12 years ago

      My alma mater went from the Redmen to Red Storm. Sad, sad day.

      1. WTF   12 years ago

        Red Storm? Sounds a heavy day during ‘that time of the month’.

        1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

          The PMS Avengers.

  9. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    A former police lieutenant from Abita Springs, Louisiana has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for distribution of cocaine…

    If he’d only shot a child during a raid or roughed up a cuffed prisoner, we could have let that slide. But drugs? Hell no.

    1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

      they have strict rules about moonlighting

    2. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

      His real crime was keeping all the action to himself. No different from the Mob.

  10. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

    Two Phelps girls leave the Westboro Baptist Church, tell their story to a gay pilgrim

    Soz if it’s already been posted

    1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

      She’s apparently not one of the lawyers of the family. Too bad she didn’t admit the whole protest thing is a money-making scam.

    2. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      Westboro Baptist is like Austria – if it didn’t exist, it would have to be invented. It’s the best thing that ever happened to the gay-liberation movement.

      1. Jgalt1975   12 years ago

        Why would we have to invent Austria?

  11. $park?   12 years ago

    This article is full of win.

    Prosecutors hope for a life prison term when a judge in Ohio sentences the ringleader in beard- and hair-cutting cutting attacks on fellow Amish.

    Sixty-seven-year-old Samuel Mullet Sr. and 15 members of his extended family face sentencing Friday in Cleveland federal court.

    1. a better weapon   12 years ago

      They’re fishing for a precedent so they can lock Romney up for his devilish antics at boarding school.

    2. generic Brand   12 years ago

      Why is this any crime at all? I guess if there was any actual damage done it could be considered assault, but this should not be a criminal matter; it should be civil.

      I hate prosecutors so much.

      1. nicole   12 years ago

        I’d consider forcible hair-cutting assault. Of course, life in prison for it is ridiculous.

      2. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

        Uh, you do realize that the “beard-cutting” process began with a group of people beating the victims so severely that some of them ended up being hospitalized afterwards?

    3. gaijin   12 years ago

      hair cutting? Samuel Mullet? Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes.

    4. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

      Life in prison for shaving beards and cutting hair?

      He should have just killed them. He might have gotten a lighter sentence.

      1. Zeb   12 years ago

        Seriously. What the fuck is the charge that can give you life in prison for cutting someone’s hair? Assault, sure. But who gets life for that?

        1. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

          He never cut hair himself. As the ‘ringleader’ they might be getting him on some sort of RICO charge.

          1. Zeb   12 years ago

            AH, yes. Good old conspiracy.

            I gather that in some states anyway, conspiracy to break any law is a felony. So in theory you could get time for conspiracy to commit jaywalking. Not sure if this really could happen, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

        2. $park?   12 years ago

          I suppose if you’re not going to actually read the article, I’ll put up the important part:

          The government says the attacks were retaliation against Amish who had defied or denounced Mullet’s authoritarian style. Mullet calls it an internal faith matter that didn’t rise to a hate crime.

          1. nicole   12 years ago

            To be fair, it actually was a hate crime. I mean, not that I think we should have any special legislation or such or sentencing enhancements, but unlike a random “straight dude beats up gay dude” story, this was intended as a religious attack for religious reasons.

          2. Zeb   12 years ago

            Well, see now I don’t have to read the article. You’re just an enabler of my NRTFA ways.

        3. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

          But… but… they were unlicensed.

  12. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    …the mayor of Seattle’s suspended plans for police to deploy two surveillance drones.

    “Instead, we’re going to deploy four drones. You want to go for eight? Keep it up. Don’t mess with the bull, Seattle, you’ll get the horns.”

    1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

      Sounds like the old British debate … The Tories wanted 6 Dreadnaughts, Labour wanted 2, so they compromised on 8.

      1. Restoras   12 years ago

        I lol’ed.

  13. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

    Finally, I Will Survive gets the cover it deserves

    1. RBS   12 years ago

      My 7 month old thought that was hilarious.

  14. Jerry on the boat   12 years ago

    They were hoping to find him overnight in Big Bear Lake before he kills again.

    On the bottom with a rock chain attached to his leg I presume?

    1. Tonio   12 years ago

      Beat me to it.

  15. Ted S.   12 years ago

    Apparently, sports-related trash talk is now so-called “cyberbullying”.

    1. RBS   12 years ago

      “The video posted by Collins shows a beautiful young woman with the strength to rise above an ugly situation unexpectedly imposed on her life.”

      Maybe she should fight that double chin and her teacher arms instead.

    2. a better weapon   12 years ago

      As a long time Vikings fan, I am not the least bit surprised a Packer would get this butt hurt about trash talk.

      My football coming-of-age occurred while living in Madison and I chose to be a Vikings fan simply because of how much the Packer fan base throws pussy fits when they lose or get criticized.

      1. Mongo   12 years ago

        Skol Vikings!

      2. generic Brand   12 years ago

        Packers fans are the BIGGEST pussies.

        As of Thursday morning, the photo of Kaitlyn Collins had over 3,500 likes and more than 640 comments, including one that read, “Doesn’t get uglier. Truly an eyesore.”

        And this is just straight up hilarious. Go Bears!

