A.M. Links: Jay Carney Insists Barack Obama No George Bush, Glenn Beck and Michael Moore Agree on Edward Snowden, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula Wants to Finish Film

• 

  White House

  Jay Carney insists Barack Obama is no George W. Bush and that the president has delivered on his promise to change the way the war on terror is waged.

• Glenn Beck and Michael Moore called Edward Snowden, the NSA leaker, a hero, while Dianne Feinstein, John Boehner, and others have invoked treason. A White House petition is urging a pardon for Snowden, while Chinese internet users want their government to protect him.
• The Senate has passed a farm bill that replaces the "direct payments" subsidy for farmers with a more complex set of subsidies based on market conditions that economists say amounts to price suppression and runs afoul of the World Trade Organization.
• Support for affirmative action has hit 45 percent, a record low; the Supreme Court is expected to make a decision on an affirmative action-related case this summer.
• Police in Boulder say entering homes when the doors are left unlocked is standard operating procedure. "Failure to do so creates liability," a police spokesperson said, while one resident whose house was entered while she wasn't home says she'd rather take her chances with getting murdered or held hostage than know cops can come in whenever she leaves her door open.
• The grandmother of a seven-year-old girl shot and killed during a police raid in Detroit testified about the raid in the trial of the cop charged with involuntary manslaughter for the girl's death.
• Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who was thrown in jail after a YouTube trailer for his movie was blamed for the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, says he wants to finish the anti-Islamic film, Innocence of Muslims.
• Ariel Castro faces 329 charges in relation to the kidnapping and false imprisonment of three young women in a Cleveland home.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Jay Carney insists Barack Obama is no George W. Bush ..

He is not a crook!

[tarran]

He isn't. For all his faults, George Bush did have empathy and was capable of self-deprecation.

The narcissist in chief? Not so much.

[John]

And Bush was whatever his faults an honest person. Obama, not so much. It is funny, when this train wreck ends, liberals will tell themselves that Obama was a great well meaning person who was overcome by the job and events never thinking such an explanation probably better fits the evil Bush!!

[Palin's Buttplug]

Bush lied us into a useless trillion dollar plus war.

But you don't count that.

[?Ex Nihilo?]

Bush lied us into a useless trillion dollar plus war.

Didn't a bunch of people authorize that war?

The vote count was YEAs 77, NAYs 23.

Here are the Democratic Senators who voted YEA on October 2002.

Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Yea
Breaux (D-LA), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Carnahan (D-MO), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Cleland (D-GA), Yea
Clinton (D-NY), Yea
Daschle (D-SD), Yea
Dodd (D-CT), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Edwards (D-NC), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Hollings (D-SC), Yea
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Miller (D-GA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Torricelli (D-NJ), Yea

Seems like they did. What was the vote for Obama going into Lybia?

[?Ex Nihilo?]

and in the house:

The Republican-controlled House voted 296 to 133 Thursday afternoon to allow the president to use the military ''against the continuing threat'' posed by the Iraqi regime. The Democratic-run Senate followed at 1:15 a.m. today with a vote of 77 to 23 for the measure.

[John]

Ex,Nihlo,

Shreek's point is that Bush lied and the Democrats were so stupid they believed him. This is shreek's idea of something positive.

[wareagle]

Ex,
you are wasting your time on that front with the liberati. Their unshakable talking point is that 1) Bush lied and 2) he made the Iraq decision unilateraly.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yes, public support for the Iraq War was high after a six month campaign of lies.

Colin Powell regrets it. The mobile weapons labs, the mushroom cloud, unmanned nuke UAV's, aluminum tubes for enriching uranium, yellowcake from Niger - all lies.

Lies to justify rebuilding the Middle East.

[some guy]

And the Dems had no choice but to believe him? Congress Critters on the right committees have access to all the same information as the President. Either they believed him or they were complicit in his lying.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Democrats are a shitty opposition party. It is their nature as a fragmented splinter party.

[wareagle]

just stop, PB. The entire Clinton administration was spent chasing the weapons that suddenly became lies under Bush. And Dem after Dem repeatedly talked about how they existed and how Saddam had to be removed.

You want to say we should not have gone into Iraq? Many here will agree with you. But try an honest argument instead of this line of partisan bullsht.

[Loki]

try an honest argument instead of this line of partisan bullsht

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!! That's like asking the sun to rise in the west instead of the east. It'll never happen. Partisan shill is gonna shill no matter what.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Democrats are a shitty opposition party. It is their nature as a fragmented splinter party.

LOL at this goonfiction.

[Rrabbit]

Bush and other members of his administration lied, but most of those lies were quickly exposed.

Anybody who believed those lies back then has only himself (or herself) to blame. Meanwhile, I am blaming every single member of Congress who voted for all that crap. They should have known better. They probably knew better, they just voted for it anyways.

[Agammamon]

And yet . . . AND YET! The man who claims to have unilateral discretion to, or not to, blow the fuck out of anyone anywhere, anytime FAILED to call bullshit and continued the war in Iraq for several more years (rather than pull out immediately) and STILL has troops in Afghanistan.

Sorry buddy, but any half-way competent manager will tell you that there's a very short window at the beginning of taking a job where you get to blame problems on your predecessor. After that, if you aren't well on your way to fixing those problems then YOU own them.

Obama is well past that line.

[Agammamon]

Dear sweet evil Jesus. I'm using capitalization for emphasis - I'm turning into and internet nutjob.

Time-fucking-cube here I come.

[John]

Yeah dipshit. He lied us into it. It is not like Democrats didn't support the war and hadn't been pushing for it for ten years. Look retard, no one here believes that lie. Go tell it to other boards where people are retarded like you. You mendacious cunt.

[crashland]

Yeah, blah blah, Bush lied people died. Never mind that the rest of the world's intel services thought Saddam was hiding WMDs, never mind that he used them on the Kurds. Never mind the broad support for taking the scumbag out. Never mind that those WMDs are probably in Syria right now. It was all a lie.

[Palin's Buttplug]

More lies. Inspector Hans Blix could not find a single shred of evidence 1999-2002 - naturally.

[invisible furry hand]

only because he was eaten by sharks

[Rrabbit]

Never mind that the rest of the world's intel services thought Saddam was hiding WMDs

Not true. Let me fix that for you: The Bush administration claimed that the rest of the world's intel services thought Saddam was hiding WMDs.

In truth, there was only one source, "curveball", and the other intel services did not deem curveball truthworthy. The location Colin Powell presented in his UN speech as a WMD factory clearly wasn't, and that was verified by both the UN weapons inspectors and a team of journalists in early March 2003.

[Drake]

Saddam often hinted that he still had WMD's to keep the Kurds and Iranians in check. In truth, he had lots of material, but very little assembled.

Like having a box of bullets and a barrel of gunpowder that you haven't assembled into live ammunition.

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

"Bush lied us into a useless trillion dollar plus war.But you don't count that."

Uh...actually people on this site 'counted that" every damn day and gave a decisive two thumbs down to the war.

How does it feel to just make shit up and believe it's true?

Ex Nihilo listed 29 Dems who gave the war thumbs up. That's 58 balls you now have to put in your mouth. Like Cool Hand Luke, I know you can do it!

[Rasilio]

Bullshit, there is absolutely no evidence that Bush lied. He was clearly wrong about Iraqi WMD but being wrong does not make one a liar, intentionally stating a known falsehood with the intent to deceive is what makes it a lie and while none of us can know for certain the best fit for the publicly available evidence is that Bush honestly believed that Iraq did have WMD because virtually everyone else in a position of power at the time, including governments who were no friends to the US believed it too.

[crashland]

Yeah and though Bush's brand of big government compassionate neocon conservatism sucks, it certainly sucks less than the vile cleptocracy created by the current lawless regime.

At least George Bush is fully American, with an honest love of his country. While Obama may be an American citizen, his outlook is foreign. But then again, since there is nothing authentic about this guy, after all of these years, we still don't even know who the fuck he really is.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You birthers and neo-colonialists are idiots.

[John]

You mean the neo-colonial nation building that the Dems endorsed throughout the 1990s? The one that Obama's top advisers still endorse and are practicing in Afghanistan right now.

You need to try harder Shreek. Just mouthing words whose meaning you don't understand makes for poor trolling.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Listen to you Team Red jack-offs scramble to defend the worst POTUS in US history.

The dumb fuck and Cheney are not even welcome at their own party's conventions. The misery of the financial crisis and the police state will never be forgotten.

[Lord Humungus]

aww... poor little guy.

[Loki]

Listen to you Team Red jack-offs scramble to defend the worst POTUS in US history.

Funny, I don't see anyone here scrambling to defend Woodrow Wilson or LBJ (it's pretty much a toss-up). You must be mistaking the voices in your head for real people again.

