NSA Also Passed Info Along to Brits, IRS Officials Knew About Targeting in 2010, Cory Booker to Finally Declare Senate Candidacy: P.M. Links

• 

  NSA Logo

  The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is asking Congress to begin hearings to determine whether the NSA's surveillance program is actually legal as the government claims.

• The NSA has also reportedly shared the information it has collected with the British government.
• Meanwhile, in the midst of all this attention on leaks and surveillance, Pfc. Bradley Manning's trial for providing classified military data to WikiLeaks goes on.
• An e-mail mistake back in 2010 actually let some officials at the IRS office in D.C. know that Cincinnati agents were putting Tea Party nonprofit groups under extra scrutiny. That's earlier than the IRS claims it knew.
• Cory Booker will probably announce his Senate bid this weekend, weather permitting.
• Spain is looking to cut back on solar subsidies, which may end up screwing over many of its less-than-wealthy investors.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The NSA has also reportedly shared the information it has collected with the British government.

Barack sent the data over with that bust of Churchill.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Sharing is caring.

[Fist of Etiquette]

An e-mail mistake back in 2010 actually let some officials at the IRS office in D.C. know that Cincinnati agents were putting Tea Party nonprofit groups under extra scrutiny.

An email? So the NSA knew about it, too. Scandal!

[generic Brand]

The only problem was that the email was sent to the IRS Commissioner's alternate fake email, which is really their real email, since the fake email is the one they use for all of their real emails.

[Rich]

I'll just leave this here.

[Episiarch]

Great fucking movie.

[Sevo]

"Scandal!"

So-called!

[NeonCat]

I was under the impression that NSA regularly shared info with the Brits as well as the Aussies and Kiwis.

[Hash Brown]

Don't forget the Mossad.

[Zakalwe]

Yes. There are several commonly used classifications that share with some combination of UK, Canada, NZ, Oz. All of them are usually summarized as five eye. Denmark is the next in the circle of trust, I think.

[Irish]

New York Senate passes bill creating aggravated harassment of police officer felony.

"My bill would make it a crime to take any type of physical action to try to intimidate a police officer. This is a necessary action because we can see from the rise in incidents that too many people in our society have lost the respect they need to have for a police officer. We need to make it very clear that when a police officer is performing his duty, every citizen needs to comply and that refusal to comply carries a penalty."

[Suthenboy]

The best view I ever had of NY was in the rear view mirror of my car.

Now I wont even have that. Damn shame.

[Auric Demonocles]

Taking out a copy of the Constitution? That's a physical action trying to intimidate a police officer.

[C. Anacreon]

Paddling the school canoe? Oh, you better believe that's a physical action trying to intimidate a police officer.

[Episiarch]

RESPECT MAH AUTHORITAH

[Ted S.]

Too lazy to fisk the whole damn thing. But as Mary McCarthy said of Lillian Hellmann, "Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'."

[jesse.in.mb]

My mom's side of the family lives in a smallish town in the Finger Lakes area. I've spent quite a bit of time out there and don't recall ever interacting, or really ever seeing the cops.

[Bobarian]

The sad fact is that 95% of the geographical area of NY wishes it weren't connected to NYC or Albany.

Just like 95% of the US when discussing NYC or DC.

[mad libertarian guy]

My bill would make it a crime to take any type of physical action to try to intimidate a police officer.

This is simply to make it illegal to reach for one's phone in one's pocket or anything else that police have dubiously described as intimidation. "He may not have had a gun, but he still broke the law!"

This is a necessary action because we can see from the rise in incidents that too many people in our society have lost the respect they need to have for a police officer.

This guy really needs to go eat a bag of dicks.

[Irish]

The actual language of the bill says you aren't allowed to 'kick, push or touch' a police officer who is doing his duty. But wouldn't all of those classify as assault anyway?

Why do you need to make another law which focuses specifically on police officers? I assume that this bill will simply have larger punishments than normal assault because the king's men are in need of further protection from the serfs.

[generic Brand]

This is a necessary action because we can see from the rise in incidents that too many people in our society have lost the respect they need to have for a police officer.

This guy really needs to go eat a bag of dicks.

That was my exact thought. Why the fuck should I respect someone who has no respect for me?

[generic Brand]

Besides the obvious answer that they can kill me with no remorse and no regard, that is.

[Mad Scientist]

You know the score, pal. You're not cop, you're little people!

[Let Me Ride]

This bill was sponsored by Sen. Joseph A. Griffo. I'm sure he's an open-minded fellow who wants to hear the opinions of his fellow Americans

Joseph A. Griffo's Contact Information

Albany Office
188 State Street Room 612, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
See map: Google Maps
District Office
207 Genesee Street Room 408
Utica, NY 13501
United States
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
See map: Google Maps

Email address: [e-mail]

[hamilton]

This ain't Kos. We mostly do Star Trek jokes.

[Almanian!]

Beam me up, Scotty!

[inquisitionssuppositions]

Riker 4 lyfe

[Irish]

Chris Matthews: Obama Has Never Done Anything Wrong in His Life.

"His whole life has been crystal clear, and clean as a whistle, and transparent," Matthews said on his show earlier this week. "He's never done anything wrong in his life ? legally, ethically, whatever."

[Episiarch]

Is Matthews, like, insane or something? Like has he actually lost his mind and no one is doing anything about it?

[Irish]

"We don't have any African-Americans in the United States Senate, which I think is a disgrace," Matthews said. "It's one of the reasons I voted for our friend Michael Steele when he ran, because I think we ought to have some."

He's also an individual whose job it is to talk about politics who doesn't realize we have two black senators.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Yes, but the Gentleman from South Carolina is not a real Brotha.

[Episiarch]

Wow, so he's delusional too. And makes decisions based solely on race too. What a peach.

[Sevo]

"And makes decisions based solely on race too."

Pretty sure that is the specific definition of "racism".

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Is there really something we're supposed to be able to do about Chris Matthews being nuts?

[Episiarch]

I'm talking about his family members or friends getting him some help, is all. Because he sure seems like he needs it.

[jesse.in.mb]

Is ECT still done?

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Pretty sure it is. At least it was within the past 10 years.

[SugarFree]

There's been a resurgence of it's use, especially for severe depression.

I would imagine Matthews struggles with severe depression, but like a good whore he gets out there on the streets and shakes it for johns because Barry's got to get paid.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Yeah, an ex's mom had it for major depression. He swore by it for her.

[Fist of Etiquette]

That quote sounds familiar. Are you sure Chrissy didn't make it a while ago?

[Irish]

According to the article, it was 'earlier this week.' Someone might have posted it a few days ago.

To be fair, pretty much every Chris Matthews quote says the same thing.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"I look at Obama as perfect American," Mr. Matthews said, according to the show's transcript. "I don't mean politically. ? But as a citizen. The guy went to school, he never broke a law. He did everything right. He raised a wonderful family. He's a good husband, a good father. My God, I don't think he's ever gotten a speeding ticket. The guy does everything right."

This is what I was thinking about. It was in March.