      3. Ted S.   12 years ago

        There are parts of every team’s fan base who get “hurt” by this sort of trash talk.

        I’m a Packer fan, and suggested on a Packer board that calling this stuff “cyberbullying” is a bunch of nonsense. You wouldn’t believe how much “why don’t you care about our special snowflakes?” shit I got.

        (Well, not all that much since it’s only been about an hour since I made my comment, but I’m sure this is the sort of thing they’ll remember and try to throw back in my face, much like the Veterans’ Day comments I made that weren’t bootlicking in nature.)

      4. Raven Nation   12 years ago

        When I moved to Nebraska, I was neutral to moderately favorable toward the ‘Huskers. After about 2 years, I quietly cheer for them to lose b/c of how obnoxious most of their fans are & how obsessed is the local media.

        That, and watching Bo Pelini melt down when they are losing is fun.

        1. Sh?n Y?   12 years ago

          how obnoxious most of their fans are & how obsessed is the local media.

          Does not compute. NU fans were some of the nicest fans around when I was there. The media focus on the Huskers because that is the only major sports team in the state.

          1. Raven Nation   12 years ago

            Can only tell you what my observations have been. Some are nice but a lot are not, at least during game time. But, there are a lot of people in NE so maybe I haven’t run across the good fans.

            1. Sh?n Y?   12 years ago

              You could very well be right. I was there in the 90s, so I am sure they could well have changed.

          2. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

            They got decidedly less nice as the Huskers won less.

    3. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

      *barf*

      You put yourself on public display and then whine when people express their opinion?

      She’s not ugly. Just stupid.

  16. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    President Obama apparently bucked the CIA, State Department and Department of Defense and blocked plans they endorsed to send arms to the rebels in Syria.

    Instead he’s going to have the Department of Justice run weapons to the rebels and then not track them.

  17. SugarFree   12 years ago

    Jezebel’s bold plan to ruin movies: more dicks, more uggos, more fatties, more dudes kissing.

    Can’t I just go to a darkened theater with a bunch of other mouth-breathers and see a respectable actress bare her jubblies for “art”?

    1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

      Does all this need to be in movies? This is what youporn got invented for, isn’t it?

    2. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

      It seems to me, people go to movies mostly for entertainment and escapism. There are plenty of average-looking people in the world without having to see more of them in the movies.

      1. SugarFree   12 years ago

        Or, as my wife puts it: “If I wanted to see a bunch of ugly people, I’d go to the mall.”

        1. John   12 years ago

          Some ugly people can act. Phillip Seymour Hoffman comes to mind. But such people need to stay in real movies with plots and dialog and definitely need to keep their clothes on.

          1. Ska   12 years ago

            And yet he gets a sex scene with Marisa Tomei.

            1. John   12 years ago

              I know. That was the most bizarre thing. On the one hand you are going, my God its Marisa Tomei and damn she has aged well, but then you are like the whale, the whale.

          2. some guy   12 years ago

            Picture Steve Buschemi nude. Do it!

    3. Mr Whipple   12 years ago

      Play it cool.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkdP02HKQGc

    4. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

      I don’t know if their readers and the like are enough of a market to justify creating that product, but if so, more power to them.

  18. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

    Elton John is recording a song with Queens of the Stone Age

    more

    1. gaijin   12 years ago

      who the hell is in QOTSA now? The pic has five dudes…no grohl…and Josh.

    2. a better weapon   12 years ago

      I always assumed Elton John was one of the Queens their band name was referring to, so it makes sense they finally collaborate.

  19. Mr Whipple   12 years ago

    Chris Hedges suspects Obama Administration already using NDAA to detain American citizens (2/6/2013)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?f…..hYYr6Rxgas

    1. Mike M.   12 years ago

      Yeah, his name is Nidal Malik Hasan, the guy who killed all the people down at Fort Hood.

      1. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

        What Hasan did was an act of work place violence not terrorism, according to the Obama Administration.

      2. Mr Whipple   12 years ago

        Well, then. Let’s just hang him and get it over with.

  20. Mr Whipple   12 years ago

    George H.W. Bush’s e-mail was apparently hacked.

    Former Director of CIA doesn’t use PGP public key encryption?

    1. a better weapon   12 years ago

      He is getting old, he probably finally got fed up with forgetting the password and just went ahead and selected “remember me” on all his laptops.

      Also, its probably his personal email. He uses his other account to plot eeeevvvvilll conspiracies with the Kochtapus apparatus.

      The hacker claimed to have “interesting mails” AKA “some docile, personal shit to his children I can take out of context and wordsmith to whip up Reddit/r/politics into a raging froth with later”

      1. Mr Whipple   12 years ago

        Passphrases are easy. You use a sentence that you are familiar with, or a line from a song, and use every 3rd or 4th letter. So simple even a Bush can do it.

  21. db   12 years ago

    More than 100 officers from the LAPD went door-to-door looking for the ex-cop Christopher Dorner, alleged to have shot several people yesterday. They were hoping to find him overnight in Big Bear Lake before he kills again.

    There is no way this guy gets out of this alive in police custody. He will not be allowed to say what he wants to say and use a trial as a platform. If LAPD is truly as fucked up as he claims they will prevent him from airing any more dirty laundry than he already has.

