A.M. Links: Greenwald's Partner Detained for Hours in the UK, Clinton Wasn't Happy With Benghazi Assault Being Called a Terrorist Attack, Egyptian Police Killed in Sinai

CSPAN

• British authorities held David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald's partner, for almost nine hours yesterday at Heathrow airport. Miranda's cell phone, laptop, camera, and other equipment were confiscated. Member of Parliament Keith Vaz, who is the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, has said that he will be asking police for information on Miranda's detention.
• Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) says that Hillary Clinton shouted down a lawmaker who called the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi last year a terrorist attack.
• Twenty-five Egyptian policemen have been killed in an ambush in the Sinai peninsula.
• Mogadishu is set to get its first traffic lights in twenty years.
• The murder rate in New Orleans fell 35 percent year-on-year in the second quarter.
• A security expert hacked Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook wall in order to illustrate a bug.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

British authorities held David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald's partner, for almost nine hours yesterday at Heathrow airport.

Keep calm and carry on as America's fuck bitch.

[gaijin]

Isn't this the kind of tactic that Vader and The Empire would use?

[Gbob]

The Empire could have learned a few things from this administration. They suffered from bad PR. If they had called it the "progressive side" of the force instead of the Dark Side, they would have done better. They then could have persuaded Luke to join up with them, telling him that he would be a social pariah if he didn't care about poor people like they did.

[bmp1701]

Indeed, the inherent racism of the Jedi can be seen in its distinction between the "light side" and "dark side" of the Force. The "light side" is associated with goodness, whereas the "dark side" is associated with evil. However, Sithist Theory shows that the force is more accurately divided between a "conservative side" and a "progressive side". The "conservative side" emphasizes discipline (fascism), duty (militarism), and a high degree of self-imposed control (poorly cloaked Christian values). The "progressive side" emphasizes expansion, individual freedom, and a strong state. We can now see that the Jedi were nothing but Magical Junkers, and that the "progressive side" is truly the good side of the force.

[Bobarian]

"The "progressive side" emphasizes individual freedom"

But only if you're THE dark lord of the the Sith.

See BO for illustration.

[bmp1701]

All others are free to obey the Dark Lord of the Sith.

[Gbob]

I'm sure Empire supporters in that world use the fact that the Jedi were wrong on the civil rights (slavery) issue against them.

[R C Dean]

They could have closed the sale with Luke by pointing out their permissive take on, err, familial relations.

[Slammer]

Miranda was given a Warning

[Swiss Servator - past LTC(ret)]

You...I mean...

*shakes head, goes back to coffee pot*

[Clich? Bandit]

Was his friend Terry with him when he was stopped?

[bmp1701]

Or was it his "Friend" Lawrence?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Member of Parliament Keith Vaz, who is the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, has said that he will be asking police for information on Miranda's detention.

Doesn't Vaz know Snowden is a traitor and a terrorist?

[gaijin]

I wonder if Miranda remained silent?

[Eduard van Haalen]

How many variants of that joke are we going to have?

[William of Purple]

so that we can let you down, one more time?

[invisible furry hand]

with any luck it will wander off into the bush, never to be seen again

[Lord Humungus]

you know who else wandered off into the bush? Jenny Agutter

[Raven Nation]

Mmm, Jenny Agutter had (has?) great legs.

[Bee Tagger]

A security expert hacked Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook wall in order to illustrate a bug.

I guess that explains the immigration op-ed.

[Lord Humungus]

Timur Bekmambetov is making a movie about flesh-eating squirrels

In May, Red Sea Media announced that it was partnering with Timur Bekmambetov on Squirrels, a horror film about, well, killer squirrels. There isn't any word on a director or actors, but supposedly that's the promo trailer up there. It's about as absurd as you'd expect.

[Bee Tagger]

Hoping to uncover some logical explanation, he instead finds his mom's sleazy new boyfriend, a natural gas company buying up the town

The squirrels saw Gasland and got understandably upset.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The squirrels attack every day at 3PM Eastern Time, like clockwork.

[Eduard van Haalen]

This sounds like Hollywood gone self-parodic.

Also, note the name "Timur," based I believe on a guy who did to Central Asia what these modern directors do to cinema.

[Brett L]

Can we call this guy "Timur the Lame", too?

[Swiss Servator - past LTC(ret)]

+1 pyramid of human skulls

[UnCivilServant]

Hrmmm... that might deter people from crossing the border... or make them revert to worship of the old gods. Not a good risk, lets file that one away for a bit.

[Mike M.]

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) says that Hillary Clinton shouted down a lawmaker who called the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi last year a terrorist attack.

What scum.

[WTF]

"What difference at this point does it make?"

[Ted S.]

If it weren't somebody working for the government doing the shouting down, I'd be cheering it.

Those committee hearings are generally little more than an excuse for grandstanding, and when the legislators do it to private citizens, it's really repulsive.

[Pro Libertate]

It's all a vast, right-wing conspiracy.

[Floridian]

http://www.foxnews.com/science.....ear-there/

Smart people: what does this mean for computing in the future?

[DJF]

Bloated Microsoft software can now appear anywhere????

[UnCivilServant]

the temeperature requirements are an implemetation barrier that needs to be worked on.

[Floridian]

My question is does this have any real potential or just research dollars being flushed.

[UnCivilServant]

I was sort of doubting that quantum entanglement was real... But I'm willing to re-evaluate that assessment if the process is duplicatable.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

SLD, but don't you pretty much have to flush some research dollars to be able to answer that question?

[sarcasmic]

Most research like this is little more than welfare for PHDs.

[Floridian]

Smart guys.

We need to swipe some research dollars. What do we have?

We can make teleported with no practical use.

Good thinking Johnson.

[VG Zaytsev]

Well, cold fusion has revolutionized power generation.

[MattJ]

One day sir, you may tax it.
- Michael Faraday

[Rasilio]

Honestly not terribly much.

There are really only 3 practical uses for this tech, Quantum computing, which is of questionable value for anything short of supercomputer like applications, ecure communications and long range communication.

Basically once you have a fully working model you can...

Communicate instantaniously (without that pesky Speed of Light limitation) so interplanetary travel becomes that much easier (it's kind of a bitch when it takes 15 minutes to get an answer to any question).

Create truly secure communications channels, they would be secure because you wouldn't need to rely on cryptography, the signal would literally not travel through the space between the sender and receiver so no one could intercept it (this may be why we do not pick up any radio signals from aliens)

Build a quantum supercomputer which would allow us to do much better modeling of Chaotic systems (and as a result lead to large improvements in other technologies) but would not really be any better for surfing porn that what we have today.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I bet the holodeck was quantum computing.

Couldn't they do photorealistic games -- MMOs, etc. -- or something? I'd be really, really surprised if the technology existed but smart people couldn't think of some way to use it or make money from it. Hell, there were people who scoffed at the idea of "personal" computers.

[Rasilio]

Photo realistic games not so much, Those could be coming soon (just depends on whether there is much market demand for them, given what I have seen from the latest movements in games is that people don't seem to want photo realistic quality, they want very good graphics, just not realism. Even still if there is a demand for them they could be achieved with normal semiconductor tech (probably within the next 10 years).

What you could do is something like what EA tried with the Sims Online where you actually model random behavoir of the background of the world in a much more realistic way. For example you could make Civilization X where your kingdom is populated by actual people whose behavior changes in response to your actions and has realistic weather and disaster events

[Floridian]

Interesting. Thanks for the response.

[thom]

given what I have seen from the latest movements in games is that people don't seem to want photo realistic quality

Create a photo-realistic, virtual reality gaming system...I'm betting there's a killer app there somewhere...

[Fatty Bolger]

I'm pretty sure that quantum teleportation is limited to the speed of light.

[R C Dean]

of questionable value for anything short of supercomputer like applications, ecure communications and long range communication.

I have to say, those three things sound pretty fucking valuable to me.

[Rasilio]

Yes but they are not going to change the world or our lives directly.

The gear needed to make this work is likely never going to be available to anyone but large nation states military and diplomatic corps, maybe a couple of large megacorps will have it too so it's not like you could use it to talk securely to your drug dealer or anything.

Colonization of the solar system will or will not happen whether this tech existed, it just eliminates 1 relatively minor hurdle involved with it.

And finally Quantum computing in and of itself is unlikely to change our lives significantly, but it could potentially be used as a tool to conduct research that does but it is hard to say how much impact and in what areas before working quantum computers are actually in widespread use.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) says that Hillary Clinton shouted down a lawmaker who called the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi last year a terrorist attack.

Hysterics were called for. She was under virtual sniper fire from the Congressman.

[Pro Libertate]

She sure is presidential, isn't she?

[Drake]

It really must be great to sit through a conference with a shrill, entitled "civil servant" shouting at you.

[Bee Tagger]

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) says that Hillary Clinton shouted down a lawmaker who called the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi last year a terrorist attack.

I'M TOLD THIS DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE.

[hamilton]

Libertarianism is on the march!

A lonely band of libertarian thinkers have been propounding this philosophy since the 1960s, when the late thinker Murray Rothbard published his first book, Reason magazine was founded, and, in 1974, Rothbard teamed up with Charles Koch and Ed Crane to found the Cato Institute, one of Washington's most influential think tanks.

DOG WHISTLEZ!!!

[Brett L]

Here's my theory, The Atlantic, being essentially hulled financially by the rise of HuffPo, has figured out that libertarians are another group (like limosine liberals) who have expensive tastes and see themselves as better than most, so they don't have to change anything but their political slant to become viable again.

[Floridian]

My taste aren't expensive. Well except for Cambodian breast milk. Buts that is it.