[SugarFree]

Obama Pays Parking Tickets 17 Years Late

[Fist of Etiquette]

So what you're saying is that anything Obama might have hanging over his head, legally, ethically or morally speaking, he will definitely eventually make right.

[SugarFree]

He makes thing right when he can't leave them wrong any longer.

Portrait in Bravery...

[tarran]

I'm reminded of that line supposedly written in a British naval officer's fitness report:

Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap.

[Sevo]

"he will definitely eventually make right."
If he gets caught.

[mad libertarian guy]

The guy went to school, he never broke a law.

Choom Choom!!!

[Enough About Palin]

"maybe a little blow when you could afford it"

Guess coke is legal in Hawaii.

[Brandon]

Isn't there photographic proof of Obama smoking marijuana?

[mad libertarian guy]

Ask, and you shall receive.

[Zeb]

Not quite proof. He could be smoking tobacco. But he freely admits smoking pot and snorting cocaine, so it's not terribly necessary.

[mad libertarian guy]

No. Not proof as in "that is absolutely weed." But the eyes give it away.

[Suthenboy]

Wow. Batshit crazy.

[Bobarian]

I believe Chris Matthews has been suffering from a series of mini-strokes and petit mal seizures on air for years. This is where the tingles up his leg come from. And have you ever noticed how he tends to drool out of the corner of his mouth when talking about the annointed one?

[Mad Scientist]

I don't think that't drool dribbling out of his mouth.

[db]

1, legally: smoled pot in a jurisdiction where this was illegal

2, ethically: used his connections to unseal divorce records of an electoral competitor

3, whatever (I'll choose "morally"): justified, as acceptable collateral damage, the deaths of multiple children and innocent adults in various drone strikes occurring under his authority.

[Ted S.]

How do you smole pot?

[SugarFree]

You buy a smoler. Geez, are you some sort of moron?

[db]

It's called a "smolder."

[Palin's Buttplug]

#2 is fiction - AM radio myth.

[Enough About Palin]

DAIF, USELESS CUNT.

[Ben the Duck]

The Boy-Pharaoh doesn't pay you to talk during, Malia's Buttplug.

Humming is okay, though.

[C. Anacreon]

Next you'll deny the fact that if it wasn't for Seven of Nine, we would have never had President Obama.

[SugarFree]

It's straight-jacket time. That's just straight up delusional.

[Ted S.]

Homophobic against gay jackets, I see.

[Tonio]

Heh.

[Tonio]

"strait-jacket"

It's a rare day that I catch Sug in a usage error.

[Episiarch]

BURRNNNNNN

[SugarFree]

Oops. That was a simple one, too.

[Ted S.]

Yes, but you need to do it earlier and with more humor.

[Rich]

*** rising intonation ***

What about Teh Choom?

[db]

See above.

[A Serious Man]

So should we nail him to a cross then?

[mad libertarian guy]

CHOOM!!

[fish_remote]

Chris Matthews: Obama Has Never Done Anything Wrong in His Life.

Here's the uncut Matthews video.

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

LEAVE BARACK OBAMA ALONE.........

[Episiarch]

That's earlier than the IRS claims it knew.

Of course it was.

[Auric Demonocles]

Speaking of the IRS, the fuckers are auditing me for the second straight year. My total income for the combined two years is about $50k, since I was in school for one and then only working part of the year for the second.

They claim I owe them another $1300 in taxes (plus of course, the $45 in interest even though they waited a year to send the bill), because they are counting dividends from some bank stock as two different line items. This is despite it having the same bank name, same account number, and exact same dollar amount. It literally took me less than a minute of opening the letter to see what their mistake was.

[Episiarch]

Be very, very careful in dealing with them. You might want to get a professional accountant who has experience dealing with them.

[Tonio]

Yes. Accountant or tax lawyer.

[mad libertarian guy]

Be very, very careful in dealing with them. You might want to get a professional accountant who has experience dealing with them.

This.

In fact I'd say you should hire one yesterday and ensure that you NEVER say anything at all to them. Have all correspondence happen between the IRS and your lawyer.

[Sevo]

..."you NEVER say anything at all to them. Have all correspondence happen between the IRS and your lawyer."

Third of forth this.
The agent spends his entire life looking for errors which allow him to justify his time by collecting additional taxes. You spend your life trying to make a living, not watching exactly what you say.

[Mad Scientist]

I know it seems like a crazy expense when you're making $25k a year, but, seriously, hire a tax attorney. The IRS loves to target people with no means for defense because they always win.

[sgs]

"Speaking of the IRS, the fuckers are auditing me for the second straight year. "

Great, let's hope they send you to prison.

[Auric Demonocles]

An e-mail mistake back in 2010 actually let some officials at the IRS office in D.C. know that Cincinnati agents were putting Tea Party nonprofit groups under extra scrutiny. That's earlier than the IRS claims it knew.

Why are we still talking about this non-story? The only reason it's in the media is that Rethuglicans keep trying to turn it into a scandal. Everyone has known about this thing since the first day it happened. It's the conservative's fault for talking about it so much that we won't touch it.

[Palin's Buttplug]

So fire the Cincy agents and be done with it.

[Ted S.]

Better yet, fire every single IRS agent. (And the married ones too if the trolls are going to misconstrue which meaning of "single" I had in mind.)

[Palin's Buttplug]

Fine with me. My flat tax plan is perfect and progressive in its application.

[Enough About Palin]

Fine with me. My flat tax plan is perfect and progressive in its application.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is asking Congress to begin hearings to determine whether the NSA's surveillance program is actually legal as the government claims.

EPIC just bought itself a wire tap, an audit and an arrest for insulting Mohammed on youtube, just for good measure.

[hamilton]

Epic Fail.

[Auric Demonocles]

I've got to go home and clean up the house a little.

[hamilton]

On a lighter note, if you're cleaning the house, be sure you SWEEP TONIGHT!

[Sevo]

Can you whistle "Taps"?

[db]

Can anyone recall a similar string of scandals in any previous administration? This could be--dare I say?--unprecedented.

[Auric Demonocles]

I'm not sure if it's unexpected or historic.

[Bobarian]

I don't see anything unexpected about it.

[Tonio]

I was only a yute during the Nixon administration, but this seems like it has the potential to grow as big as the Watergate scandal. Maybe bigger.

[Irish]

Everything they claimed that Bush was going to do, Barack Obama has actually done.

[Episiarch]

Do see how the projection works down to their very core?

[Ted S.]

That's only because BOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!! forced them to do it.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Bush had far worse scandals but you would not know that watching Fox News.

Outing a CIA agent that resulted in a conviction and firing nine US Attorneys so they would not convict more GOP Congressmen for two.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Then Bush commuted the sentence of the guilty party.

[Tonio]

Oh, the butt-hurt is palpable. I can hear the rising tone of desperation.

[tarran]

Please don't encourage it to stink up the place with its pee reek.

[Ben the Duck]

"YABBUT BUSH!!!"

[Irish]

Outing a CIA agent that resulted in a conviction and firing nine US Attorneys so they would not convict more GOP Congressmen for two.