    If only he had chosen another way other than senseless murder to bring attention to his claims.

    1. tarran   12 years ago

      I wouldn’t be so certain…

      He’s left LA. He could call a criminal defense lawyer and arrange to surrender in another jurisdiction any time. And if he turns up dead in police custody, it’s going to be a huge black eye.

      This is going to be interesting.

      1. db   12 years ago

        I can see that happening but you can bet the cops will have any cell phone he’s known to have access to tapped and traced. He’s going to be dependent on landlines.

    2. $park?   12 years ago

      If only he had chosen another way other than senseless murder to bring attention to his claims.

      When all you have is a hammer…

      1. SugarFree   12 years ago

        Yeah, but he could have just stuck with killing cops. Killing an enemy solider in war isn’t murder. Killing the daughter of a cop makes him no better than his hero Obama.

        1. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

          Should have used drones.

    3. generic Brand   12 years ago

      My thought is that the LA County judicial system is so in bed with the police that the judge will refuse to allow any grandstanding (unless done by Top. Men.) during a trial anyway.

      So there will be a cover-up regardless of this guy living or dying over the weekend.

    4. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      “If only he had chosen another way other than senseless murder to bring attention to his claims.”

      A phrase which applies to many, many people in history.

    5. Brett L   12 years ago

      In fairness, half of them have cabins up there, so its not really like they’re out of their jurisdiction.

  22. db   12 years ago

    Also, can anyone think of a good reason to open your door to trigger happy cops in the current scenario if they’re going door to door? What a tense situatio..

    1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

      If you open the door there is a possibility that they will kill you, but if you don’t then it is certain.

      1. db   12 years ago

        So, yeah, the Bill of Rights is totally in effect.

        1. Restoras   12 years ago

          Don’t tell John.

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            John hates cops as far as I can tell.

            My response to the cops? “Dave’s not here.”

            1. John   12 years ago

              I like that response. And I would like to hear their justification for house to house search. They must be relying on consent. I think if you told them no, they would kick your door down anyway and you would end up with a nice settlement in the subsequent civil rights law suit.

              1. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

                I think if you told them no, they would kick your door down anyway and you would end up with a nice settlement in the subsequent civil rights law suit.

                That or they claim they smelled pot and had probable cause to search.

                1. John   12 years ago

                  Nope. Can’t search a house without a warrant unless you have probable cause and exigent circumstances.

                  1. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

                    Maybe you missed the part where “they claim they smelled pot.”

                    1. John   12 years ago

                      That was on the highway not her home.

                    2. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

                      It’s still valid. They didn’t need a search warrant to search because they claimed to smell pot. And even if such instances are later thrown out or dismissed, the search was still performed. But since you’re going to insist on being picky about it here:

                      Cops Can Kick Your Door Down If They Smell Weed, Supreme Court Rules

                    3. John   12 years ago

                      REad the article.

                      But writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said that all the Kentucky pot smoker needed to do was tell cops that they had no Constitutional right to enter his fragrant castle. “Occupants who choose not to stand on their constitutional rights but instead elect to attempt to destroy evidence have only themselves to blame” when cops kick their doors down and maybe shoot their dogs,

                    4. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

                      You read the article:

                      As soon as the officers began knocking, they heard noises coming from the apartment; the officers believed that these noises were consistent with the destruction of evidence. The officers announced their intent to enter the apartment, kicked in the door, and found respondent and others. They saw drugs in plain view during a protective sweep of the apartment and found additional evidence during a subsequent search.

                      The were not attempting to destroy anything. The cops CLAIMED they heard noises that they CLAIMED were consistent with people destroying evidence. No evidence was destroyed.

                      So, since your slow i’ll break it down for you. Cops claim to smell pot. Then claim they hear noises consistent with evidence being destroyed. Then they break in. No warrant or consent needed for search.

                    5. Way Of The Crane   12 years ago

                      Honestly, John. I thought you were smarter than that.

            2. $park?   12 years ago

              Tell them they can come in but only if they leave their guns outside.

    2. Jordan   12 years ago

      I can’t think of a reason to ever open your door to cops.

    3. Mr Whipple   12 years ago

      They did that door-to-door shit in Philly not too long ago when they were looking for the guy that shot the cop at the Dunkin Donuts. People didn’t have a choice of whether or not to open their doors.

      1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

        If you open the door then you have proven your innocence, and if you refuse you have proven your guilt.

      2. Spoonman.   12 years ago

        Didn’t that happen in Cheltenham, not Philadelphia?

        Raising the reputation of my township…

      3. Zeb   12 years ago

        What happened to the people who didn’t open their doors?

        1. db   12 years ago

          You mean dirtbag civilians? I’m guessing perp-walk.

  23. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

    Hell freezes over: a school district decides that the force used to implement desegregation in AZ haven’t fucking worked, that the $60M per year provided courtesy of the federal trough (a full 15% of their annual budget) hasn’t accomplished jack, and a federal judge gave an order to lift the decades-long rules set in place by the federal government to encourage equality in education.