[Rasilio]

Or Andrew Jackson (guilty of Genocide among other things) or US Grant (probably the best Human Being to hold the office since Jefferson but easily a far worse President that Bush) or a couple of others who were clearly worse than Bush.

Bush was indeed a Horrible President but nowhere near the worst an honest non partaisan evaluation would rank him somewhere around 37th to 39th (6th to 8th worst)

[?Ex Nihilo?]

Listen to you Team Red jack-offs scramble to defend the worst POTUS in US history.

I think Bush is the 4th worst (YMMV).

1. W. Wilson
2. FDR
2. B. Obama
3. G. Bush

It wouldn't bother me a bit to see Bush sharing a cell with Clinton and Obama.

[Virginian]

LBJ is worse then both Obama and Bush. He did everything they have done, but bigger. 50,000 Americans died in Vietnam. Iraq and Afghanistan are nothing compared to that.

Plus fiscally the big bankruptcy driving programs.

[?Ex Nihilo?]

LBJ is worse then both Obama and Bush.

You are correct, I had forgotten all about him.

[John]

Theodore Roosevelt was pretty bad. He gave us Progressivism. If you want to go back before the 20th Century, Jackson was horrible, and Buchanan, Fillmore and Pierce who combined gave us the Civil War were horrible. And so was Johnson who tried to keep the Federal Government from doing anything to help free blacks.

And I wouldn't let Clinton off the hook. He passed a good number of the laws and pushed the programs that helped give us the housing bubble in the 00s.

[creech]

I'm not clear on what Buchanan could have done to avoid the Civil War other than further appease the slavemasters.

[l0b0t]

"...scramble to defend the worst POTUS in US history."

I have not seen a single defense of Lincoln in this thread.

[thom]

They're both legacy obsessed, narcissistic grandstanders. Goes with the job.

[crashland]

Only a narcissistic personality could ever win the job, so yeah, it goes with the job.

[invisible furry hand]

Gosh Louisville sounds fun!

Those guys only had to add a gay pornstar jerking off in a firehouse to incorporate every high profile crime in Louisville this year in one clip.

http://gawker.com/kentucky-man.....-512460718

[Ted S.]

Doesn't one of our frequent posters live in Louisville?

[BakedPenguin]

I think a couple do, and a few more live in KY outside Louisville. I'm originally from NH, but I think between Massie and Paul, the Free Staters chose the wrong place.

[robc]

Couple of minor burns, nothing for yall to worry about, I cant still post.

[tarran]

That is epic - remind me not to try to drive off after accidentally setting myself on fire.

[robc]

Thats a boring KY story.

No chain saw attacks at all.

[SugarFree]

#georgeclooneyironshisballs

[robc]

Will not google search.

All I know is that the wackiest events in Louisville are daily occurrences in Frankfort.

[SugarFree]

Agreed. Frankfort is basically mini-Detriot.

[Ted S.]

Well, all of the politicians are in Frankfort, aren't they?

[robc]

Barely. Most of them commute in. No one wants to live in Frankfort on purpose.

[robc]

My first guess was Germantown from the pictures and I wasnt far off, next neighborhood over.

Just west of Germantown, north of Schnitzelburg.

You know who else set themselves on fire?

[Ted S.]

Michael Jackson?

[LTC(ret) John]

Buddhist monks?

[LTC(ret) John]

Richard Pryor?

[Loki]

The suspect was detained at the scene and taken to a hospital for treatment, but he later escaped. As of Monday morning, he was still missing.

How the fuck did he escape? I think I've found the perfect location for my next crime spree: Louisville, KY. Even if the cops catch you they're apparently very easy to get away from. I mean it's not like this guy was some kind of criminal mastermind.

[Rasilio]

I used to live in Louisville until about a year ago

[Lord Humungus]

Woman washed unexploded bomb in kitchen sink
A woman who discovered an unexploded World War II bomb in her garden terrified her husband by washing it in the kitchen sink.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....-sink.html

[tarran]

She's a fucking idiot! Those things can still go off if the fuse is still armed.

[mnarayan]

That's why she was washing it in water silly.

[Live Free or Diet]

She's a fucking idiot! Those things can still go off if the fuse is still armed.

She's an Emeril Lagasse fan. She wanted some BAM! in her kitchen.

[Lord Humungus]

Blast it with the Spice Weasel!

[wareagle]

dirty bombs are bad. she was cleaning it.

[Bobarian]

"Those things can still go off if the fuse is still armed."

Because of how the explosives deteriorate, these things can explode even if they were never fused. Depending on conditions; an old bomb can become completely inert, or so reactive that merely moving them can cause an explosion.

[Cdr Lytton]

Yeah, it wasn't the bomb itself that that terrified him. It was the rough iron edges in the brand new enamel sink that he just put in that did it.

[AlexInCT]

I am assuming this must have been either a mortar or artillery shell, seeing as the standard bomb sized of that period were not that easy for your average house frau to carry around.. Maybe this lady is a bigfoot and she easily could lug around a 250lbs or bigger bomb, but then this dude would have likely encouraged her to use a hammer to help knock of the rust, unless he was into some real freaky shit.

[Agammamon]

It wouldn't have been a mortar or artillery shell - unless I'm mistaken, the Germans didn't make it across the channel.

[AlexInCT]

It must have been their Butterfly Bomb then, a 4 1/2lbs anti-personnel device, and not a bomb, because the smallest German air dropped munitions, other than this Butterfly contraption, were the standard 250lb and 1000lbs bombs.

This thing is nothing more than a glorified mortar dropped from a plane.

[generic Brand]

The Senate has passed a farm bill that replaces the "direct payments" subsidy for farmers with a more complex set of subsidies based on market conditions that economists say amounts to price suppression and runs afoul of the World Trade Organization.

Of course, the plan to include no farm subsidies was quickly denounced as ruinous to the entire agricultural field.

[some guy]

They also reduced the crop insurance subsidy for "farmers" netting over $750k by 15%. How ever will those poor bastards survive?

[mad libertarian guy]

Of course, the plan to include no farm subsidies was quickly denounced as ruinous to the entire agricultural field.

BUTT WHY DUE YOO HATEZ TEH FARMERZZZZ!!!!!

[Fist of Etiquette]

...while one resident whose house was entered while she wasn't home says she'd rather take her chances with getting murdered or held hostage than know cops can come in whenever she leaves her door open.

Luckily for law and order that's not up to her.

[?Ex Nihilo?]

"He was very nice. He said he had come back to follow up on another officer who had been there for something and he felt he had probable cause to make sure that I was safe," Smiley said, adding the she found the officer's explanation unsettling.

"He felt" FoE; so no reason to know what the law or constitution says.

[thom]

"Sorry officer, I just really felt like I should be going faster..."

[Ted S.]

Why would anybody want to feel Fist of Etiquette?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I feel that the joke's on that woman who didn't want her house entered by police. Little does she know, when cops can enter at will, she is taking her chances with getting murdered or held hostage.

[crashland]

Good thing she doesn't have a dog.

[gaijin]

been there for something and he felt he had probable cause

SHe should check her underwear drawer for signs of his something.

[hamilton]

To be fair, if she left it open they really have a moral duty to root around in there.

[Live Free or Diet]

Not fabric softener?

[Tejicano]

Hair jel

[RBS]

no reason to know what the law or constitution says.

One of my wife's friends is a jailer, the jailer's husband is a cop. Neither of them know a thing about the Constitution. They literally could't tell me anything about the 4th amendment.

[tarran]

One of my wife's friends is a jailer, the jailer's husband is a cop.

Your wife needs to get a better class of friends.

[RBS]

I tell her that all the time. I refer to the woman as "you idiot friend..."

[Pope Jimbo]

I can't decide if you meant "Your idiot friend" (the jailer) or "You idiot fiend" (the wife)

Either sound plausible to me. Which is it?

[RBS]

Hahaha, I meant "your."

[Pope Jimbo]

That is what I would have guessed.

My wife has earned her fiend card. The only reason I'd call her an idiot was for making the poor choice in selecting me as her husband.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

probable cause to make sure that I was safe

And here I thought they needed probable cause to believe a crime was being committed. That explains a lot of fourth amendment abuses!

[Lord Humungus]

Chinese spaceship blasts off from Gobi Desert
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06.....e-mission/

A Chinese spaceship blasted off Tuesday from a launch center in the Gobi Desert, carrying three astronauts on what is expected to be the Asian giant's longest crewed mission yet.

Propelled by a Long March-2F rocket, the Shenzhou 10 craft is scheduled to dock with the Tiangong-1 space module where the crew will transfer supplies to the space lab, which has been in orbit since September 2011.

