Snowden Sends Asylum Requests to Six More Countries, Morsi Supporters Killed by Soldiers, Libertarians Not Happy With Gov. Walker's Budget: P.M. Links

Credit: AndyLindgren/wikimedia

• According to Wikileaks Edward Snowden has sent asylum requests to six more countries.

• Earlier today troops shot at pro-Morsi demonstrators, killing at least three. The leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has demanded that Morsi be reinstated as president.

• Libertarian-leaning members of the GOP are not pleased with the budget Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed over the weekend, which they see as another example of government growing itself.

• In the wake of the Supreme Court's recent rulings on DOMA and Prop. 8 gay activists and their supporters are looking to overturn Florida's ban on same-sex marriage.

• Thanks to the dwindling supply of drugs needed to carry out lethal injections Missouri may reintroduce gas chambers for executions.

• Republicans are having a tough time tracking down Marine Corps Col. George Bristol, who was in the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) chain of command during the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in September last year. Bristol has retired and therefore cannot be compelled to testify before Congress.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

According to Wikileaks Edward Snowden has sent asylum requests to six more countries.

It's good to have safety schools.

[Pro Libertate]

Surely some nation, somewhere would take him in. Bhutan? A Somalian warlord?

[Fist of Etiquette]

"The great country of Somalia, this gem, this Shangri-la, graciously invites the whistleblower to enjoy safe lodging and cool ocean breezes on the sandswept beaches."

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, something like that. Even Somalia has to beat some dank cell, where extraordinary means are used to question him.

[BakedPenguin]

Someone mentioned Belarus, which I thought was a reasonable guess. Lukashenko couldn't give 2 shits what the US thinks, and were I Snowden, I might welcome a country where I could actually trade up GF-wise even after all that's gone on.

[Brett L]

I heard the hot Russian spy chick offered him asylum in her bed.

[Ball-sac]

That was me. Snowden has a droog in me.

[BakedPenguin]

The one thing against it is while Luka might not care what the US thinks of him, he sure as hell cares what the US might do to him.

After all, we're still the country that will kill you in your sleep on Christmas, only now we do it for bullshit reasons instead of for freedom.

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, yeah, forgot about that. Sorry about the Christmas slaughter, British cousins.

[BakedPenguin]

Brett - I could think of worse fates. Too bad Putin obviously doesn't want him in Russia.

[MWG]

Pretty shitty state of affairs when Americans are longing for refuge in Putin's Russia.

[Paul.]

No one has mentioned Vatican City?

[Ball-sac]

Dammit, read my shit, will you? I'm fucking taking cartography courses to chart this guy's safe passage...

[Pro Libertate]

Somewhere, down below, yes. That's my vote, for the record.

[Paul.]

Yes, I saw it as I read downthread. Jesus... not all of us wait out in front of the sidewalk of every H&R blogpost bursting through the door the moment it opens. We can't all be Fist of Etiquette.

Sue me... I'm late, and slow.

[jesse.in.mb]

Wait, we're not all FoE, I totally thought we were all manifestations of his subconscious. SugarFree is clearly his Id.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Not as soon as the meds kick in.

[juneharman36]

my classmate's step-sister makes $80/hr on the laptop. She has been out of a job for nine months but last month her paycheck was $13897 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Go to this web site and read more..... http://www.CNN13.Com

[NeonCat]

Does she have a place for Snowden to crash?

[A Serious Man]

Libertarian-leaning members of the GOP are not pleased with the budget Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed over the weekend, which they see as another example of government growing itself.

But I thought Walker was a Koch-funded ALEC patsy that was shrinking government down to Somalian levels?

[Aresen]

I'd like to find a state that passed a budget that DID please me.

[Paul.]

Somalia does every year.

[Silver Fox]

"As the dude in charge of this country's purse strings, I'm pleased to announce that we will not be increasing the road budget this year..."

[Jerryskids]

"A conservative is supposed to decrease the size of government," Welch said.

What planet is Welch from where conservatives do anything more than talk about decreasing the size of government?

And Libertarians haven't fared well in recent Wisconsin statewide elections. Ed Thompson, former Gov. Tommy Thompson's brother, took 11 percent of the vote in the 2002 gubernatorial election...

11% is not enough to elect a Libertarian, but it damn sure is enough to influence the rhetoric - if not the substance - of an election.

And ....such a large document never gives everybody 100 percent of what they want, but that's part of the democratic process of compromise.

Is it a better strategy to go into a negotiation with a statement that you're going to be happy getting 50% of what you ask for or a statement that you won't settle for anything less than 200% of what you (secretly) are willing to settle for?

Overall, this article gives me some hope that we are going to get these issues out in the open for once. I'm not holding my breath that libertarian ideas are going to get any more support than they've ever gotten, but at least they may get a fair argument.

[Homple]

"Is it a better strategy to go into a negotiation with a statement that you're going to be happy getting 50% of what you ask for or a statement that you won't settle for anything less than 200% of what you (secretly) are willing to settle for?"

Depends on how much leverage you have in the negotiation. Libertarians have very little, if any, political clout, so it matters little what you want.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...supporters are looking to overturn Florida's ban on same-sex marriage.

Not in America's wang you don't!

[Brett L]

Gentlemen, I leave this here to spark your imaginations. I'm off to my bunk!

[A Serious Man]

Korean girls are beautiful and that one actually has some curves to her. Good find Brett.