    Looking back at the school desegregation case he took as a young lawyer, Rubin Salter Jr. sees a pile of wasted money and squandered opportunities. After almost four decades in court and nearly $1 billion in public spending, little has changed for the black children whose right to a good education he had labored to defend.

    They are still among the lowest-performing students in the Tucson Unified School District, still among the most likely to be suspended or to be assigned to special-education programs and still among the least likely to join groups for gifted students. They are, as Mr. Salter put it, “still getting the short end of the stick.”

    A federal judge approved a plan on Wednesday intended to lift a longstanding desegregation order that has served as a reason and an excuse for a lot that has gone wrong in the district over the past decades: shrinking enrollment, sliding graduation rates and insistent dropout rates.

    (cont)

    1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      [. . .]

      The case also presents at least one cautionary note. In a state that has one of the most comprehensive school-choice policies in the country, equity in education has remained an elusive goal over the years, even as desegregation money poured into the district at a rate of $60 million a year, or roughly 15 percent of its budget in the last school year. Much of it, current and former administrators agree, plugged holes that did nothing to help improve the performance of students of color.

      “Without belaboring on whether or not there was a lack of will from the parties to get it settled, there was a financial incentive” to keep the desegregation order going, said John J. Pedicone, who took over as superintendent of the Tucson Unified School District in 2011.

      An incentive to keep bad policy? No way! Educators are HEROES who serve at the behest of public interest, There is NO WAY that they would EVER keep bad policy in place just so they might keep the money train rolling.

      1. John   12 years ago

        Desegregation never worked anywhere. All it ever did was fill the troughs of the educrats, make racial tensions worse, generally destroy any school system it touched.

        But, enlightened progressives meant well. They were just sure no black kid could ever learn unless they were sitting by a white kid.

        1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

          Desegregation never worked anywhere. All it ever did was fill the troughs of the educrats, make racial tensions worse, generally destroy any school system it touched.

          You forgot all of coffers in non-profits that it filled over the decades. I once did some freelance database work for one such organization which, in 2001, still saw fit to fight the battles of the early 1960s, while taking in large mouthfuls from the FedTrough.

          1. John   12 years ago

            Horrible. And they destroyed the schools. All they had to do was demand equal funding and equal access. There were good black schools in the 1950s. Instead they wasted billions and did more to destroy the inner cities of this country than anything else.

            1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

              All they had to do was demand equal funding and equal access.

              That was too easy, and didn’t require outside “expertise.” They were more concerned with implementing any cockamamie idea they came up with because it ensured their coffers would continually be refilled when an idea didn’t materialize as expected and needed more to finalize their vision.

            2. robc   12 years ago

              Equal funding, equal access, and dont make schools districted. Leave it wide open to choice. If someone thinks their neighborhood school sucks, let them send their kid to the school in the good end of town.

              1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

                Tying the funds to students rather than to schools is the only way. Allow parents complete choice in where their children go, and for whatever reasons they choose.

                Want a school with non-traditional hours? Cool, there’s one for that. Want one that teaches in 2 languages? Cool. Want one that emphasizes the arts? Check. On and on.

            3. Raven Nation   12 years ago

              Which, IIRC, was the original idea behind Brown vs. Board.

        2. WTF   12 years ago

          The throw-money-at-it crowd totally ignores the fact that the best predictor of academic achievement is parental engagement. MOAR MONEY won’t fix that issue.

          1. generic Brand   12 years ago

            The throw-money-at-it crowd totally ignores the fact that the best predictor of academic achievement is parental engagement. MOAR MONEY won’t fix that issue.

            I disagree, because this is the number one excuse from teachers who are upset that their evaluations are tied to student performance.

            “But little Johnny’s parents don’t offer any support at home, so why should I be held accountable??”

            1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

              I think we need to listen to the teachers, and admit that they just aren’t all that important to the education process.

              1. rhofulster   12 years ago

                this

                1. rhofulster   12 years ago

                  Oops, I meant to say:

                  “I think we need to listen to the teachers, and admit that they just aren’t all that important to the education process.”

                  THIS!!!!!!!!

            2. WTF   12 years ago

              It’s the best predictor, not the ONLY FACTOR. Of course some teachers are more effective than others, which is why they should be evaluated on performance. I used to teach HS, and believe me, everyone knew who the good teachers were and who the shitty teachers were.

        3. robc   12 years ago

          As part of the Louisville desegregation/busing plan, I was sent to the ghetto in 3rd grade.

          Number of black students in my class that year: zero. They were all being bused out to the burbs.

          1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

            And it’s still a good bet that you got more than many of them did. Not because they were stupid, but because they expected that daddy government Doing Something? meant that they didn’t have to. It’s a small part of the whole puzzle to create dependency on Uncle Sam.

          2. John   12 years ago

            A friend of mine college was a middle class black kid who was bused to one of the worst white areas in Kansas City. They basically fucked everyone black and white.

            1. Raven Nation   12 years ago

              David Frum (“How We Got Here”) writes about a similar situation in Boston where the city integrated one of the worst white schools with one of the worst black schools.

              Oh, and Frum also shares the comment by the wife of one of the leading proponents of integration who, when asked if she would support the integration of her kids’ school replied along the lines of: No. My children only get one chance at an education, I can’t afford to waste it.”