[db]

A few years ago I was in central China on business. We had a flight from Shanghai arriving at an airport that is about 100 miles or so from China's one military launch facility and our flight path was in the general area. We got to Hongqiao Airport and were told our flight had been canceled that day. Why? "Weather," was the lame response. I looked up the weather all along our route--nothing. Of course, it just so happened that I could read web sites from outside China at my hotel, and happened to know via Spaceflight Now that China had announced (as is required under treaty) a satellite launch for that day from that location.

[invisible furry hand]

The Daily Beast hits a new level of idiocy

Is Edward Snowden a mastermind or a maniac? Genius or narcissist? Christine Pelisek asks professional profilers to evaluate the whistleblower's public statements for clues to his psyche.

[Tim]

The elites are divided on this one. He's a rebel sure, but we do so love our surveillance state.

[John]

Interesting how they never asked such questions about whistle blowers in the Bush Administration. Contrast this with the worshipful coverage Valerie Plame and husband, two people who really were craven publicity seekers, got.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Joe Wilson was a heroic whistleblower when he pointed out Bush's State of the Union lies on "Saddam buying yellowcake from Niger - a lie that had to be publicly retracted.

[John]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weu-R_bgmU4

BUSHPIG!!!

Apparently someone forgot to take his lithium this morning. Let it out shreek. The manic phase will stop.

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

Let's do the score here: we didn't buy Bush's lies. You didn't buy Bush's lies (assuming you know what a lie is, buttplug)

We don't buy Obama's lies. You get a boner every time Obama speaks.

So who's the state-worshiping fucktard?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Obama is merely competent for a statist. Instead of incompetent statists like Bush/Cheney.

The Libyan intervention was low-impact and successful - contrast with Iraq. The economy has rebounded and the trillion $ deficits Bush left are headed down. 32 consecutive months of job growth and GDP has been positive every quarter since q2 09.

[John]

Obama is merely competent for a statist.

You need to take your comedy act on the road. Obama is the most incompetent President in history. The dumb mother fucker can't so much as run a press conference without help. I think Wilson post stroke was probably more competent than Obama.

[Lord Humungus]

maybe after Carney burns out, PB can take his place.

[Agammamon]

How was the Libyan "intervention" successful?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I doubt Hollywood's going to make a ball-slurping biopic of Snowden the way they did for Plame and Wilson.

He embarrassed Dear Leader, after all.

[PS]

Psychics for the psyche.

[mad libertarian guy]

Christine Pelisek asks professional profilers to evaluate the whistleblower's public statements for clues to his psyche.

And there's just no questioning "professional profilers" when trying to give us insight in to a man they've never met!

[Fist of Etiquette]

...says he wants to finish the anti-Islamic film, Innocence of Muslims.

J.J. Abrams is attached to the project.

[Slammer]

Well, there is a lot of sun in that part of the world..perfect for camera flares

[Tim]

At the Climax, Mohammed falls from the sky and crashes into San Francisco.

[gaijin]

wait, wouldn;t he crash into SF and then climax? Or are his climaxes premature?

[Loki]

"The future must not belong to those who slander insinuate the prophet of Islam suffers from premature ejaculation."

[Eduard van Haalen]

On a totally unrelated topic, in Arabia the men are men and the sheep are scared.

[Ted S.]

Icelanders mistake white sheep for polar bears.

[Live Free or Diet]

Alternate headline:
Two Icelandic sheep left unmolested for a morning.

[Lord Humungus]

Man with the 100lb testicle has it successfully removed
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/ho.....ticle.html

The 48-year-old from Las Vegas is the former owner of a testicle weighing 100lb and stars in a new documentary about the struggles of having a seven-stone scrotum.

The eye-watering programme gives a unique insight into his daily battles (including having to urinate on himself and wear hoodies as underwear), and follows him as he faces a life-or-death operation to get his body back.

[Matrix]

Hasn't he seen South Park?

Women dig that kind of thing! Plus, he could bounce around on it to get places!

[John]

It is South Park's world.

[invisible furry hand]

a real-life Buster Gonad!

[Loki]

The eye-watering programme...

Is it eye-watering because it's sad, or because it's hilarious?

[Bobarian]

Because it is spelled 'programme' it is both unintentionally hilarious and sad.

[RightNut]

45% is low??? My estimated intelligence of Americans just plummeted.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Don't you know? It's two percent low.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I already assume most Americans are stupid, so I cannot say my opinion changed much.

[crashland]

I wouldn't characterize most Americans as being stupid. Ignorant. Oh, yeah, very ignorant, but not inherently stupid.

[Jordan]

Well, we're living with an affirmative action president, so not too surprising.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A White House petition is urging a pardon for Snowden, while Chinese internet users want their government to protect him.

The NSA already knows what people on the internet think.

[Tim]

There's a drone out there looking for him.

[alan_s]

Some times I wonder what the public's response would be if this guy got murdered by the feds in an "unfortunate accident." I'd like to think there'd be rioting outside the doors of the White House, but it would probably just be "meh, carry on."

[Live Free or Diet]

The NSA already knows what people on the internet think.

People on the internet think?

[T]

Well, not the ones that comment on YouTube.

[crashland]

If Obama wanted to score some points, he could offer Snowden a blanket pardon and ask him to come home. That's the kind of thing candidate Obama would do, but certainly not the guy sitting in the oval office.

[mad libertarian guy]

A White House petition is urging a pardon for Snowden[.]

How can a pardon be issued to someone who hasn't been proven to have committed a crime? Perhaps immunity is the word they're looking for.

[Eduard van Haalen]

The President can pardon unconvicted people. My understanding is that they don't have to accept.

Look at the amnesties Presidents give to rebels and draft-dodgers.

[Matrix]

Nepotism at the Department of Energy? Say it isn't so!!
Oh, and the Sun came up in the East today.

[Ted S.]

Ah, but it is so.

[Lord Humungus]

City in Mexico postulates a cat as candidate for mayor.
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-984006

With the campaign slogan of "Xalapa Without Rats" a new player has appeared in the electoral field today. The state of Veracruz is preparing for the upcoming local elections, to be held on July 7th, and in a show of tiredness and lack of belief in the official candidates, two young men have proposed a cat named Morris as the citizen's candidate. Morris says he promises to do what other politicians do, which is sleep and do nothing. He has also stated that while he also messes up, he at least has the decency to cover up his mess and not leave it laying around where people can step on it. Curiously enough, Morris now has more likes on his Facebook page than three of the four main candidates in the running, and is expected to overcome the candidate for PRI in a short time. This internet sensation is being covered by state, local, and national media, and is a way for the population to express their frustration at their elected officials.

[generic Brand]

"Morris" doesn't sound very Spanish... are we sure he's even eligible to hold office?

[Lord Humungus]

birth certificate!

[Bardas Phocas]

What are you? Somekind of Birther?

[PS]

You have to roll the Rs when you say it.

[Eduard van Haalen]

So will he spend his time sitting in a big chair, stroking a Bond villain which he holds in his lap?

[Matrix]

Precision rifle costs $27,500, but allows even inexperienced shooters to hit targets 1000 yards away
So, you have a better chance of hitting your target instead of hitting something or someone else that isn't your target. I'm sure the gun-banners would love technology to be readily available, right?... RIGHT? And they certainly wouldn't be going into a frenzy about how horrible this thing is.

[Warty]

Fuck, dude. For $27,500, I'd rather just put it in the bank and save up to buy myself a fucking Ma Deuce.

[John]

No shit. For that kind of money it better come with a Czech super model to service it and you and provide you lessons.

[some guy]

Given microprocessor and 3-D printing tech, I'm sure someone will get the price down by an order of magnitude within a couple of years.

[Lord Humungus]

we can print Czech super models? sign me up!

[some guy]

One day. One day....

[Rasilio]

Well in the 80's they had the ability to print Kelly LeBrock so really this is just overdue

[AlexInCT]

Warty: I never toss off! I never toss off! (while doing manual excercise with both hands that resemble tossing off)

[LTC(ret) John]

You should have said you wanted one of those before I retired, Warty!

[Warty]

Dammit! Well, could you, like, reenlist real quick and steal me some?

[Pope Jimbo]

I'm not sure what the list on this beauty is, but it is scary enough to get the banners all excited.

After all no one needs an assault stick.

[Matrix]

Time to ban assault candy bars!
Woman pretends candy bar is gun in store robberies
Banning candy bars... Bloomberg must be soiling himself with excitement.

[thom]

Hopefully nobody pulls something like this on an airplane. I'd hate to have to pay airport prices for candy bars.

[some guy]

Or just ban everything cylindrical. All objects must be spheres or squares!

[LTC(ret) John]

But a sphere could be a bomb or a grenade!!1!1!