Yeah, much worse than the IRS targeting hundreds of citizens, blaming a terrorist attack on scary Muslims who got angry from a movie, and wire tapping dozens of reporters.

Honestly, the things you list are nowhere near as bad as the things Obama has done, nor are there as many of them.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The Cincy office targeted no citizens - just some NGOs on tax exemption. Fire them.

Bush and Cheney manufacturing false evidence to get Congress to commit to their stupid $1 trillion war is the worst scandal ever. They lied and admitted it some of their lies.

But but Benghazi! The terrorists fucking MOTIVE is not a scandal, idiot.

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug| 6.7.13 @ 5:11PM |#
"The Cincy office targeted no citizens..."

'Keep your eye on the ball over there!'
Go away, dipshit.

[Ted S.]

What banded together to form those NGOs? Animals? Rocks? Trees?

[Gadianton]

Partying tea leaves.

[Ben the Duck]

When it comes to orally accommodating just another few inches of that sweet, sweet Obama cock, Malia's Buttplug can unhinge his jaw like an anaconda.

[sgs]

"The Cincy office targeted no citizens - just some NGOs"

NGOs are composed of...

I get why this is beyond your meager intellect.

[ant1sthenes]

firing nine US Attorneys so they would not convict more GOP Congressmen for two

Yes, prosecutors going after GOP Congressmen... I remember something about that. Something about a special prosecutor discovering prosecutorial misconduct...

[sgs]

"Outing a CIA agent that resulted in a conviction and firing nine US Attorneys so they would not convict more GOP Congressmen for two."

Nope. Not worse.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Iran/Contra - illegal arms sales to Iran's mullahs to fund a fascist guerilla group and bypass Congress's spending authority resulted in about one dozen Reagan administration convictions.

But since it was GOP does not count at all.

[Irish]

Really? Now we're going with REAGAN DID IT TOOOOOOOOO!

I'm really excited for the next defense of Obama: "This isn't nearly as bad as that Rethuglican monster Andrew Johnson! He fucked up Reconstruction! And we're supposed to care about some wire tapping? Pshaw!"

[Goldwyn Smith]

Andrew Johnson was a Democrat actually.

[Almanian!]

Only because BOOOOOOOSH made him be a Democrat.

[Irish]

You're right. How about the corruption of the Ulysses S. Grant administration? He was pretty anti-semetic, too!

[Goldwyn Smith]

Libertymike has a sad that you are ignoring Honest Abe.

[T]

resulted in about one dozen Reagan administration convictions.

Get back to us when someone in the Obama administration is convicted for anything.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Hey, Ollie North was proud of being a convict if it meant protecting Reagan.

Really, scandals are not what they used to be.

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug| 6.7.13 @ 5:05PM |#
"Really, scandals are not what they used to be."

Yeah, those straws won't grasp themselves!

[fish_remote]

Who's defending anyone....Except your (and Chris Matthews) excuses of your hot boyfriend from Chicago.

We're not your parents shreek....you can't piss us off because you got da Jungle Fever! You can and do provide us nearly bottomless entertainment with your "non partisan" shenanigans!

Now why don't you regale the commentariat with more chat about your antics on the Monopoly board.

[Ben the Duck]

"But... but... but Mommmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeee! Little Billy down the street did the very same thing five or six YEARS ago -- !!!"

You. Are. A. Child.

[sgs]

"Iran/Contra - illegal arms sales to Iran's mullahs to fund a fascist guerilla group and bypass Congress's spending authority resulted in about one dozen Reagan administration convictions."

Also not worse.

[C. Anacreon]

I also don't recall the Contras being "fascist" either. I do recall they were fighting the Communist Sandanistas. Perhaps this was a re-do of the Spainsh Civil War?

[hamilton]

"To an increasing degree, we're counting on having angels in office and making ourselves vulnerable to devils" - .Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.

[Ted S.]

As I like to say:

We give Big Government enormous power to screw up people's lives. It's an eminently logical part of human behavior that people will go to great lengths to ensure that Big Government is using that power to screw up somebody else's life. And yet there are people who think the way to solve this problem is to give Big Government more power to screw up people's lives.

[Generic Stranger]

Any government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.

[SIV]

Commenters say the Koch brothers are the real threat.

2) a Final Solution starting by cutting off any lifeline to 52 million Americans on food stamps and Social Security disability.

[hamilton]

Well of course. The real tyranny is that over food stamps, or uteri, or possibly health care. I'm beginning to lose focus here.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The Koch brothers are no threat to anyone.

The stupid moonbats are just as bad as idiot wingnecks are on Soros.

[Enough About Palin]

The Koch didn't loot the houses of Jews sent to the camps and then rationalize it away so as not to feel remorse.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Meanwhile, in the midst of all this attention on leaks and surveillance, Pfc. Bradley Manning's trial for providing classified military data to WikiLeaks goes on.

Ironic timing! The government is going to be sorry it dragged its feet on this prosecution.

[mr lizard]

Actually now seems like the perfect time to ram rod that kid and be done with it. Team Red doesn't give a shit about him and the rest of the masses are distracted by scandals becoming more "so called" by the day.

[califernian]

TEAM BIG MILITARY possibly hates him even more than TEAM BIG FOODSTAMPS

[SugarFree]

Another feminist blogger sets out on a brave mission to have her biases confirmed.

"How dare geeks find me attractive when I dress in ways they find attractive!" Part XXVI

[Suthenboy]

I just get tired reading that shit anymore. Those people are nuts, and trust me when I say, pointing out that nutty people are nuts and attempting to argue or reason with them will get you nowhere. Crazy never ends.

[JW]

Please tell me she was using 'microagressions' ironically, or at least with a wink and a wry smile. PLEASE.

[Episiarch]

You know how we have "tl;dr" for too long, didn't read? I'm creating a new one.

tr;dr - too retarded, didn't read

[Tonio]

tp;sd (too predictable; scrolled down)

[Episiarch]

Are you calling me predictable?!?

[Tonio]

Not you, my esteemed friend, the feminist.

[Episiarch]

Esteemed?!?

[itsnotmeitsyou]

tr;dr - too retarded, didn't read

I second that motion. And even if no one else likes it, I'm stealing it.

[db]

How about tf;dp

"Too fedoratarded; drink Pabst"

[sgs]

"I'm creating a new one.

tr;dr "

No, you're not, that's not new.

[Heroic Mulatto]

A constant flow of men grilling me about whether I had watched the series, and trying to trip me up on trivia.

Ms. Finke, you are a fucking moron. You are so self-involved that you don't realize that sociolinguistically men tend to share their enthusiasm with a subject by testing each other and establishing expertise in good-natured competition.

As you correctly point out, a Sci-Fi convention is going to be disproportionately male, did you honestly expect the community to interact with each other in a stereotypically feminine way of seeking consensus by stating inane platitudes to one another while the rest of the crowd nods and goes "mmm-hmm"?

It bears repeating. Finke is a pompous idiot.