              1. John   12 years ago

                I forget who, but someone made the statement that there was not a single person in the Mass legislature or judiciary who supported forced busing whose kids were going to be effected by it.

                That was one of the sorriest episodes in American history. It was the rich Brahmins fucking over the blacks and the poor Irish so they could feel better about themselves.

      2. Jordan   12 years ago

        there was a financial incentive” to keep the desegregation order going

        Incentives are a figment of libertarians’ imagination.

      3. Raven Nation   12 years ago

        V. similar thing happened in the KC, MO area about ten years back. Judge who had been desegregating the schools for a couple of decades, gave up, handed jurisdiction back to the school board, and said, “It’s your problem now.”

  24. John   12 years ago

    http://www.jammiewf.com/2013/n…..ion-obama/

    The NYT discovers that taxes affect the economy. No mention of Obama. It is like taxes just went up on their own.

    1. PS   12 years ago

      Obama is a neocon who can go suck his own dick.

      1. John   12 years ago

        LOL Actually, at least according to the definitions given by Rob yesterday, he really kind of is.

        1. PS   12 years ago

          I can totally live with that.

      2. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        He’s definitely a fascist. And neo-cons are a type of fascist so…

    2. Jordan   12 years ago

      The NYT discovers that taxes affect the economy.

      That’s a lie. Sage Warren Buffett told me so.

      1. John   12 years ago

        I have to give Buffett credit. He actually had a good idea last week. He said the way to solve the deficit is to pass a Constitutional Amendment that said any time the deficit is above 3% of GNP, the entire Congress is ineligible to stand for re-election. That would solve our spending problems very quickly.

        1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

          Or they could raise taxes. Do you ever think?

          1. John   12 years ago

            Yeah. They could raise taxes to cover the trillion dollar deficit real easily.

            1. SugarFree   12 years ago

              Nothing is more libertarian than raising taxes to pay of the out-of-control debt of a grossly bloated federal government, John.

              1. Jordan   12 years ago

                You obviously didn’t score very high on the Buttplug Freedom Index.

              2. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

                There are libertarians in Congress?

                Between cutting current SS/Medicare and raising taxes 80% of Congress would quickly do the latter.

                1. SIV   12 years ago

                  Paul Broun (R-GA)

                2. Zeb   12 years ago

                  I think the point is that there is no way to get rid of the deficit by raising taxes. Small tax changes don’t make a huge difference in the economy, but the kind of taxes you’d need to actually raise another trillion + would hurt a lot. Tax revenues do not rise in proportion to the tax rate.

          2. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

            Yeah, ’cause running as a tax hikers is a winning platform for politicians.

            1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

              Didn’t Obama win with just that strategy? I know his audience thought he meant that he was only going to raise taxes on those evil 1%ers, and were pissed when they discovered they were wrong.

              1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

                Obama ran on his opponent being a rape loving, birth control hating, women beating homophobe.

                1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

                  And he gave that guy’s wife cancer!

        2. Jordan   12 years ago

          Not a bad idea. I also like the idea of requiring a declaration of war to run a deficit.

          1. robc   12 years ago

            I agree, but Im afraid we would literally always be at war with eastasia in that case.

  25. tarran   12 years ago

    I wonder if they decided to go ahead with some sort of under the table arms deal anyway – and it blew up in their faces.

    The attack on Benghazi looks to me like some sort of smash and grab. PAtreus’ mistress said it was to release prisoners (implying that the CIA was keeping secret prisons despite the admin claims that he had ordered them shut down). I am wondering, though, if the attack wasn’t to steal weapons that the attackers thought (rightly or wrongly) to be stored on the premises.

    And that would explain a great deal. The suggestion that the people in Washington DC ordered everyone to stand down and scotched the deployment of a rescue force makes more sense. One could explain away Libyans in a ersatz prison as being ‘guests’ or something. It’s harder to explain away crates of Stinger missiles. And, since the RRF would have to be *told* about the weapons, the CIA/State would have a massive disaster in your hands. Of course, this implies that Obama had the power to take revenge on his staff, which goes against my theory that he is an ineffectual man who allows his people to do whatever the fuck they want without reining them in.

    1. John   12 years ago

      Couldn’t both be true? Why couldn’t there have been a CIA prison and a gun running operation? I believe Petreus’ mistress about the CIA prison. Why would she have lied? She said it in a speech to her college. She had nothing to gain by saying it and it is not something someone would just make up. And notice the media dropped the story almost immediately. Since the media is pretty much a working arm of the White House, there must have been a reason for that.

      1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        I believe Petreus’ mistress about the CIA prison.

        Fox did some special report from the ’embassy’ and parts of it definitely looked like a jail of some sort, with floor to ceiling iron bars.

      2. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        e had nothing to gain by saying it and it is not something someone would just make up. And notice the media dropped the story almost immediately.

        Also, the story of his affair broke a few days after she let that slip.