[invisible furry hand]

"what are you giving him a bomb for?"

[some guy]

Fuck, you're right. Just ban everything.

[DontShootMe]

nah, he'd be soiling himself with excrement.

[kibby]

I've heard the two are one & the same for him.

[Bobarian]

Excrement can be used to make a bomb...

Ban Bloomberg?

[Rich]

The controversial filmmaker whose crude Internet trailer was wrongly blamed by the White House for sparking last year's deadly Benghazi attack vowed to finish his movie

Allow me:

What difference, at this point, does it make?

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember when it was all Nakoula Bessley Nakoula's fault?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ariel Castro faces 329 charges in relation to the kidnapping and false imprisonment of three young women in a Cleveland home.

It seems kind of pointless to overcharge on this one.

[John]

This is one time were a little police corruption would do some justice. Can't they leave him unattended with a few inmates waiting to go to the state pen and have nothing to lose?

[some guy]

The ultimate test of the Rule of Law is how society treats the most obvious villains.

[John]

I think we have failed that test in so many cases, failing it one time in this case won't do any marginal harm.

[some guy]

Stay good, John. Stay good.

[Agammamon]

No, there is no time when a little police corruption is worth it.

"Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!"

[mnarayan]

If something's worth doing, it's worth doing right.

[Ted S.]

They're overcharging because fuck you, that's why.

[gaijin]

Tough on crime!

[DJF]

The government did not go to all the trouble to create all those laws just so they would not use them.

Plus just think of all the overtime they could charge the taxpayers just on the paperwork alone.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

The part that confuses me is the 177 counts of kidnapping but only 139 counts of rape. I'd venture a guess that he raped the three girls more than 139 times in 10 years, but he only kidnapped each of them once.

Maybe one of our resident lawyers can explain why they are charging him like this.

[tarran]

They're only charging him for the crimes committed in the first few years of the girls' captivity.

They are also charging him one count of kidnapping for each girl-day of imprisonment.

[some guy]

They are also charging him one count of kidnapping for each girl-day of imprisonment.

Why not one count for every girl-hour, or every girl-second? This makes no sense. Oh, right, it has to do with the law.

[Loki]

They are also charging him one count of kidnapping for each girl-day of imprisonment.

The math doesn't work out. They were imprisoned for something like 10 years or more, so wouldn't that be ~3,650 * 3 girls = ~10,950? Seems like 177 counts would only acount for the first few months.

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

What about the cops who ignored the neighbor's claim that men were walking naked women around on leashes in Castro's backyard? Are they at least being given more training so that maybe they can recognize a potential fucking crime?

[Fate]

I have walked naked women on leashes around my house. I would not fucking appreciate the fuzz showing up and demanding an explanation of my sex life.

[tarran]

I strongly suspect the women who were claiming that were lying.

[Jerryskids]

While I'm glad to see Castro being charged with illegal imprisonment of somebody, it's several generations late and about 15 million charges short of being close to enough.

[Agammamon]

It just seems ridiculous that the prosecutor could come up with 100 + charges per victim.

Me, I'm thinking kidnapping and rape (and lesser included charge of sexual assault), add in some assault and battery and boom! let's get to court.

I can only imagine the pettiness of the rest of the charges - maybe some exceeding the occupancy limits for a single family dwelling, violating zoning ordinances, corrupting children, unauthorized modifications to a home on the historical register.

[John]

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who was thrown in jail after a YouTube trailer for his movie was blamed for the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, says he wants to finish the anti-Islamic film, Innocence of Muslims.

Sure. Maybe it will allow Obama to blame the NSA scandal on the film.

[RBS]

I never saw the trailer. Is it actually anti-islamic, like fuck those dirty muslims anti-islamic, or does it just not portray them as the peace loving moderates the MSM would like?

[John]

It is not 'anti-Muslim". It is anti-Islam in the sense that it claims Muhammad was a fraud. It is just a less well done version of what people like Bill Maher do to Christianity every day.

[RBS]

Got it, that's pretty much what I thought.

[tarran]

It is not 'anti-Muslim". It is anti-Islam in the sense that it claims Muhammad was a fraud.

Sooo kind of like South Park then?

[invisible furry hand]

why deny yourself? It's breathtakingly crappy. Get some friends and popcorn* and rip on it.

* not much. It isn't very long

[BigT]

You just can't buy publicity like this. Nakoula will cash in big time due to Susan Rice, Hillary, and Obummer. Wow.

[Eduard van Haalen]

I hope he gets a good director this time.

[Lord Humungus]

your daily dose of Boing Boing:

Austerity: the greatest bait-and-switch in history
http://boingboing.net/2013/06/.....ait-a.html

That burden now takes the form of a global turn to austerity, the policy of reducing domestic wages and prices to restore competitiveness and balance the budget. The problem, according to political economist Mark Blyth, is that austerity is a very dangerous idea. First of all, it doesn't work. As the past four years and countless historical examples from the last 100 years show, while it makes sense for any one state to try and cut its way to growth, it simply cannot work when all states try it simultaneously: all we do is shrink the economy. In the worst case, austerity policies worsened the Great Depression and created the conditions for seizures of power by the forces responsible for the Second World War: the Nazis and the Japanese military establishment.

the comments burn...

[John]

the policy of reducing domestic wages and prices

So wages are set by the government and or dependent on government spending? That is so stupid it doesn't even qualify as wrong.

[tarran]

Boing Boing on economics is about as hilariously wrong as Khomeni's edicts on chicken fucking.

[gaijin]

political economist

What more needs to be said?

[l0b0t]

"...worsened the Great Depression and created the conditions for seizures of power by the forces responsible for the Second World War: the Nazis and the Japanese military establishment."

Uhh... what? In Germany, the NSDAP won electoral victories because opposition parties were more interested in fighting amongst themselves than presenting a common front. In Japan, the Mejii Restoration took place in 1868 (well before the Great depression) with the reestablishment of the emperor over the Tokugawa Shogunate.

[John]

And the UK got out of the depression in the 30s. And Musollini took over Italy in the 1920s.

[Rrabbit]

The NSDAP had a coalition partner, the nationalist, anti-semitic, conservative DNVP. NSDAP and DNVP combined gained a majority in the March 1933 elections.

[Anonymous Coward]

austerity policies worsened the Great Depression and created the conditions for seizures of power by the forces responsible for the Second World War: the Nazis and the Japanese military establishment.

Indebtedness to France, hyperinflation, and a large group disgruntled war veterans leads to Nazis?

I would never have guessed that is how austerity works.

We should bomb France, just to be on the safe side.

[Irish]

Are they really arguing that people cut spending in the Great Depression? When did these Great Depression spending cuts occur?

[The Late P Brooks]

Police in Boulder say entering homes when the doors are left unlocked is standard operating procedure. "Failure to do so creates liability," a police spokesperson said

WTF?

[John]

Sadly, it would. People sue the city for cops failing to bail their asses out all of the time. One of the biggest reasons why university cops are such assholes about public drunkenness is their lawyers tell them to be. The fist time they let some kid off who then goes off and hurts himself, the parents will be suing the shit out of the university for not saving their little snowflake from himself.

Another example of the millions of how over broad liability laws cause harm.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

How can there be liability for failing to exercise a duty one does not have?

[John]

Cops are not like ordinary citizens. They have a duty to save. And the argument would be that they should have known the person inside was in trouble and thus acted on their duty.

I am not saying it makes any sense. I am just saying the city is not totally out in left field being concerned over liability.

[robc]

They have a duty to save

The courts have ruled the exact opposite.

[?Ex Nihilo?]

They have a duty to save.

I thought the US Supreme's ruled that they didn't?

[John]

IN most states they do. Most states have laws that give cops a duty to both arrest for crimes committed in their presence and save someone in danger in their presence. The laws were passed specifically so people can sue cities whose cops don't save them.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

... save someone in danger in their presence

Which is like someone behind a closed, if unlocked, door exactly how?

[John]

Duty of care. The cops get there, they have been called, no one answers the door. The door is unlocked. If they just go home and don't go in and someone is in there dying, they will get sued to hell.

Cops can't just go around checking doors to see of they are unlocked. But if they have been called to the house or have a reason to be there, they can go in an unlocked door.

[tarran]

See the case in Canada where they were called for shots fired, didn't investigate, and the shooting victim wasn't found until days later (and died on her way to the hospital).

[Eduard van Haalen]

Canada? What about Cleveland?

(I'm not saying it's a open-door situation.)

[?Ex Nihilo?]

they have been called

If that had been the case, you would have an point, but that is not the case here.

[Agammamon]

Actually it sort of is the case - the first officer in the house was there about some sort of legal trouble the woman was in.