[Bobarian]

"Well except for Cambodian breast milk."

It's not that expensive if you raise your own.

Artisnal honeyed breast milk is divine...

[Francisco d Anconia]

That was an awesome article. THAT is how libertarians need to present themselves to attract a following.

[Raven Nation]

And the comment thread is surprisingly robust (although there is the expected amount of derp).

[R C Dean]

the expected amount of derp

More than 80%?

[DJF]

"""The murder rate in New Orleans fell 35 percent year-on-year in the second quarter""'

Or did the cops just stop counting all the bodies?

[Art Vandelay]

I'm guessing that half of the cops were on vacation those 3 months, causing the large drop in murders.

[CE]

Some trends are unsustainable, especially when the bad guys are killing each other.

[sarcasmic]

Lily Collins continues to show her ex what he's missing as she exposes her bra in see-through top on dinner date with co-star

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-star.html
Phil Collins' daughter is yummy.

[Gbob]

If you're going to use the phrase "see-through top" to draw us into clicking the link, I expect a little more see-through, sir.

[sarcasmic]

I just blockquote the headline. Take it up with the Daily Mail.

[PM]

This. Despite the Liam Gallagher eyebrows, she's a fox. She and Emmy Rossum constitute my top 2. Not that I actually have a list or anything...

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Yeah, well, wait for her dad's hairline to start kicking in.

[PM]

SHE'S BALD!

[PM]

And anyway, she could do a sweepover with the eyebrows.

[mr simple]

Would you say she has an invisible touch?

[PM]

I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, the sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism.

[Rasilio]

You made that with a buzzword generator didn't you

[PM]

It's a quote from American Psycho.

[Lord Humungus]

Vini Lunardelli makes Hilter, Nazi-themed wines, fuels boycotts

A Jewish human rights organization is calling on wine distributors worldwide to boycott an Italian company selling a line of wines with Hitler and Nazi-themed labels and designs.

"We reject the cynical notion by the company's owner that this wine is marketed as a 'joke gift,' " the Simon Wiesenthal Center said Thursday. The group described the Vini Lunardelli wines, which feature the genocidal maniac in various poses, as "sickening."

Hitler wine creator Andrea Lunardelli said the line is all in good historical fun.

You know who else thought it was all in good historical fun?

[sarcasmic]

This is why, here in the Land of the Free, all bottle labels must be approved by the federal government. Labels like that would never be allowed in the freest country on the planet.

[robc]

A brewery had their "Smells Like Weed IPA" label rejected. Its now called "Smells Like a Safety Meeting IPA".

[sarcasmic]

Round here they make a "420 IPA" and the label looks good enough to smoke. It's a good beer too.

[DJF]

You can also get their communist line of wines. Stalin, Lenin, Tito etc

http://www.vinilunardelli.com/.....at2=000470

[Ted S.]

Ernie Guevara?

[Swiss Servator - past LTC(ret)]

David Irving?

[Eduard van Haalen]

It's almost like she's running a publicity campaign to market an otherwise unexceptionable wine - nah, I'm sure I'm too cynical.

But where are the boycott advocates re her Stalin and Marx wines?

[Stormy Dragon]

I tend to avoid wines that seem to be putting too much effort into the label, as it suggests to me they don't think the wine inside the bottle is good enough to sell on its own merits.

[Clich? Bandit]

+1 Westvleteren 12 Trappist Beer

[Fist of Etiquette]

The murder rate in New Orleans fell 35 percent year-on-year in the second quarter.

Murder will be down 100% once there's no one left.

[gaijin]

Mogadishu is set to get its first traffic lights in twenty years.

Does this mean they DO have roadz?

[PS]

Ah hell, I knew I couldn't possibly get that in first.

[Ted S.]

You're six hours ahead of us. What stopping you from getting in first? :-p

[PS]

Afternoon cocktails.

[MJGreen]

No longer a libertarian paradise, I guess.

[PM]

Paradise lost...

[Steve G]

Shoulda just skipped straight to traffic circles to show real progress..

[UnCivilServant]

NOOOOOOOO!!!!! Roundabouts are EVIL and cause more traffic problems than they're worth. Give me a red light over a roundabout any day.

[robc]

???

Ive got a 4-way stop out of my neighborhood that is begging for a roundabout.

Because apparently no one knows the rules on 4-way stops.

[UnCivilServant]

And fewer know the rules of a roundabout, frequently acting as if people entering the circle have right of way and generating a crapload of accidents.

[Lord Humungus]

^this^

my sister in-law thinks that the driver inside the circle has to stop at every road leading in. I tried to explain to her that the yield signs are for the cars coming in... but no...

[Kaptious Kristen]

I knew a Dutch woman who was planning a road trip around the U.S. She asked some questions about driving on interstate highways, and a couple people advised her that cars already on the highway have to yield to cars entering the highway. Idiot drivers are everywhere, traffic circles or no.

[Ptah-Hotep]

I see this on onramps. People merging think they have the right of way and the people slow down to let them in. I'm doing 70 and you are going to slow down to 50 to let someone merge. No wonder there are accidents. They don't teach rules of the road anymore.

[Stormy Dragon]

people slow down to let them in.

OMG! The horror of people voluntarily choosing to do something they don't have to do to be nice to other people!

[PM]

People merging think they have the right of way

Don't forget the preceding People merging think they have the right of way, you selective-comprehending mendacious prick.

[R C Dean]

no one knows the rules on 4-way stops

Everybody else is supposed to stop, so why should I?

[thom]

Because apparently no one knows the rules on 4-way stops.

I have yet to figure out why this is such a problem. It's not complicated or hard to remember.

[Houkt Un Fanixs]

Another benefit to Roundabouts is that they prevent T-Bone Accidents, which are the deadliest.

[Enough About Palin]

"Does this mean they DO have roadz?"

Nope.

[CE]

Watch the accident rate go up.

[sarcasmic]

We get it, you're hot! Heidi Klum posts a raunchy flashback photograph of herself frolicking completely naked on the beach

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....beach.html
Not what I would call "raunchy" but I'm not complaining.

[PS]

I guess she's been hitting the gym since this pic was taken.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Oh, Lord, I thought at first that that second photo showed her breasts. No, it was just her buttocks.

I wonder if she is some kind of exhibitionist?

[CE]

Hey, if she needs an audience...

[Matrix]

Nim-Rod gets hit by pitch in game against Red Sux

Roll that beautiful bean footage!

[Bee Tagger]

Loathsome as A-Rod's behavior has been, I will never side with the person throwing a hard object 95mph at, or near, a nearly defenseless person's head.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

He has a helmet. Pitchers need to get back to being more like Gibson.

[Brett L]

They better have Gibson's willingness to beat the hell out of anyone who doesn't like it, too.

[Bee Tagger]

Agreed. Dempster gets to throw at A-Rod by himself but then teammates would have jumped in had A-Rod decided to try his hand at beating the crap out of him.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

True enough. Still, anyone who goes to the plate and digs in like he's at a fucking batting cage needs to be given a reaction test.

[CE]

Actually, he was throwing at his legs, until plunking him in the arm. The umpire should have tossed the pitcher though.

[WTF]

It appears as if A-Rod got the last laugh on this night, as Rodriguez hit a towering home run off Dempster in the sixth inning, and ended up going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored in a 9-6 Yankees win.

[John]

Fuck Dempster. I am sure David Ortiz will understand when the Yankees retaliate. What a dumbass.

[Ted S.]

It's Noo Yawk versus the Massholes. Can't they both lose?

[Swiss Servator - past LTC(ret)]

I keep hoping for that, but it never seems to happen 🙁

[Rasilio]

Given that There are more native Yankee and Red Sox fans in Tampa than there are Tampa fans it doesn't look like it, either one of our home teams will win, or out little brother team will win.

Either way it sucks if you are an O's or Blue Jays fan

[PS]

Mogadishu is set to get its first traffic lights in twenty years.

They have roadz?!?!?!

[gaijin]

+1 tie

[PS]

I edged out FOE, that's all that matters.

[Fist of Etiquette]

AT LEAST I DIDN'T GO FOR THE OBVIOUS.

[PS]

Archer: So? You lost?
Gillette: I came in third.
Archer: Which is last.
Gillette: Which is third...
Archer: Last.
Gillette: In the world.
Archer: You lost. Geeze, get over it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Mogadishu is set to get its first traffic lights in twenty years.

Paradise no more.

[Gbob]

God damned roads make me angry. What the hell is the point of having all those poor people if we can't ride our cars over them? Damn it, starting today I'm going to make America my own own Somalian paradise, just like Rand Paul.

[PM]

Running over isn't nearly painful enough. Work them to death in the monocle factory or GTFO

[gaijin]

Drone operators got to practice somehow?

[Aresen]

Wonder if they installed a red light camera as well.

[Lord Humungus]

Teenage twins mistake WW2 grenade for an acorn

On the way they threw it between each other and even dropped it several times.

Only when Marie's policeman brother saw a photo of the grenade she had emailed him did they realise the danger.

He alerted the bomb squad who removed and destroyed it.

Marie said: "It was a big bang. That's when the shock really set in."

[invisible furry hand]

There's a job in the TSA waiting for them

[PM]

10/10

Sometimes the timing is just perfect.

[Brett L]

13 year old boys don't recognize a grenade? Are you fucking kidding me? I probably could have told you the manufacturing year at that age.

[PS]

Well, they were Limeys.

[Lord Humungus]

it is Britain.

[Pro Libertate]

I could tell the difference between all of the major WWII grenades, thanks to Sgt. Rock and others. And all of those WWII books.