[mr lizard]

When girls like her are getting their proper daily dose of the dong they tend to ignore most ridiculousness...yes we can't have any libertarian women.

[Brandon]

My wife read your comment and nodded slowly. She was a Republican when we met. I'm quite proud of my work there.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Why the fuck does she think those dresses were so short to begin with? Because the creators of TOS were feminists doing some kind of televised sci-fi slutwalk?

[SugarFree]

The MALE GAZE peers through both space and time!

[JW]

Gaze Factor 8!

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Admittedly, I don't really "get" cosplay, but like, "Oh let me dress up like a sexy character from something" means...you're going to dress up sexy. And some people might think it's sexy. And you might get some feedback on that.

[SugarFree]

Noticing anything or commenting in any way about a woman is the worst form of sexism.

Let's be frank, all these stories boil down to these women going somewhere that is full of socially backward men, dressing in a way that "triggers" them and then complaining about getting the reaction they set out to produce.

It's both obvious and cruel.

[Episiarch]

Well, the main thing about the women who do this is that they get to do two things: they get to get attention from a bunch of guys for their looks, and they get to complain about it, and remember that complaining about it is a great way to let everyone know that a bunch of guys thought they were hot.

Amazing how that works out.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Epi, you just don't know how annoying it is to have everyone in the room stare at you when you pull your tits out. Let's take up a collection to pay for Epi's boob job so he can suffer the microaggressions we know he so richly deserves.

[Episiarch]

Is it anything like when I pull my dick out in a crowded room?

[Mad Scientist]

No, because men will stare at boobs all day long. Women can only stare at your dick until they faint.

[fish_remote]

Is it anything like when I pull my dick out in a crowded room?

I'm not sure anyone has ever noticed. Maybe you should ring a bell or something to draw the attention of those present.

[Episiarch]

But I already do that!!!

[Zakalwe]

Tie on a glow stick.

[Episiarch]

I do that too!!!

[Zakalwe]

Attach a lit flare.

[Tonio]

Epi would just thread it through one of his BTW piercings.

[Coeus]

Tie on a glow stick.

That is very close to the most horrifically mislabeled video that I ever pulled off Limewire back in the day.

Think more painful. Much more painful.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

I will let the commenters respond to that, Sug:

Overtly sexual? Were we both looking at the same photos*? Basically, you are saying that she should know that by wearing a skirt or by cosplaying as a female hero that she should accept the fact this is going to trigger others into harassing her? Did I read that correctly?

[SugarFree]

Of course, Nikki, that commenter blithely ignores that Finke says she wasn't harassed, merely noticed as sexually attractive. [gasp]

How dare those horrible men find sexy things sexy!

[Nikki says you caddie well]

(Also, dozens of people on here are arguing that miniskirts are not sexy. I mean, not that they are unsexy, just that they are not sexy-wear. Seriously?)

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Last year I brought several costumes, but only wore one: a fairly conservative X-Men costume that didn't involve skintight spandex, cleavage or even any bare skin below my neck.

No skintight spandex, skintight latex instead! Seriously, she thought that was "conservative"? I don't even get it. I mean, wear it, but it's not conservative.

[Episiarch]

Methinks she thinks showing skin is somehow more risque than...wearing skintight latex. I'd like to assure her that they both show plenty.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Yeah. And weirdly, the commentariat seems to agree. There was one that said something like, short skirt plus leggings isn't sexualized, but short skirt with bare legs would be. (I don't know if she actually had on leggings or tights, that was the commenter's assumption I think.) That, uh, does not fit with my lived experience.

[Brandon]

There's a picture of the "X-men" costume. It's pretty conservative, and pretty awful.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

I saw it. But I don't think it's conservative.

[Brandon]

If it only had the yellow parts, it wouldn't be conservative. As is, it's pretty much a burqa.

[Irish]

Let's be frank, all these stories boil down to these women going somewhere that is full of socially backward men, dressing in a way that "triggers" them and then complaining about getting the reaction they set out to produce.

TRIGGER WARNING!

[Mad Scientist]

Um, err, fascinating!

[JW]

"I went to a public social event and the public didn't act socially in the way I wanted them to act!"

Holy fuck, she's like a raging volcano of narcissistic entitlement. At least that stick up her ass gives her good posture.

[Almanian!]

*blows rape whistle repeatedly*

[MJGreen]

Like anyone would want to R her.

[Not Sure]

+1 hook for a hand.

[fish_remote]

Finke dressed in her X-Men costume at last year's Balticon

With the exception of the "breeding hips" I would have sworn she was Howard from The Big Bang Theory had I seen that photo and not been informed that she was a snot with a chip on her shoulder. My suggestion to you darling is to keep hanging out in Nerdville where you are maybe a 7 or 7.25 and stay out of the real world where you're mildly off putting in the looks department.

[Coeus]

Thankfully, they're not all retarded. Here's a nice reply:

EridaniUEmily Finke ? This View of Life1L
Hmm. I guess this is supposed to be striking a blow for feminism. You bust out some 3rd wave feminist terms here to make your case. However, I'm about to drop another layer of feminism on you.

And it is this:

Most of the geek costumes for women originated directly from the male gaze. For example, that tiny skirt was designed by, and for the enjoyment of, men. That it's now an iconic symbol of geekdom changes that not one bit. When you are wearing it, you are a walking billboard stating "this is how the mens want a geek girl to look" flashing over your head.

And here you are, ardently defending your right to comply.

That's the real rub here. You want to be free to wear things that were designed by men specifically to showcase women as sex objects, yet not be treated like a sex object. That's what I want you to be aware of. That's what I want you to understand when you're getting all feministy. If that's the tack you want to take, at least talk about how you're trying to own it or something. Taking it back from the patriarchy or whatevs. Because it's one hell of a mixed message you are sending, and the dudes who are receiving it aren't bastions of social awareness, generally.

So, wear that skirt. You look great. But understand that the issue is at least one layer deeper than you've made it out to be. Today 7:47am

[Nikki says you caddie well]

I hope you didn't read the replies to that, though. You wouldn't have liked them as much.

[Coeus]

going through them now. Lots of marcotte type thinking there.

[Coeus]

Oh god:

bakanaUguinnessfanatic1L
Adolescence is hellish for most people, including "attractive" ones. That's one of the conditions of adolescence. And there are plenty of geeks who have an easier, less ostracized, adolescence than less stereotypically geeky people, if they have a strong, like-minded social circle.

The 'geek' who has weekly D&D nights with her/his best friends in high school is probably having a much more enjoyable, socially healthy adolescence than the 'popular' girl who has developed bulimia as a result of extreme pressures from her social circle, the men in her life, and the media she consumes.

Those guys are getting physically attacked on a regular basis. Christ, these people need some fucking perspective.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

"if they have a strong, like-minded social circle"

I don't know about y'all, but when and where I grew up, if you had a strong, like-minded social circle, you were definitionally not a geek. And if geeks did have a strong, like-minded social circle, why wouldn't I assume that that circle would put the same types of pressures on its members that the hot girl clique does? At least try to make some sense.