(I'm assuming) he found the door open, investigated, and left his card.

I don't know why the second cop (following up on that visit) would have felt the need to investigate *again*, except that its SOP.

[Bobarian]

I feel I'm in danger every time I'm in the presence of a police officer...

so save me by going away?

[Live Free or Diet]

Cops are not like ordinary citizens. They have a duty to save.

Nope: Warren v DC. A lot of other court decisions going back across most of the 20th century said the same thing.

[John]

http://assets.wne.edu/160/17_note_Tort_Law.pdf

And legislatures went through in the 1980s and changed that case law. Municpalities have a particular duty to arrest, especially in drunkenness and DUI cases.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Duty to arrest for a crime committed is not the same thing as the duty to protect from some random crime, but I suspect you know that.

[John]

Duty to arrest for a crime committed is not the same thing as the duty to protect from some random crime, but I suspect you know that.

I don't even know what the duty to protect from a random crime is. If they have a reason to be there and the door is unlocked, they can come in.

[Agammamon]

Well, I would say no. Unless their reason for being there is to serve a warrant or they have *normal* PC or actual evidence of exigent circumstances (I'm cool with *anyone breaking my door down to save my life).

Personally, simply finding a door open is (IMO) sufficient reason to come by, knock, and stick your head in (after announcing yourself) but not enough reason to come moseying through the place.

[mad libertarian guy]

Cops are not like ordinary citizens.

You go that right.

They have a duty to save.

No they don't. SCOTUS has ruled the exact opposite.

[wareagle]

juries don't see "a duty one does not have." They see "the cop should have done something and since he didn't, this terrible thing happened so it has to be the cop's fault."

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Why would juries see that in this instance but then fail to convict cops of murdering people? That makes no sense.

[WTF]

Well, juries rarely are brought cases of cops murdering people, since the other cops and the prosecutors cover for them and generally will not bring charges.

[Zeb]

But leaving a door unlocked is not something that a person generally needs to be bailed out from. And isn't checking to see if the door is unlocked trespassing anyway?

[Adam330]

Please link to a single case of such a lawsuit succeeding against a public police department. There are zero. The liability bit is bull.

[John]

http://www.ohiolegalservices.o.....t-response

Here is a short list of cases. Google municipal liability for failure to arrest or save and you will find others.

[?Ex Nihilo?]

John,

Those (that I looked at) all share the same fact: the police were called and did not help. In none of the cases did the police just show up and then leave.

Police Failure To Take Action Causes Police To Be Liable

Police failure to take action when decedent took all necessary steps to put police department on notice of her husbands violation of a plenary order of protection could cause police to be liable; Illinois Domestic Violence Act imposes affirmative duty on police to investigate and respond to complaints. Sneed v. Howell, 716 N.E.2d 336 (Ill. App. 1999).

Police officers Liable For Delaying Entrance Into Victims Home

Court found that police officers violated deceased victims civil rights when they delayed their entrance into the victims home although aware that victim was being abused by husband; city and officers liable for pain and suffering of family. Didzerekis v. Stewart, 41 F. Supp 2d 840(1999).

[Adam330]

Every one of these is failure to enforce a court order of some kind (usually a domestic violence restraining order). I.e. the police had a "special duty." None are remotely similar to the Boulder case, where there is no special duty.

[Zeb]

And there should certainly be no special duty to actively seek out unlocked doors.

Except when I was in college I have never lived anywhere where I did lock my doors, so maybe I'm missing something. But it seems to me that if a person leaves their door unlocked, that's their own damn business.

[Rich]

I confused.

Do the police have the technology to know if a door is *unlocked*?

[Auric Demonocles]

Yup. It's called a hand.

[Restoras]

Is there any law against rigging an open door with a booby-trap? Tiger pit? Punji stakes? A swinging sledgehammer?

[tarran]

Yes. It is against the law to set deadly traps. Or rather it's a gray area.

[LTC(ret) John]

Every law school features the case of the little old Iowa farm couple who were prosecuted for leaving a spring gun in one of their buildings that was constantly being burglarized.

It is supposed to get you riled up and then still be able to dispassionately analyze the fact pattern. Just makes me despise the State even more.

[John]

The prohibition against traps goes back to the English common law. The idea is that the trap can't distinguish between a criminal and an innocent party. I tend to agree with that prohibition. I am all for deadly force in the defense of property. But I think you ought to be the one doing it not a trap.

[Clich? Bandit]

Stated in another way, the trap can no be held responsible and a person can. Rights come attached with an inherent responsibility. No responsibility no right. Booby traps and land mines both are against the principles of basic natural rights. This is not to defend the crime of trespass, but the crime of trespass should not unilaterally carry the death penalty.

[Lord Humungus]

'A wife's consent to donate sperm? That's sexist and absurd,' says a male writer who believes it's a man's body, a man's choice
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....riter.html

A British woman is campaigning for the legal right to veto her husband's choice to donate sperm, it has emerged.

The unidentified complainant says her partner volunteered samples of his semen to a registered clinic after becoming stressed by the birth of their child, reported MailOnline.

Disgruntled, the mother-of-one from Surrey has contacted the Human Fertilisation And Embryology Authority, arguing that women across the UK should be able to deny their spouse's free will on the matter - because sperm is a 'marital asset'.

[Zeb]

her partner volunteered samples of his semen to a registered clinic after becoming stressed by the birth of their child

What does the one thing have to do with the other? Is there some special stress relieving aspect to donating sperm that you don't get from regular masturbation?

[Bardas Phocas]

The clinical setting really helps.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

If they pay you for the donations, I'd say yes.

[Brett L]

Only place he could find 5 quiet minutes.

[Virginian]

It's already illegal in some US states for a man to get a vasectomy without his wife's permission.

[Auric Demonocles]

If that's true, I assume women have to get consent from their husband before getting an abortion.

[WTF]

No - women have rights, men have responsiblities.

[The DerpRider]

Yep. The law in Michigan. I was at the doctor for the big 40th checkup and we discussed getting clipped. He said my wife would have to sign off and I thought he was shitting me.

[Ted S.]

British English hyphenates "mother of one" now? God they've fucked up our language.

[Rich]

Mother-of-God!

[LTC(ret) John]

Mother-of-pearl!

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Uh, you might not want to go by the Mail on that.

[DJF]

Are sperm donors in Britain liable for the children they father? If so then she might have a point since he would be giving away jointly owned wealth in child support without her consent.

Another reason why marriage should be a private affair with each couple arranging a contract to suit them. Not a government contract that the government can change whenever they want.

[Agammamon]

Shouldn't have any more say in that than if the guy goes out and has an affair and knocks up his mistress.

[Agammamon]

Sure, just as soon as we get the right to veto abortions.

[PS]

A White House petition is urging a pardon for Snowden, while Chinese internet users want their government to protect him.

How ilonic.

[invisible furry hand]

Meet a black hipster Juggalo

http://www.vice.com/en_au/read.....er-juggalo

[Ted S.]

Why??

[LTC(ret) John]

What Ted said.

[Lord Humungus]

A British Television Host Took the Photo Used in the NSA PRISM Logo
http://gawker.com/a-british-te.....-512093707

The logo for PRISM?the huge NSA data-mining operation revealed by The Guardian and The Washington Post on Thursday?features a photo by Adam Hart-Davis, a writer, photographer and television presenter in the UK.

As anyone who's looked at the PRISM PowerPoint presentation can tell you, NSA doesn't have much in the way of design sense. They apparently don't have much of a budget, either, given that they seem to have stumbled on Hart-Davis' prism photo?offered for free, at low resolution, along with other science-related photos?and decided it was good enough for their uses. (The photo had previously been described as "clip art.")

[some guy]

Every dollar they spend on making pretty slides is a dollar they can't spend reading your emails.

[Virginian]

Star Wars links

http://www.everydaynodaysoff.c.....x-holster/

http://www.nbcdfw.com/entertai.....96861.html

[invisible furry hand]

California vintners are putting weed in their wine

http://www.vice.com/en_au/read.....their-wine

[Rich]

Well, it's illegal to put *caffeine* in it!

[Eduard van Haalen]

Just so long as isn't put in a large soda cup.

[John]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/n.....t-week.php

Merkel to bring up NSA eavesdropping when meeting with Obama next week. More of that smart diplomacy. He really is dirtier than Nixon and dumber than Carter. Obama is the perfect storm of mendacity, malice, incompetence, and stupidity. But he makes up for it by being fanatically dogmatic about a completely discredited ideology.

[Rich]

"So, zen, vas dis I heeya abot ze NSA, Barack?"

[Ted S.]

He really is dirtier than Nixon

THAT'S RACIST!!!!!