[JW]

Look, metal acorns, capable of tripping a metal detector, and hand grenades are nearly indistinguishable!

[Eduard van Haalen]

I'd hate to be the one processing their guardian angels' overtime paperwork, lol

okkidsletsplaywithunexplodedordnanceitsfun.com

[invisible furry hand]

Great business name, and you even get free use of the falcon

[Eduard van Haalen]

That falcon sign falcon confuses me.

[Lord Humungus]

This is what a 37-year-old Twinkie looks like

This one is a school project started by science teacher Roger Bennatti in 1976. It sat on top of the intercom box in a Maine classroom for 28 years, until Bennatti retired ? at which point he put the Twinkie in a ceremonial case and passed it along to another teacher at the school. The Twinkie's new caretaker, Libby Rosemeier, has a long history with the Twinkie; she was a student in the 1976 class that first doomed the Twinkie to eternal deathlessness. Presumably in another 30 years Rosemeier will entrust the Twinkie to one of her students, and the cycle of Twinkie torture will continue.

[MJGreen]

That's an old Twinkie.

[Gozer the Gozerian]

+1 Winston

[Bardas Phocas]

I've met dozens of twinks older than that.

[PM]

There's a heartless AIDS joke in there somewhere

[Lord Humungus]

Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop faces drug charges in Washington County

Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop, 32, of Madison, Wis., is charged with possession of marijuana with intent to manufacture or deliver after a Washington County Sheriff's deputy found drugs and paraphernalia during a July 20 traffic stop, court records state.

[MJGreen]

He must be a big Cosby fan.

[Mike M.]

+1 Jello pudding pop.

[Gene]

He was might have been rocking out to this when pulled over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4M9L00g5jY

[Gozer the Gozerian]

That should have been Cosby Bebop.

[mr simple]

I thought it might be Diamond David Lee Roth's son.

[Swiss Servator - past LTC(ret)]

I want to go to his arraignment, just to hear the clerk call the case.

[Brett L]

The Canucks have a new weapon in the War on Christmas, but will it be enough to counter the fact that Santa has the $6M man?

[Brett L]

2 links there. Whoops. 2nd starts with "Santa"

[invisible furry hand]

the midget Cher is a nice touch

[Lord Humungus]

Obama Presidency A Lengthening Legacy Of Lawlessness

In just the latest example, President Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder has directed federal prosecutors to conceal the amount of drugs seized during an arrest to circumvent mandatory minimum sentences set by Congress in 1986.

Whether one agrees with that law or not, its legal authority lies within the constitutional powers of Congress, not the executive branch. And that's the issue. It's part of a growing litany of presidential lawlessness:

[CE]

You mean like bombing Libya without informing Congress as per the War Powers Act, or delaying the Obamacare they wanted even though they don't legally have that option, or continuing foreign aid to Egypt following a coup d'etat, even though the law dictates that aid must stop?

[SugarFree]

The vile commenters of Gawker think Miranda got what was coming to him. I don't think they are even drinking the Kool-Aid any longer, just choking it down dry right from the packets.

[John]

I had a women in my neighborhood tell me flat out that if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't worry about the 4th Amendment or the NSA. I always sensed that liberals were secretly jealous of Republicans' ability to wave the flag with pride. They wanted to be the same way but doing so required admitting the country wasn't all bad. And they couldn't do that. But now that the country has elected a black President, they are all in. They are all about the flag, safety and nationalism.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I had a women in my neighborhood tell me flat out that if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't worry about the 4th Amendment or the NSA.

Ask for her email password, since she has nothing to hide.

[CE]

Ask her if she wants to be interrogated for 9 hours and have her computer and phone stolen on her next vacation, then released since she did nothing wrong.

[Bardas Phocas]

Interesting. I googled 'Stasi Flag' and there actually is a Stasi flag.
God bless the internet.
http://www.greatdreams.com/blog-2012-2/Stasi.jpg
Tell them to wave this.

[CE]

You can't spell "Stasi" without TSA.

[bmp1701]

I had a women in my neighborhood tell me flat out that if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't worry about the 4th Amendment or the NSA.

Tell her that if her family has nothing to hide, they shouldn't mind if you hide in their attic and watch them through peepholes.

[John]

That is more or less what I told her in a polite way.

[Fluffy]

They seem to think it's a big deal that the Guardian paid for his ticket and that he visited Laura Poitras.

Even if those things prove what they think they prove, that would only mean that Miranda was a working journalist. So the story would be that the UK used a terrorism statute to seize a journalist in transit who didn't even pass through customs in their country.

How is that better?

[Gbob]

As a kid, I always read about the rise of totalitarian states and wondered "why didn't someone do something to stop this?". I'm somewhat depressed by the fact that as I got older, I got to see it with my own eyes.

Move along citizens.

[Prisoner Zero]

yep

[CE]

As Dr. Erskine told Steve Rogers, "people forget that the first country the Nazis conquered was their own."

[John]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic.....t-gun.html

Woman sees young black man with what she thinks is a shotgun but is actually a pellet gun. Since he is walking towards childrenz, she assumes he is a maniac killer and runs him over severely injuring him. Cops see young black man has a stocking cap in his pocket and charge young black man with attempted robbery of a near by convenience store because we all know any black man with a pellet gun and a stocking cap is up to no good. Woman walks away without charges. That wouldn't have happened in 1954 Virginia. But now it is okay because of gunz and childrenz. Hope you like life on the liberal plantation black America.

[Brett L]

The important thing everyone should take from this article is that women operating vehicles are a menace and should be banned.

[Gbob]

All joking aside, hats off to the woman. Looking at the photo, I'm not sure if I would have spotted it being a pellet gun at first sight either. Good thing she wasn't a white guy, or the narrative would have lynched her by now.

[Atanarjuat]

hats off to the woman

Um, no.

"Hey a black guy with a gun! I'll run him over with my car so he doesn't hurt anyone!"

...is the thought of a murdering psychopath.

[Brett L]

Well, her account is that she shouted at him and he pointed the gun at her. In which case, she did exactly right (after she shouted at him, but as with Zimmerman, it took mistakes by both parties).

[Gbob]

Did you read the article? (I don't mean that in a sarcastic way.) She shouted at the window for him to stop harassing the kids, he pointed the gun at her, she ran him over. It was the right thing for her to do. I don't see anything psychopathic about it. Doing nothing in that situation seems more along the lines of what a sociopath would do.

[Atanarjuat]

No, I skimmed it in a still-hungover haze, and didn't see that part.

[Brett L]

Well, that's the story she told. I'd like to see his account.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

If those were the facts then yes she was justified.

[Atanarjuat]

This is fucked up beyond belief.

I really hope Al Sharpton and the like jump on this with the same fervor they brought to the Zimmerman case.

[John]

Never happen. It involved a gun. The Martin case wasn't about race. They just pretended it was. It was about guns.

[sarcasmic]

I most certainly was about race. You see, if a black kid is being followed by a creepy-ass cracker, it is perfectly acceptable for him to physically attack his follower because that is self defense.
But when a creepy-ass cracker uses force against a black kid who initiated violence against him, that's vigilantism.
What matters most is the skin color of the parties involved, not what they actually did.
Totally about race.

[John]

But they latched onto it because it involved a private party carrying a gun and using it to defend himself. They used the racial angle as a way to get people angry. But the real goal is and continues to be to criminalize gun owners.

[sarcasmic]

They want to criminalize self defense because they equate fighting back to vigilante justice. Well, as long as the person fighting back is white that is.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-That wouldn't have happened in 1954 Virginia. But now it is okay because of gunz and children. Hope you like life on the liberal plantation black America.

What in the world is this supposed to mean? You don't think an injustice like this would not have been likely in 1954 Virginia? Remember, at the time, Virginia was under full bore Jim Crow.

[Brett L]

Yes, exactly. Because nobody would've though twice about a man carryiing a long gun "around children".

[Bo Cara Esq.]

A black man carrying a long gun? H. Bromley, a black man, was lynched in Virginia in 1955.

[Brett L]

For carrying a shotgun?

[Fluffy]

I think he means that no one would have taken seriously the woman's claim that she believed a robbery was imminent just because she saw someone walking down the street with a gun.

Of course, she still would have gotten away with it, because in 1954 Virginia she could just have said that he whistled at her or looked at her breasts, and that would have made running him over A-OK.

But she couldn't have used the "imminent robbery" story without everyone laughing in her face.

[John]

That is exactly what I meant. In 1954 Virginia she would have just been called another crazy woman who can't drive. But even they wouldn't have held her up as a hero.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I agree the presence of a gun around children by itself may have been less threatening in 1954 Virginia (though it likely matters what the setting was, there were tough urban gun control laws reaching quite far back in America), but I bet during Jim Crow a black man with a gun approaching white children sans an adult could have 'justified' quite a bit of responses.

[WTF]

Cameron White was run over by a woman who thought he was carrying a shot gun. He is now in jail because police believe he was planning a robbery when he was struck

Pre-crime!

[John]

That is the worst part. He was black, had a pellet gun and was dressed in black. Clearly he was going to rob someone.

[Atanarjuat]

I didn't see what they charged the guy with when I skimmed the article. Maybe it was 2nd degree thoughtcrime.

[a better weapon]

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Bet there was some good vitriol in there. Shame I won't get to see it.

[Ted S.]

British authorities held David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald's partner,

There was a link in the above, but it led to 24/7. Not to the original article, and not even to the H&R post from yesterday that got hundreds of comments (granted, most of those were people responding to an economically illiterate troll).

Are you that desperate for clicks to 24/7???