[Enough About Palin]

CO Counties Consider Seceding, Forming 51st State: 'North Colorado'

[Red Rocks Rockin]

They ought to just call it "Jefferson," which is what Colorado was originally supposed to be called.

That said, this is pissing in the wind. I understand the motivation and would be tickled to see that they're serious, but there's no way in hell any Colorado governor or Senators are going to let this get through.

[Brandon]

Leave RMNP and Steamboat, and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

[Rich]

There is so much "good" Obamaese in his full defense of the NSA surveillance that I can hardly stand it.

"If people don't trust [the government] then we're gonna have some problems."

IIRC, a recent Pew poll found that percentage to be about 26%.

I suppose that explains the tornadoes.

[SugarFree]

"If people don't trust [the government] then we're gonna have some problems."

Let's run that through the translator:

"If people don't trust the government then I'm gonna make sure they have some problems."

[Rich]

*** fist pump ***

I *defy* you to watch that whole thing without screaming.

[Episiarch]

Veiled threats are nice, aren't they?

[Rich]

"The American People should feel comfortable about this."

[Bobarian]

"Just relax while I apply some lube, and show you how much the government really cares. If you tense up, it's just gonna be uncomfortable."

[Nikki says you caddie well]

That was veiled?

[jesse.in.mb]

What are the current approval ratings of Congress and the Supreme Court? I wouldn't anyone's faith in the legislative and judicial branches is particularly stellar.

[CE]

I laughed when my aunt sent me that email saying the feds could control the weather. But those tornadoes HAVE been exclusively in red states since then...

[Suthenboy]

Everything that comes out of that shitweasel's mouth is inversely related to reality.

In other words, you can tell he is lying because his lips are moving. I refuse to watch it.

[Rich]

Too bad *it* doesn't refuse to watch *you*.

[Mad Scientist]

An e-mail mistake back in 2010 actually let some officials at the IRS office in D.C. know that Cincinnati agents were putting Tea Party nonprofit groups under extra scrutiny. That's earlier than the IRS claims it knew.

It's possible that despite the email, they still didn't know even though they had the information. I get over 200 emails a day at my job, and most of them have nothing to do with me. I have rules in my email client to automatically delete any email in which I'm not in the To: line in an attempt to cut down on the clutter. Assuming government employees are as lazy as I am, it's possible some higher-ups got the email but never read it.

[Rich]

It's also possible that they got the email in their secret-alter-ego box.

[crashland]

The "mistake" was probably sent by DC to Cincinnati, and the mistake being, putting the orders to do so into an email subject to FOIA requests...

[Mad Scientist]

Hell, if that's the case, I'd move to have them sent to a special prison where all the guards are STEVE SMITH.

[Ted S.]

I get over 200 emails a day at my job, and most of them have nothing to do with me.

Trying to sell you stuff to lengthen your penis has nothing to do with you??

[Mad Scientist]

Well, OBVIOUSLY!

[T]

Spain is looking to cut back on solar subsidies, which may end up screwing over many of its less-than-wealthy investors.

So, climate change deniers are hurting the poor? Is that my takeaway?

[alan_s]

I think the take away is that investing in money-losing propositions and relying on your government to sustain it is hurting yourself.

[A Serious Man]

Television actress charged with mailing ricin letters to Michael Bloomberg and Barack Obama.

[Irish]

Unbelievable. This had me worried because it looked like the left might finally have a Tea Party gun lover doing something that was actually illegal. Then it turns out that it was some woman trying to set up her husband during a messy divorce.

Are the Tea Party and NRA the least violent political movements of all time? People keep trying to pin various crimes on them, but they always end up being innocent.

[Ted S.]

Are the Tea Party and NRA the least violent political movements of all time?

If Mohandas Gandhi were around, he might suggest a different movement was even less violent.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You're forgetting the North Georgia four - convicted of a plot to fill the air over Atlanta with ricin.

[Redmanfms]

You're forgetting the North Georgia four - convicted of a plot to fill the air over Atlanta with ricin.

Yeah fuckweasel, one of the guys had links to a Tea Party website = Tea Party involvement.

Jesus you are a fucking dishonest piece of shit.

[Heroic Mulatto]

She's a hero. She's also a fucking idiot, but she's a hero.

[Irish]

She allegedly sent ricin to political officials out of a desire to frame her estranged husband.

Yeah, quite the martyr.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I'm damning with faint praise.

[JW]

You just can't turn your back on a ginger.

[Rich]

Photo with ricin-smeared child

[A Serious Man]

Richard Ramirez, aka the Night Stalker, dies after spending 22 years on death row.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He was good in A Christmas Story.

[Brandon]

Isn't that the point of death row?

[rts]

The dead have rights after all

The Supreme Court of British Columbia says a grieving mother who blames the federal and provincial governments for violating the charter rights of her slain daughter can move forward on a lawsuit.

...

RCMP were called to the scene by a neighbour who heard the gunshots, but the officer never got out of his car, reporting later that everything looked normal in the area.

Dudley was paralyzed and clung to life for four days in the house until a neighbour stumbled on the scene. She died before reaching the hospital. Dudley's boyfriend was killed instantly in the same attack.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

This seems exceptionally relevant to all the news of the last few days. Enjoy(?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQyue_X4Pk4

[A Serious Man]

GOP TYRANNY: Southern conservatives want to impose 'tyranny of the minority' by nullifying Obamacare.

In the last four years, Calhounism?the tyranny of the minority?has moved to the forefront of conservative ideology. You can see it in the parade of Republicans' bills (37, at last count) to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as if it were forced on the country and not passed by majorities in the House and Senate. You can see it in the moves?some aborted, some not?to rig presidential elections by changing the distribution of electoral votes to favor land and rural areas over cities and people. And you can see it in the Mitch McConnell?led effort to block implementation of duly elected laws through obstruction of Senate business. Republicans have blocked nominations to vacant judgeships and federal agencies for no other reason than opposition to the president's agenda?in the case of his judicial nominees?or opposition to the law, in the case of Dodd-Frank and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

These moves, as many observers have noted over the last four years, are unprecedented. The Senate was never meant to be a super-majoritarian institution, and lawmakers have never been able to block implementation of laws because they disagree with the contents. But in the Calhoun-infused GOP, this is the new normal.

[A Serious Man]

With that said, it's not as if the Republican Party has shied away from using ugly racial rhetoric for political advantage. Mitt Romney's Ohio campaign was centered on the (false) claim that President Obama had ended the work requirement in welfare, and was simply sending checks to recipients. Given the established rhetorical association between "welfare" and African-Americans, the dog whistle wasn't hard to hear. More recently, a Tea Party activist in Texas told a crowd of Republicans that "the Republican Party doesn't want black people to vote if they're going to vote 9 to 1 for Democrats." And on top of this, Phyllis Schlafly ?a luminary of conservative activism?argued that the GOP should abandon immigration reform and further commit itself to being the party of white people. Losing 82 percent of nonwhites, it seems, just isn't enough.

You don't say.

[Ted S.]