[Brett L]

I would like to have her lead me through some rhythmic gymnastics, yes.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

That's a beautiful woman right there. Wow.

[Auric Demonocles]

I am very confused by the physics of this.

[Paul.]

The guy on the left at 00:23 mirrored my reaction exactly.

[Mad Scientist]

another example of government growing itself

So...cancer.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Bristol has retired and therefore cannot be compelled to testify before Congress.

Come on, Colonel. Just go in front of them and lie. It will be fun to watch them not do anything about it.

[Brett L]

Umm. I was unaware the US citizens had to be enrolled in the military to be subpoenaed. I'm sure Lois Lerner is very surprised to hear this.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I think they're saying the military can't order him to testify. And Congress can't find its balls.

[jesse.in.mb]

Congress has balls?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Pelosi has to have some pretty big ones to say the things she does.

[Anonymous Coward]

I chalked Pelosi's...statements up to brain damage.

[Swiss Servator - past LTC(ret)]

If he has been out less than 5 years, the Sec Army could call him back to AD with a mere signature...

[Fatty Bolger]

Yeah, I think that's asking for a "[citation needed]".

[Brett L]

Stupid human tricks

Cute otter tricks

[Ball-sac]

If I were Snowden, I'd try to asylum in Serbia, Vatican City, Greenland, Nauru, Botswana, and Belarus.

[Pro Libertate]

Say, why not the Vatican? Getting there would be a real trick, I suppose, but what, someone is going to invade to drag him out?

[Tim]

Noriega tried that one, didn't work out:

"Operation Nifty Package was a United States Navy SEALs-operated plan conducted in 1989 designed to capture Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega. When Noriega took refuge in the Vatican embassy, deafening music and other psychological warfare were used to convince him to exit and surrender himself.
...
Although the operation was successful, National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft would later point to the psychological harassment of the Papal Nuncio as "a low moment in US Army history", noting that their approach had been silly, reproachable and undignified..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.....ty_Package

[Pro Libertate]

To be sure, that was a Vatican embassy. I'm saying go to the Vatican City itself. Ask for sanctuary. Convert to Catholicism. The whole drill.

[Tim]

Don't you think it would be ironic if we fired a Hellfire missile at the Vatican?

[Pro Libertate]

That's one word for it.

[jesse.in.mb]

Don't you think it would be ironic if we fired a Hellfire missile at the Vatican?

We could say we were thinking of the altar boys children!

[SIV]

I'd try to asylum in Serbia, Vatican City, Greenland, Nauru, Botswana,

Serbia sounds good. It is the only country on the list with a "name of country" Pantyhose Teens website.
You might need to translate if you try to look it up.

[SIV]

Who says there are no female cosmotarians?

[jesse.in.mb]

Cosmos want free abortions for all!? Why I never!

[Bam!]

Shaved armpit? Member of the patriarch.

[Brett L]

Her body, her choice, but those tattoos say poor impulse control.

[Pro Libertate]

Odd. Why would those women care about abortion? After all, abortions typically follow some sort of sexual intercourse with a male.

[InlineSkate]

Those are women? Had me fooled.

[Pro Libertate]

I think that one in the body paint is.

[BakedPenguin]

The one in the back pointing thumbs has some pretty big moobs, if it's a guy. I mean, Chucky Schumer would be jealous.

[Zeb]

OK, now you're just doing it to be annoying, aren't you?

[Irish]

Leave SIV alone. I think he's cosmadorable.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...Missouri may reintroduce gas chambers for executions.

You know who else hated things called Missouri?

[CE]

You know who else introduced gas chambers for executions?

[Bam!]

PETA?

[Silver Fox]

Those that survived the ride to PETA HQ anyways.

[Archduke Trousersenthusiast]

Grandpa Simpson?

[Ice Nine]

Abolitionists?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hirohito?

[Willard McBain]

Grandma Sarah?

[Silver Fox]

This just in: Americans think blacks are the most racist.

And with stunts like this, you might be inclined to agree.

[SIV]

"I was playing Minnie the Moocher, classic Blues Brothers song,"

They should've smacked her for being ignorant.

[NeonCat]

Now, now, we can't be sure it wasn't the reporter who was ignorant.

[Irish]

What's amazing is that 27 percent of liberals believe blacks are more racist and 27 percent of liberals think whites are more racist.

Here's another bizarre part:

Among black poll respondents, 31 percent said blacks are more racist, while 24 percent think whites are more racist and 15 percent say Hispanic Americans show greater racist tendencies.

That's weird.

[fish_remote]

That's weird.

Nahhh...that's a Chris Rock bit!

"Who's more racist black people or white people....? Black people cuz we hate black people too!

[mad libertarian guy]

Having come from one of the few places in the USA where being white is a decided minority, I can say with the utmost confidence that Cubans are absolutely the most racist people I have ever come in contact with.

Not all Cubans, obviously.

[A Serious Man]

The LA Times wants to piss you off: Why we should feel sympathy for the LAPD cop who shot the dog in Hawthorne.

But it's also important to remember that dogs pose real threats to police officers. Officers often find themselves in situations in which they are colliding with the instincts of dogs. They serve warrants, invading dogs' sense of territory, and they make arrests, threatening dogs' loyalty to their owners. Dogs are sensitive to stress, and police often appear in moments of anxiety. That was certainly the case when Rosby's Rottweiler, Max, did exactly what you'd expect a dog to do when he sees his owner in distress.