    2. John   12 years ago

      And I think you are right about Obama being an ineffectual man who allows other people to do whatever they want. See Penetta’s testimony about Bengazi. The President wasn’t there. His staff did the whole thing. Obama doesn’t care about being President and isn’t bright enough to do much even if he did. It becomes self reinforcing. Obama is a moron who is in over his head and avoids the duties of President because it makes him feel stupid and his staff avoid having him do his duties because he is a moron liable to fuck things up.

      1. RBS   12 years ago

        It’ll be interesting in a few years when his current staff become his former staff.

        1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

          This. I suspect some of the stories of stupidity and venality to be EPIC.

      2. robc   12 years ago

        Obama doesn’t care about being President

        He cares about BEING president, he doesnt care about doing the job.

  26. PS   12 years ago

    Following heated open city council sessions, the mayor of Seattle’s suspended plans for police to deploy two surveillance drones. Baby steps.

    Baby steps to what? I don’t have a problem with police using drones as long as they follow the same rules that police have to follow and, most importantly, that ‘civilians’ are allowed to employ their own drones that are allowed to deliver tacos. Isn’t a blanket bitch about drones rather like bitching about too large magazines? Or just bitching about inevitable technology?

    1. Jordan   12 years ago

      Who’s complaining about drones in general? I don’t have a problem with cops using drones in the same way they use helicopters today, but I also don’t trust modern police departments to not abuse the hell out of them.

      1. PS   12 years ago

        Uhm, baby steps?

        I don’t trust modern police not to abuse the hell out of them either. They already abuse the hell out of things like assault rifles. I just don’t think banning drones is the solution.

      2. John   12 years ago

        The problem with drones is they are so cheap and thus more ripe for abuse. I helicopter runs about $5000 and hour to fly plus the cost of paying the pilot. There is little danger of the cops flooding the city with helicopters. In contrast, for around $300 retail, you can buy a small remote control drone with a several mile range that feeds a HID video feed straight to your IPAD. Drones are so cheap and so easy to use. And they are only going to get cheaper and more powerful.

        1. Virginian   12 years ago

          What John said. The chopper costs a lot of money, so its use is limited. Pretty soon the first generation of DOD drones will join the military weapons and vehicles that have already been distributed to cops across the country. It’s huge leap in capability and it costs less. It’s a real game changer.

          1. PS   12 years ago

            It’s a real game changer.

            I wonder where I’ve heard that argument before.

          2. T   12 years ago

            Idle thought: the Reaper is supposedly a test bed for program Gorgon Stare.

            We’re apparently living in Charlie Stross’ universe after all.

        2. PS   12 years ago

          Isn’t this the same argument used against guns already? Or against the probably soon to be ubiquitous 3D printed guns?

          1. John   12 years ago

            Guns already are cheap and ubiquitous. Drones are not. But they are going to be. COSCO really does sell a HD camera drone for either $300 or $400 dollars. It is cool as shit.

            1. PS   12 years ago

              Has Reason ever floated the idea that ubiquitous drones, like ubiquitous camera phones, might actually make it harder for bad cops to get away with bending the law?

              Technology is a two-edged sword.

              1. Jordan   12 years ago

                I don’t think Reason has a problem with private drones.

                1. John   12 years ago

                  The point is that if they are that cheap, the government can buy them in virtually unlimited numbers.

                2. PS   12 years ago

                  I don’t think Reason has a problem with private drones.

                  Once again, “baby steps”. Do you honestly expect to live in a society where the cops can’t use drones but private citizens can?

                  1. Jordan   12 years ago

                    As long as police have immunity that civilians don’t? Yep. Or rather, I don’t expect it, but I prefer it.

              2. John   12 years ago

                I like that ID PS. Imagine a citizen watchdog group buying a bunch of drones and using them to shadow every police care in some city. The cops would shit a brick over that.

                1. PS   12 years ago

                  I like that ID PS. Imagine a citizen watchdog group buying a bunch of drones and using them to shadow every police care in some city. The cops would shit a brick over that.

                  That would be pretty awesome. I think that technology in general tends to disfavor the State, in a democracy at least.

              3. $park?   12 years ago

                Technology is a two-edged sword.

                I thought technology was invented to do away with swords.

                1. PS   12 years ago

                  True story: my iPad was beaten from a from a sword. At least that’s what the Fair Trade certificate said.

                  1. $park?   12 years ago

                    And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares iPads, and their spears into pruning hooks iPhones: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

                2. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

                  Swords are technology.

          2. Jordan   12 years ago

            If civilians aren’t allowed to own assault rifles, then cops shouldn’t either. Otherwise, I have no problem with them owning them. Same with armed drones. As long as cops are held to the same liability standards that civilians are.

            1. Restoras   12 years ago

              I hope Estes is working on a model heat-seeking rocket – just for fun, of course.

      3. T   12 years ago

        My sherriff’s department has drones. I don’t know if they got the hardpoint capable model or not, but the last thing I want is those peckerwoods flying armed drones around. They have enough problems without adding that to the list. Hell, they crashed their drone onto one of their APCs during a training op.

        1. PS   12 years ago

          Cops shouldn’t have drones because cops suck. You could make the same case against cops being allowed to drive cars. But it’s not a very realistic argument.

          1. T   12 years ago

            Maybe cops shouldn’t have drones and APCs because they’re not the fucking military. If you need that level of firepower, call out the Guard.