[Ice Nine]

Joe Biden begs to differ.

[crashland]

and he's a dick

[PS]

Finished House of Cards last night. Highly recommended.

[RBS]

I finished it Sunday night. I second this recommendation. What did you think about the characters? I hate them all except the recovering prostitute.

[RBS]

I finished it Sunday night. I second this recommendation. What did you think about the characters? I hate them all except the recovering prostitute.

[PS]

As John Cleese pointed out about Fawlty Towers, you can have a protagonist that most people would hate in real life be a sympathetic person people root for in a comedy. But this can be true in a drama also, especially a wry drama like HoC. So I like Kevin Spacey's character even though he's a complete bastard, plus Kevin Spacey is always fun to watch.

[invisible furry hand]

any of you also seen the UK original?

[PS]

I haven't, no.

[invisible furry hand]

it's pretty droll. Ian Richardson was fantastic. Got the US version queued up and am hoping it does the story justice

[Bardas Phocas]

I watched the first two seasons of it. The Francis character is even more evil, but a little two demensional. His wife has a smaller part and isn't as conflicted - in fact she's even eviler than her husband. There is more deus-ex-machina plot holes but is interesting for it's view of the monarchy.

The best is where, in all the outdoor, cityscape pans, you get some rats running around in the foreground - on a rooftop or in a gutter. It's not a subtle show and less complex than the yank one.

[PS]

Spacey does come across as a bit too sinister for the popular politician he's supposed to be.

[RBS]

It makes sense though. The DNC and the leadership love him because he's ruthless and his constituents love him, presumably, because he brings home the pork and since he never spends anytime in his district they don't notice or care as long as they get what they need/want.

[PS]

The most unrealistic aspect to it is, in my mind, that actual DC politicians aren't nearly smart enough to be that devious and Machiavellian.

[RBS]

Kevin Spacey is excellent. I'm ready for season two.

[Spoonman.]

IT IS AWESOME

And yes, all the characters are scum. I had some sympathy for the alcoholic congressman.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

David Brooks psychoanalyzes Snowden, and no, it's neither pretty nor surprising, but it is crazy-making:

If you live a life unshaped by the mediating institutions of civil society, perhaps it makes sense to see the world a certain way: Life is not embedded in a series of gently gradated authoritative structures: family, neighborhood, religious group, state, nation and world. Instead, it's just the solitary naked individual and the gigantic and menacing state.

Why does it never dawn on him that perhaps some people don't find anything "gentle" about the gradation of authoritative structure he outlines?

[Virginian]

No you stupid bint. See, we're all wrapped in a cozy blanket of authority, which swaddles us all like little children.

[db]

+2+2=?

[LTC(ret) John]

5, Winston.

[Lord Humungus]

gee, I had stable, married parents with no abuse. I also grew up in a fairly boring place with a close community, churches and a fairly clean government. But I still despise those institutions that use their powers in immoral ways.

[Warty]

I'm beginning to suspect that maybe Brooksie is not very smart. Maybe. Perhaps. Kind of.

[John]

Holy shit. In other words, Libertarians are clinically insane because they live their lives disconnected from the collective. Brooks manages to get worse every year.

[Slammer]

And it doesn't strike David Brooks that if someone analyzed HIM they would say, "Jesus, this guy sees the entirety of society as a series of fucking gradated authoritative structures? That guy is fucked up!"

[John]

Or that maybe he has some kind of issues with his parents or childhood that makes him terrified of personal autonomy?

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Yeah, they never cut the cord.

[Warty]

But Big Brother is not the only danger facing the country. Another is the rising tide of distrust, the corrosive spread of cynicism, the fraying of the social fabric and the rise of people who are so individualistic in their outlook that they have no real understanding of how to knit others together and look after the common good.

This is not a danger Snowden is addressing. In fact, he is making everything worse.

What?

He betrayed the cause of open government. Every time there is a leak like this, the powers that be close the circle of trust a little tighter. They limit debate a little more.

Holy shit, what?

He betrayed the privacy of us all. If federal security agencies can't do vast data sweeps, they will inevitably revert to the older, more intrusive eavesdropping methods.

Holy shit, what???

He betrayed the Constitution. The founders did not create the United States so that some solitary 29-year-old could make unilateral decisions about what should be exposed.

ASHDLFASJDHFIAWEHTASDF?????

[PS]

It's completely off the rails. But most of all, I was surprised by some of the people who praised it.

[generic Brand]

Oh man, I needed that wake up laugh. Stay you, David Brooks. Never change.

[John]

He betrayed the Constitution. The founders did not create the United States so that some solitary 29-year-old could make unilateral decisions about what should be exposed.

What does the Constitution have to do with this? Is violating any law now a betrayal of the Constitution?

[RBS]

I'm pretty sure the founders didn't create the United States to a massive surveillance state either.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Damn, Warty, I didn't even make it that for. His insanity is so fertile.

[some guy]

The very fact that we are having a heated debate about this issue is proof that we need to be having a serious debate about this issue.

[alan_s]

He loved Big Brother.

[Loki]

The founders did not create the United States so that some solitary 29-year-old could make unilateral decisions about what should be exposed.

Brooksie, you infantile twat, you have no idea what the founders created the United States for. I'm pretty sure it wasn't so that the government could go trawl through everyone's phone records because FYTW either. Asshat.

[Warty]

And, of course, that pile of shit had comments.

Andrea W.West Windsor, NJ
Point taken, Mr. Brooks. But that Snowden is a libertarian says it all. We will all suffer now for the actions of a high minded right wing anarchist.
June 11, 2013 at 9:20 a.m.RECOMMENDED1

Jack AubertFalls Church
Excellent commentary, David. Whatever else this was, it was a betrayal. A betrayal of oath, a betrayal of trust and there can be no honor in a betrayal. The only good thing you can say about Snowon is that he is not a coward: he stood up and took responsibiity for his act. Without honor, nothing is left.
June 11, 2013 at 9:20 a.m.RECOMMENDED1

[Lord Humungus]

right wing anarchist

that's new one.

[tarran]

They really are aching to put on a red armband and start confiscating Kulak/Jew property for the state, aren't they?

[LTC(ret) John]

What, comrade, are you defending hoarders and wreckers now?!

/NKVD wannabe

[Gray Ghost]

"I believe that you personally were not guilty of anything.
But, as an educated person, you have to understand that social
prophylaxis was being widely applied!"

/Lazar Kogan, Chief of the White Sea-Baltic Canal Construction Directorate.

The fucking Gulag Archipelago is now an instructional manual. Seriously. Go through Book 1 and see how much of the bullshit that the NKVD pulled then, is similar to what goes on now.

[PS]

Anyone wonder why he didn't flee to Somalia, yet?

[alan_s]

No betrayal of trust on the NSA's part. None.

[Warty]

Jim inNJNJ near NYC
This is a really fine column by Brooks. I found so much to agree with.

Most likely, Snowdon was not just a sysadmin, but in fact a HACKER who used his skills to get to stuff he was not entitled abusing his privileges as a system administrator. I can see no reason he was hired given his lack of education, but hacking skills.

This means he did the sort of thing he says he hates for the government to do, and he decided to do them on an _individual_ basis, breaking rules of loyalty to the country, the company that hired him, to his fellow employees and family.

There is a problem in hiring hackers, yes they understand how to break into systems and break rules, but they got there by doing that.

I think Brooks article could be turned into an outline of how to hire people who are unlikely to betray the country like Snowdon did. They might be less capable, more more integrated and loyal.
June 11, 2013 at 8:43 a.m.RECOMMENDED13

[Nikki says you caddie well]

The "he made this decision as an individual" thing is so horrifying and telling. It's the exact inversion of Heilein/Prof de la Paz, "Under what circumstances is it moral for a group to do that which is not moral for a member of that group to do alone?"

[Warty]

Aside from the hideous evil of this guy's views, I liked his recommendation to only hire obedient incompetents. Please, please do.

[PS]

They'll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave and creative and unique experiment in self rule is somehow just a sham with which we can't be trusted.

[Rasilio]

"I can see no reason he was hired given his lack of education, but hacking skills."

I have seen a variation on this line in several places and am really confused by it. I work in IT and am really high level in the field and I have a total of 2 classes worth of formal education, Introduction to Computer Programming and Introduction to the Unix OS and for everything else I am self taught. Further this is true for about half of the IT pro's I know with the other half being split equally between having less than a BS, a degree in an unrelated field, or actually having a CS or IT related degree.

What does his level of education have to do with anything and is this just another Dem talking point to discredit him?

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Because lefties equate education with intelligence, competence, and worth.