Given the established rhetorical association between "welfare" and African-Americans, the dog whistle wasn't hard to hear.

If they hear the dog whistle, they must be dogs.

[mad libertarian guy]

So let me get this straight, Calhounism, a political tactic that was used by Southern Democrats 180 years ago is new and unprecedented?

Shut the fuck up.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Reid is considering the nuclear option in the Senate just to get some judges and agency heads appointed.

I say do it. Turn the Senate into a simple majority body. It works both ways. The Next GOP Senate would benefit too.

[Brandon]

Fuck, no. I don't want any of those morons to have that kind of power.

[Irish]

According to Real Clear Politics, approval of Obamacare is at -12.3%. 52.8% opposed, 40.5% in favor.

So aren't the Democrats imposing tyranny of the minority since most Americans don't want this?

[Palin's Buttplug]

We are not a democracy, pal. We are a republic and the law is the law if the SCOTUS says it is (and they did).

[sgs]

Shocking that you totally failed to answer his question.

[Episiarch]

The...the tyranny...of the minority?

[tarran]

It's hysterically funny how pathetic they are becoming. They have more power than any movement in human history, and it's defeated them.

[Episiarch]

I want to laugh, but it's like laughing at someone who you're not sure if they're going to explode into violence soon. You're laughing and keeping an eye on them at all times.

[A Serious Man]

I want to laugh, but it's like laughing at someone who you're not sure if they're going to explode into violence soon.

That's funny, haha, you're a funny guy Epi.

[hamilton]

Well, tyrant is singular, so it's really one (white male) guy. QE-frickin-D.

[OldMexican]

Re: Episiarch,

The...the tyranny...of the minority?
Up is down and there are 5 lights, not four. Didn't you learn anything from listening to Tony and those of hs ilk?

[Nikki says you caddie well]

You can see it in the parade of Republicans' bills (37, at last count) to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as if it were forced on the country and not passed by majorities in the House and Senate.

Uh, I'm pretty sure you only get to repeal laws that were passed by majorities in the House and Senate.

[A Serious Man]

I'm confused. Why can't a majority in the state house and state senate repeal a law that polling shows a majority of their citizens do not want?

Why does the Daily Beast hate democracy?

[A Serious Man]

Hmm: Study shows correlation between BDSM sex and good mental health.

I, uh, imagine a lot of people here must have solid mental fortitude.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

See, I told you guys I'm not crazy!

[Rich]

You were bound to get better.

[hamilton]

That pun was a hideous crime against humanity.

[Suthenboy]

That pun could only come from someone who is into BDSM.

[jesse.in.mb]

I'm sure some of the commentariat wishes they had even better mental health though.

[Ted S.]

Only if I get to be on the dominating side.

[T]

Really? What qualifies masturbation as BDSM?

[Episiarch]

Self-abuse?

"I hear that. I spent most of my teen years loving my body. 'Course it was tough love, but..."

[inquisitionssuppositions]

Anal beads.

[Mickey Rat]

"Honey, I'm going to tie you up for your mental health and mine."

[Sevo]

"Spain is looking to cut back on solar subsidies, which may end up screwing over many of its less-than-wealthy investors."

Bet on rent-seeking, don't ask for tears when you get bit.

[Zakalwe]

Google's CEO put up a statement coauthored by his lawyer offering some suspiciously specific denials about participation in PRISM.

First, we have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government?or any other government?direct access to our servers. Indeed, the U.S. government does not have direct access or a "back door" to the information stored in our data centers. We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday.

Second, we provide user data to governments only in accordance with the law. Our legal team reviews each and every request, and frequently pushes back when requests are overly broad or don't follow the correct process. Press reports that suggest that Google is providing open-ended access to our users' data are false, period. Until this week's reports, we had never heard of the broad type of order that Verizon received?an order that appears to have required them to hand over millions of users' call records. We were very surprised to learn that such broad orders exist. Any suggestion that Google is disclosing information about our users' Internet activity on such a scale is completely false.

[Zakalwe]

Finally, this episode confirms what we have long believed?there needs to be a more transparent approach. Google has worked hard, within the confines of the current laws, to be open about the data requests we receive. We post this information on our Transparency Report whenever possible. We were the first company to do this. And, of course, we understand that the U.S. and other governments need to take action to protect their citizens' safety?including sometimes by using surveillance. But the level of secrecy around the current legal procedures undermines the freedoms we all cherish.

[Zakalwe]

Weasel words highlighted. Ok, so what indirect access are you allowing (not providing) that is of a lesser scope than the (absolutely unlimited) Verizon order, and have you been told not to talk about within the confines of the current laws?

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Yet another retarded conflation of free association and government rape, this time from Mashable:

Yet before you get up in arms about this latest development, consider the fact that every day you're giving away reams of data about yourself anyway. If you use Google and Gmail, it's likely Google knows a great deal about what you do on the web. Of course, there are ways of disengaging this type of monitoring but the default is to let Google follow you around the web and I would guess most people leave it that way.
...
If you walk around a major metropolitan area you're also likely to be photographed by a video surveillance camera of the sort that identified the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects recently. You may recall that those images helped ultimately capture those suspects (one dead, one alive). Think of the NSA programs as the online equivalent of those cameras. The vast majority of the info will never be used for anything, but a very small percentage may be immensely helpful.

I bolded my favorite part. It's so cute: I do think of the NSA programs as the online equivalent of physical surveillance cameras people stole money from me to use to watch me against my will! I just don't think of those cameras the same way you think of them, jackass.

[Irish]

Yet before you get up in arms about this latest development, consider the fact that every day you're giving away reams of data about yourself anyway. If you use Google and Gmail, it's likely Google knows a great deal about what you do on the web.

Okay, but what can Google actually do about this, beyond give that info to advertisers who will annoy me?

What can the organization with a monopoly on force do with my private information?

Do you see the difference?

[Nikki says you caddie well]

If people like him saw the difference, things would be a lot...different.

[Mickey Rat]

The author probably finds Google having his information to be scarier, that's the difference.

[MJGreen]

The vast majority of the info will never be used for anything, but a very small percentage may be immensely helpful.

Helpful to whom and for what purpose? That's the whole concern with government snooping. That's why you're supposed to fear it. It's not the ick factor of thinking bureaucrats listen in on your calls.

[mad libertarian guy]

Doesn't everyone have their own walk?

Gazpacho is a Norwegian band that does intensely emotional art rock albums that are thematic (if not a single concept). "The Walk" is actually 2 songs that comprise the end of a 3 song journey of a test flight gone wrong, crashing and burning in the desert. "The Walk" is the getaway and appears on their 2009 album Tick Tock.

Enjoy you Friday afternoon selection of chill art rock!

[hamilton]

They named an album after a Ke$ha hit? Well, sign me up, sailor!

[Marc F Cheney]

I don't understand the appeal of Gazpacho. I've tried. They're like a duller version of late-era Marillion.

[mad libertarian guy]

Have you heard their live album, London? Almost everyone I know has said the same until they heard them live. It really is something that makes you think about the way they present their studio albums differently.