Whatever led to that moment, though, you have to have some sympathy for the officer. He was already distracted by a crime scene, trying to put a man in handcuffs, and he then suddenly was confronted by an 80-pound Rottweiler barreling toward him.

That officer can't be expected to allow himself to be mauled. He too has a right to be protected from harm. So he shot. And Max died.

Yeah, it's not his fault he was arresting a man who was doing nothing illegal. Besides, it's not like he has a baton, a stun gun, and pepper spray on him as non-lethal alternatives.

[Brett L]

Motherfucker. I'd have some sympathy if he cried while shooting a dog that was mauling his partner, torn over whether he had time to just grab the thing by the collar and restrain it. For shooting it because he threatened it for no reason? No. Fuck right off.

[CE]

Dogs pose real threats to realtors, too, but realtors aren't allowed to shoot them dead.

[jesse.in.mb]

And Postal workers. They have cayenne spray instead of actual pepper spray; it just enrages the dogs.

[Mad Scientist]

And postmen, UPS drivers, pizza delivery guys, paper boys... Those guys must have some great training materials that maybe law enforcement could borrow some time.

[Silver Fox]

While they're borrowing that, they could borrow some impulse control, too.

[Aresen]

Who needs impulse control when you have 'Authoritah'?

[mad libertarian guy]

All of my UPS drivers carry dog biscuits. None of them flee.

[Brandon]

Shorter article: Slurrrrrrrpp

[InlineSkate]

Now why would anyone want the Koch brothers to end quality journalism like this?

[rts]

Medical marijuana bust angers New Westminster operators

It was only after presenting what appeared to be a valid Health Canada marijuana license and her driver's license that a third undercover operator was allegedly able to apply for membership in the dispensary and purchase four grams of marijuana for $40.

[Marshall Gill]

$10 a gram?! I am pissed when I have to pay $2 a gram. It doesn't sound like the end of prohibition will be the end of prohibition.

[sam the man]

Where the fuck are you buying weed for $2 a gram? It's $20 a gram where I live.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has demanded that Morsi be reinstated as president.

Geez, just wait for Arab Summer to end and you can get your Muslim Bros voted back in.

[Silver Fox]

The latest candidate for "Teacher Of The Year".

[A Serious Man]

Dozens injured in Simi Valley fireworks explosion.

Shortly after the start late Thursday of the Simi Valley Rotary Club fireworks show about 30 miles west of Los Angeles, fireworks landed in a crowd of 8,000 to 10,000 onlookers gathered on a soccer field, police said.

Officers in a helicopter took aerial photos of the scene of the incident on Friday to get a better sense of what went wrong, said Meyer.

The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be involved in the investigation, and Bay Fireworks of Bethpage, New York, which mounted the fireworks show, is cooperating with the probe, police said.

Simi Valley Hospital received 26 patients, said hospital spokeswoman Alicia Gonzalez. Those victims ranged in age from 17 months to 71 years old, with a dozen children among the injured, she said.

Injuries ranged from burns and shrapnel wounds to chest pains to trauma from being trampled by the crowd, Gonzalez said. Two people were at Simi Valley Hospital in fair condition on Friday, one person was transferred to an area hospital specializing in burns and the rest were released, she said.

BAN THEM! BAN FIREWORKS NOW FOR THE CHILDREN!

[jesse.in.mb]

I saw that on the news last night and was just waiting for calls for total fireworks bans. From now on Independence Day will be celebrated with fog machines and planetarium style laser light shows.

[Mad Scientist]

Fog made with CO2!? Lasers that burn people's eyes out!? You monster!

[jesse.in.mb]

Lasers that burn people's eyes out!?

Did you not get the memo that this is how Lasik gets done under Obamacare?

[SugarFree]

We're going down to the laser show...

[NeonCat]

Speaking of lasers, check out this laser Gatling gun.

[Generic Stranger]

Meh; it doesn't work like an actual Gatling gun does. Only one laser (and the aiming laser) should be firing at a time.

[Aresen]

Soon, only your neighbors will get to see fireworks as the government drones you.

[Archduke Trousersenthusiast]

Does anyone need to see fireworks?

[Silver Fox]

You can see reruns of previous years' fireworks displays that someone else got the safety clearances to film like everyone else will in our foam-padded future.

[andarm16]

Hey, the British have tried to do it:
http://www.freerangekids.com/h.....-a-screen/

[Archduke Trousersenthusiast]

Shot Cat saved by belly fat

[Silver Fox]

What happens when your child survives an accident and goes to get help for you? You're arrested and end up losing custody of him.

[Aresen]

The Department of Children and Family Services claims that it has to investigate the family, the crash and why father and son were driving in the middle of the night, which is lawful in Massachusetts.

WTF? (Emphasis added)

[Mad Scientist]

In Massachusetts, it's understandable that people might think driving in the middle of the night is illegal.

[Aresen]

I can see that on the basis of "Everything not compulsory is forbidden."

[Jerryskids]

Everything is unlawful in Massachusetts - for the mundanes, anyways.

You are aware of what's going on with TJICistan?

[Jerryskids]

TJIC said...
I had an EXCELLENT gun lawyer on speed dial. It took half an hour to get a callback on a vacation day, but after that, he was with us every step of the way.

