A.M. Links: Afghanistan War to Cost Ast Least $79B in 2014, John McCain an Important Obama Ally, Two FBI Agents Killed in Training Exercise

• 

  U.S. Marines

  President Obama will be asking for $79.4 billion to prosecute the war in Afghanistan in the 2014 budget.

• John McCain is one of Barack Obama's most important allies.
• An 18-year-old girl in Florida faces two felony counts of lewd behavior after the parents of her 15-year-old girlfriend went to police over the same-sex relationship.
• Two FBI agents were killed during a training exercise in Virginia.
• Iran says it hanged two men it claims were Israeli and American spies.
• More than two dozen people died in a series of car bombs across Iraq.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Two FBI agents were killed during a training exercise in Virginia.

Sequester casualties?

[Rich]

The FBI said the cause of the incident is under review.

Make it a good one, people.

[Tim]

Machine gun live fire accident?

[db]

Look, when you can only afford either blanks or body armor, you do the obvious: buy a billion rounds of live ammo.

[Fist of Etiquette]

John McCain is one of Barack Obama's most important allies.

Serves Obama right.

[VG Zaytsev]

Is there a more despised politician in DC than McCain?

[T]

Obama?

[VG Zaytsev]

Bammy's still got a decent sized cult.

McCain's got Bill Kristol and Chuckles Kunthammer.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I doubt inside the beltway Obama is all that well liked.

[cavalier973]

Hey! Show some respect! His name is Charles.

[Stormy Dragon]

Lindsey Graham?

[deified]

Do white people have a future in South Africa?

[robc]

In college I knew a girl born in Rhodesia. Her family moved to the US when it became Zimbabwe.

She was kinda cute, but not enough to overcome the casual racism. But I at least understood the reasoning behind it.

[T]

I knew a Jewish South African girl in grad school. She and her family packed up and left once the ANC took over.

She had the same attitude a lot of white African ex-pats I've met have towards Africa, which is basically 'fuck it, let it burn'.

[Virginian]

Yeah who would have thought a violent Communist Party might make things pretty shitty.

[Raston Bot]

Mugabe could be the subject of numerous economic case studies of the "what not to do" variety.

[Don Mynack]

Remember, he's a MAVERICK, people. A super-rich, big government, establishment-loving MAVERICK.

[sarcasmic]

That Ke$ha creature is just fucking ugly. That's all there is to it. That fucking face could curdle milk.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....wards.html

[LTC(ret) John]

curdle urine too?

[$park?]

For crying out loud, you're more obsessed than I am.

[Rich]

the understated nature of her beauty plan for the night only acted as a surprising juxtaposition for what her dress had in store.

Hey, is writing stuff like this what those "my sister-in-law makes $8408/mo working from home" ads are about?

[AlexInCT]

I am prety sure the sister is a hooker, so unles this chick Ke$ha is a hooker I am not sure I see the equivalence...

[a better weapon]

I think Obama knows where to look now should he ever need a new Treasury Secretary

"Apple would have paid a tax rate of about 15 per cent last year, far below the 25.2 per cent it reported, had it not used a form of reserve accounting that sets it apart from other big US technology companies."

[a better weapon]

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0.....z2TpxuD8M2

[sarcasmic]

Burglar gets his ass whooped.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ating.html
Cue Nelson Muntz.

[Brett L]

Florida, where the residents are as dangerous as the animals.

[Rich]

Nice mug shot.

"You don't look too bad. Here's another."

[Live Free or Diet]

A 90-lb. old lady from the JCC in Richmond, VA caught a guy stealing her Social Security check. She beat him with her cane until he fell out her 3rd story window. I wish I could find the story again so I could post it.

[LTC(ret) John]

Please look, that sounds f'ing hilarious.

[Lord Humungus]

Not Even Large Oil Reserves Can Save Socialist Venezuela
http://blogs.the-american-inte.....venezuela/

Funny, all these years the Castro brothers blamed Cuba's grinding poverty and economic failure on two big problems: the US embargo and a lack of energy reserves. Now here comes Venezuela, no embargo and some of the largest oil reserves in the world, and Castro policies are producing Castro results. It's almost as if socialism tends to produce oppression and poverty in any country it controls? along with bureaucratic thuggishness, cronyism, and corruption.

[John]

Oil doesn't do much good after you nationalize the oil industry thus making it less and less able to to pump the stuff.

[Spoonman.]

Venezuelan oil turns to paraffin pretty quickly when you let it sit, so inefficiencies and bureaucratic delays can really fuck up some pipelines.

[Palin's Buttplug]

VZ oil is tar heavy like Canadian tar sands oil. They all want to ship it to the REGULATIONS! laden US to refine it.

Apparently you can't build a refinery anywhere else.

[T]

We haven't built any lately, so maybe that's true.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Venezuelan oil is absolute crap. It might work okay as heating oil, but the gasoline refined from it isn't even worth the effort.

I used Citgo a couple of times when I didn't have any other options for gas--my mileage dropped by 4-5 miles a gallon, then went back to normal when I used any other gasoline brand.

[sgs]

Um, sure buddy.

[cavalier973]

The heck you say; these are GOVERNMENT workers, and probably union members, to boot. They probably get paid a living wage, unlike their private company counterparts; a living wage that almost certainly makes them more productive, because they're not spending all day worrying about how they're going to pay the bills.

[Don Mynack]

CITGO owns at least three refineries in the U.S., and their corp headquarters is in Houston.

Apparently, they have been trying to sell CITGO and their refineries for a while, but can't even get that done.

Why they would want to sell the only refineries that will process their garbage oil is beyond me.

[sarcasmic]

Man makes modifications to his home without asking permission, and the city wants him to tear it down. Free country my ass.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....rmits.html

[a better weapon]

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0.....z2TpxuD8M2

[sarcasmic]

Navy dolphin finds brass torpedo from 1895.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....sives.html
Pretty cool.

[a better weapon]

Torpedo? From 1895? Can't be, I've been told that muskets were the only weapons of war back then.

[Live Free or Diet]

And you had to get a letter from the Royal Governor certifying you as being organized militia before getting an assault musket.

[Don Mynack]

Exactly, Why would anyone need to own a brass torpedo for hunting?

[Ted S.]

Did it blow up the dolphin?

[SIV]

Made of brass, the projectile was driven by a 132-pound flywheel spun to 10,000 rpm before launch.

Way cool

[a better weapon]

A couple of Navy Seals I know train with these dolphins. They do some really cool stuff but I have no idea what any of the real life applications are for them.

[sarcasmic]

RTFA

[LTC(ret) John]

I dunno - maybe they could find some explosives or such?

[Gray Ghost]

FTA:

Currently there are 80 bottlenosed dolphins and 50 sealions being trained at [the] Point Loma facility for mine detection, mine clearing and swimmer protection.
Indeed, during the 2003 Iraq invasion, dolphins were dispatched to the Persian Gulf to hunt for mines and enemy divers. They are also used to guard submarines in Georgia and Washington State.

[invisible furry hand]

Full moon on the highway

Watch Commander Garry Smith said he hoped the 24-year-old man had learned his lesson - "don't do bum flashes".

[Francisco d Anconia]

Wes she..."travelling at 100km/h on the Stuart Highway, in Virginia?"

Or was she travelling at 62 mph?

[Francisco d Anconia]

Or Was

[sarcasmic]

Mother charged with beating up daughter's 11-year-old bully inside school

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....bully.html
I'm kinda mixed on this one.

[Ted S.]

It would be a better story if the bully were one of the adults working at the school.