            1. PS   12 years ago

              Maybe they shouldn’t but what does that have to do with the basic point I was making?

        2. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

          “Hell, they crashed their drone onto one of their APCs during a training op.”

          OK, I laughed… pretty damned hard.

        3. Brett L   12 years ago

          Hell, they crashed their drone onto one of their APCs during a training op.

          Sounds like a plot from “Police Academy 2015”.

  27. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

    American Crossroads is not done attacking actress Ashley Judd as she mulls a Senate bid in Kentucky next year, Karl Rove said Thursday on Fox News. The Rove-backed group this week released an ad aimed at Judd, mocking her allegiance to President Obama and calling her out for referring to Tennessee as her home.

    “This is the opening ad,” Rove said Thursday. “We want her to explain these radical views that she’s got, and in the weeks and months ahead we’re going to continue to introduce those radical views to the people of Kentucky

    http://livewire.talkingpointsm…..ical-views

    1. Restoras   12 years ago

      Sock.

    2. a better weapon   12 years ago

      After his thorough embarrassment in the election cycle, you’d think Rove would do something useful to get his credibility back.

      Instead his first order of business is to throw away millions attacking a less-than-serious candidate who probably won’t even run just to save McConnell’s bacon. Peak retard continues to elude us all.

    3. generic Brand   12 years ago

      Even though she’s a total Democrat skank, I would honestly be okay with Judd running and winning against Mitch the bitch McConnell. Especially since that would make Rand Paul the senior senator from Kentucky.

      1. Bobarian   12 years ago

        McConnell needs to be seriously primaried a proper TP candidate. I’ll be voting in that election and we definitely don’t need either of these ass-hats serving in the Senate.

        Right now, though I’m not aware of anyone making a serious challenge to Mitch in the primaries.

        1. Bobarian   12 years ago

          by a proper TP…

    4. sarcasmic   12 years ago

      You anywhere near NC?

      http://www.campusreform.org/blog/?ID=4608

  28. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

    So I’m watching Morning Joe and they are talking about Obama’s murder droning. They agreed that it’s just fine because we all trust Obama, but G-d forbid we ever get a Republican in the Whitehouse,because they tend to be hawkish, which would be bad.

    These useless tools were literally saying, “It’s okay when our guy does it.”

    1. John   12 years ago

      That is the most infuriating thing. It would be infuriating enough if they said, “we were wrong and Bush was right, these things are necessary”. But they don’t even have that much integrity. Instead, they actually think and say that anything is okay as long as their guy does it. They are just deranged.

    2. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

      Fox News spent eight years doing the same.

      1. John   12 years ago

        FAUX NEWS

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuGtxt84wPQ

      2. Jordan   12 years ago

        Tu quoque. Fail.

      3. a better weapon   12 years ago

        They have their fair share of hypocrisy, but their coverage of the drone issue so far has been pretty consistent. They’re thrilled with whats happening!

      4. gaijin   12 years ago

        and your point is?

        1. generic Brand   12 years ago

          It’s a misguided point, but one that needs to be made every so often (at least in response to John’s comments). Replying “yeah, but Bush did it too” is not a very persuasive argument, but we need to keep reminding ourselves that both parties are pretty g-d awful.

          1. generic Brand   12 years ago

            Guess I got lost mid-paragraph. Both parties and their media houses are pretty awful; they are basically only tolerable when the opposing party is in power, and even then it’s a stretch.

          2. John   12 years ago

            I don’t watch cable news. But I am told that since the Murdoch hacking scandal in the UK, Fox has become much more liberal. They were apparently beating the gun control bandwagon after Newtown. I know several people who have stopped watching it saying it is just like CNN now.

            1. generic Brand   12 years ago

              Damn, that’s sad. I guess it makes sense since they dumped the Judge from the line-up.

  29. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

    Many Chicagoans who call 911 will no longer receive immediate help. Chicago police will no longer show up at crime scenes unless someone is in critical condition or a criminal suspect remains on the scene.

    more

    1. Jordan   12 years ago

      Gosh, why wouldn’t a resident of Chicago want to be entirely dependent on the notoriously corrupt, and now absent Chicago PD for their personal protection?

    2. Bam!   12 years ago

      Translation: The password to unlock the police is “critical condition”.

  30. John   12 years ago

    LAUSD, other California school districts use cafeteria funds meant for poor to cover other expenses, report says

    Starve the kids. Pay the teachers.

    http://www.dailynews.com/news/…..eria-funds

  31. John   12 years ago

    http://www.rollcall.com/news/m…..ml?pos=hln

    Looks like Menendez is going under the bus.

    1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

      LIAR! Shreik told us this was an already over wingnut fantasy story.

      1. Sevo   12 years ago

        And shreek’s an authority!

  32. Mike M.   12 years ago

    More global warming news: major blizzard expected to dump 12-24 inches of snow on most of lower New England today and tomorrow.

    1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

      Gonna have fun sledding with the kids tomorrow!

      1. Mike M.   12 years ago

        Holy crap, they’re saying that metro Boston could possibly see three feet!

        If Washington D.C. got three feet, the feds would probably shut down for two weeks.