I repeatedly refused the cops' requests for a voluntary walk-through of the house.

I repeatedly refused to answer any questions.

The cops repeatedly told me that if I had nothing to hide, I should just allow a walk-through, and if I was a good guy, I'd have a "conversation" with them.

In the end they illegally seized my FID (just plan CAN NOT do it, but they took it and wouldn't give it back) and they illegally seized Jennifer's firearms. My lawyer was appalled but not surprised.

Jennifer and I have been talking about moving out of MA in 3-6 years.

We are officially looking for real estate tomorrow; I will not spend one more day than is necessary in this totalitarian hell hole.

9:22 PM, July 04, 2013

[BakedPenguin]

NH is a relatively short drive north. But then you have to suffer lower taxes and less regulation.

[Virginian]

TJIC said...
At the end, some of the cops who ransacked the house tried to shake hands with me. "No hard feelings".

I refused and said "Gentlemen, please think about what you're doing. On the fourth of july, the day we celebrate freedom, you stole legally owned firearms from a women who is engaged to a guy who made a joke you don't like. You are not the good guys. You are 'just doing your jobs'. Look in the mirror. You're the bad guys."

Response: "I'm sorry you feel that way. Have a good Fourth."

My lawyer says that there's a decent chance I may yet be arrested.

And with that, I should probably go radio silent for a while.

I really think we're moving past that awkward stage.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Where the hell does CPS store all the kids they take away because of every traffic accident?

[Fatty Bolger]

According to this article that somebody linked in the comments, the father is being charged with DUI and child endangerment. It doesn't say why the child wasn't just left with his mother.

[A Serious Man]

The Obama administration in a nutshell: State Department denies John Kerry was on his private sailboat during Egypt upheaval, today concedes that yeah, he was in fact vacationing on his boat.

On Thursday night, CBS News obtained a photo of Kerry on his boat and sent it to the State Department, asking whether they still stand by their denial that Kerry was on a boat.

The response: "Yes."

Of course.

[Pro Libertate]

Really, if there aren't fifty impeachment hearings before too long, I'm going to want to know why.

[Brett L]

Like the Senate is going to vote guilty against their own. This is why we should bar Senators from serving in elected or A&C positions in the the Exceutive branch.

[Aresen]

52 (+2) (+1) Team Blue Senators, that's why.

[I know the Bill of Impeachment originates in the House of Representatives, but it ain't going anwhere in the Senate. Not even if Barry gets caught with a Unicorn AND a small boy in his bed.)

[Pro Libertate]

Well, that's very likely to change in 2014. And some of these investigations might take that long. Watergate took two years.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Too many people in the reality-based community (plus a number of Reason staff, hyuk hyuk) felt they'd done something morally good by electing the first post-racial post-ideological post-toasties President and they're not going to have their mellow harshed by something paltry like intentions not matching up with results, no matter how much blood is spilled.

[Pro Libertate]

Ain't goin' to get no better until we start holdin' people accountable.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Accountability? That sounds like kulak wrecker/hoarder talk to me.

[Pro Libertate]

We need a blackball process.

[NeonCat]

We need a "tar and feathering and riding out of town on a rail" process.

[Pro Libertate]

That, too.

[Brett L]

Ouch. The Atlantic goes with John Kerry and Watersports: An Unfortunate History

[jesse.in.mb]

I saw that and thought John Kerry had suddenly gotten interesting. Boy was I disappointed.

[BakedPenguin]

C'mon, jesse, he's too bland to be a fetishist. Hell, I bet he's never even spanked Teresa.

[jesse.in.mb]

Clearly BP, but I was holding out hope that he was bland in the streets and a dirty pervert in the sheets. The man must have something interesting about him besides being married to a ketchup heiress.

[Sevo]

A snappy salute!
That didn't get him elected...

[Fatty Bolger]

Awesome headline. Just awesome.

[Fatty Bolger]

Is that the boat he didn't pay taxes on?

[Not an Economist]

Y'all got to understand this happened to fast for the Obama administration. I mean you gotta plan for these things and they only had like 72 hours advance notice.

[Marshall Gill]

State Department denies John Kerry was on his private sailboat during Egypt upheaval, today concedes that yeah, he was in fact vacationing on his boat.

What is it with this idiot and lying about being on boats?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Anyone know what goes through a judge's mind as she listens to a motion for a directed verdict that she wouldn't grant under any facts at all?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

The theme music from The Rockford Files?

[Mike M.]

Bristol has retired and therefore cannot be compelled to testify before Congress.

Huh? The Congress can subpoena anyone in this country, including private citizens.

[Auric Demonocles]

Barry Bonds was in the military. Haven't you seen his guns?

[Eduard van Haalen]

"Bristol has retired and therefore cannot be compelled to testify before Congress"

Yeah, maybe they meant to say "the military cannot compel him," because I would imagine the civilian authorities could do so if they had the stones.

[A Serious Man]

Missouri woman says she was kicked out of water park because her bikini was too revealing.

An Independence woman is alleging employees kicked her out of the Adventure Oasis Water Park Tuesday because of what she was wearing and her full-figured body.
Madelyn Sheaffer went to the water park with five other people Tuesday afternoon. After Sheaffer got into the pool with her niece and nephew, she said two employees approached her and told her she had to put on shorts because her bottoms were too small. Sheaffer then asked if she could talk to their supervisor. The supervisor told her she needed to cover up or leave the park.
"I just felt like I was singled out," Sheaffer said, "I felt like it was both age and body discrimination and I felt like I could look around me and I could see a handful of other girls half my age, wearing the same size swimming suit and not being singled out and told to put on clothes or leave."