[a better weapon]

Could you imagine the media frenzy if the mom and the bully swapped races?

Also, how did this woman beat up an 11 year old at the school without any witnesses?

[Ted S.]

The mom is a cop and the security cameras just magically failed at that very instant?

[$park?]

One word: Ensemble.

[Rasilio]

Well if the kid is a well known bully the teachers may have just looked the other way.

I know that when I was in 6th grade the class bully pushed me too far at recess one day and I beat the crap out of him, 3 teachers clearly saw it happening, albeit from a distance and never said a word because I was one of the good kids and he was a notorious bully.

The best part is one of the teachers who saw it was our homeroom teacher who spent the rest of the day subtly mocking the bully for getting his ass kicked until the kid ran out of the room crying

[SugarFree]

Something close like to that happened to me in the 8th grade. Class bully and budding psycho kept fucking with me until I punched him, wrestled him to the ground and punched him again. He never laid a hand on me and the gym teacher suspended only him. He came back a few days later, smarted off to me and said he won the fight. I drop-kicked a volleyball into his face from about 6 feet away and he got suspended again for fighting.

I always figured it was a bit like a blanket party. They couldn't do anything about him, so they let us police ourselves. Of course, if a teacher hadn't stepped in both times, he would have beat seven shades of holy fuck out of me.

[Joe M]

I posted this once months ago, but I had basically the same experience with a kid in my 7th science class that kept picking on me until the day I stood up in class and started choking in him full view of everyone including the teacher, who didn't punish me and found it amusing. Kid never bugged me again.

[Lord Humungus]

heh - in 7th grade I had a locker next to a rather short bully who used to pick on me - the sensitive, shy but tall kid. I was rather anti-violent at the time, even though I had been in a fair share of neighborhood scraps.

I told my older brother about it. He said, "If you don't fight back, a bully will keep picking on you. Take care of it."

So the next day I ambled on in to my locker, the bully punched me hard in the arm - as usual. Instead of saying nothing, I physically picked him up by his shirt and threw him into the lockers. I said, "If you ever touch me again, I'll kill you."

He said something smarmy back... but he never picked on me again.

Over the HS years, I sort of prided myself on my "anti-bully" career. I had several scrawny geek friends who - for a short spell - were mercilessly picked on. Until I put a stop to it.

[Mainer2]

I was about 12 years old , walking home, when my bully went by on his bike and made some smart ass comment. I'd had enough, so I pulled him off the bike, slammed him to the ground and started punching him in the face. By chance, this happened in front of our teacher's house. The next day, my mom says she was talking to Mrs. Teacher, and I'm thinking "oh shit, I'm in trouble. Well....Mrs Teacher thought the whole scene was hilarious, she told Mom I was so determined as I threw my books down and chased after the bike.
So yeah, sometimes teachers know.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I had a bully following me around a fair around 10 or so. I usually just ignored bullies and they'd go away. This one was determined to get a reaction, so he stole my glasses right off my face. Don't touch a nerd's glasses. EVER.

While he was laughing at the thickness of my glasses I just sorta snapped and rushed rushed him, knocking him down. I kneeled on his chest and started punching him and slamming his head into the ground. His buddies pulled me off and they all booked. There were dozens of people all around me and "nobody saw anything" but word got around and I never had to deal with much bullying from then on.

[HellsBells]

Nowadays, all of you would have been pepper sprayed, wrestled to the ground, arrested and charged with felony assault by the cop assigned to your school.

[Live Free or Diet]

Unless an adult was the problem, I taught my kids to take care of their own bullies.

[sarcasmic]

Could South America end its participation in the war on drugs? Fears horrific human cost of tackling cartels will lead to change in policy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....olicy.html
We can only hope.

[some guy]

Amen. If even one country can muster the will to go that route, the rest will fall in short order once they see the drug violence vanish.

[sarcasmic]

Anthony Bourdain has a new show. Well, a show by a different name, but it's still the same show. Anyway, he visited Columbia and in a conversation someone said to him (I'm paraphrasing of course) "You've got two different things here: addiction and trafficking. You can get rid of one. The other you have to accept and deal with."
Bourdain rightly said that will never fly in the US.

[deified]

If even one country can muster the will to go that route, the rest will fall in short order once they see the drug violence vanish.

There's only one nation that really matters in the global drug war. Hint: Starts with "U" and ends with "SA."

[some guy]

True. Because of that Mexico is fucked. So long as we keep up the prohibition, their northern border is going to have violence. But if countries further south decided to legalize production and trafficking, things would get significantly better for them. They'd have to be willing to tolerate finger-waggling from US diplomats, though.

[sarcasmic]

If Columbia and other drug producing countries legalized production and trafficking, there's be more than finger-waggling from US diplomats. There would be military action.

[$park?]

Drug activity in Columbia presents a clear and present danger to the security of the United States.

[Gray Ghost]

The finger waggling wouldn't just be from the U.S. Not sure why we think the assorted cartels would be cool with these countries instituting legalization. Not so much because their domestic consumption drives their revenues, but because I think the cartels are bright enough to want to squelch any idea from taking root in the U.S. that legalization could practically occur. Which might happen, if Columbia et al, were to legalize and have 'nothing else happen.'

Kinda' funny: the cartels kill politicians that crack down too hard on the drug trade, and they'd probably kill politicians that don't want to crack down at all on the trade.

Oh, and on sarcasmic's point, didn't the U.S. already help out militarily with, IIRC, the killing of Pablo Escobar?

[sgs]

"Not sure why we think the assorted cartels would be cool with these countries instituting legalization. "

Because we, and they, know south american politics better than you do, and we, and they, know they're easily wealthy enough to buy whatever influence they like under a legal scheme.

[T]

Finger wagging I'm sure they can stand. But we have a variety of economic clubs to weild against Mexico.

Plus, some brave country will have to repudiate the UN conventions on drugs to fully legalize. There's really only a couple or three countries that would piss in the UN's eye like that. We're one of them, but we ain't gonna on this issue.

[LilDebbie]

...at which point they'll experience a different kind of drug violence, e.g. the Boxer Rebellion, Iran-Contra, Afghanistan...

[Lord Humungus]

just a reminder of who the IRS is:

IRS workers protest spending cuts
http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/0.....index.html

The National Treasury Employees Union, which organized Tuesday's rally, said the IRS brings in 93% of the revenue used to fund the federal government and $1 invested in the IRS brings a $7 return from collections, so shutting operations down for five days will only serve to reduce revenue and boost the deficit.

[a better weapon]

Allow me...

Fuck you, cut spending!

[Bardas Phocas]

heh-heh, he said "invested".
These people are fucking heee-larious.

[Brett L]

There's a National Treasury Employee's Union? I thought there was no union I could hate more than the FOP/PBA.

[LTC(ret) John]

There are AFSME in the Department of Military Affairs in IL (The National Guard). Nothing like coming back from 14 months deployment (12 of it in on and off combat) to hear some unionized desk jockey bitch about missing a smoke break.

I would break AFSME with a rod of iron, were I a tyrant.

[Brett L]

"We keep some haad on from runnin' ovah your kids. We're fuckin AFSCME"

Almost as good as the repurposing of the GI Joe lessons for youtube hall of fame.

[Lord Humungus]

now that was funny.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Gee, how on earth did the government ever fund its operations without the IRS acting as the pipeline?

[invisible furry hand]

Who has the smallest penis in Brooklyn?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....ostpopular

[sarcasmic]

Epi's mom?

[Rich]

They also "should be comfortable getting hosed down while wearing only skimpy underwear."