[A Serious Man]

Slate critic wonders why 'gayface' isn't considered offensive like 'blackface'.

[SugarFree]

Considering gay actors have taken straight parts away from straight actors since the very beginning of film, I can't see what the problem is.

[JW]

What I want to know is why we aren't using real Elizabethans for Elizabethan period films.

Apparently, the Slate critic is confused on what 'acting' is.

[Episiarch]

Because faking sexual orientation only requires acting, whereas faking race requires makeup and skin color changes and is only "offensive" because it was done in racist ways in the past?

The Slate critic should shut the fuck up and go watch Soul Man.

[Goldwyn Smith]

Do you agree with Armond White that Sould Man gives a better depiction of the Harvard Experience than the Social Network.

[A Serious Man]

He doesn't think it is inherently offensive, but apparently characters like the Asian guy from The Hangover are not cool.

[Episiarch]

Do you mean Ken Jeong's character? Who gives a shit?

Is Jim Rash's Dean Pelton offensive...I mean not cool? By the way, Jim Rash could actually be gay, I have no idea.

[Bobarian]

Hmm...

Does 'gayface' involve having something on your chin?

[jesse.in.mb]

Gay-face already means something else.

This asshole can take Hugo Weaving in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Patrick Stewart in Jeffrey, and Robin Williams in The Bird Cage over my cold dead body.

[A Serious Man]

13 year old London immigrant records IQ score of 162, higher than Stephen Hawking, joins Mensa.

She said the Indian education system helped give her the best start but she prefers school life in the UK.

Her parents, both eye doctors, knew their daughter was clever but had no idea exactly how intelligent she was until she scored the maximum marks in her entrance exams for school.

Her mother Jayashree said: "From our side she definitely doesn't have any pressure, we just make opportunities for her.

"She does all this without much effort.

"She makes sure she has enough time for TV, swimming, fun times with her friends."

Good for her. I always thought the true mark of a genius was someone who can achieve very much without a lot of effort.

[SugarFree]

According to Mensa, the average adult IQ score is 100.

This reporter should be beaten.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

That's fucking awesome.

[Episiarch]

I'm pretty sure they managed to land under the mean if you know what I...mean.

[Irish]

Wait...what's an Eye Cue? Am I pronouncing that right?

[Gadianton]

I am always amused when I remember that "mensa" is a slang term for "idiot" in Spanish.

[sgs]

Nope.

[A Serious Man]

Mob of angry Bolivian villagers bury rape and murder suspect alive in the grave of the victim.

Police had identified the 17-year-old as the possible culprit in the rape and murder of a 35-year-old woman near the municipality of Colquechaca.

The chief prosecutor says more than 200 furious local people seized Santos Ramos and buried him in the grave of his alleged victim.

He says residents blocked roads into the village to stop police arriving.

A reporter for a local radio station, who would only speak anonymously for fear of reprisals, told the media that Mr Ramos was tied up at the woman's funeral.

He said mourners threw him into the open grave alongside the woman's coffin and filled the grave with earth.

Well at this point I guess you got to hope he actually did it.

[Goldwyn Smith]

You know who else killed suspected rapists?

[A Serious Man]

Harry Callahan?

[Almanian!]

Rob Roy?

[OldMexican]

Re: Goldwyn Smith,

You know who else killed suspected rapists?

Superior Court Judge Steven R. Hardin?

[Goldwyn Smith]

You which other mobs killed suspected rapists?

[A Serious Man]

Also, you can use this headline to teach your kids the importance of proper comma usage. Consider:

Mob of angry Bolivian villagers bury, rape, and murder suspect alive in the grave of the victim.

[Stormy Dragon]

Murdering hookers is apparently now legal in Texas:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/ne.....581027.php

[Irish]

That is an awful law. The amount of force you use should be reasonable given the situation. Hopefully they change the law.

[Coeus]

It does cut down on hot burglaries, though.

[Coeus]

Besides, blame the DA. If he'd gone for manslaughter, like in a drug case, they probably wouldn't have acquitted.

[jesse.in.mb]

Yeah, $150 bucks (or whatever balance of that remained after other services rendered) seems like an extreme thing to shoot someone in the neck over. I would think a warning shot would've sufficed.

[Suthenboy]

Warning shot?

If you are dumb enough to give a hooker money before services and she walks out on you then suck it up. Only an idiot would do that.

[jesse.in.mb]

As nicole notes below, she has no legal recourse if you have sex and refuse to pay her. This is a pretty clear example of why prostitution should be a white market affair.

[Coeus]

Murdering hookers who rob you after darkis apparently now has always been legal in Texas.

FIFY

[Stormy Dragon]

Except it's not robbery. If you contract with someone to perform a service for money and are unhappy with their performance, that's a civil dispute, not a crime. I was unhappy with the sandwhich I got at Wendy's last night. That doesn't mean I'm allowed to get violent with the drive thru guy if he refuses to give me a refund.

[Irish]

Agreed. Of course, if we legalized prostitution, people would be able to get restitution in the civil courts and wouldn't have to take the law into their own hands.

This is a case where two horrible laws collide and result in a horrible outcome.

[Zakalwe]

She didn't perform at all, from the story I read. So it's more like a pizza delivery guy showing up, taking your money, and then trying to leave without giving you the pizza.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

More like a plumber showing up, taking your money, and then trying to leave without doing the work.

Except you wouldn't pay a plumber before he did the work. I imagine you only have to do that with hookers because they have no legal recourse if you try to rip them off.

[Calidissident]

Did she actually agree to have sex with him before he paid her? From my reading of the articles I've seen about this I case, I think that he was under the impression that sex was included, but she didn't tell him it was, and in taht case, it's his fault IMO. You can argue that she was being deceitful in that it wasn't unreasonable for him to expect sex in that situation. But if she didn't actually tell him "For $150, you get sex" then I don't think she's under any obligation to give him his money back.

[Coeus]

I have seen a lot of people on Gawker saying "she's an escort, not a prostitute. You only pay for a date, not sex".

Well, she was there for less than 20 minutes. Not much of a date, is it?

Look, I don't think he was right to do this, but I hate to see all the bullshit equivocating to take her off the hook for stealing.

[Irish]

Look, I don't think he was right to do this, but I hate to see all the bullshit equivocating to take her off the hook for stealing.

I wouldn't let her off the hook for stealing. I'm just not letting him off the hook for shooting her over it.

[Calidissident]

Like I said, it all likelihood she was misleading, and he probably wasn't stupid to think sex was included. But if he didn't actually check with her before paying her, I don't think she's under any obligation (and when I say this, I mean from a legal perspective if we lived in Libertopia) to give him his money back. And he certainly doesn't haven't the right to kill her over that.

[Irish]

And this is also completely irrelevant to whether or not it's okay to shoot someone over $150. Legalize prostitution. Let them use the courts for redress of grievances. Then when things like this happen, he's just a piece of shit who shot someone over a question of payment.

