A.M. Links: NSA Uses Cookies To Track Targets, Budget Deal Announced, Pope is TIME's Person of the Year

Credit: Tânia Rêgo/ABr/wikimedia

• The latest reporting on the documents leaked by Edward Snowden reveals that the NSA uses cookies to track targets. 
• Lawmakers unveiled a budget deal yesterday that would avoid another partial government shutdown.
• India's Supreme Court has ruled that a colonial-era law criminalizing homosexuality is constitutional.
• Pope Francis is TIME's Person of the Year. Edward Snowden was runner-up.
• New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is backing legislation that would require all children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years who attend a licensed preschool or daycare to get a flu vaccine.
• Experts claim that the gestures made by the the sign language interpreter at the Nelson Mandela memorial didn't mean anything in American or South African sign languages.

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Comments

[Lord Humungus]

Poll: Obama Hits Highest Disapproval Rating in His Presidency

Only 34 percent believe the health law is a good idea (down 3 points from late October), while 50 percent say it's a bad idea (the highest percentage on that measure since the NBC/WSJ poll began asking this question).

Also, by a 51 percent to 43 percent margin, respondents say they are bothered more by the Obama administration's troubled health care website and some Americans losing their health plans than by the Republican Party's continued efforts to undermine the law.

[waffles]

What!? Obama isn't cool and Fist misses two days in a row? I don't know what to believe anymore.

[Fist of Etiquette]

In my defense, there was a lot of italics tagging in my comment. In Obama's defense, you can only hide being a disingenuous and incompetent prick for so long.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Oh sure, FOE. Sure. Next you're gonna blame Republicans.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

At what point does it reverse itself and people realize maybe the GOP undermining it was actually a good thing?

One signal will be when the left quits using 'obstructionism' was/is at fault for the mess (which is quite possible the most cynical and retarded excuse in their arsenal of bad excuses). It will suggest people are no longer listening and looking at what's actually happening.

And that's when the reality will set in.

[CampingInYourPark]

At what point does it reverse itself and people realize maybe the GOP undermining it was actually a good thing?

Isn't that what the poll indicates already?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yes, but I'm looking at when the left/Democrats stop using that meme.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

It's just this century's version of the "kulak wreckers and hoarders are the source of all ills in this perfectly scientifically ordered Marxist society" song and dance that was all the rage with the Soviets.

I'm expecting it to get significantly worse before it gets better, but it would be nice to be surprised.

[Ted S.]

Also, by a 51 percent to 43 percent margin, respondents say they are bothered more by the Obama administration's troubled health care website and some Americans losing their health plans than by the Republican Party's continued efforts to undermine the law.

That's not a loaded question, no sirree.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Pope Francis is TIME's Person of the Year. Edward Snowden was runner-up.

Had Snowden come out with an anti-capitalism rant and not have embarrassed Obama so much, he might have had a chance with Time.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The new and improved Pope espouses the failed political and economic theories of modern Argentina, what's not to like?

[db]

A New Catholic Church
The Worker's Battle Storm
A New Catholic Church
The Voice of the People
Rings out loud and long!

Now I am a worker,
I've suffered the way that you do
I've been unemployed and I've starved and I've hated it too
But I found my Salvation in Francis, and the Nation;
Let Him save them as he saved me!

A New Catholic Church
A new Age About to begin!
A New Catholic Church
We face the world together
And no dissent within

[Alton Knutson]

+1 Evita

[Fist of Etiquette]

Experts claim that the gestures made by the the sign language interpreter at the Nelson Mandela memorial didn't mean anything in American or South African sign languages.

Maybe he just had a heavy accent.

[Drake]

Did they try Jive?

[The DerpRider]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_lLJjb1BBQ?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Given that it was a political gathering, meaningless gestures would seem to be the order of the day.

[DJF]

He was signing, bla, bla bla platitude, bla bla bla inanity, bla bla bla absurdity, etc

[pan fried wylie]

Finally someone bothers to post the transcript. Hat tip for DJF!

[Drake]

Yep - the spoken English didn't have any meaning either.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Good one.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Am I the only one who found this hilarious?

I mean, I was pounding my fist into the cement laughing uncontrollably like Homer it was so funny.

[Tim]

Yeah, random insane person wanders into VIP security cordon, does his crazy shit and leaves.

[Rich]

Or *not* leave.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Agreed. Balls of steel, some people have.

[Bee Tagger]

Experts claim that the gestures made by the the sign language interpreter at the Nelson Mandela memorial didn't mean anything in American or South African sign languages.

The followers of Rambaldi, however...

[The Last American Hero]

Sark!!!

[Lord Humungus]

TACOS!

Texan Allegedly Pulls Sword & Demands Tacos

An affidavit says 28-year-old Adam Kramer began sliding the sword out of a sheath and threatened a waitress at a Mexican restaurant in San Antonio. Nobody was hurt in the Dec. 2 incident.

Authorities say Kramer walked out of the restaurant ? without the food ? and to his truck while yelling either he got free tacos or somebody would die. Investigators say the waitress locked the door after the San Antonio man drove away.

[Brett L]

Why didn't he just pawn the sword and use the money to buy the tacos?

But yeah, my brother manages about a dozen restaurants for a taco franchise, and I've been giving him shit about how nobody likes his tacos enough to come in and wave a sword around.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Brett, good one.

I like people who make me laugh. Too bad you're not a hot girl.

[DJF]

I thought on the internet anyone can be a hot girl?

[db]

Or a mousy nerd girl with deep unexplored passions?

[Lord Humungus]

She took off her glasses and let her knotted hair fly free. At that moment she became a beautiful angel. /the plot of many derpy movies.

[db]

I always hate that part because I love the glasses and the done up hair.