[CE]

What's 24/7?

[Brett L]

This is how the Aussies got stereotyped.

Australian researchers say they've created a hydrating beer by adding electrolytes -- a common ingredient in sports drinks. That way drinkers can enjoy their alcoholic beverage, which is known to dehydrate, while still staying refreshed.

IFH, your countrymen are taking credit for something they already knew how to do, only it used to be called a shandy.

[John]

And they stole that from the Germans. The proper name for it is a Radler and the Germans have been doing it for God knows how long.

[robc]

Shandy is British, Radler is German, and they are slightly different things.

Slightly. Radler's are mixed with soda, currently the (far and away) most popular is the grapefruit soda radler.

[John]

Yes, and Randlers are better. But I think the radler came before the Shandy. Also, soda goes much better with a German wheat beer than anything made in Britain.

[Brett L]

Lemonade pomegranate with anything not hoppy is an excellent shandy. I don't need anymore fizz on a hot day.

[invisible furry hand]

That's not a beer... this is a beer

[BiMonSciFiCon]

I see you've played knifey-spooney before.

[Rasilio]

Is it called Brawndo?

[Lord Humungus]

Switzerland opens drive in 'sex boxes' to make prostitution safer

Once they have chosen one of the women and negotiated a fee, they will drive into one of the wooden sheds, which are hung with posters advocating the use of condoms and warning of the risk of Aids.

The sex boxes are equipped with alarms which the prostitutes can activate if they feel in danger from a client.

The site is only open to drivers of cars ? pedestrians and men on motorbikes are not allowed ? and will operate from early evening until 5am each day.

[gaijin]

'sex boxes' and 'prostitutes' = redundant?

[PM]

If prostitution were legal, brothels would probably provide a far greater degree of safety without having to steal money from the public to do it.

Perfect marriage though. The state loves nothing more than fucking people...

[Gbob]

What bothers me is that they're open like that. Who the hell wants to be in a sex box without walls? I don't want to look at someone else getting their freak on while I conduct my business.

[Floridian]

You would deny me my fetish? Monster!

[mr simple]

The sex boxes are equipped with alarms which the prostitutes can activate if they feel in danger from a client.

Assuming she can get out of the car.

"We want to regulate prostitution because until now it was the law of the jungle," said Michael Herzig, from Zurich's social welfare department,

People without government telling them what to do are just wild animals.

[CE]

One government agent will be assigned to each box, to monitor the activities for the safety of the participants. Video will be kept for possible future litigation, but will never, ever be viewed or distributed, we promise.

[Lord Humungus]

Hillary's Racial Politics
She makes a polarizing pitch that ignores trends in voter turnout.

Having Barack Obama at the top of the ticket no doubt helped this black voter mobilization, but the trend shows that the surge preceded his candidacy. Remember when liberals portrayed Bill Clinton as "America's first black President"? The black turnout surge accelerated after Mr. Clinton's last election. Such a large increase in black voter turnout over 16 years would seem to refute the claim by Mrs. Clinton that racial obstacles to voting are increasing.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Actually in the last election there is some evidence that high black turnout was at least in part motivated by what many blacks saw as a threat to their voting rights. The NAACP and black churches mobilized using such rhetoric.

[Palin's Buttplug]

That perceived threat has proven very real now - see North Carolina.

[John]

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

CHRISTFAGS!!!

[John]

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

CHRISTFAGS!!!

[WTF]

BUSHPIGS!!11!!!CHRISTFAGS!!11!!!!

[Enough About Palin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlYlNF30bVg

[CE]

There is also some evidence that high voter turnout for Obama was at least in part motivated by good old fashioned Chicago style politics, getting out the vote whether the actual voters show up or not.

[Lord Humungus]

Vet Charged With Treating Human, Patient Loses Toes
Greeley Police Cite Veterinarian For Allegedly Treating Humans

Freemyer told The Associated Press on Thursday that he was giving a dog skin cancer treatments and that the owner took some of the medicine home and gave it to their neighbor without his knowledge.

"I don't treat people," Freemyer said.

He said the dog, a Jack Russell terrier named "Scooter," had lesions on his back and he rubbed it with a thick topical ointment and sent the dog home. He said the woman who owns the dog somehow got some of the medicine, and when a neighbor complained of a similar ailment on his foot, the dog owner thought the medicine would help.

[John]

Then how was he treating human patients? It is not his fault the woman misused the medicine.

[Ted S.]

I'm confused, not having read the whole article. Why is the vet being charged for something his customer did?

[Lord Humungus]

3-Month-Old Indian Infant Keeps Catching Fire; Doctors Say Baby Emits Combustible Gases Through Skin Pores

In a rare medical condition, a three-month old baby boy from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu keeps catching fire spontaneously. The bizarre incident has stunned local doctors, and spooked the villagers who blame paranormal forces for the phenomenon, local media report.

Rahul, second son of farmhands Karnan and Rajeshwari from Villupuram village, seemed as healthy and normal as any other baby at birth. But since then, the baby reportedly burst into flames at least four times, beginning when he was just nine days old.

the son of Warty.

[Swiss Servator - past LTC(ret)]

Indeed - add India to the list of Warty-victim nations.

[BakedPenguin]

"Spontaneous human combustion. Sometimes people just explode."

[invisible furry hand]

Let's go get sushi and not pay.

[BakedPenguin]

I know a life of blog commenting has led me to this sorry fate, but still, I blame... society.

[T]

That's bullshit, you're a white suburban commenter, just like me.

[CE]

Aren't we all? In fact, most of us are just different screen names for the same person.

[db]

"I blame society. Society made me what I am."

"That's bullshit. You're a white suburban punk, just like me."

[Andrew S.]

Son of Warty would assume a woman slept with him. Unless he reproduces asexually.

[bmp1701]

He may be reproducing aconsensually.

[Lord Humungus]

woman slept with him

yeah, "slept with".

[Xenocles]

Unless, as we all suspected, Warty is actually Ariel Castro.

[Steve G]

A rare, almost unbelievable medical condition in a 3rd world country. Wierd...

[tarran]

5 bucks says Baron Munchausen by Proxy by one of the parents (my money is on the mom).

[UnCivilServant]

I give a small Percentage chance that in a nation of 1 billion and lax sanitation, you're going to see one or two strange mutations.

Though Munchausen by proxy isn't an unreasonable assessment from the information at hand.

[tarran]

The human body is capable of some wacky shit, but if you are sweating that much alcohol (or other flammable substance), it should kill you.

Note that the article implies that the docs have never seen the kid catch on fire. The parents are fucked because the rest of the village is ostracising them, and it appears their only friends in the world are the docs treating their mysteriously ill kid.

If the kid was exuding stuff that could combust spontaneously 9 days after birth, it was exuding that stuff into the womb in the final stages of gestation. The mom should have been deathly ill. The described medical conditions screams bullshit.

In the meantime, the timing of the burns are pretty interesting... 3 - 4 days after birth, parents start really getting stressed: the relatives have stopped coming to 'help'. The shiny newness of the baby has worn off. You're tired. The damn thing keeps pooping and screaming for more milk. They have two kids, they're poor, and the Indian government has been cracking down on the "sell our unwanted children into slavery" trade in the past decade. 9 days after birth is about right for someone being pushed to the edge by an unwanted child.

[UnCivilServant]

Thus we need more tests. I only gave "strange mutation" a small percentage. The child's diet changes upon birth, so there's more information to be gathered, even if it's a simple test of isolate the child away from the parents and see if it combusts again. Doesn't even require special equipment, just someone who can care for the child without freaking out.

[tarran]

Oh I agree that testing would be good.

I would be shocked if it turned out like this.

[Brett L]

Where does the flame source come from? Most babies, even in India aren't within a foot of open flame.

[db]

Fire Triangle..how the fuck's that work?

[SweatingGin]

The human body is capable of some wacky shit, but if you are sweating that much alcohol (or other flammable substance), it should kill you.

Superhuman, yo.

[CE]

And so, the dawn of the X-Men is upon us...

[Lord Humungus]

T.J. Rodgers: Targeting the Wealthy Kills Jobs

Since 2000, the economy has staggered under the record government spending and deficits of two presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The result of that spending spree has been lower real wages and higher and more-persistent unemployment. The Federal Reserve has pushed interest rates to near-zero, and, for the first time ever in the U.S., that Depression-era medicine has not worked?a scary situation reminiscent of Japan's decade-plus economic demise.

According to the latest 2012 IRS income-tax data, the top 1% of American taxpayers earned 20% of all income and paid 36% of all taxes. The top 5% earned 36% of all income and paid 58% of all taxes. Will even higher taxes help the economy? My experience in Silicon Valley tells me that high and so-called progressive taxes are a major cause of the country's current economic problems, not the solution.

[a better weapon]

Not bad. I particularly liked his very concise use of his restaurant example as well as a fact not often mentioned in defense of low capital gains rates; this part:

Silicon Valley is today's brightest example of the traditional American dream still at work. The investments for most startup companies must come from individuals who can wait 10 years to get a return on investment. Only very wealthy Americans can afford that.

It was hit and miss though. I don't like how he points to Europe for validation of his ideas. It's a crap argument when the progressives do it for universal health care and I hate to see that sort of argument given heft by successful members and defenders of the free market.

[R C Dean]

the economy has staggered under the record government spending and deficits of two presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

They just can't help themselves.

Bush's cumulative deficits over 8 years, even if you tag him with the Obama stimulus, is still less than Obama's in just 4.

[SugarFree]

And the scum-fucks on the Slate board have gone full retard on the Miranda case. (See if you can spot an old "friend" of H&R in the comments.)