The City of Independence says it's up to the manager to decide if a person's attire is appropriate or not and they don't feel like they discriminated against Sheaffer.

Well at least the city correctly understands property rights.

[Brett L]

Take off the towel, darlin', I can't tell if your top is too small or not.

[A Serious Man]

The video shows that she has some pretty massive breasts. But all in all I'd say not bad for a 43 year old.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Went to lunch today in Belmont Shore. College girls in bikinis walking up and down 2nd Street. I approve of this behavior.

[A Serious Man]

Around this time the new foreign exchange students come to Irvine, so that means seeing a lot of Brazilian, French, and Italian girls in bikinis at the pools or at the local beaches.

[BakedPenguin]

Watch the video. I don't think the bikini was too small; I think she was well endowed enough that it showed off more skin than some puritans liked.

[Pro Libertate]

What is it lately with these attacks on Big Bosom?

[BakedPenguin]

I don't know. Frankly, I think it's just sick.

[Pro Libertate]

I agree. Typical of the patriarchy.

[Silver Fox]

Surely Jezebel will get on this story about body-shaming an older woman right away?

They can't resist, can they?

[NeonCat]

More pics/back shown http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqlH4pK7eHY

[Pro Libertate]

Clearly not Florida, where she would be overdressed.

[A Serious Man]

New York Times opinion: The real tragedy of the Arizona firefighters is that they died defending rich people's private property.

But as to the question, the why of their deaths: every homeowner in the arid lands owes these fallen men an answer. More than ever, wild land firefighters die for people's summer homes and year-round retreats. They die protecting property, kitchen views, dreams cast in stucco and timber.
[...]
But these homeowners should not expect good people to die protecting those houses. And so in Arizona this week, among the grieving, we heard variations of a theme that always comes up after these tragedies: a structure is replaceable, a life is not.

That sentiment, which is supposed to be the guiding philosophy of fighting wildfires, too often gets tossed aside. In a panic, homeowners rage and scream: do something! They rage and scream at their member of Congress, often an anti-government zealot, who then rages and screams at the federal agencies: do something!

The homeowners know that living in fire country is different from living in the heart of a city. They know the elements ? timber, grass, brush, wind, heat, lightning ? and the difficult terrain mean that shiny fire trucks cannot arrive at their smoking doorstep on a minute's notice. They've made a pact with combustible nature, a gamble.

[Irish]

Huh. By this logic, it's almost like we should eliminate federal flood insurance too, since it's unfair that I have to subsidize some rich guy's lake house.

I await the New York Times' opinion piece on the topic.

[InlineSkate]

Obvious solution is a federally subsidized wildfire insurance. So that the homes can simply be allowed to burn!

[Mad Scientist]

Only people whose political opinions are approved by the New York Times deserve fire protection!

[NeonCat]

Hmm, let me give it a try:

The people working in the World Trade Center, already known as a target for terrorism, made a pact with combustible fanatics, a gamble they lost which unfortunately cost the lives of New York City firefighters and policemen...

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Why should we put police officers in danger, protecting public schools, a known target for mass shootings?

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Hmm, I wonder why I didn't see a parallel to this piece about the deaths from "superstorm" Sandy. Can't imagine why.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Heh heh. The fact that this would even occur to you shows that you're an unsophisticated flyover country hick. Of course emergency personnel should be honored to risk their lives to protect NEW YORK CITY. That city is the center of the universe, and anything which damages it generates a fatal imbalance in the Force. Whereas Arizona is just one of those flat states that New Yorkers can't tell from one another.

[BakedPenguin]

In a panic, homeowners rage and scream: do something! They rage and scream at their member of Congress, often an anti-government zealot, who then rages and screams at the federal agencies: do something!

Wow, the NYT getting pissed at the "DO SOMETHING" attitude? The irony, it burns.

Also, are they going to support subscription / volunteer fire departments now? Bets? Anyone?

[A Serious Man]

Two weeks later, the FBI still has not answered Senator Rand Paul's questions about their domestic use of drones.

More than two weeks have passed since Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., requested "prompt" answers to questions about the FBI's use of drones within the United States, but he is still waiting for a response.

It's unclear why the FBI did not immediately provide answers to Paul's 11 questions, but the delay could conceivably morph into an unwelcome spectacle for the Obama administration.

Paul inquired about the domestic use of drones in a June 20 letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller, after the director told the Senate Intelligence Committee his agency was using the unmanned devices without clear guidelines.

Why? Because...

[NeonCat]

They sent it but the address was redacted.

[Pro Libertate]

Did I say fifty impeachments? Better make that one hundred.

[Auric Demonocles]

I will go with 101, Bob.

[Sevo]

Moonbeam empties all the piggybanks, finds enough money to pay the minimum on the chargecards, declares "Happy Days are Here Again!" and hands out the pelf:

"The state Senate this week, following earlier approval in the Assembly, ratified a three-year agreement that gives the 95,000 members of Service Employees International Union Local 1000 4.5 percent pay raises by July 1, 2015. The agreement was negotiated between the union and Gov. Jerry Brown's administration."
http://www.sfgate.com/business.....648710.php

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I despise the SEIU.