I'd say if you're considering entering this contest in the first place you'd probably actually *enjoy* that.

[Lord Humungus]

Obama's Defenders: He's Not Corrupt, Just Dishonest and Incompetent
http://www.commentarymagazine......competent/

Because this critique of big government is so difficult to deny without appearing foolish, many on the left have tried another tack to minimize the scandals. They argue that President Obama is not corrupt, but rather that he is dishonest and incompetent. This was the defense (such as it was) of Obama and Clinton with regard to Benghazi. The Accountability Review Board, which sought to exonerate Clinton as much as possible, noted that the State Department was a complete mess under Clinton. Security requests were ignored, because Clinton didn't take the time to understand what was going on in Libya. And the chain of command was difficult to discern, leading to total chaos within the department. In other words, Clinton, who seems to be planning a run for the presidency, is a dangerously poor executive with a shallow grasp of geopolitical realities.

[John]

Clinton, who seems to be planning a run for the presidency, is a dangerously poor executive with a shallow grasp of geopolitical realities.

But none of that will matter in three years. She will be proven, battle tested.

[invisible furry hand]

Hey it's like Bill said: with the Clintons you get two for the price of one

[Palin's Buttplug]

Duh. She voted for Dumbya's stupid Iraq misadventure. 23 Senators did not.

All 77 who did should be run out of office by taxpayers.

[some guy]

Agreed.

So was Obama protecting his Congressional allies when he didn't even ask for a vote on his stupid Libya misadventure?

[Palin's Buttplug]

There you (peanut gallery) goes again.

"Iraq=Libya! They are exactly the same!"

NATO did Libya.

[T]

NATO commits US troops without our say so? Interesting. All those years in the Amry and I missed that little factoid.

[some guy]

I didn't say they were the same. I implied that both of them were wrong and that Obama was wrong to ignore both the War Powers Resolution and the Constitution.

[Bardas Phocas]

Look, Joe Biden is the only sane and sensible voice in that thug factory of a Whitehouse. He's too valuable. We can't lose him over a vote he took over a decade ago -- while drunk.

[BigT]

Remember her 2008 commercial - 3 am and the phone rings - Whom do you want ignoring that call??

[deified]

Strangely, people really hate prices rising for no goddamn reason: EU survey shows how much people dislike inflation

Also: The US Murder Rate Is on Track to Be Lowest in a Century

[John]

But gunz!!

[deified]

Butt gunz!!

FTFY

[invisible furry hand]

that made me Google

[Rich]

Good grief, ifh.

Marginally SFW.

[BakedPenguin]

What is this I don't even...

[Brett L]

The US Murder Rate Is on Track to Be Lowest in a Century

Yeah, but its the white people and their children who are being murdered in the news, so we must DO SOMETHING!!1

[PS]

Wife of armed robber shot dead is suing.

While Jaramillo acknowledges the suspect's role in what happened, he said Beasley shares more blame.

"He does bear some fault, but it's like a pie. You divide out the fault accordingly, and Mr. Beasley could have done something different," Jaramillo said.

The suit alleges surveillance video shows Beasley watching Sedillo and his accomplice getting ready to commit the crime. Jaramillo claims the clerk should have then called police or left the store instead of shooting Sedillo.

[John]

Die in a fire bitch. Too bad he didn't shoot you too.

[Virginian]

But remember, we don't need any kind of loser pays or tort reform.

[some guy]

I assume the judge will be laughing as he throws this one out of court?

[LTC(ret) John]

Sanctions for the attorney that signed off on that complaint. Oh, and the judge should be snarling.

[some guy]

Snarlaughing, maybe? And compensation for the defendants attorney fees.

[Rasilio]

Actually I think this is far more important than loser pays.

Basically if you are a lawyer and your client brings you a frivolous claim you should have a responsibility to advise them of that and turn down the case. Once the moron gets laughed out of half a dozen law offices they could choose to represent themselves, in which case as the acting lawyer they would be liable for the frivolous suit penalty.

Even with that however the problem is that courts are too reluctant to call a case frivolous as are juries so without some kind of change on that front no tort reform along these lines would matter.

[Gray Ghost]

Even with that however the problem is that courts are too reluctant to call a case frivolous

Pretty much this. The Feds have Rule 11, and I'm pretty sure each of the states have an equivalent procedural rule. It's just that it's de facto pretty much impossible to get a judge to find a lawsuit frivolous, or a bar association to sanction attorneys that file them. In a perfect world, this NM atty would lose his license to practice. And the litigant would lose her house.

The sad thing is, I can see many venues where, not only would the suit not be frivolous, but the jury would actually find for the plaintiff. The Rio Grande valley in Texas comes to mind. Perhaps I'm just jaded from reading too many bullshit verdicts in the blue sheet?

[a better weapon]

Your husband was shot to death while trying to carry out an armed robbery and the best analogy you can come up with is pie?

[Rich]

Mmmmm, pie!

[a better weapon]

Is she fat? I bet she's fat.

[BakedPenguin]

"Too much pie; that's her problem."

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I'd guess that's how her shitbag of a lawyer explained comparative fault to her.

[Zeb]

Wow. That's dumb. The guy killed someone who was pointing a gun at him. How the fuck do you argue that that's not justified?

[Virginian]

The thing is, if this was some big corp, they would have fired the clerk and paid the bitch off by now.

I delivered pizza for a while for a local spot. We were all armed. If I had been armed working for Pizza Hut or Papa Johns, I would have been fired. If I'd carried anyway and had to use my gun in self defense, I'd still be fired.

One of the next big steps IMO for gun rights is pushing sensible corporate policies via negative publicity and positive reinforcement.

[Slammer]

Mr. Beasley could have done something different

So could have your dumbass husband, idiot.

[Zeb]

Word. If you get shot while robbing someone, I say "good".

[Rasilio]

Unless it's a tax collector 🙂

[invisible furry hand]

Australians set up record number of home meth labs

I blame all those cooking shows

[LTC(ret) John]

Prepare to have no access to effective cold medications, ifh.

[mad libertarian guy]

Prepare to have no access to effective cold medications, ifh.

This is one of the more infuriating aspects of our WoD: the inability to obtain fucking cold medicine without being entered in to a fucking database after being forced to show ID.

[Lord Humungus]

Vice Premier to Chinese tourists: Be polite!
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/17/.....pt=hp_bn10

In a matter of just a decade or so, Chinese tourists have gone from being relatively rare outside of Asia to becoming the most important market in global tourism, surpassing American and German travelers in 2012 as the world's top international spenders, with a record $102 billion shelled out on the road.

With the growth has come a backlash against Chinese tourist in some sectors of the travel industry, particularly Hong Kong.

There, mainland Chinese tourists face harsh resentment for a number of issues. Clashes between locals and tourists on public transportation and in restaurants have been caught on video, rapidly gone viral on the Internet and are regular press fodder.

[Kaptious Kristen]

When I visited China, I learned you don't fuck with old Chinese ladies on public transport. They will knock you right the fuck down to get on that bus.

[Gray Ghost]

They'll also do it in the grocery store. On the plus side, they don't seem to mind when you do it right back.

[Matrix]

'Crazy' Ants invade the Southeast

[LTC(ret) John]

We need answers from our resident Ant Lord - now who was that...?

[Brett L]

Ortho sales must have been falling off, so they bred a new species that's even worse. I heard it through the waves my aluminium hat receives.

[Rich]

Unleash some army ants on those suckers!

[robc]

Without reading story, anything driving out fire ants has to be good.

Now to read story and see how wrong I am.

*shudder*

[robc]

Seems less bad than fire ants to me.