When I started working for them, they all sang my praises as the best IT manager the org had ever had. They brought projects to me that the previous guys couldn't figure out and I solved the problems quickly. They would bring me into meetings just to get my opinion on something tech related... Then they found out I don't have a degree.

And the switch flipped. All of a sudden, I wasn't being consulted, they were calling in 3rd parties to deal help on projects that were simpler than the ones I had done before. Very few came to me with questions or asked for my input. It was astounding. I was the same IT manager that I was before, but now that it was known that I was uneducated, I obviously was of no use to them.

[AlexInCT]

It's not that you were uneducated. You obviously knew what you were doing before they found out you didn't have the right paper. It's about the credentialing. We live in a society that has replaced ability with credentials. Our entire political class, and frankly, most management in the private sector, consists of credentialed buffoons, and they despise anyone that might upset their world view. The stupid with the right predgree prosper while abusing and using the capable. And if you complain they will beat you the fook down. And in case the credntialed are going to get all huffy and tell me I am just jealous of their success, let me point out that I eanred a BSEE, BSAE, and a MSEE, and have seen way too many others with tons of credentials and zero valuable skills.

[mad libertarian guy]

What does his level of education have to do with anything and is this just another Dem talking point to discredit him?

Nail, meet hammer.

It's a way for college grads to wallow in their smugness.

[KDN]

Seriously. There's 13 people in my department, two have IT or CS degrees and one of those just got it a month ago because the job paid for it.

Snowden's work history mirrors that of a former roommate of mine and all his coworkers at NSA / Booz Allen, which is Navy tour followed by fat contractor paycheck. They'd rather get someone with the clearance and the work history than the scrap of paper, an idea that turns Times readers apoplectic.

[Agammamon]

My father started his career off as an accountant for his city government - over the years he's managed to shift his actual work over into IT (until now that's what he does for the accounting department) pretty much unilaterally.

He just had the interest and knowledge at a the right time to make it happen.

[Warty]

renoladyreno, nv.
People of Mr. Snowden's ilk scare me more than the actions of a government trying to protect its' citizens. The Congress and the intelligence agencies certainly have a lot more information about terrorist activities than Mr. Snowden. And for the average citizen to say that they should be consulted about counter-terrorism decisions and strategies is simply bizarre. I consider Mr. Snowden to be a traitor and I hope he is condemned as he should be. In my view, he is comparable to the Rosenbergs and others who have betrayed their nation.
June 11, 2013 at 8:07 a.m.RECOMMENDED3

Okay, no more. I have to climb back up the rabbit hole and do some work.

[alan_s]

Please! No more!

[Fate]

Warty is rather used to hearing that...

[The Late P Brooks]

Cops are not like ordinary citizens. They have a duty to save.

I think that has been debunked many times.

[John]

I don't write the law or sadly even enforce it. I just read it. And yeah, when some dipshit gets a break from the cops and then goes out and hurts himself, he will be suing the cops for not arresting him. It happens all of the time. And it is one reason why cops are such assholes and don't give people breaks like they once did. Your enlightened tort system punishes them for being human beings.

[Adam330]

Linky please.

[John]

http://assets.wne.edu/160/17_note_Tort_Law.pdf

See page 240 on this PDF talking about the Mass cases and law that imposed a duty on municipalities to arrest drunk drivers. I don't make this shit up.

[sarcasmic]

Check out Ed Snowden's girlfriend.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....roupe.html
Way too skinny for John.

[Virginian]

Not bad geek. Not bad at all.

[PS]

On Monday she took to the blog - where she has posted dozens of photos of herself semi-naked - to tell of her heartbreak.

Mills wrote: 'My world has opened and closed all at once. Leaving me lost at sea without a compass.

'As I type this on my tear-streaked keyboard I'm reflecting on all the faces that have graced my path.

'The ones I laughed with. The ones I've held. The one I've grown to love the most. And the ones I never got to bid adieu.

'But sometimes life doesn't afford proper goodbyes.'

She's so heartbroken she had to resort to writing in trite clich?s that would make a competent 12-year-old scoff.

[sarcasmic]

I'd be happy to console her. More than happy.

[Virginian]

She's lithe, flexible, and clearly insane. Not seeing the downside here.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Why insane? If you mean because she's a ballerina, then yes.

[PS]

A pole-dancing ballerina.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Glad he took that contractor's money and checked himself into a swank hotel before talking to Greenwald.

[Matrix]

So...
PS4
or
Xbox One

[Ted S.]

Neither?

[Lord at War]

The last "box" I bought was Intellivision.

Get off my fucking lawn!

[l0b0t]

For me, the only console games of interest are Nintendo properties (Mario and Zelda). My gaming is exclusively on a PC; better graphics, better controls, much faster CPU and emulators available for EVERYTHING.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I'm with you l0b0t. A PC does everything I could possibly want a gaming console to do, only better. I can upgrade a computer piece by piece to keep up with increased demand from software, consoles remain the same until the next one comes out. I don't have to worry about idiotic backwards compatibility issues. And best of all, if some dumbass company makes some DRM that is beyond the pale (I'm looking at you, EA), there are always cracks available to get rid of it.

Besides, the games I play most (FPS, RTS, Sim games, and space flight) are orders of magnitude better with a mouse and keyboard. FPS and RTS games in particular.

[np]

Definitely PS4

Official PS4 Used Game Instructional Video

[Jordan]

PS4. No online-only requirement. No used games DRM bullshit. No always-on Kinect bullshit.

[Matrix]

The NSA's Kinect, which spies on you at all times.

I really hate the part how Kinect is basically required. Plus, it will monitor how many people are watching a movie you are playing, and make you pay extra if they think you have too many people watching.

[Not Sure]

PPV means pay per viewer, right?

[Joe M]

The PS4 is clearly the winner this generation, but I'm sticking with my PC (and Wii for family games).

[Agammamon]

PC

but if you insist - previously it would have been an easy choice, Xbox. Its exclusive games are better (I never got into JPRG's and Xbox has more shooters and western RPG's).

Now, if I *had* to choose, PS4. No DRM (beyond what the game itself may come with), no online requirement, trade used games, share games, putting damn near their whole back catalog online.

[Agammamon]

Either that or keep the Xbox 360.

[sarcasmic]

Teen arrested after stripping off at former Catholic high school in 'revenge' for being bullied because she wanted to be a porn star

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-star.html
Not guilty.

[Virginian]

That's her actual goal?

OK then.

[generic Brand]

We need to end this bullying thing! What kind of world do we live in, that hot 19 year olds are bullied for wanting to become porn stars? I for one shall not stand idly by!

[Virginian]

You gotta love daddy issues.

[John]

and no tattoos. Hard to find daddy issues that don't come with tattoos and piercings.

[John]

She is not even 20 years old and already looks a bit rough and trashy. So she is well on her way to being a stripper/porn star.

[Rasilio]

I for one approve of this career choice and would gladly pirate her work off the internet

[sarcasmic]

Racy picture of a Russian teacher in her underwear goes viral after pupils find it while hacking her boyfriend's laptop looking for exam answers

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....swers.html
Guilty.

[John]

She is not even 20 years old and already looks a bit rough and trashy. So she is well on her way to being a stripper/porn star.

[sarcasmic]

Shocking video shows gay men 'being harassed by NYPD officers'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-NYPD.html
I suppose it would be shocking to someone who actually believes the police are here to serve and protect. We know better than that.

[Tonio]

And gay people should know better given our history. Should.

[Tejicano]

And just the other day I was assured by some young whippersnapper here that this stuff only happened in the 1970's.

[np]

Do you prefer getting shot or being stomped on?

Video of chengguan bully beating and stomping on victim angers Chinese
(also available in animated gif)

The chengguan are city management officers whose duties include "shutting down unlicensed businesses"

[LTC(ret) John]

chengguan = City of Elgin Municipal Code Officers?!

[sarcasmic]

Sex, drugs... and not much rock 'n' roll: How music fans who go to festivals prefer getting drunk and sleeping with strangers to listening to the bands

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....bands.html
How is this any different from Woodstock?

[invisible furry hand]

not every band is worth seeing. Last one I went to was on a stinking hot weekend (nearly 100 degrees F) and the only air-conditioning was at the bar. Which was selling cheap drinks. So after the first day dutifully seeing as many bands as possible I said "fuck it" and hung out with mates getting slightly drunk and only seeing the bands I really cared about

[sarcasmic]

Last festival I went to only had one band.

http://phish.net/faq/the-lemonwheel

[sarcasmic]

'She may look clean, but. . .' 1940s anti-STD posters warn soldiers of the 'booby trap' of disease-ridden prostitutes

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....tutes.html

[sarcasmic]

The untold truth about WWII deserters the Army tried to hide: New book reveals how gangs of AWOL GIs terrorized WWII Paris with a reign of mob-style violence

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....lence.html
But, but, but... GREATEST GENERATION!