[wakeup]

Extensive Research Shows Monsanto's #1 Selling Herbicide Roundup is Killing You

[Sevo]

This bit of bullshit from some crackpot "progressive" web site.

[wakeup]

Roundup sprayed by cities on green spaces demonstrably doesn't kill many dandelions. But it will kill your sperm

[Sevo]

Study shows 32 people exposed to 2,4D may or may not have effects. Innuendo bullshit.

[wakeup]

honey bees dropping like flies: Beekeeper blames seed pesticides

[Sevo]

wakeup handling out bullshit: (above)

[sgs]

"honey bees dropping like flies"

Not really.

It's the "obesity epidemic" of the insect world.

[Irish]

Joyce Carol Oates bemoans Islamic rape culture, liberals decide that rape culture isn't so bad when Muslims do it.

Most comments not so bad, but then this happened:

The purpose behind my statement is that it?s not a question of Moslem, Christian, or any other religion. It?s a question that MEN of every nationality and creed RAPE. Most marriages until the modern era, were, and in many cases, still are, rape situations, where the woman is forceably taken whether she wants to be or not. Imagine the horrors of the girls of Victorian and earlier eras, who were only told on their wedding days, in euphemistic terms, that on her wedding night her new husband expected "certain rights of her". Most gently reared middle and upper class girls were not given any further explanation about their "marital" duties on their wedding nights, many of which turned into nightmares for most gently reared unsuspecting brides. Life before WW I was very sexually innocent for any girls not of the working or farming classes which lived in more realistic, less genteel circumstances. Working and farming children often shared rooms with their parents and siblings and knew life circumstances from living side by side with them. Farming children knew first hand, the brutality of bull and stallion matings.

[Irish]

Genteely raised middle and upper class girls were taught romanticism, moonlight and roses, but were not told about sexuality til the day of their weddings.

Find out historical reality when the world wasn?t full of books, films and tv shows about open sexuality. When men wanted their wives virgin and kept that way til the wedding night. Such men, like Churchill?s father, of course resorted to mistresses and prostitutes, and infected their brides with syphillis and gonorrhea which poisoned their virgin wives lives forever, as well as many of their children. Read Churchill?s American mother?s story.

KNOW HISTORY BEFORE YOU TELL OTHERS HOW TO LIVE.. The present era is more sexually free, but apparently totally ignorant as to women?s lack of control over their lives and the pain and horror they lived through throughout history. Male exceptions were just that. Exceptions. Men ruled the law and thought they had the right to invade other people?s countries and women?s bodies, just because they were men, with bigger muscles and penises.

[Irish]

There are now some sensitive, loving men who feel as tenderly as a tender woman, but given the rape statistics of women, primarily, but of children, both female and male, worldwide, tender men are still the great minority. Check the facts of One Billion Rising and Chime for Change, the Salma Hayek/Beyonce/Madonna website to stop worldwide rape and violence against women. And the number ONE BILLION RISING is far less thant the real number of women raped and murdered worldwide.

Learn your facts people!

Indeed.

[Virginian]

Oh my fucking god. Why does every goddamn liberal think that sex only started in the 60s?

People had sex before then. People had wild and kinky sex before then. The idea that they didn't, that the mother of the bride didn't sit her down and tell her about the birds and the bees...thats just plain retarded.

Why are feminists so fucking dumb?

[Irish]

Liberals tend to believe that all of history prior to 1967 had the sexual mores of the Victorian London that only exists in poorly written romance novels.

[Virginian]

Which is another piece of retarded nonsense. The Victorian era was, in terms of the upper class, quite severely modest. But Regency women (which predated the Victorian era) had bare arms, cleavage, sheer fabrics.

[BakedPenguin]

They should read De Sade.

But then, I think everyone should.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Cause they're girls?

[Silver Fox]

Because thinking about your grandparents and great-grandparents getting their freak on is icky?

[jesse.in.mb]

Why does every goddamn liberal think that sex only started in the 60s?

Because they don't read their judgey histories of the French working class? Some upper crust academic wrote a treatise about how working-class French needed civilizing back in the 1800s. Now I can't remember who it was, but his bourgeois horror was delicious.

[Irish]

Because they don't read their judgey histories of the French working class? Some upper crust academic wrote a treatise about how working-class French needed civilizing back in the 1800s.

I like that the rhetoric of the left always sounds almost exactly like the rhetoric of imperialist England.

We must civilize those demented savages! Truly it is the progressive's burden.

[Virginian]

The Duke of Wellington was PM after he kicked Napoleon's ass. His opinion of the railroads? They "encouraged the common people to move about needlessly."

[Fluffy]

Yes, of course.

Everyone knows that when British suffragettes marched for the vote, they were waylaid in the streets by giant roaming rape gangs.

LEARN YOUR FACTS PEOPLE

[Anonymous Coward]

Find out historical reality when the world wasn?t full of books, films and tv shows about open sexuality. When men wanted their wives virgin and kept that way til the wedding night. Such men, like Churchill?s father, of course resorted to mistresses and prostitutes, and infected their brides with syphillis and gonorrhea which poisoned their virgin wives lives forever, as well as many of their children. Read Churchill?s American mother?s story.

You mean the one where Lady Randolph Churchill fucked around with Karl Kinsky (better known to some as Edward VII) and Herbert von Bismarck, while she was married?