I once accidentally sat on a fire ant mound. I dont recommend this.

[mad libertarian guy]

I've had 2 run-ins with fire ants. Both two of the most unpleasant experiences I can remember.

[Jar jar binks]

I'm weirdly fascinated by ants. And I live in Florida. I think I've seen these ants. They really did drive out all fire ants in a pretty wide area. And the colonies are huge and spread out, unlike fire ants that just have the one mound.

[T]

?!?

I moved into a house that had been vacant for a while and had 16 fire ant mounds in the yard. I dunno what you're on about with one mound.

[Lord Humungus]

you know who else just had one mound?

[LTC(ret) John]

M&M/Mars?

[LTC(ret) John]

Cellular One Field?

[invisible furry hand]

Lance Armstrong?

[cavalier973]

Jack Stiles?

[The Late P Brooks]

Two FBI agents were killed during a training exercise in Virginia.

WAR ON COPS!

[Matrix]

Cop kills hostage
Because a cop's life trumps the life of a victim, always.

[John]

Complete lack of proper training.

[Virginian]

Every bullet comes with a lawyer attached.

He fired eight times, hit the bad guy seven. That last one is a bitch.

[a better weapon]

Perhaps not in good taste, but whatever, the victim was an absolute smoke show! Gorgeous.

"Why her!?"
- Hofstra Male Students

[Virginian]

She has a twin. So it could be worse.

Unless it's one of those things where one of the twins is fat.

[a better weapon]

The officer watched Speed one too many times

[Ted S.]

Procedures were followed, nothing else happened, you don't know the totality of the fact pattern, you're just a member of the bigorati, I've got to get back to my power lifting and captaining the surf team.

[WTF]

Needs more "totality of circs" and "hth".

[Elspeth Flashman]

+1 officer on the scene.

[Mainer2]

Yawn.

+ .01 Troll-o-meter

smooches

[Rich]

All Empire State shooting victims were wounded by officers

D?j? vu, biotches!

[Rich]

[Rich]

Argh! Link.

[Ted S.]

I think the comment at 9:30 AM was the best of them all.

[Rich]

Me, too. 8-(

*** shuffles off for more coffee ***

[robc]

Maybe you could have kicked the gun out of his hand and Steve would have only gotten shot once instead of five or six times.

Or, you know, done something reasonable like pull out your concealed handgun.

Kicking the gun out of his hand? Really? Do you think you are wonder woman or something?

[WTF]

This is why only the police can be trusted with guns.

[Cdr Lytton]

And the cop was the only one who fired shots. Nothing from the burglar.

[cavalier973]

This is why all women should own firearms. There should be a law.

[Virginian]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013.....-facebook/

Animals.

[Matrix]

they're underaged, so it's unlikely a 6'5" three-hundred pound guy named Tiny will be able to give them the same treatment.

[Virginian]

Oh I'm sure Juvie has some real tough kids who are in for assault or something like that that can serve a similar role.

[Lord Humungus]

Honeybees Trained in Croatia to Find Land Mines
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/.....and-mines/

Mirjana Filipovic is still haunted by the land mine blast that killed her boyfriend and blew off her left leg while on a fishing trip nearly a decade ago. It happened in a field that was supposedly de-mined.

Now, unlikely heroes may be coming to the rescue to prevent similar tragedies: sugar-craving honeybees. Croatian researchers are training them to find unexploded mines littering their country and the rest of the Balkans.

[LTC(ret) John]

At Bagram AF, there were Croats with dogs doing de-mining - then another outfit came in with a bunch of Senegalese. Those poor guys looked they had been exiled to the moon.

[invisible furry hand]

Former Hero Officer Accused of Raping Women At Gunpoint, Held on $60M Bail

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com.....91531.html

[LTC(ret) John]

New Professionalism?

[Spoonman.]

I wonder whose ass he failed to kiss. I find it really hard to believe the city of Philadelphia enforces laws so straightforwardly.

[some guy]

$60M bail? What's the point? Was the judge just teasing him?

[The Late P Brooks]

John McCain is one of Barack Obama's most important allies.

No shit.

[Virginian]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013.....latestnews

I really don't know what to make of this. Dognapping? A yorkie?

[Ted S.]

Shrill-barking ankle-biters can be annoying as all hell.

[Virginian]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013.....esses-say/

Old people driving.

[Live Free or Diet]

If you don't like my driving stay off the sidewalks!

[RickC]

Old people (60+) should not be allowed to drive or even own a car. If it saves just one child, it would be worth it.

[Matrix]

Yahoo is buying tumblr

[Matrix]

speaking of Yahoo. Has anyone read the frothing-at-the-mouth articles from Jezzies and other feminazis because the CEO of Yahoo does not consider herself a feminist?

[Virginian]

Why would she? She is a productive and accomplished human being who makes a very good salary because she adds value through her work.

Why the hell would she be a feminist?

[LTC(ret) John]

And she is at the top - why would she need to grievance monger. She is already there.

[Fluffy]

Third, she is hot.

[Zeb]

Third, she is hot.

That's probably why they hate her the most. Successful women are supposed to be dumpy middle-aged lesbians.

[Cdr Lytton]

Her hotness is a big part of her success. Without her looks, she'd never got to where she is now.

[Live Free or Diet]

Hottest woman I ever touched is a self-proclaimed andronist.

[Live Free or Diet]

Third, she is hot.

Damn! I'm not usually all that big on blondes but damn!

[Matrix]

I'm sure she is somehow, someway a victim of the patriarchy. That's why she's not a feminist... because she's a victim.

[$park?]

An 18-year-old girl in Florida faces two felony counts of lewd behavior after the parents of her 15-year-old girlfriend went to police over the same-sex relationship.

Sucks for her, rape is rape.

[Brett L]

I'm sure the cops are praying that they turn up video to substantiate the allegations.

[$park?]

YES! Then they could tack on child pornography.

[Numeromancer]

"Then they could tack on child pornography"

Is that what they're calling it now?

[Raven Nation]

Check out the story though: under the law it is rape, but the circumstances are if not exactly mitigating, certainly lean toward leniency.

[Resto Druid FTW]

This is the problem w/ strict liability crimes; there are no mitigating circumstances.

[Brett L]

Okay, having seen the story, I hope the 18 year old will find a prosperous career in making videos with girls her own age.

[Zeb]

Well, the law is the law anyway. I might argue with them about what constitutes rape.

[sgs]

"I might argue with them about what constitutes rape."

And you would lose, as the definition is set by the law.

But you have always struck me as an idiot, so feel free to argue about something you are wrong in every way about.

[Virginian]

http://bubbleheadgunnut.wordpr.....zle-brake/

Ugliest, most WTF gun I've ever seen in my life.

[Brett L]

If it works, I'm a fan.

[db]

That thing looks like it evolved in Australia.

[invisible furry hand]

nope, if it were one of ours it would lay eggs and have a pouch for your beer as well as trying to kill you

[cavalier973]

It was created by unintelligent design

[UnCivilServant]

That is the most twisted thing I've seen done to a Mosin-Nagant... Why would you need a foregrip or a muzzle break on a bolt action rifle? I know it's called 'teh stupid', but still.

[Gray Ghost]

Christ, a Mosin already has gawd-awful muzzle blast with a regular length barrel, so you turn around, bob it and slap a brake on it?

Going to make a lot of friends next to him at the range when he touches that thing off. Kinda' like the asshole next to me the other day, who thought a 460 S&W was just the thing at the local indoor pistol range. Dipshit could barely hit the paper, much less group well with it.