[Brett L]

This is why we need Republicans in charge. Because then the media does its job just a little bit better.

[John]

They really are scumbags.

[Matrix]

Guilt by association is one of the things the progs seem to love holding against people.

That's why a prog marrying a conservative it a far greater crime than the reverse.

[robc]

I refuse to go there, so who was the old friend?

joe from lowell, maybe?

[SugarFree]

If you know Dan T.'s real name, this handle is a very obvious play on it. Combine that with the subject, stance, and poor writing skills, I think that's him.

DANERTANT

i don't believe you think any of that. Greenwald is not a journalist, hes a blogger,, a blogger with an agenda. Greenwalds Lover was a " mule".. He was expected to be pulled in, detained. Thats easy to see and understand. Laura Poitras said she would be using friends, family and acquaintances to ferry her electronic info ,, just a week ago. So.. Lover gets pulled over, exactly as Laura predicted..Sure looks like a set up by Greenwald to me.. Greenwald played the authorities to stay in the Headlnes. ..Greenwald remains relevant in another mans story. LMAO.. otherwise.. Keyser Soze of last week,,just got real stoopid for not seeing this coming.. either way..Greenwald Fails...

[tarran]

His inventive mind really comes up with some unexpected plot twists.

He's like L Ron Hubbard, but stupider and with less writing talent.

[John]

http://nationalreview.com/arti.....vis-hanson

A run down of all of Obama's geography and history gaffes. There are too many of them for them to all be just misstatements. He really just doesn't know much.

[PM]

Obama doesn't make mistakes. Whatever he declares, history retroactively changes itself to comply.

[Mike M.]

He's kind of like The Most Interesting Man in the World (if by most you mean least).

[John]

It has never been his bad.

[CE]

The Eskimos have 12 different words for his lies.

[sarcasmic]

Campaign Seeks to Push Seattle Minimum Wage to $15

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireS.....5-19997290

"We won't stop until unemployment is at 100%" says organizers. Well, not really. I made that up.

[John]

If you can't afford to pay $15 an hour, you shouldn't be in business.

Yeah, they really believe that.

[UnCivilServant]

Oh well, at least there's Roboburger and illegal employment.

How many people will be working on a cash basis, denying employment and claiming benefits if they get their way?

[John]

Millions. And they will be collecting the dole as an added bonus. And frankly I won't blame them for doing it. Meanwhile, tax receipts will go through the floor and we will end up like Greece and Spain.

I don't buy the unemployment figures from those countries for a moment. I am sure that is the number of people who say they are unemployed. But I bet you many of those work under the table.

[sarcasmic]

All they have to do is give up some of their obscene profits. I mean, that's the only reason why they don't pay everyone $15/hr. Profits. They're stealing from the workers.

[PM]

"Why the fuck are all these illegal immigrants teking er jeebs?!?!"

[CE]

Why not 20?

[John]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....match.html

I have no idea who Maria Menounos is. But she is apparently a wrestling fan.

[Brett L]

Needs more Lucha mask. I mean... Shit. I think I just discovered a new fetish for myself. See you guys later, I'm getting my Rule 34 on.

[invisible furry hand]

In years to come that Lucha mask will keep your marriage fresh

[John]

She wears the uniform quite well.

[sarcasmic]

Look up Maria Menounos bikini malfunction on google images. NSFW.

[invisible furry hand]

Japanese workers condemned to the boredom room

http://www.smh.com.au/business.....2s6jj.html

[Lord Humungus]

sounds like my job.

[sarcasmic]

aye, me too

[LilDebbie]

Reposting from the overnight thread, but please read and consider signing this petition to ask the Obama administration to condemn the UK government's detention of David Miranda.

And, of course, pass the link along!

[Kaptious Kristen]

Yeah, I'm totally putting my name on a White House web site on an issue that runs directly contrary to the White House's position. And I'm pretty sure the White House is pulling the strings on this guy's detention in the first place, so why in the world would they condemn it?

[Gbob]

It's not like they don't have files on us already, this being a hive of villainy and all.

[WTF]

...ask the Obama administration to condemn the UK government's detention of David Miranda.

I'm sure they detained him at the behest of the Obama administration.

[John]

2012 deficit over a trillion dollars. Has been over a trillion every year of the Obama administration.

http://weaselzippers.us/2013/0.....-trillion/

[Ted S.]

But the Dow and S&P are at their highest levels ever!

[Lord Humungus]

RECORD PROFITZ!

[JW]

He inherited this economy from the 44th president!

[Andrew S.]

Since the deficit was over $1 trillion in 2008, the current deficit is clearly Bush's fault, right?

Alternate argument: Debt doesn't matter!

[Palin's Buttplug]

John is lying again. The current FY deficit is $605 billion - less than half the deficit Obama inherited.

[John]

From the link retard

The Congressional Budget Office last week released updated historical budget data for the federal government, reporting a deficit of $1.087 trillion in fiscal 2012.

Take it up with the CBO you demented little fuck. Everything you say is a lie. You just love having your nose rubbed in the shit you drop on here.

[Steve G]

the 'current FY' is not '12... nice misdirection

[Palin's Buttplug]

So basically John noted that the deficit is trending downward.

But he implied otherwise.

He is still lying.

[John]

12 is not 13, retard. And not how the CBA adjusted the numbers for 12 upwards. So the chances of that number you have been flogging actually being accurate about the same as you getting out of your box and getting an apartment.

[Lord Humungus]

reading comprehension starts at an early age.

[PM]

Trending down from 5 fiscal years of record-breaking deficits over 1 trillion dollars is like being the fastest horse in the glue factory.

Anyway, it wasn't a lie to point out the rather obvious fact that FY 2012's deficit was over a trillion bucks. You're just a mendacious, Obama-worshiping twat for whom reality is an inconvenient distraction.

[Mike M.]

Don't feed the animal. Ignore it and maybe it will disappear for a few days again.

[WTF]

BUSHPIG!!11!!!CHRISTFAG!!11!!!

[Brett L]

I agree that 2008 and 2009 shouldn't be counted against Obama. But he will own 2017 in my books, too.

[John]

09 should totally count against him. It includes TARP, something he voted for as a Senator, and the porkulus, which was completely his and Harry Reid and Pelosi's doing. How can you put 09 on Bush when it included a $700 billion stimulus he had nothing to do with?

[Palin's Buttplug]

The stimulus and TARP were not on budget - which had $3.5 trillion in spending without them.

If they had been you would have seen a $1,4 trillion spike in spending but you didn't.

And stop lying. We told you this before.

[UnCivilServant]

On busget, off budget, doesn't matter - the government is spending money it doesn't have!

[CE]

Obama = Bush = fiscal disaster.

[William of Purple]

Welcome Back Hosni

[William of Purple]

At least you don't live in Gary, Indiana

[CampingInYourPark]

So, I had a chance to watch Pete King on Fox News Sunday yesterday claim "Rand Paul just doesn't know what he's talking about" regarding the NSA.

Anybody else notice one of his eyes has started twitching when he says "Rand Paul"?

[Swiss Servator - past LTC(ret)]

+1 Chief Inspector Dreyfus

[a better weapon]

That guy is all over Fox these days. I'm watching less and less of that channel as a result. I can't fucking stand that goon.

CNN and the WSJ channel on Roku are benefiting from Ailes parading that fuckwit around on every bit of programming.

[John]

http://www.nationaljournal.com.....g-20130817

The Dem civil war over fracking is about to begin. The Greens have finally hit the point that their fanaticism is going to start costing money that people notice not having. Combine that with a government increasingly desperate for money and I think the Greens are about to go under the bus.

[a better weapon]

There were a lot of dems interested in getting the Keystone pipeline approved and clearly the greens won.

They'll just tie up fracking in bureaucratic nonsense as well to give dems in natural gas deposit states a way to deny that their party is holding anything up. Hope you're right though.

[Enough About Palin]

So I'm walking my seven-month old German Shepherd dog in the park Friday evening and I come across a kid of about twelve with a pit bull puppy. I'd say it was less than four-months old and under twenty pounds. My shepherd weighs fifty-five pounds. I acknowledge the kid as we pass him and his dog. "Is that a puppy?" I ask. He says, Yes." and I say, "Mine too." Nice kid, nice dog. Well all of the sudden these little middle school girls start yelling, "LET THEM FIGHT!!! LET THEM FIGHT!!!" Now I know the kid has no interest in that, so I keep walking and the girls keep taunting me and the kid to fight our puppies. One girl stands up like she's on Jerry Springer and yells at me, "WHY DON'T YOU WANT YOUR DOG TO FIGHT? YOU THINK YOU'RE DOG WILL GET HER MOTHER FUCKIN' ASS KICKED!!!???"

Eleven years old.

I wonder what Jezebel would say about that?

[John]

That kid needs his ass kicked. A feel sorry for his poor puppy who will no doubt suffer all kinds of cruelty and be taught to be mean. Just terrible.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Were you listening to the Dude's story?

[John]

Oh. It was the girls who did it. Screw them then.

[sarcasmic]

I'm sure a member of the local constabulary would have no problem with punching the girls in the head a few times. Just tell him they flipped him off and let the beating begin.

[John]

Right after he shot both dogs.

[Ted S.]

It's the girls doing the taunting, not the dog owner.

[PS]

Either a case of female empowerment, the fault of the rape culture/patriarchy, or some combination thereof.

[Ted S.]