The poor, put upon dear.

The accusation that Lord Randolph Churchill had syphilis comes from a single source, Frank Harris, a middling novelist and scandalmonger, a theory which is uncorroborated by any other source.

[Eduard van Haalen]

But at least Frank Harris was a solid, reliable feminist, right?

[Anonymous Coward]

Working and farming children often shared rooms with their parents and siblings and knew life circumstances from living side by side with them. Farming children knew first hand, the brutality of bull and stallion matings.

All heterosexual intercourse is an act of violence.

In other news...DERP!

[hotsy totsy]

Bulls and stallions mated?

[Silver Fox]

It gets stupider:

"You forget that rape is a man?s crime. It requires a penis to rape and is not a woman?s crime. Humans, like all animals, were created by rape, which over time, probably half a million years or so in our 3 million year history, eventullly, through women?s influence, began to incorporate some few elemnts of tenderness to go along with the male sexual instinct. The tenderness does not form an innate quality of the male personality, and the sexual need goes hand in hand with the male killing instinct. So many millions of female sexual victims have also died post coitus, as part of the innate male sexual violence. Look at the history of women?s lives all through the history of patriarchal rule, meaning the past 8-10,000 years. During matriarchal rule, there was a great deal less of rape as women ruled, and any man guilty of rape, was punished for the crime."

Sadly, too many people think like here and still don't believe that men can be raped, and that women can be the rapist. No. Only men do the raping, and it's hard-wired into them. Women are innocent, cherubic beings full of sweetness and light.

[Irish]

Which is, of course, massively sexist towards both genders. Men are vile barbarians filled with a lust for rape and violence, whereas women have absolutely no initiative, ambition, or power and exist in a constant state of terror and victimization.

Humans, like all animals, were created by rape, which over time, probably half a million years or so in our 3 million year history, eventullly, through women?s influence, began to incorporate some few elemnts of tenderness to go along with the male sexual instinct.

All animals are not produced by rape. Some animals don't even have sex in order to reproduce. There are lizards and sharks that are capable of reproducing asexually.

This is fucking stupid.

[Silver Fox]

Well... Dolphins are pretty nasty, sexually-speaking, and some male weasels will enter an unattended den of babies and forcibly mate with the female young, and I'm sure there are other examples.

However, they're animals, not people.

And you don't need a dick to rape - anything you can fit [or be made to] will do just as well.

[Auric Demonocles]

You have demonstrated that some animals are produced by rape. That does not prove the statement that all animals are produced by rape.

[Silver Fox]

Wasn't trying to.

[Fluffy]

What she doesn't realize is that if this nonsense WERE true, then rape would be biological destiny, just like homosexuality.

And therefore it would be absurd to treat it as a crime.

It's like they don't even think through the implications of their arguments.

[Auric Demonocles]

No no no. You see, homosexuals are born attracted to the same gender, so they can't choose not to have sex with people of the same gender. Rapists (i.e. straight main) choose to act upon the evil sexual desires for dominance they are inherently born with.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Well, one difference is that the supposedly inherent desire for the same gender in homosexuals usually manifests in consensual relationships.

This doesn't help the absurd premise here of course.

[Sevo]

Bo Cara Esq.| 7.5.13 @ 7:33PM |#
"Well, one difference is that the supposedly inherent desire for the same gender in homosexuals usually manifests in consensual relationships."

Well, there's an assertion trying to be something more than that!

[Anonymous Coward]

You forget that rape is a man?s crime. It requires a penis to rape and is not a woman?s crime.

Rape is, and always has been, a legal term. Here in our fine United States, the law has changed as such that the penetration of a bodily orifice without the consent of the penetrated party can constitute a rape.

The tenderness does not form an innate quality of the male personality, and the sexual need goes hand in hand with the male killing instinct.

Now we come to core. All men are rapists, and all heterosexual intercourse is violence, and, naturally, only men are inclined towards violence (I wish some of my ex's were informed of that).

During matriarchal rule, there was a great deal less of rape as women ruled, and any man guilty of rape, was punished for the crime.

What fucking brand of fairy dust is this maniacal bitch huffing? Where, in human history has their been a "matriarchal society"? And not punishing men for rape? It was not too long ago that rape was punishable by death in certain U.S. jurisdictions.

[Auric Demonocles]

Here in our fine United States, the law has changed as such that the penetration of a bodily orifice without the consent of the penetrated party can constitute a rape.

Wouldn't that make it not-rape if a woman forced a man to penetrate her (say by tying him down, or holding a gun on him)? Because if that's the case, that's a stupid definition of rape.

[Anonymous Coward]

Wouldn't that make it not-rape if a woman forced a man to penetrate her (say by tying him down, or holding a gun on him)? Because if that's the case, that's a stupid definition of rape.

TOP MEN aren't necessarily SMART MEN.

[Stormy Dragon]

Libertarian-leaning members of the GOP are not pleased with the budget Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed over the weekend, which they see as another example of government growing itself.

Once again libertarians make a politician their new hero based solely on his ability to be a complete dick to Democrats, only to be deeply disappointed when several months later it turns out he's just as good at being a complete dick to libertarians.

[Virginian]

I don't think anyone made Scott Walker a libertarian hero.

[Marshall Gill]

Certainly not the libertarian leaning. Sure, he stuck it to the suck-hole Unions, kind of, once, but that hardly makes him a hero.