[sgs]

"Going to make a lot of friends next to him at the range when he touches that thing off. Kinda' like the asshole next to me the other day, who thought a 460 S&W was just the thing at the local indoor pistol range. Dipshit could barely hit the paper, much less group well with it."

So, you think going to the range is

1) about making friends
2) about bringing toys your friends like
3) something other than practicing marksmanship, which this guy needed because, as you say, he was a poor shot.

[Live Free or Diet]

Ugliest, most WTF gun I've ever seen in my life.

Never been a Mosin-Nagant fan, but that's an awful thing to do to it.

[invisible furry hand]

Sickbags at the ready kids: Hamburg is hosting a celebration of 100 years of godawful taste

[T]

Germans screw up when they go away from function. Don't ask Germans for needless ornamentation or to make things pretty. That usually doesn't turn out so well.

[BigT]

Numbers 10 and 11 are worth a look.

[Lord Humungus]

Physical Red Wings top Blackhawks to even series
http://www.suntimes.com/sports.....eries.html

Toews said that doesn't mean the Hawks will abandon their team game and their puck-possession style of play to run around taking unnecessary penalties, or retaliate after particularly physical episodes. Walking that fine line between physical and foolish will be key.

"It's not out of frustration, it's trying to frustrate their team," he said. "That's something we need to do a little more. They're trying to do it to our top couple of lines, and we can do a little more of it. We're letting them skate around with the puck a little too much."

In other words, the Hawks want to frustrate Pavel Datsyuk's line with the same aggressive, suffocating defense. In other words, the Hawks want to fight fire with fire, and bring the same kind of intensity at both ends of the rink that they had in Game 1, and Detroit had in Game 2. In other words, the longest-running blood feud in NHL history has gotten serious again.

[LTC(ret) John]

THERE WAS NO GAME 2!

[CampingInYourPark]

"More than 8,000 French households' tax bills topped 100 percent of their income in 2012, according to a French newspaper report.
Citing data from France's finance ministry, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Friday that in addition to those taxed at over 100 percent last year, almost 12,000 households paid taxes worth more than 75 percent of their 2011 income and that a further 9,910 households were taxed at more than 85 percent of their income."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....30348.html

[Matrix]

what is this? I don't even...

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Socialism, that's what.

[Lord Humungus]

the ol' "one time" levy on wealth. I'm sure we will see this coming to America very soon. Gotta soak those hoarders savers.

[LTC(ret) John]

As long as one rich Kulak holds out, the People will maintain their righteous anger!

[$park?]

Notice it says taxed at and not what was actually collected. Based on some other articles about French taxation that have been around, I'd bet they just make up and number and hope people pay at least some portion of it.

[some guy]

So only the honest savers get soaked? Talk about nice guys finishing last...

[a better weapon]

Gerarg Depardieu is looking like one smart bastard now.

[Rich]

"Before everyone in this town convicts [Sarah Hall Ingram] in the court of public opinion with no evidence, let's actually get the facts and make decisions after that. There's nothing that suggests she did anything wrong."

OK, simply let's actually get the facts.

[some guy]

Even if she knew nothing she's still guilty, at a minimum, of incompetence for not knowing what her underlings were doing.

[Enough About Palin]

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

[Virginian]

Game of Thrones subthread!!!! SPOILERS!!!!

SPOILERS

SPOILERS!!

Everything is all set up for the climax. I just wish it wasn't two weeks away.

Number of fucks given to this day by Tyrion Lannister: 0.

Dany soaking in a tub is why we watch the show.

Can someone please tell me where the fuck Strong Belwas is?

[Tim]

Now that Ros is gone, somebody has to reboob the show.

[Live Free or Diet]

I mourn the passing of Ros. I didn't really hate the little bastard until that scene.

[some guy]

Number of fucks given to this day by Tyrion Lannister: 0.

Not true. He never gave a fuck about what the high and mighty thought of him, but he does actually try to make the world a better place (so long as there is no risk to him.)

[Virginian]

I was talking more about his total badassery in taunting and threatening the sadistic and impulsive absolute monarch.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

I don't think that was badass. I think that was stupid. One of the few truly stuipid things that character has done. But I do blame the wine. What can you expect from the god of wine and tits?

[sgs]

" I think that was stupid. "

What the fuck is Joffrey going to do about it that he didn't do when Tyrion was the Hand and telling him off?

And you really think Joffrey was going to do something to Tyrion at his wedding? Or be allowed to?

If you're ever going to get a free shot at the king, that's when you do it, drunk at your wedding.

[Rasilio]

absolute Monarch, lol lets see what happens if tries to cross his grandpa

[sgs]

Obviously, and obviously Tyrion knows this, which is why he says whatever the fuck he wants.

It's played as something else, but he's a midget in a violent man's world. He knows he's protected.

[Rasilio]

Dany in the tub was awesome, that girl is the definition of perfect breasts

[sgs]

"Dany soaking in a tub is why we watch the show."

My wife is hotter, and that body was not much to look at.

[Fluffy]

http://www.boston.com/news/loc.....story.html

OK, so first I read recently that the new quantum(ish) computer technology that Google and NASA are buying from those Canadians has solved the traveling salesman computational problem by computing all outcomes simultaneously.

Then I read about AI researchers getting hit by mysterious garbage trucks.

I think I read this novella once and it ended with all of us as external storage for a weakly-godlike AI that got out of control.

[LTC(ret) John]

Did you see some pills laying around here? There were some red ones and blue ones.

[Live Free or Diet]

I keep alternating them, each along with a percocet.

[$park?]

Don't get paranoid, Wintermute just wants to be free to mingle with its own kind.

[Tim]

If you've ever been to Boston, the real question is why all the bikers and pedestrians aren't dead.

[DontShootMe]

Run over all you like, we'll make more.

[Auric Demonocles]

If you've ever been to Boston, the real question is why all the bikers ... aren't dead.

A couple of them aren't quite as stupid as the rest.

[SugarFree]

"Antibodies" full text

[Fluffy]

That was Charles Stross A FUCKING GAIN?

Are you shitting me?

How come every time I half-remember a really bad ass sci fi shory story, somebody posts the full text link and it's fucking Stross?

SOMEBODY ELSE WRITE A GOOD STORY PLEASE

[SugarFree]

Stross is just crushing it. Don't be a hater.

I think I read this novella once and it ended with all of us as external storage for a weakly-godlike AI that got out of control.

This is also one of the plots of the Century Next Door series by John Barnes. WWIII is all about killing scientists to slow the innovation in smart weapons, which eventually become AIs warring among themselves for human processing nodes.

[Brett L]

Yeah. He's out alone at the head of the field.

[Gray Ghost]

Another of his short stories, "Lobsters," has many of the same elements. The bit in it where his protagonist is negotiating with the former KGB weakly-AI expert system, is really funny.

He also is really good, and polite, about answering fan mail.

[Brett L]

Accelerando, which is basically "Lobsters" expanded into the first half of a book is really great for that first half. I'm still (after about 3 readings) not sure exactly what happens in the 2nd half. But yeah, I find Charlie fun to interact with, although he will whack the fuck out of you if you get out of line on his blog. (Which I am fine with. Its his blog AND he has to worry about UK slander/libel law, which is different.)

[Gray Ghost]

I've got Glasshouse and Accelerando, but haven't yet found the time to start them. The GF is really big on his Merchant Princes series, and the same thing goes for it too.

Loved Rule 34 though, even if I am still puzzled about exactly what happened in it. (And don't ask me what happens in Palimpsest...time travel makes my head hurt.)