I feel bad for those 11-year-olds who don't know the difference between "your" and "you're". :-p

[Night Elf Mohawk]

It doesn't sound like she's the most thoughtful 11 year old in the world.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-A Personalized Robot Companion for Older People

-A highly customisable robot companion designed by EU-funded researchers to offer support to older people is currently being presented across Europe and could find its way into people's homes within two or three years, potentially greatly enhancing quality of life for older citizens and people with memory or mobility problems.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/re.....125631.htm

[UnCivilServant]

"Kill it with fire" would be too kind.

[Brett L]

Eh. It doesn't really sit in the uncanny valley.

[UnCivilServant]

Yet somehow I'm compelled to violence towards it.

[Lord Humungus]

me three.

[PM]

Wonder if this will go I Robot or Bicentennial Man...

[Rasilio]

I'm hoping more for Cherry 2000

[CE]

More like Robot and Frank.

[SugarFree]

Anything that keeps their kids from having to visit them is fine with the kids.

[a better weapon]

Oh sure, I bet it will be a whole lot easier for old people to manage than the internet was/is.

[mr simple]

Everyone knows robots just steal old people's medicine.

[The Late P Brooks]

This morning's visit to Mister Rogers' Magic Kingdom Morning Joke featured a prolonged, loving look back at the triumph of social engineering which has been the Bloomberg legacy.

Oddly enough, no mention was made of Greenwald's Partner in TERROR.

[Andrew S.]

Re-posting from last night

http://www.newsobserver.com/20.....brown.html

North Carolina SBI agent manufactures murder confession from man with IQ of 54. Man spends 14 years in prison (state hospital) until psychiatrists realize there was no way he could have given such a coherent confession. State pays settlement of nearly $8 million. SBI agent still on job, has seemingly never faced any punishment (and has been promoted even).

[Nando]

Meanwhile, workers are getting the short end of the stick. As CNN Money explained, "a separate government reading shows that total wages have now fallen to a record low of 43.5% of GDP. Until 1975, wages almost always accounted for at least half of GDP, and had been as high as 49% as recently as early 2001."

[John]

That is the other side of high unemployment that never gets talked about. It is not just bad for the people who don't have jobs. It makes people with jobs miserable too. In a lose labor market, employees have very little leverage over their employers.

[Ted S.]

and had been as high as 49% as recently as early 2001."

So it's all BOOOOOOOOOSH's fault!

[Rasilio]

Actually in a way it kinda is, Just not Bush Jr.

What we are seeing now is the inevitable result of overly loose fiscal policy that began in 1991 under George Bush Senior.

Every President since has been complicit of course because none have said to the American people "It is time to take our medicine and get our fiscal house in order" then cut spending and increased interest rates.

So instead we get a series of bubbles which concentrate more and more of the wealth into inflated financial products and less in wages.

[Brett L]

That's silly. You want to ignore all of the productivity gains since 1975 (or 2001)?

[some guy]

I think this is a measure of those productivity gains combined with a loose labor market, as John says above. Productivity gains benefit everyone, but they benefit the employed much more than the unemployed. That's (one of) the problems with minimum wage laws.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Listening to NPR the other day there was a story about how the better than expected recent unemployment numbers released from the government actually led to drops in the stock market. The analyst explained that the stock market has been doing well primarily because the Fed is 'pumping money' into it and the fear is that if the unemployment significantly improves the fed will start easing back.

The market under Obama's Fed has essentially become like a heroin addict.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Stock prices follow profits. Profits are well past all-time highs - up about 30% from the last market peak in 2007.

Fed programs don't hurt but they don't dictate corporate profits.

Many on the right WANT the economy to fail so that Team Red can win a national election again.

[Rasilio]

Now ask yourself why profits are well past all time highs.

It might have a little to do with an economic environment that discourages expansion of the business leaving the bulk of the revenue to be claimed as profits.

[John]

http://pjmedia.com/blog/medite.....th-turkey/

Israel apparently has found a huge gas field. Watching Europe have to buy its natural gas from the filthy Jews proves God has a sense of humor.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-Female Frogs Prefer Males Who Can Multitask

-Females of many species judge suitors based on many indicators of health or parenting potential. But it can be difficult for males to produce multiple signals that demonstrate these qualities simultaneously. In a study of gray tree frogs, a team of University of Minnesota researchers discovered that females prefer males whose calls reflect the ability to multitask effectively.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/re.....130355.htm

[PS]

Have you every tried changing 1000 tadpole diapers at once?

[Nando]

Apple, more than the other two companies discussed here, has numerous high-paying positions in engineering, design, programming, marketing, etc. Reports by two independent salary trackers indicate that the overall average salary at Apple is about $50,000. Even with this much higher figure, Apple pays its U.S. employees only $1 for every $8 in profits.

[UnCivilServant]

Sorry, any schlub can be made a retail troll. This is just more whining about how the unskilled/low-skilled labor gets paid unskilled/low-skilled rates.

[Swiss Servator - past LTC(ret)]

THOSE EVUL PROFITZ SHOULD BE CONFISCATED AND REDISTRIBUTED!! FOR GREAT JUSTICE!

[OldMexican]

Re: Nando,

Apple pays its U.S. employees only $1 for every $8 in profits.

And I am sure that if any of Apple's employees finds such fact compelling enough, he or she will run towards the exit door with a box full of his or her knick-knacks and personal stuff, showing honest outrage.

All you have to do is wait outside the exit door with a camera. Oh, bring a chair and a beach umbrella, because it does get sunny over there in the San Jose/Palo Alto area.

[Rasilio]

"Apple pays its U.S. employees only $1 for every $8 in profits."

Um, so all this is really saying is that Apple spends the bulk of it's revenue on overseas operations and buying parts from vendors

[robc]

The liquor fairy made passive-aggressive commentary on my alcohol consumption...she gave me a 1.75L bottle of Woodford for my birthday.

Because the 1L bottle she gave my on July 4 disappeared too fast.

[Ted S.]

If she really wanted to be passive-aggressive, she would have given you a box of Almaden or something similar. 😉

[robc]

I only gets products made by her employer.

[Bobarian]

She works for Brown-Forman?

She could have brought you Jack Daniels, SoCo, or Early Times...

Count your blessings.

[PS]

Or it's the fact that after a few tall ones you turn into Backdoor Bob.

[SugarFree]

Best liquor-fairy ever. Although they do prefer to be called booze-queers these days. Politeness doesn't cost a thing, robc.

[invisible furry hand]

A subset prefers Ghey Goose

[Brett L]

So here's an interesting article that I think will be used politically by food activists. What it say is that children who eat foods from containers that are lined with bisphenol A or Di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (DEHP) are more likely to become obese or have diabetic or pre-diabetic symptoms.

This article fairly reports that the correlation is the only thing proven and that it is still an open question as to whether the plastics are causitive or the foods that are preserved by these plastics are causitive. I'll be watching to see how this plays on FB and social media over the next week or so.

[sarcasmic]

That's been in the news for years.

[Ted S.]

Or whether the kids are eating too much of those (or any other) foods.

[PS]

Did it control for the type of parents who are likely to feed their kids out of plastic containers?

[some guy]

I was the thinking the same thing. Usually they do control for that kind of thing, but you never know. Parents who don't care about their kids eating out of those containers may not care how much their kids eat at all or how much excercise they get.

[PS]

They are much more likely to be buying prepared food and serving it in it's store bought container instead of cooking which is indicative of a whole lot of bad variables.

[Brett L]

The authors seem to have said that they have not separated any factors. Additionally, there is a strong critique of using urine to measure BPA, as it is well established that urine BPA levels elevate and fall quickly in response to BPA in diet. So there's no reason to think that BPA stays in the body or gets processed into hormone analogues.

[PS]

Eliminating correlation is *hard* and since all these 'researchers' get money for these low quality studies anyway, why bother? Who cares if the data is shitty as long as there are lots of fancy statistics and graphs in the write-up.

[PS]

Actually they claimed to have controlled for a bunch of factors.

Controlling for demographic and behavioral factors, diet, continuous age, BMI category, and urinary creatinine, for each log (roughly threefold) increase in DEHP metabolites, a 0.27 increase (95% confidence interval 0.14?0.40; P < .001) in HOMA-IR was identified.

[The Late P Brooks]

consider signing this petition to ask the Obama administration to condemn the UK government's detention of David Miranda.

How droll.

[John]

Has anyone else noticed a bit of a split among the young and the old over the NSA thing? It seems that the older boomer liberals I meet are the ones who have totally bought into the NSA being just totally okay and you shouldn't worry if you have nothing to hide. In contrast, the under 40 liberals I know seem to be genuinely angry about this. There was a Facebook post by a friend of mine about Feinstein saying you had to get paid to be considered a journalist worthy of 1st Amendment protections and it attracted the kind of visceral hatred among my various liberal friends normally reserved for Republicans. I don't know anyone under 45 who is defending this crap. But every liberal over 45 I know thinks it is great.

[sarcasmic]

John Stossel doesn't mind, and he's no liberal.

[John]

And he is over 45. And that brings up a good point. The conservatives seem to split along age lines as well.

[Libertymike]

John Stossel, like almost all of humanity, suffers from cognitive dissonance.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Yes I've noticed it. The liberals I know are very disgruntled about this stuff but they've easily distracted themselves with the new Texas abortion laws.

[CatoTheElder]

I'm a sixty-year-old libertarian, and I find the NSA thing infuriating. I have one liberal friend of like age who agrees, and another whose reaction is "meh".

However, older liberals like my in-laws still trust the US government in everything. I think it has something to do with getting a social security check. Seriously, once a geezer starts getting the check, his attitude towards USG tends to become more favorable.