Is Barney Frank now a "libertarian hero" because he proposed ending the drug war? I think not.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

The budget is disappointing, but worse in my opinion is Walker's signing of a bill that forces women seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound. I understand that some libertarians think life starts at conception and therefore embryos and fetus fall under the NAP, but this law is the most patronizing thing I can imagine.

http://www.politico.com/story/.....93762.html

[Virginian]

I can imagine things a lot more patronizing then that.

But these laws are a wonderful way to show how quickly politics breeds hypocrisy. We will have conservatives talking about "sensible common sense regulations to protect consumers" and liberals talking about "burdensome and intrusive strictures on the free market".

Plus we'll get to see conservatives sounding like Obamabots on the importance of medical care, and I'm sure there will be state funded programs to give the ultrasounds. Which liberals will then attack as a waste of tax dollars.

[Irish]

I agree. If you think abortion is wrong, that's understandable. Argue against it entirely if that's the case. The argument that those poor little ladies don't know what they're doing and will be dissuaded by mandatory ultrasounds seems a bit offensive.

[Virginian]

Fuck 'em. I'm at the point now where I hope every fucking statist gets every single bit of what they vote for every Novemeber. I want their sons jailed for possession of synthetic pot. I want their daughters forced to jump through hoops to get abortions. I want their wives denied healthcare due to government budget cuts. I want their finances continuously audited.

They want this shit, they vote for this shit, they support this shit, so let them open wide and eat the fucking sandwich.

[Irish]

So everyone should suffer because some people voted for bad politicians.

Solid logic.

[Virginian]

Hehe can you imagine if only registered voters had to follow the law? Or if you could only be bound by laws sponsored by politicians you voted for?

Nah, I just think that we're sliding continuously into bondage, and that a sharp shock where all these laws get ruthlessly enforced might be enough to trigger a backlash against the State.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"Hehe can you imagine if only registered voters had to follow the law? Or if you could only be bound by laws sponsored by politicians you voted for?"

Thank you John Lennon, but in the world we have oppressive laws get imposed on the person who voted for the statist and the person who voted otherwise. Celebrating the pain on them all for some hope of future action is very...utilitarian progressive of you.

[Virginian]

Stop trying to use words you don't know the meanings of.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I don't know the meaning of John Lennon?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I'm not sure why you think only the daughters of statists seek abortions.

[Virginian]

Did I fucking say that? God you are a tiresome little shit.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"I want their daughters forced to jump through hoops to get abortions...They want this shit, they vote for this shit, they support this shit, so let them open wide and eat the fucking sandwich."

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"I'm at the point now where I hope every fucking statist gets every single bit of what they vote for every Novemeber...I want their daughters forced to jump through hoops to get abortions...They want this shit, they vote for this shit, they support this shit, so let them open wide and eat the fucking sandwich."

[Virginian]

A is not B, B is not A.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

A retreat to Dr. Seuss...

[Virginian]

Or, you know, basic fucking logic.

Protip: Just because you say I said something doesn't mean I actually said it.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Help me out.

1. I'm at the point now where I hope every fucking statist gets every single bit of what they vote for every Novemeber

2. I want their daughters forced to jump through hoops to get abortions

3. They want this shit, they vote for this shit, they support this shit, so let them open wide and eat the fucking sandwich.

These are your words. It seems like you never considered that the "they" who "want this shit...vote for this shit...support this shit" who will be harmed by this law might be people who are non-statists.

So, are you saying you don't mind if non-statists get harmed as long as some statists who supported it get "shocked" into awareness? And how is that not utilitarian type thinking?

[Virginian]

If you vote for this shit, support this shit, and want this shit then you are a statist by fucking definition.

We are never ever going to be free again. There were times when either due to a legal regime or to the impracticality of controlling everyone we were. That time is over.

We are living in an era of constant surveillance, ruinous legislation, insane fiscal policy, and the deliberate destruction of critical reason in the education of the population.

The way I see it, either the steady boiling of the pot increases, and we descend into a thousand years of darkness and misery, or the fucking fascists squeeze hard enough to wake the sheep from their slumber.

[Stormy Dragon]

I want their sons jailed for possession of synthetic pot. I want their daughters forced to jump through hoops to get abortions. I want their wives denied healthcare due to government budget cuts. I want their finances continuously audited.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

[goneGalt]

Serious question for anyone still reading. (And I am not making any excuses for bad behavior here.)

Do you think this is part of what has happened to cops over time? In my memory, they were always macho. But they weren't always a bunch of paramilitary thugs.

[Marshall Gill]

The argument that those poor little ladies don't know what they're doing and will be dissuaded by mandatory ultrasounds seems a bit offensive.

Reality often is. I don't remember the source but one of the main drivers of the pro-life crowd and pre-abortion ultrasounds is that a significant number of women do not go ahead with the procedure after seeing the level of development of their unborn child.

It is also the major reason that the "pro-kill humans at any opportunity crowd", despise it.

[Acosmist]

The DOMA and Prop 8 rulings specifically left it up to the states, but ok, weirdos. Maybe we can disenfranchise some blacks some more. Gay black.

[Redmanfms]

Like many things you post, this makes no fucking sense whatsoever. I highly recommend you actually learn what "franchise" means.

DOMA and Prop 8, though repellent, disenfranchised precisely nobody.