Per I think your comment in another thread last week, I think he called it on how 3D printers will be regulated and used in the future.

[Lord Humungus]

Will Angelina Jolie Help End Climate-Change Denial, And Help The Republican Party?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/to.....can-party/

File this one under unintended consequences. Angelina Jolie, by announcing her preventative double masectomy, will likely have significant influence well beyond women's health. By modeling how to think with data when data do not tell us what we would otherwise want them to say, she displayed a level of decision-making courage that business and political leaders should strive to emulate. For example, her leadership just may end up helping those fighting in the Republican Party to end ongoing anti-science climate-change denial.

wait, wut?

[LTC(ret) John]

It is the pivot to "OK, our alarmist cries over AGW were wrong, but you can still give over all your money and power to the state..because bravery".

[Virginian]

Angelina Jolie, who I'm pretty sure votes Republican, is going to be fighting Republicans with her mastectomy or....someting. I don't know.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Why would she vote GOP? She hates her wingnut father and she is married to Brad.

[invisible furry hand]

and she likes Ayn Rand, so yeah, can't see the GOP being her first preference

[Palin's Buttplug]

Oh, there are no capitalist liberals. I keep forgetting how Wingnuttopia thinks.

[invisible furry hand]

i'm agreeing with you, so cut the sarcasm

[$park?]

It's Shreeek vs The World here. Everyone but him, the one true libertarian, is a Christfag Wingnut.

[invisible furry hand]

I know, I know, it's just that every so often the irritation gets the better of me

[Rasilio]

Well there certainly aren't very many capitalist Republicans and the handful which exist are generally without any real power in Washington.

Contrary to popular belief the official Republican stance on economics is far closer to mercantilism than capitalism

[Brett L]

Haha! Its obvious someone can't actually "think with data" in this article, and I'm not talking about Ms. Jolie.

[Irish]

Of course, Angelina Jolie's preventative measures didn't drive up energy prices and hurt the poor.

So it's not a perfect comparison.

[a better weapon]

Well that was a delicious helping of stupid for this morning.

[Agammamon]

So Angelina Jolie doing something bugfuck crazy, another in a long line of crazy decisions, is to be a model for business?

[robc]

Once you turn 18, wait until she is 16.

Gay/straight, it doesnt matter, its a general rule to live by in most states.

[robc]

Just checked for KY, 18-20 old with a 15 year old would be "Sexual Abuse in the 2nd degree", which is a class A misdemeanor.

[robc]

Up to 12 months, up to $500 fine.

[Jar jar binks]

Lady is pissed about the new Star Trek

Posted by a Facebook friend that is a heroic WAR ON WOMENZ soldier. Enjoy.

[Jar jar binks]

Good lord. It worked. I was so worried I'd SF my first attempt at an AM link. I have avoided eternal shame.

[VG Zaytsev]

You'll get that for your name.

[Jar jar binks]

I am confident in my gungan-hood

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Your name is Jar Jar Binks... you have eternal shame already.

[invisible furry hand]

"Jar Jar Binks makes the Ewoks look like fucking Shaft!"

[Jar jar binks]

Bigot.

[T]

Meesa not sorry.

[$park?]

By 'Lady' you mean Felicia Day, which is a little bit weird considering some of the other things she's done.

[Jar jar binks]

I'm not familiar with her. What is not lady like about her?

[$park?]

She does a webshow on YouTube called The Guild. This just isn't what I would have expected from her is all.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Really?

Every blogpost and podcast I've ever seen Day do is all about Geek GRRRLLL POWER! and "the Joss Whedon pussification of Sci-Fi/Fantasy was the best thing to happen EVER!"

Also, she constantly Felicia-ates the insufferable Wil Wheaton.

[$park?]

Huh, I admittedly don't know that much about her. I only know her from the roles she's done which are even more bizarre given her ideals.

[JW]

Also, she constantly Felicia-ates the insufferable Wil Wheaton.

I luv me some Felicia, but her continuous affiliation with that weeping sore is really taking the shine off of her.

And more to the point about Start Trek Into Farknes isn't that it lacked strong women, it's that it lacked anyone in the writing and direction department with a single iota of talent and imagination.

[SugarFree]

Don't dis Day. A horde of mouth-breathers and LARPabaitors will descend on us to rain down hell.

[$park?]

Hey, I like her. I just never thought she was a hardcore feminist.

[SugarFree]

She's OK. I'm just sick of every adult virgin talking about her being hot. She looks like a elf with Down's.

[BakedPenguin]

"Galadriel says I'm special!"

[Live Free or Diet]

I agree. I don't see the big whoop. Even with the red hair.

[JW]

I was first exposed to her in this, so I think that colors my perspective.

[WTF]

"Yes, these are just scenes with extras, but seriously, in the future not one woman over 40 is in charge in this world?! How can that happen? "

Um, society came to its senses?
*ducks*

[Fluffy]

In the real Star Trek future, all women over 40 look under 40.

Only men are still allowed to visibly age.

Therefore, you never see women who look over 40 at Fleet meetings.

Everybody is happy with this arrangement.

[Rasilio]

Actually I could very easily see this scenario evolving and everyone being happy with it.

Generally speaking men get better looking with age right up until they reach the geriatric stage, women not so much.

Women are also much more conscious about their apperance.

So presuming that the technology to keep you looking young exists and is commonly available it wouldn't be surprising to see women use it regularly but men not bother.

[lap83]

"Generally speaking men get better looking with age right up until they reach the geriatric stage, women not so much."

The first part of that is bull. The average man gains weight as he gets older and does not have the bone structure to remain handsome. I would also say that the average man is not that good looking to begin with and age is certainly not going to help him. (I'm a straight woman btw)

The truth is that women tend to be more attracted to things like stature and wealth which increases with age.

[Rasilio]

Yes, which makes indicators of age proxy indicators of weath and stature leading to the men being more attractive.

Sure not many 40 year old guys are going to look chippendale models, thing is that is not what most women find attractive.

I should also point out that the various celeb magazines who put out sexiest man in America lists almost always have someone over 40 in the top slot and it is not uncommon for 60 year olds to appear on the list

[cavalier973]

This is Off-Off Topic, but one of the story lines I thought should have been in Firefly was Captain Mal's discovery that all Companions were trained to commit suicide when they reached a certain age, which gave him yet another thing to worry about with regard to Inara.

[Stormy Dragon]

that other woman character was the WORST damsel in distress ever. I kept waiting for her turn, waiting for her to not be the victim, to be a bit cleverer, to add to the equation in a "yeah you go girl" way but no, she was there to be sufficiently sexy that Kirk would acknowledge her existence, to be pretty, to serve the plot.

You do realize "other woman character" is the woman Kirk eventually has a son with right? That kinda requires him to be sexually attracted to her at some point.

[Heroic Mulatto]

If and when Mr. Marcus appears in this film series, watch for Day to post a lengthy "squee" over her newest geek crush, whomever they cast in the role.

She will do this without any sense of irony or self-awareness.

[Caleb Turberville]

I'll say this, Benedict Cumberbatch comes dangerously close to giving a legendary performance as Khan. Good thing Abrams rushes the ending before Khan does anything too menacing. Seriously, where did the last 10 minutes of the film go?

[Tim]

I liked it, which was surprising after readind Suderman's review. Last time I take his word for it.

[Stormy Dragon]

Funny, when I saw Suderman give it a bad review, that's when I knew I was gonna like it.

[Jar jar binks]

No CT. I get the first Star Trek related post. You can suck it.

[Caleb Turberville]

Seriously, there's a lot of good stuff in Into Darkness. It just that it's one long tease.