[Ted S.]

Overpaid, oversexed, over here.

[John]

When you draft every able bodied male over the age of 18, you are going to get some real winners in the group. It is why the draft is a totally unworkable and stupid idea in the day and age of super due process and smaller, more lethal professional armies. Can you imagine the criminal element we would get if they had the draft today?

Now you know why they shot and hung so many people. They had to. It was the only way to keep any kind of discipline.

[Virginian]

The US military executed less than 150 men for crimes during WWII.

[John]

147 to be exact. And that is a lot of executions for just four years. Look at it this way, the military hasn't executed someone since the 1950s if I am not mistaken. This despite having numerous people who more than deserve the sentence.

And they also sent a lot of people on very long tours of Leavenworth.

[tarran]

I understand that there is quite the rivalry between the supply corps and crypto custodian softball teams at Leavenworth.

[Agammamon]

1961 was the last execution - though there was a near miss in 2008ish, the guy's had his execution order signed, date set and then got a stay of execution.

There are currently 7ish (male) death row inmates at Leavenworth (don't know how many female - long-term women inmates are housed in other civilian (federal) prisons).

[sarcasmic]

From the gaping jaws of a giant shark to the intricate dance of mating seahorses - the Best Underwater Photographer of the Year Competition reveals its winner

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....inner.html
Some of these are pretty cool.

[sarcasmic]

Was it a bird? A Plane? Or a UFO?? Chinese passenger jet hits mysterious object at 26,000ft and lands with severely dented nose cone

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-cone.html

[Matrix]

you think the plane is bad, you should see how I made out from that ordeal. It hurt like hell hitting that jet!

[Agammamon]

You see, he's just a man!

[sarcasmic]

Former New Mexico cop on trial for murdering his wife and making making it look like a suicide

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

[Lord Humungus]

The Chill Factor: Investigative Reporter Talks US Covert Wars and National Secrets
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/po.....05856.html

Scahill, who investigated the United States' covert operations in the war against terrorism in a new documentary, "Dirty Wars," told Top Line in an interview recorded prior to the most recent NSA leaks that sources inside the government have grown fearful of talking to the media.

"Many sources that I used to be able to talk to through encrypted e-mail or with chats using OTR, off the record software, they won't do it anymore," Scahill said. "It's either in person or nothing. ? There's a real fear on the part of whistleblowers and sources that the Espionage Act is going to come knocking on their door one day under the Noble Peace Prize-winning, Constitutional law professor, Democratic president."

[Loki]

one resident whose house was entered while she wasn't home says she'd rather take her chances with getting murdered or held hostage than know cops can come in whenever she leaves her door open.

Seems like getting murdered or held hostage is a very real possibility anytime cops enter your house.

[sarcasmic]

Boulder cops are Grade-A statist shitbags.

[Loki]

Of course. "People's Republics" tend to be oppressive police states, oppressive police states tend to attract statist shitbags to their police force.

[Don Mynack]

Farm Bill:

Rand Paul voted no. Susan Collins voted yes. All you need to know, really.

[Mike M.]

Master Sergeant Nathan Sommers, 25 year U.S. Army veteran and highly respected member of the Army Band, is being persecuted for not sufficiently worshipping Block Yomomma and his far left agenda.

[John]

I am not sure about that one. He may be a shit bag who is looking for sympathy. My guess is that both he and his boss probably are being children here. Regardless, i would be surprised if this is all to the story.

[Mike M.]

As far as I know he had a completely spotless, honorable, and meritorious service record. It was certainly good enough for him to serve with distinction for 25 years. Now he's suddenly being brought up on these little penny-ante charges out of nowhere, like mistakenly reporting the wrong date for an appointment? Yeah, OK.

Note to all servicemembers: reading Mark Levin and eating Chick-Fil-A sandwiches are now crimes in the new America, so be very, very careful or you do around others or you'll suffer the same fate.

[John]

He should turn down the Article 15 and demand trial by court martial. No way would a panel ever kick him out for that. If he is guilty of said penny anti charges, just plead as much to whatever is in fact true. But make the command work for it. My guess is, they would never bring him to trial.

[Agammamon]

He may not have the option to refuse art 15 - depends on whether or not the Army band is considered a "deployable" unit or not.

Granted all my experience with this is from a navy perspective but being stationed on a combatant meant that you didn't have the right to refuse art 15 - you could request a CM but that request could be denied.

[Agammamon]

Heck, as an E -6 I didn't need to tell my boss about appointments and an E-8 would find it insulting that his boss didn't trust him enough that this would be required.

If he's getting hit on this sort of thing either his work performance is so shite they're trying to get rid of him (and with no paper-trail that would mean that it took a precipitous nosedive in the last year) or its retaliation for some other slight that they can't *officially* hit him on.

[Slammer]

Mark Levin is all over that story

[sarcasmic]

From what I could tell his boss went all nit-picky on him once dude made it known that he was not going to apologize for being an intolerant conservative.

So all his boss did was display tolerance.

What's the big deal?

[generic Brand]

We pay someone for 25 years to be a member of the Army Band? That is retarded.

[Virginian]

Nothing to cut!

[invisible furry hand]

death by drum solo is the army's secret weapon

[Mike M.]

The guy is actually a great singer. Good enough to have the honor of singing Amazing Grace at Betty Ford's Memorial Service less than two years ago.

[Agammamon]

Not just pay them - offer early promotion and special pay for the job.

Because, yah know, flautists can pull so much money in the civilian world we have to pay extra to get that kind of talent.

[Sevo]

"Jay Carney Insists Barack Obama No George Bush"
I'm supposed to feel good about that?

[mad libertarian guy]

I'm supposed to feel good about that?

Especially when it could be argued that Carney is right, but only because Obama is worse than Bush.

[mad libertarian guy]

A most applicable song.

Meshuggah: The Demon's Name is Surveillance

Mechanical compound eye
Imposed observance. Sentries in the sky
Vigilant lenses. Objectives belied
In blackened heavens covertly they hide

They see you. They see all. They know all indiscretions
Compiler of your dreams, your indignations
Following your every single move
They see you

All-seeing instrument. Supreme perception
Omnifocal accumulator
Thief of integrity. Its gaze upon the blind
Information divinity by man designed

The lives of all they occupy. Their eyes in dismal gloom
The all-piercing, dead oculi - mirrors of our doom
Oblivious to the trespass as you gaze into the black
The demon of surveillance insultingly staring back
- Into you

They own your every secret, your life is in their files
The grains of your every waking second sifted through and scrutinized
They know your every right. They know your every wrong
Each put in their due compartment - sins where sins belong

They know you. They see all. They know all indiscretions
Compiler of your dreams, your indignations
Following your every single move
They know you

The total surveillance state, indefinite detention, and drone killings are as scary as government gets. Yet, despite the evidence now seeing light, to the chagrin of those in govt who'd love to continue to violate our rights in secret, I'm apparently just a tin foil hat wearing tea bagger.

[BakedPenguin]

Or go old school with Judas Priest.

[Solanum]

I'm sure this has already been posted.

Off-duty cops collect DNA samples at Alabama roadblocks

According to Lt. Freddie Turrentine with the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department, drivers were asked to voluntarily offer samples of their saliva and blood for a study being conducted by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.

The drivers were compensated for their samples.

[db]

What was the cooperation rate?

[ant1sthenes]

I suppose it's better than the stories where cops deposit DNA samples

[Sevo]

SF decides elderly care is too cheap, moves to make it pricier:
"Today, Board of Supervisors President David Chiu is introducing a proposed ballot measure for family-friendly workplace rules that, while unlikely to reverse family flight on their own, would once again put San Francisco at the vanguard of a public policy debate."
Yes, Chiu is an ignorant lefty.
http://blog.sfgate.com/cityins.....ork-rules/

[John]

Chiu's legislation, modeled on similar measures in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, would grant employees who are parents or caregivers a "right to request" a flexible work schedule, like telecommuting, job sharing, working part time or adjusting their start time.

Because making it more expensive to employ people with families is just the thing to do if you want to attract said families to live in your area. Wow.

[Virginian]

SF doesn't want the wrong sorts. No breeders, no blacks, no households with less then 90,000 annual income.

All their municipal policies are designed to push out the wrong sorts of people.

[John]

San Fransisco once had a very significant and vibrant black community. That community is now all but gone. If that had happened in say Atlanta, there would be any number of media stories about the sad history of racism continuing. It happening in San Fransisco is just bad luck I guess.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

This is normally a very silly web comic, but sometimes it is extremely spot on.

http://www.smbc-comics.com/ind.....3005#comic

It's bad when the silly comics get poignant.