        1. robc   12 years ago

          the feds would probably shut down for two weeks.

          Move the FedGov to Buffalo, stat!

        2. Restoras   12 years ago

          If Washington D.C. got three feet, the feds would probably shut down for two weeks.

          We should be so lucky.

        3. WTF   12 years ago

          Yeah, theyre predicting a foot and a half in North Jersey where I am. Already got the supplies (booze) in earlier this week.

        4. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

          I’m working from home today. Light sprinkles have started in the city itself.

    2. hamilton   12 years ago

      Yeah, battening down here. Already bought gasoline and gin – now just need to make sure all liquids go to the proper destinations.

      1. $park?   12 years ago

        Watching the weather report this morning in Western MA, they were saying Boston area could top 40″.

        1. hamilton   12 years ago

          Yeah, it looks like an ass-ramming. We were sort of blase after the various ice storms and all, but this has shades of 78 all over it. we’ll see.

      2. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

        Gasoline with a gin chaser!

    3. WTF   12 years ago

      Weather is not climate, er, except when it is! And AGW now causes more intense storms, so this totally proves AGW, just like everything else does!
      /derp

    4. Bam!   12 years ago

      I’m now convinced that global warming alarmists will now literally blame any weather pattern on global warming.

      Snow storm? Must be global warming.
      A hurricane? Global warming.
      Non-extreme weather? The lack of abnormal weather is a sign of global warming.

      1. WTF   12 years ago

        And the fact that nothing that happens counts against AGW proves it is at best a psuedoscience.

        1. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

          Pseudoscience? AGW is nothing more than “Ooga-booga! We must sacrifice a virgin to the volcano to make it stop raining fire!” in science-y words.

          At best, it’s nothing more than the mad ravings of a lunatic.

  33. John   12 years ago

    Hope, Change

    And now, it may also force price hikes at your local supermarket.

    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.”

    Supermarket managers could go to jail if they accidentally mislabel a rotisserie chicken or a salad or a sandwich.

    http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013…..expensive/

  34. John   12 years ago

    So after posting Tim’s question about the legality of Nixon killing Jane Fonda in light of the President’s powers to kill Al Awaki, not a single liberal has so much as responded. They just don’t want to talk about that for some reason.

    1. Restoras   12 years ago

      Are you sure your liberal Facebook friends don’t have your page set to “ignore”?

      1. John   12 years ago

        Oh yes. They are there. They commented on other posts of mine.

        I saw one of those “Got Hope” bumper stickers going to work today. Someone really needs to make a “Got Drones” one.

        1. Virginian   12 years ago

          I really wanted to print out that picture of the dead kids killed by drone strike that Reason posted. Put it on some stickers and just place it next to every Obama 2012 sticker I saw.

          1. John   12 years ago

            That is what liberals would have done if it had been McCain running for re-election in 2012.

    2. WTF   12 years ago

      They just don’t want to talk about that for some reason.

      Well there’s a shocker.

  35. Rhywun   12 years ago

    After all those baby steps I was kind of hoping for a massive nut-punch at the end.

  36. Sevo   12 years ago

    “Contamination tied to feminized fish”
    “The 2005 discovery received worldwide attention because it was the only time that intersex animals […] the half-male, half-female flatfish were linked to massive sewage outfalls”
    Yeah, contaminated by the supposed researchers: “”If the knife was not cleaned between samples and people were sloppy,…”
    http://www.sfgate.com/science/…..261350.php
    At least they corrected the ‘mistake’, but it won’t get the coverage the original claim did.
    And what’s with a supposed major paper turning over editorial comment to some special interest group (note the by line)?

  37. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    Every one of you dumb motherfuckers who stick up for that sleazy, lying shitbag dunphy should take the time to read the “Spree Killer Manifesto” thread.

    Fuck him, and fuck you.

  38. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    So I’m watching Morning Joe and they are talking about Obama’s murder droning. They agreed that it’s just fine because we all trust Obama, but G-d forbid we ever get a Republican in the Whitehouse,because they tend to be hawkish, which would be bad.

    Were you watching the other morning when Mika kinda sorts admitted it made her a little uncomfortable, but it was all BOOOSH’s fault, because he started it, and now her precious dreamboat has no choice but to keep expanding the program?

    1. John   12 years ago

      But I though Obama was so dreamy and courageous. You know, a transformative President with magical rhetorical skills who can convince America of anything. You mean he won’t stand up and do the right thing?

  39. Sevo   12 years ago

    “More than 100 officers from the LAPD went door-to-door looking for the ex-cop Christopher Dorner, alleged to have shot several people yesterday. They were hoping to find him overnight in Big Bear Lake before he kills again.”

    And I hope before *they* kill again.

  40. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

    God bless Miguel Bloombito:

    Frosty el Snowhombre es un muy merryo soul. Que got un ticketo por que smokingo los cor?o cob pipes estan ba??ed en el parko!

  41. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    Well, you know, when LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFESSIONALS open fire on a pickup truck because somebody who terrifies the living shit out of them MIGHT be in it, it’s not malicious.

    hth

  42. Loki   12 years ago

    Random funny Onion link:

    http://www.theonion.com/articl…..r-p,31204/

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