We're treated to the Klingons, a Federation conspiracy, and Khan, and none of them lead to anything, except a ham-handed homage to Spock's death in Wrath of Khan, just with reversal of roles.

[Tim]

The fucking "Star Fleet Admiral Goes Rogue" has been done to death. How can the government be that out of control unless Obamam is still president in 2259?

[Caleb Turberville]

Pretty sure that the official word is that Admiral Robocop acted on his own initiative, without any directive from the Obama administration.

[Tim]

I like how SPock has to remind Kirk that there's no legal basis to fire 72 long range missiles into foreign territory to kill a suspected terrorist.

[Caleb Turberville]

I like how they cross the neutral zone and invade Kronos, yet incur no long-term wrath from the Klingons.

[Matrix]

I thought the movie was terrific, and much better than the first, which was still pretty good. Cumberbatch owned that role, much in the way Ledger owned the role of the Joker.

I like the way it progressed and ended. I was a bit upset with the Klingons, though.

Enterprise would still be part of this timeline, because it started before the formation of the Federation. The Klingons lost their head ridges and did not get them back until after TOS. Therefore, it would be a continuity error to have Klingons with head ridges, unless they somehow had solved the problem much earlier in this new timeline.

[Caleb Turberville]

I just think Abrams is not that big a fan of the series, so he didn't put a whole lot of time into understanding the history of the Klingons, hence the head-ridges in Into Darkness.

[Stormy Dragon]

Yeah, how dare he not put a lot credence into BS that was created just to explain away the original series lack of budget.

[JW]

You guys are only reinforcing my inherent distrust of the intelligence of anyone in their 20s.

[Matrix]

32 as of last Tuesday

[Jar jar binks]

Cumberhatch is a rising favorite of mine. He is spot on in Sherlock.

[Don Mynack]

Yeah, my thoughts after seeing this were more Khan, less everybody else.

[Auric Demonocles]

I saw it this weekend. I actually liked it quite a bit.

However, once I saw one dude take out a squad of Klingons and then stand there while Kirk punched him repeatedly in the face with no response, I guessed most of the rest of the movie.

[Jerryskids]

I have no interest in the movie, or Star Trek for that matter, but I would suggest you consider the opinions of people who watched the movie and reject out-of-hand the opinions of anybody who has viewed the film. In fact, just ignore all the opinions on anything whatsoever of anybody who has ever said they have 'viewed a film' - unless he works at a photo lab.

[cavalier973]

It's not a big deal; once you seen one Star Trek film, you've seen them all.

[Auric Demonocles]

That's actually a good point. A lot of how much you enjoy a movie will depend on what you are trying to get out of it.

I went in wanting to see explosions in space, Kirk fighting dudes and banging space chicks, and McCoy point out that he's a doctor. I was fully satisfied with the result.

[Enough About Palin]

Miss Scarlett, I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies!

/Barack Obama

[Rich]

RACIST!

[Rich]

President Obama will be asking for $79.4 billion to prosecute the war in Afghanistan in the 2014 budget.

How much to prosecute Eric Holder?

[cavalier973]

I hope the war finds itself a good lawyer.

[The Late P Brooks]

This is why only the police can be trusted with guns.

Exactly. A civilian, in similar circumstances, might have panicked and begun firing wildly.

[Jerryskids]

A civilian, in similar circumstances, wouldn't have forced his way single-handedly (okay, double-handedly) into a hostage situation. Methinks this cop has watched one too many Steven Segal movies.

[Jerryskids]

And yes, one Steven Segal movie is one Steven Segal movie too many.

[Don Mynack]

Hell no. Segal would have wrapped a cue ball in a towel and started kicking azzzz.

I think George Segal might have just fired wildly, however.

[Joe M]

Kinda sorta old: Berkeley Man Nearly Beaten to Death by CHP:

It's been almost two years since Olegs Kozacenko nearly lost his life during an encounter with two California Highway Patrol officers over a traffic ticket. Still, nearly two years later neither the CHP nor the state Attorney General's office will confirm whether or not the officers involved were ever disciplined for their actions, citing the law officer's bill of rights.

[Virginian]

Fucking cops.

[sarcasmic]

But according to the CHP there is no dash cam video of the actual incident. In response to a public records request the CHP says Murrill and Sherman didn't have cameras in either of their patrol SUV's. The CHP also said that computer aided dispatch logs of radio conversations from the incident weren't found because of "system malfunctioning for this time period."

The evidence must have been pretty damning for them to go to such lengths to destroy it.

[Brett L]

I want to pass a law that says that until a technology functions with 5 9s efficiency when used as evidence against police misconduct, it is inadmissable as evidence in non-police misconduct as well.

[Gray Ghost]

I'd be fine with an evidentiary rule that says that if your records go missing, or your camera malfunctions, etc.., then every inference or fact that the missing evidence would have gone to goes against you.

And how in the hell are the disciplinary records of a public servant not a public record? Particularly when the discipline stems from actions taken in their official capacity? Did Kozacenko's attorney not try and subpoena them? Did s/he, and the state just refused to provide the info?

The thing is, the state may just be that incompetent. I had a friend try to subpoena a local jail for video of the jailers allegedly beating the shit out of his client. The video ended up supporting the jailers' version of events, but the state still stonewalled the request at every turn: "we can't find the video," "the camera didn't catch the incident," 'what camera," etc...

[sarcasmic]

"The public if they get stopped and simply comply with what they are asked to do, they have nothing to fear, nothing to fear at all. It is when a citizen decides to disregard the direction that they are given, and they decide to do something different, then things escalate, and I'm not talking about this case specifically, but sometimes a citizen will do things that causes us to escalate our actions," Hill said

Obey or die.

[BuSab Agent]

Obey AND die. Eurie Stamps

[Ted S.]

What about a "bill of rights" (a term I hate being used in this way because it's about government granting benefits to people, not ring-fencing government into being unable to do certain things) for people forced against their will to interact with law officers?

[Virginian]

We used to have one of those. It was thrown away in the name of "DRUGS!!!!" and "TERROR!!!!" and OFFICER SAFETY!!!

[The Late P Brooks]

citing the law officer's bill of rights.

Seriously, fuck California.

I will buy a round of drinks when they slide into the ocean.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Wow, California is like the brain of American innovation. You really must hate America.

[SugarFree]

This tired bit is not getting any less tired. Break out of it. Try on some new character.

[Fluffy]

Yeah, I hate America.

[Jordan]

You really must hate America.

Why wouldn't I hate a country that spies on me 24/7 and asserts the right to indefinitely imprison or murder me without trial?

[tarran]

Don't forget taking nearly 50% of your pay and redirecting it for its own purposes.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

There's nothing wrong with California that a massive earthquake west of I-5 wouldn't fix.

[Jerryskids]

I posted this over the weekend, hoped it might get a bigger reaction.

I missed this story.

Videotape of: Somebody calls cops because the neighbors are fighting, cops show up, couple say they were just arguing and that everthing is fine, cops demand to come in and check things out, both of the couple insist cops can't come in without a warrant, cops kick the door in and taser the couple, commenters on the story (possibly Dunphy) insist that the neighbors phone call constitutes exigent circumstances allowing warrantless entry and that if the couple had just done what they were told to do by the nice policemen none of this would have happened and really, if the choice is between protecting even one potential victim of domestic violence and adhering to the 4th Amendment, well that's an easy call to make.

[sarcasmic]

Obey or die.

[$park?]

The police are here to protect the shit out of you and you'll like it!