[The Late P Brooks]

The liquor fairy made passive-aggressive commentary on my alcohol consumption...she gave me a 1.75L bottle of Woodford for my birthday.

Better than replacing your shot glass with a jelly jar.

[kinnath]

Something rare, something semi-rational at Salon.

http://www.salon.com/2013/08/1.....ting_shot/

[creech]

Fox and Friends had Dennis Kucinich on this morning. Just before cutting him off, the Fox guy threw out the clich? "The Constitution isn't a suicide pact." Other than, "You are saying then that we should let the terrorists win" what other snappy answers do you recommend to use on Chicken Littles?

[Andrew S.]

"Fuck off, slaver"

[Night Elf Mohawk]

"What do you mean by that?" isn't very snappy, but it only takes a couple of steps to lead them to "If the Constitution means whatever is expedient, it means nothing."

[Xenocles]

For an imperial city, nothing is inconsistent which is expedient.

[BakedPenguin]

"That's right, it's not. A totalitarian government is."

[Kaptious Kristen]

I got to scream "What the FUCK?!?!" at an old dude in a Camaro this morning (he came blasting through the crosswalk I was attempting to use). His window was open. It felt goooooood. Only regret is I didn't have a loogie ready to go.

[John]

I hate people who do that. You might as well a sign that says "I am a completely self important asshole".

[sarcasmic]

I had a similar incident not too long ago. I yelled "What the fuck? You in a hurry to get to a red light?"

Many heads turned. Dude looked pissed.

[Swiss Servator - past LTC(ret)]

Or that grenade those British kids were playing with.

[PS]

Look, James Garner isn't getting any younger.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

DON'T TALK SHIT ABOUT ROCKFORD!!!

Also, he drove a Firebird, not a Camaro.

[Ebriosa]

Only reason to carry a purse with heavy metal bits on it, IMO. I've hit a few cars as a pedestrian when they've blown through my crosswalk.

[Auric Demonocles]

All links and no alt-text makes Reason a dull blog.

[The Late P Brooks]

Come on, Kristen, you're supposed to yell, "ASSSSHOOOOOOOOLE!"

[John]

http://www.nj.com/business/ind.....d_hea.html

Obamacare, ending the long national nightmare of affordable health insurance.

The bare-bones health insurance policy that's been the plan of choice for New Jerseyans who can't afford something better is set to go away next year, thanks to the Affordable Care Act.

And what those policy holders will be left with may be a choice among pricey, pricier and priciest.

[Lord Humungus]

less money in your pocket = less consumer spending. It's like Obamacare is going to be an economic drag in multiple ways.

[Auric Demonocles]

John, you have forgotten that Obama gets to classify things as necessary to "keep" his promises (e.g. enemy combatants).

Those people aren't losing their insurance, because they never had any. It didn't involve $0 copays for prenatal care? That's not insurance!

[Palin's Buttplug]

Cruz releases birth certificate proving dual citizenship - Wingnuts heads explode.

http://livewire.talkingpointsm.....te?ref=fpa

John, please translate this Freeper bullshit. http://www.freerepublic.com/fo.....6264/posts

Why are you conservatives consistently stupid when confronted with evidence?

[John]

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

CHRISTFAGS!! BUSHPIGS!!

Let it all out Shreek. Just take your meds and let it out.

[sarcasmic]

Takin PB to the zoo

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin's Buttwipe,

To: praytell

He [Cruz]needs to release his college transcripts too. And while doing so, announce that he will keep no secrets from the American people...

Go suck on that Obama!

7 posted on Monday, August 19, 2013 8:28:10 AM by Cowboy Bob (Democrats: Robbing Peter to buy Paul's vote.)

Yeah, pretty scary stuff, Buttwipe.

[R C Dean]

Why are you conservatives consistently stupid when confronted with evidence?

They learned it from you?

[BelowTheRim]

Anybody watch Fox Sports 1 this weekend?

I did a little bit of highlights watching on Saturday/Sunday. It seems like they are going to be a good combination of:

a) Indirectly making fun of ESPN an how seriously those pricks take themselves and their bullshit interest stories and faux reporting e.g. Mark Sanchez

b) Actual highlights. There was a time, in the 90's and before where if you were a Seattle fan living in Pittsburgh or wherever, tuning into sportscenter for 1 hour would guarantee you seeing your Mariners highlights. Seems like FS1 might have recaptured that beautiful model.

Basically I has a happy that I have another alternative to that 4-letter acronym from Bristol.

[John]

I am hoping they force ESPN to do better and put on something besides two idiots screaming at each other for programing. Can Fox and NBC get a college basketball contract? If they could maybe ESPN would figure out that the entire basketball world hates Dick Vitale and doesn't want him calling games anymore.

[Mike M.]

I like most of the "30 for 30" specials a lot; many of them are truly incredible pieces of short film-making. But I agree that most of their screaming heads suck; they seem to think it's all about them.

[John]

30 for 30 is great. ESPN can still do good programing. As much as I despise Vitale, their NBA crew is very good. ESPN just has had a monopoly so long they have gotten slack and think they can just put anything on. They desperately need some competition.

[Libertymike]

John, what is your problem with Dicky V?

I can't tell you how many times I have seen Dicky V being carried by college hoop fans all across the land.

Personal experience:

October 15, 2005, South Bend, Indiana. College Gameday was there for USC and Notre Dame. Chris Fowler and company had set up in the quad area, with Touchdown Jesus in the backdrop. My wife and I made a point of being on campus early that day in order to soak up the sights, including seeing the Gameday crew.

Guess who got a rousing ovation as he made his way through the crowd to join Fowler et al? Yes, Mr. Awesome, baby!

Yes, he is a big Notre Dame guy and he makes no bones about it. I think he has two sons-in-law who are ND graduates.

[John]

Dicky V was once a very good analyst. But about 15 or so years ago his act went to his head and he stopped being an analyst and just became a screamer playing a part. I am sure he is a nice man. But he is incredibly grating on the air. He just won't shut up and is constantly distracting you from the game with his over the top style.

[Libertymike]

Yeah, he is constantly over the top and I can certainly understand why some people would find his style grating.

As you know, some similar things were often said of Howard Cosell.

[CE]

Only two faces make me change the channel immediately: Barack Obama and Skip Bayless.

[BelowTheRim]

That is a good point. I dunno what Fox is thinking they will do as far as 'major' sports coverage.

I know that NBC sports is doing a lot of soccer and golf and other stuff.

I think FS1 is going to do a lot of football and baseball but I have no idea on basketball.

But yes, FS1 should compel the Bristol Bullshitters to have less commentary i.e. skip ballless yelling at Stephen a Racist.

But it is ESPN. Al Jaffe and mgt haverun them into the ground over the last 10 years

[Mike M.]

Worst of all, they have even brought back Keith Olbermann after saying he would never set foot there again.

I don't know what the hell they're thinking with that one. He is one of the most insufferable jackasses in the media, and they're going to alienate close to half their audience with such a stupid move.

[John]

As much as I hate to admit it, I actually like Olbermann as a sports guy. Sure he is insufferably smug. But he knows a lot. And his smugness actually works in the context of sports. He has a great way of ridiculing sports' self importance.

[Libertymike]

Good point. But, it is hard to get past that smugness.

[Kaptious Kristen]

All I know is I no longer have Speed Channel. Fuck FS1.

[BelowTheRim]

Damn KK. You angry.

What is this 'Speed Chanel' you speak of?

[invisible furry hand]

it's couture-to-go

[Kaptious Kristen]

You can't rush Chanel

[Floridian]

Didn't bullrun come on speed? I liked that show.

[JW]

NBCSN is looking to be a much better alternative for motorsports.

No 24/7 NASCAR, no fucking Pinks or whatever other POS automotive reality shit-show they manage to extricate from their assholes. Just racing.

I missed Speedvisions's glory days, but Speed made me want to cry.

[Apatheist ?_??]

No, I was busy watching the Premiere League on NBC Sports who provide infinitely better coverage (and every game live!). Fox Soccer deserved it's death.

[Andrew S.]

The NBC Sports coverage was great. So happy to see EPL finally getting a good presentation over here.

[Kaptious Kristen]

The question is: do they say "gol gol gol gol gol" or "goooooOOoOOoooooOOOOOOoool"?

I prefer the latter.

[Apatheist ?_??]

The actual match broadcast is a straight up streaming of Sky Sports just like before. The British commentary style is much less excitable than the Latin America style.

[Brett L]

Why was Fox running UEFA reruns this weekend when there are current games?

[BakedPenguin]

This.

Also, the NE Revs goal against Chicago was incredible.

[Brett L]

The heel flick? Yeah. Somebody get that kid in a USA jersey.

[Rhywun]

They don't show those early rounds - it's all teams nobody has ever heard of.

[Auric Demonocles]

I watched a couple of minutes late last night. I haven't seen enough to form an opinion yet.

I am looking forward to (hopefully) having a fulltime sports station that is aware hockey exists, the NBA has players besides LeBron, and Tim Tebow sucks and isn't worth anyone's time.

[The Late P Brooks]

Oh, no! People who live on the beach might have to assume more of the costs of the risk they assume!

If the federal government doesn't rebuild hedge fund managers' houses after a hurricane it'll be just like SOMALIA!

[Lord Humungus]

Yesterday while I was in the backyard, I heard a deep engine. I looked up and saw a B-17 Bomber heading northwest. A few minutes later, it circled back. Apparently at the airport, you could take a ride for $475 a pop.

I wanted to send up some flack, just for "that sense of history" purpose.

[Lord Humungus]

I was also surprised how damn loud the plane was - you could hear it miles away. I'm sure that sound struck horror in many of a German.