[Gray Ghost]

Here's the law that applied in his case, Texas Penal Code 9.42:

A person is justified in using deadly force...(2) when and to the degree he reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:... (B) to prevent the other who is fleeing immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or theft during the nighttime from escaping with the property; and

(3) he reasonably believes that:

(A) the land or property cannot be protected or recovered by any other means; or

(B) the use of force other than deadly force to protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor or another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury..

So, in Texas, you can use deadly force to prevent a thief at night from leaving with tangible personal property if you can't stop the thief any other way or using other force would get your ass seriously injured/dead. I'm not sure I'd have found him not guilty if I was on that jury, mainly on the (3) subsection. Really? There was no other way you could protect or recover the property than by shooting at a fleeing thief? Who do you think you are, a cop? (cont.)

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Well, especially (3)(b).

[Gray Ghost]

After the attorneys' fees, bail bondsman's cut, loss of the gun, and bad publicity, I think he'd consider losing 150 bucks to be a bargain, even though he was found not guilty. But again, as I was paraphrasing this morning a quote from T in another thread morning: If you like to fuck with people's stuff at night, Texas ain't the state to do it in.

In addition, idiot is lucky that one of his stray bullets didn't hit anyone else, if he's shooting at her tires and managed to hit her in the head. I dunno whether her heirs will get a crack at him for wrongful death, or whether being found not guilty shuts that down.

[Gray Ghost]

I really don't get Texas self-defense law sometimes. This guy gets off. (Though I agree with Coeus that if the D.A. had also gone for manslaughter, the guy would've been convicted. That doesn't make sense---either the justification statute applies or it doesn't, regardless of whether it's murder or manslaughter---but that's a jury for you.)

Anyway, a guy going to his neighbor's drunken party, toting an iphone, flashlight and a holstered gun, gets convicted for murder when drunken neighbor and a couple of his friends decide to rush the guy. It didn't help the shooter that drunken guy was a popular local high school teacher and that the shooter was an ex-cop. Bad choices all around.

I guess a teaching moment from this is to try and avoid confrontation if at all possible, and if you can't, try not to shoot anyone too popular or connected.

[Coeus]

The biggest problem was that the DA didn't go for manslaughter. The jury wasn't ready to give him life for shooting someone who stole from him.

[Coeus]

guess you did see that, after all.

[Gray Ghost]

For those who want to know a bit more about the story, the San Antonio Express-News article is fairly concise, yet detailed.

(Link is behind paywall, but the old 'paste into google search box, search, and load from the cached result' works.)

[Stormy Dragon]

There other thing that gets me is that he actually tried to play the Jesus card:

Outside the courtroom, Gilbert thanked God, the Barrera family and the jury for being able to "see what wasn't the truth" and for the "second chance."

Yeah, I'm sure God really has your back for hooker murder.

[ant1sthenes]

Unless she represented some sort of physical threat, she was at worst a thief, not a robber. More of a fraudster, really, if he handed the money over voluntarily.

Bad customer service is not an excuse for murder.

[Coeus]

Kung fu squirrels.

"I actually think this squirrel's balls are bigger, but I'm trying not to look too hard," Curtis told The Huffington Post.

Curtis is hopeful that Loubser's photos represent a paradigm shift in web culture where photos of squirrels with large testicles become "bigger" than cat videos.

"It would be great if that became a new trending thing," he said. "All the kids will be doing it."

[Goldwyn Smith]

I didn't know that Epi's mom is going to become an internet celebrity.

[Coeus]

Bad Faith and Civility.

The point Jonathan Cohn, Ezra Klein, and yours truly are all making here isn't just that Avik Roy is wrong; it is that Avik Roy's side of the debate is not arguing in good faith.

See if you can guess who said that without checking the link.

Hint: your irony meter should be exploding.

[Irish]

I've seen everything Roy has said on this issue, and he has been totally rational about it. I have no idea how anyone can even attempt to argue that Roy isn't arguing in good faith.

He just disagrees with Krugman, and the only way to disagree with Krugman is IF YOU ARE A SUPER EVIL AUSTERIAN BAGGER WHO WANTS THE POOR TO DIE SCREAMING!

[Coeus]

I've noticed that they're projecting like crazy lately. check out this dreck:

Except actually it's worse than that. The austerity consensus that took over Washington (and Brussels, and London, and Frankfurt, and ?) never actually had many facts behind it to begin with . It flourished through sheer incestuous amplification: the in-crowd reassuring each other that they were right, with journalists ? as Ezra himself pointed out ? simply adding to the problem:

For reasons I've never quite understood, the rules of reportorial neutrality don't apply when it comes to the deficit. On this one issue, reporters are permitted to openly cheer a particular set of highly controversial policy solutions. At Tuesday's Playbook breakfast, for instance, Mike Allen, as a straightforward and fair a reporter as you'll find, asked Simpson and Bowles whether they believed Obama would do "the right thing" on entitlements ? with "the right thing" clearly meaning "cut entitlements."

A combo of denial and lies.

[Irish]

Holy Jesus. It's like he doesn't realize that the New York Times and Washington Post exist. He should read the Times' editorial page and then get back to me about how all the reporters are against big government.

[Mad Scientist]

They don't want big government. They want total government. Anything less is unregulated chaos, austerity, Somalia.

[Coeus]

Teen gets naked at a catholic school.

SFW and might I just say...daaaammmnn.

[Coeus]

Just found this, quoted from her website:

I decided to head out to my old high school but this is not just some high school it's Lincoln Pius yep that's right our main catholic school. Everyone at my high school had something rude to say to me when I started my website and so this is my tribute to all of you lol. I held nothing back I used my fingers, my toys and even my crucifix in my pussy! I used every part of the school I could get into, payback is a biatch ha ha. Now when you say all those nasty things about me you have a good reason. The video is the best part of it I shot tons of crazy video so make sure you sign up to see how many times I made my pussy cum on the football field. This is just a small taste of what's to come, can't wait for my visit to the courthouse ;).

[Episiarch]

Now that's my kind of chick.

[Goldwyn Smith]

Free Range Chickens?

[Nikki says you caddie well]

In case "visit to the courthouse" wasn't clear--and it wasn't to me until I actually watched the video, which I do not normally do--she's not referring to a court appearance or anything like that. She's planning on having her next photoshoot (with pasties and panties) in front of the courthouse. Awesome.

[Episiarch]

Nothing quite like a nice big "fuck you".

[Eduard van Haalen]

They already issued her an invitation to the courthouse - on a charge of public nudity.

And going by the article, the bad things her former classmates said to her had to do with her nude photo business.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

It's just a ticket, not clear if she actually has to go to court for it. But that is why she's going to go take quasi-naked pictures there.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Now that's the right kind of crazy.

[Mickey Rat]

Does the hotness outweigh the crazy?

[Brandon]

Is that a Libertarian woman?

[Ben the Duck]

Officials: NSA mistakenly intercepted emails, phone calls of innocent Americans

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com.....-americans

"Mistakenly."

*snort*

[WomSom]

Kinda crazy when you think about it.

http://www.AnonStuff.tk