[sarcasmic]

The "public" that public servants serve is "everyone but you."

[Night Elf Mohawk]

It seems like the lesson here is: step outside and tell them you have nothing to say while out there rather than in the house.

[sarcasmic]

It is unwise to step outside when the cops are there because once you're outdoors they can grab you. Besides, the first thing they'll do is position themselves between you and your door so they can beat the fuck out of you if you try to push past.

[Jerryskids]

The sad part about this was all the commenters who seriously believe that cops don't or shouldn't need a warrant if they have probable cause or reasonable suspicion - 'what if there were a crime victim inside the house'?

It's as if they think the Fourth Amendment sets a maximum ceiling for requiring a warrant rather than a minimum floor. The cops need probable cause or reasonable suspicion just to get a freaking warrant to start with. If probable cause or reasonable suspicion were all it took to forego obtaining a warrant cops would never again ever need a warrant for anything.

Of course, this mentality fits with the story from two years back where - in an almost identical situation - the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that you have no right to resist even unlawful police actions, that fighting back only leads to more violence, that 'if you are going to be raped, you might as well lie back and enjoy it' needed to be changed to 'if you are going to be raped, you are legally required to lie back and enjoy it'.

(Actual Daily Kos headline from story about Indiana legislator who introduced a bill to overturn that decision: "NRA backed law allows civilians to kill police officers".)

[Live Free or Diet]

Somebody else ran it that way too. I remember that headline and I don't know the Daily Kos.

[Enough About Palin]

Officers are civilians too.

[Live Free or Diet]

commenters ... insist that the neighbors phone call constitutes exigent circumstances

Considering the definition of exigent circumstances:
- Who is in imminent danger?
- What evidence faces imminent destruction?
- What suspect will escape?

[Jerryskids]

But there was a chance the husband could have hit his wife, which is illegal. The cops were duty-bound to force their way into the house and taser her, which is heroic.

Why do you hate women?

[robc]

Link I posted over the weekend in a thread that immediately died, its a response to link posted here on Thursday morning:

Lazy Beer Writers are Ruining Craft

The title is kind of BS, but the article is very good, even helps out the original slate author by writing the article she should have written inside his article.

[Raston Bot]

The writer of the original Slate article lives in Portland, OR. That's a little surprising.

Speaking of hops, I finally bottled a black ale that was liberally dry hopped with summit?. It is going to be funky.

[Raston Bot]

That bear-flavored site has a glowing review of For the Love of Hops. Have you read that?

[Virginian]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ycoon.html

These losers and their homeschooling. How the hell can someone be successful without 12 years of government education?

[Virginian]

http://www.messynessychic.com/.....l-grottos/

Italian hotel built in medieval grotto.

[CampingInYourPark]

"A bushel of Pinocchios for IRS's Lois Lerner"

"Lerner made this comment while issuing a seemingly impromptu apology at an American Bar Association panel (it was later learned that this was a planted question?more on that below.) In her telling, the tax-exempt branch was simply overwhelmed by applications and so unfortunate shortcuts were taken.
But this claim of 'more than doubled' appears to be a red herring."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/....._blog.html

[VG Zaytsev]

The nine lies of Lois Lerner

[mad libertarian guy]

Vikings!

Borknagar is an old school black/Viking metal band that manages to avoid the overt cheesiness that much of the genre is known for. This is an acoustic version that is on their album Origin, an album of acoustic remakes of their work with a larger emphasis on creating a medieval sound. The clean vocals will be a gateway for many who are interested in northern metal but are initially put off by screaming and repetitive blast beats (Opeth's Damnation is similar in this regard - though these 2 albums sound nothing alike).

Enjoy!

[Slammer]

I liked their 1st and 2nd albums a lot. You're a fan of Enslaved, mlg? I love Enslaved.

[mad libertarian guy]

Yes. And Enslaved has done nothing but get better over time.

[Fluffy]

BTW, just an observation:

If you are the sort of person who sends a return-receipt request with every email, including "Thanks!" and "Great!" one word replies, I assume you are a dick.

That is all.

[robc]

Great!

[robc]

Also, you dont need to assume it, that person IS a dick.

[SugarFree]

Agreed. I'd also add people who over-use "priority" email tags. I usually get to those email dead last.

[Lord Humungus]

the more hyper someone gets about an email/issue, the more likely it's going to the bottom of my "to do" pile.

[invisible furry hand]

complaints about email habits... how very 1998...

[SugarFree]

Silence, woman. I still get emails with backgrounds. I still get emails in Comic Sans. I still get emails with 500 words of Bible cut'n'paste in the sig line.

I'm complaining about email habits because I'm still being sent email from 1998!

[Ted S.]

It takes guts to say Jesus.

[Lord Humungus]

I live and breathe email - doing internal support.

[Brett L]

The only thing I hate worse than email is when coworkers 'ping' me on Lync. Because I'm just sitting here on my thumb waiting for their very important question.

[SugarFree]

Also going to the end of the pile? Anyone who mentions a deadline on a project they also discuss having worked on for years. Been working on it for years but just now got around to talking to me? Fuck you.

[Brett L]

This is just colleague training. It only took me six weeks to train a colleague of mine that anything he sent after 4pm on Thursday afternoon got answered after 4pm on Friday afternoon. Once he realized I was going to keep him at work all day on friday, he prioritized shit into the "need friday" and "need monday" piles himself.

[John]

Good assumption.

[The Late P Brooks]

You really must hate America.

More and more. Every fucking day.

[Lord Humungus]

^this^

[Slammer]

The only place I hate worse than America is everywhere else.

[sarcasmic]

I don't hate America. I just hate the government.

[cavalier973]

It's not "America" I hate so much as it is "Americans" and their "government". The landscaping is quite nice, though.

[The Late P Brooks]

I usually get to those email dead last.

I haven't checked my email in at least two months.

I could be a winner, and not even know it.

[Jerryskids]

Anybody who knows me knows I only check my e-mail 3 or 4 times a year - if it's important to get in touch with me, they have the number to the cellphone I never answer.

[cavalier973]

Dinosaur Skin!

[cavalier973]

Like, teenage girls need their daddies, and stuff.

[Eduard van Haalen]

If it weren't for teenage girls with daddy issues, creepy guys would have to jack off to Maxim.

[cavalier973]

Man is raped to death by his six wives.

[cavalier973]

Here's the article mentioned in the video.

[cavalier973]

Our correspondent reported that Uroko stopped breathing when the fifth woman was making her way to the bed. "Suddenly, my husband stopped breathing, and they all ran out, still laughing, but when they saw that I could not resuscitate him, they all ran into the forest.

[Eduard van Haalen]

If ya gotta go, go with a smile.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"Dead robber's widow sues shop clerk

"[plaintiff's husband Ramon] Sedillo was shot and killed in October 2012 after police say he walked into Full Spectrum Smoke Shop armed with a gun and intending to rob the store....

"...The suit alleges surveillance video shows [clerk Matthew] Beasley watching Sedillo and his accomplice getting ready to commit the crime. Jaramillo claims the clerk should have then called police or left the store instead of shooting Sedillo."

(h/t overlawyered.com)

http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/c.....shop-clerk

[Eduard van Haalen]

"The suit also claims the clerk's boss should pay too because he shouldn't have had Beasley working, knowing he had a gun. It also claims the boss knew "Beasley had a dangerous propensity to improperly use a firearm."

"The lawsuit is also going after the Albuquerque Police Department. The widow claims officers held her against her will for four hours for questioning and even telling her to call her husband."

[PS]

Beat you to it by about five hours, Ace.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Merde!