[UnCivilServant]

Also, they flew in giant flocks of dozens to hundreds at a time, you only saw one.

[Rasilio]

In a few cases it was well over 1000, with a couple hundred P-47's and P-51's along as escorts.

The amazing thing, each of those bigass bombers can carry about 1/3rd of the bomb load of an F-15e

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Boeing builds the C-17 about two miles from my house. When they take off from LGB, it is fucking LOUD!

[PS]

"I'm cold. I'm cold."

[The Late P Brooks]

All I know is I no longer have Speed Channel. Fuck FS1.

Thank you.

Despite their long downhill slide into the de facto NASCAR Chennel, at least they never stooped to soccer. Also, I could have happily done without the ten thousand annoying promos during yesterday's MotoGp coverage from the Speedway. Great race, though.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I loved all the dirt, motocross, motorcycle and rally racing Speed had. Now there's pretty much nowhere to watch those weird motorsports. I think they're keeping NASCAR Today, which is nice since I'm a big Kenny Wallace fan.

[np]

British authorities held David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald's partner, for almost nine hours yesterday at Heathrow airport. Miranda's cell phone, laptop, camera, and other equipment were confiscated. Member of Parliament Keith Vaz, who is the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, has said that he will be asking police for information on Miranda's detention.

Update from Brian's article yesterday:

UPDATE II: According to the New York Times, the targeting of Miranda--while still having nothing whatever to do with terrorism investigations, remember--was not random harassment either. They apparently knew that Miranda had Snowden-related documents on a thumb drive on his person, which they stole, ones that documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras had given him to bring to Greenwald.

That was what I strongly suspected. They can legally detain you on whatever suspicion, take your shit--their real goal--and let you go. I bet they want to anticipate what Greenwald will say so that they don't constantly repeat the mistake of asserting something then having that be rebuffed by Greenwald later.

[mr simple]

Nothing good stays in Canada.

Paulina Gretzky engaged to golfer Dustin Johnson, expected to tweet entire wedding

[mr simple]

Marine who played at base banned

A Middle Tennessee freshman who finished five years of active service in the Marines this summer is appealing an NCAA rule preventing him from playing this season because he played in a recreational league in the military.

[Brett L]

But the NCAA has totally not set up the rules to disempower their player-employees.

[Libertymike]

What consideration has the NCAA given to this guy or to Johnny Manzell?

In order for there to be an enforceable contract, the party yelling and screaming breach must have provided some consideration to the party alleged to have breached the contract.

What, exactly, has the NCAA given to Johnny Manzell?

Its not as if there would be no football without the NCAA.

[Auric Demonocles]

They've given him the opportunity to play in their league. If they don't want to let him, they don't have to.

They absolutely have the right to say "you did X before trying to join us, so we won't let you" (even if objecting to him doing X is a stupid objection).

Why do you hate freedom of association so much?

[Libertymike]

No, the NCAA has not given Manzell anything.

Did the NCAA recruit Manzell?

Did Manzell play for the NCAA?

Do college football fans pay to see a political institution or do they pay to see football?

Do you have personal knowledge that Johnny executed a contract under the terms of which he agreed to waive any and all interest he has in his name, likeness and image, including receiving compensation for his autograph?

[Libertymike]

Auric, you just do not seem to understand that in order for a contract to be enforceable, both parties must provide some consideration.

Why do you hate Johnny exercising his freedom to associate with those who are willing to pay for his autograph?

[Libertymike]

Furthermore, in order for a contract to be enforceable and valid, the party yelling and screaming breach must prove that the breach is MATERIAL to the contract.

In order for one to appreciate and love freedom of association, one must understand basic contractual principles.

[John]

Furthermore, in order for a contract to be enforceable and valid, the party yelling and screaming breach must prove that the breach is MATERIAL to the contract.

Taking money on the side is a material breach. And by your logic no league anywhere that didn't pay its players in cash could ever have enforceable rules. That is nonsense.

The NCAA doesn't need a valid contract with consideration to enforce its own rules in its own game. No one is saying the NCAA can sue Manziel for breach of contract. They just can kick him out of their games if they choose to.

[Auric Demonocles]

Why do you hate Johnny exercising his freedom to associate with those who are willing to pay for his autograph?

He's perfectly free to do that. Just don't expect the NCAA to let him hang out them after doing so.

[CE]

Manziel is playing college football, as an amateur athlete. He ought to know the rules. If he doesn't, the blame falls on the Texas A&M coaching staff. If Manziel doesn't want to abide the rules, he doesn't have to play, and can give up his scholarship.

Unfortunately the NFL age discriminates and won't hire anyone until they're 21, but there's always the CFL.

[John]

What consideration has the NCAA given to this guy or to Johnny Manzell?

A scholarship and the opportunity to play football in NCAA sanctioned games. It is no different than if you signed up for a rec basketball league and agreed that no one on your team was a ringer and had never played college or professional ball. If you showed up with a former NBA player on your team, the league could kick you out.

[Mokers]

I can never decide which sports authority is more contemptible, the NCAA, the IOC or FIFA.

[CE]

The IOC.

[Sevo]

Imagine a law so complex that those who wrote it and passed it don't know what's in it.
Imagine some folks only slightly more sleazy than those folks and 'way smarter.

"Scammers prey on confusion about health care overhaul"
"Obamacare scams are popping up all over the country. They've been identified in at least half of the states, and possibly more,"

Why, we don't have to imagine it at all! We have a whole city full of lying idiots who gave it to us. Yes, welcome to OBAMACARE!
http://www.sfgate.com/health/a.....742363.php

[Brett L]

only slightly more sleazy

Why would you say that?

[OldMexican]

The president said on Saturday that Healthcare insurance is a right, and that it will be kept that way. If it were a right, then everybody should have it as a matter of right, so what are we doing still paying for coverage and why do people have to fill these pesky surveys and choose a new plan every November, if insurance is ours by right?

Or maybe, the president just doesn't get the concept of right. Neither most people that think that rights mean "the things I want."

[UnCivilServant]

A right cannot oblige another party to act, only prevent an action against you. Anything that obliges action is not a right.

Some European countries have claimed that high speed internet access is a right. How? People are not born with an ethernet jack into their brain. This implies that someone is obliged to provide them with this service in some manner. I wish I had the link lying around.

Lets see another way this is frequently confused. A paid speaker is disinvited from speaking at a venue because the people funding the event didn't support her politics. Speaker claims this is an infringement of her freedom of speech. Forgets however, that they did nothing that would stop her from arriving in the area and espousing her views without compensation. (so she was really whining about not getting a paycheck). link

[OldMexican]

+1

[CatoTheElder]

The President's understanding of rights is utterly retarded.

PPACA does not create a right to insurance.

It creates an obligation to purchase insurance on the part of individuals, and it creates an obligation to sell insurance on the part of insurance companies.

[The Late P Brooks]

"Scammers prey on confusion about health care overhaul"

No

fucking

way.

[The Late P Brooks]

A right cannot oblige another party to act, only prevent an action against you. Anything that obliges action is not a right.

Nicely put.

[Eduard van Haalen]

I'm in a nitpicking mood today, so I'll offer this, from the Sixth Amendment:

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right...to have *compulsory process* for obtaining witnesses in his favor..." [emphasis added]

[Xenocles]

That measure prevents the government from acting against you. If they do not want to go along with obtaining the witnesses they can always decline to charge you, making the trial unnecessary.

[Auric Demonocles]

But what about the situation from the witnesses' point of view?

[Xenocles]

Yes, I suppose that is a fair objection.

[R C Dean]

No, the compulsion originates from the state, not the defendant.

In effect, you have the right not to be prosecuted unless the state's compulsion of witnesses applies equally to prosecution and defense witnesses.

[CE]

Compulsory testimony and compulsory jury duty both infringe the freedom of those affected, but if you're ever on trial they're not so bad.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Here's an interesting situation I've heard of - won't give the church's name, since I don't know if they want to go public.

This church had a sign outside promoting their prolife ministry ("pregnant? need help? call us," etc.) Now the municipal code-enforcers have come down on them (I wonder who dropped a dime on the church? Just a concerned citizen, I suppose). It seems that the sign has more than three colors, which is illegal (there was some religious imagery on the sign, if you can believe it). The government even sent a legal notice to the diocese threatening a lawsuit.

So now they've covered up the sign with a cloth or something.

Of course, there's a Congressional statute protecting religious land use from arbitrary harassment, but I know those sorts of laws aren't popular here, since they give special protection to the Sky-Daddy crowd (and the Ethical Culture Society, too, of course).

But on general principles, what is it with extra colors that makes these officials see red?

[Xenocles]

If it's a municipal thing it's probably aesthetic, like maybe a sign with too many colors is too ugly for the town or something. Most muni laws are breathtakingly petty.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Without knowing the specifics, but knowing a bit about the municipality in question, this seems plausible. Of course, there's also the fact that people from the church like to protest the local abortion center. So again I wonder, who called in this complaint?

[Xenocles]

UnCivil Servant probably gets it closest to the mark below; someone just flipped through the code until they found something that would stick and dropped a dime because they didn't like the group or the message.

But the superficial "reason" for the law is probably just garden-variety busybodyism.

[UnCivilServant]

They can't have content based restrictions, so they put in something arbitrary they can use for selective enforcement.

[Fatty Bolger]

Meet the man behind the cronut menace

[Brett L]

Somebody gave the gf and I a donut maker as a consolation present on hearing we were getting married. I think I'll put some Pilsbury crossaint dough in it and dust whatever comes out with sugar and see how it tastes.