[tarran]

She took off her glasses and let her knotted hair fly free.

I can attest from very pleasant personal experience that this sometimes happens in real life.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"She took off her glasses and let her knotted hair fly free. At that moment she"...demanded I ram my head in her ass.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Where? Where is she?

[Elspeth Flashman]

If you close your eyes, he's a hot girl.

[Lord Humungus]

Only in prison.

[BardMetal]

Didn't coach McGuirk once try trading swords for food?

[WTF]

Kramer later claimed to have been born 400 years ago in the Highlands of Scotland.

[The DerpRider]

There can be only one...until you ruin it with sequels.

[Andrew S.]

There were never any sequels to Highlander. Not a single one, I tell you.

[Rasilio]

No but there was a TV series which wasn't half bad

[hamilton]

"Highlander: There Should Have Been Only One"

[waffles]

It's pretty difficult to confuse someone yelling "I GOT FREE TACOS" and "SOMEONE WILL DIE". I don't think the waitress is a reliable witness.

[db]

It was the heat of the moment
Yelling "I GOT FREE TACOS"
The heat of the moment
"SOMEONE WILL DIE"

[gaijin]

Those free tacos are to die for!

[KMA Too]

You framed an ASIA poster?

[alan_s]

I think the quote was supposed to be "Either I get free tacos or someone will die."

[Matrix]

hehe tacos rule!

[hotsy totsy]

I thought it was lifetime free coffee that Kramer got!

[Fist of Etiquette]

India's Supreme Court has ruled that a colonial-era law criminalizing homosexuality is constitutional.

It's India, so it's the consensual part of the consensual same-sex acts they find puzzling.

[Protagoronus]

Wacky Hoosiers

[Snark Plissken]

Pope Francis is TIME's Person of the Year. Edward Snowden was runner-up.

Runner Up: The man who revealed the NSA was spying on Time's Person of the Year

(not mine)

[Lord Humungus]

Save The Date: No Pants Subway Ride 2014

The 13th Annual No Pants Subway Ride will take place on Sunday, January 12 in New York City. More info with the meeting point and start time will be posted to this site about one week in advance. For now, save the date. You can RSVP on Facebook (optional, but appreciated.)

[Kaptious Kristen]

Fucking hipsters.

[Dweebston]

Nope nope nope nope.

[Fist of Etiquette]

They do that in winter so they can blame the cold weather for shortcomings.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Shrinkage?

[mr simple]

Wait, I'm supposed to wear pants on the subways?

[Bee Tagger]

all children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years who attend a licensed preschool or daycare to get a flu vaccine.

Shouldn't be long before all children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years are required to attend a licensed preschool or daycare.

[pan fried wylie]

Licensed daycares and preschools are not affordable for everyone, so yes, obviously they will have to be mandated.

And once again I'll get to foot the bill. Eventually, I'm gonna have to get married with kids if I want to keep any of my paycheck.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

And if you want any shot at ss.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I wonder if this will include children with allergies to eggs since vaccines contain them.

I see all sorts of issues and reasons why parents don't vaccinate or at least question whether they do or not.

While I think they should, it's not my place to judge.

Man, Bloomberg is psycho. I read di Blasio might be just as bad.

[Rhywun]

preschool or daycare

Is there a difference?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yes. Although that's changing. My daycare offers a pre-school program mostly because my parents asked for one.

But the government here wants to lower the age for kindergarten to four.

It's starting to get blurred.

[Rhywun]

My daycare offers a pre-school program mostly because my parents asked for one.

Wow, you're pretty eloquent for a pre-schooler!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Hey kids! You haven't gotten your daily dose of thimerosal in your next to useless flu vaccine. We're here to help fix that!

[Andrew S.]

Thimoseral (which isn't dangerous anyways, but that's neither here nor there) is only in the multi-dose vials of flu vaccine. Which is usually given to those poor kids that Bloomberg doesn't give a shit about anyways.

I'm sure that like with vaccine requirements in public schools, there will be enough loopholes to drive a truck through.

[Bee Tagger]

The latest reporting on the documents leaked by Edward Snowden reveals that the NSA uses cookies to track targets.

Good news for SugarFree, I suppose.

[Kaptious Kristen]

There's gotta be a Friday Funny in there somewhere.

[SugarFree]

You'll never catch me, coppa! Yea! ON TOP OF THE WORLD, MA!

[Ted S.]

You're on the top of the world?

[waffles]

Are these like some kind of super cookies? Most people trying to hide something will probably not use a browser that stores coookies. Unless these are sticky sneaky cooookies I doubt they will be tracking anyone worth tracking.

[Rich]

So they *have* managed to infiltrate Halloween after all. 8-(

[Lord Humungus]

I feel the same way.

Herring Unmoved by Rolling Stones

Herring in Kolgrafafj?r?ur, West Iceland, were unmoved when researchers attempted to scare them out of the fjord by playing 'Brown Sugar' and 'Satisfaction' by The Rolling Stones.

Up to 50,000 tons of herring died in the fjord late last year and earlier this year. There are concerns that another such incident will occur after fish started filling the fjord again in late November. The fish are believed to have died due to lack of oxygen in the fjord caused by a landfill and bridge constructed across the fjord in December 2004.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Why didn't they play Miley Cyrus?

[DJF]

They did not want to kill them!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Smile!

Obama's selfie.

http://politicalticker.blogs.c.....ministers/

[Elspeth Flashman]

I was gobsmacked when I heard about this. Thanks for sharing. Can't take the selfish out of the selfish adolescent.

[WTF]

Awesome. The President of the United States is an idiotic frat boy.

[CampingInYourPark]

That expression on Michelle's face. LMAO

[The DerpRider]

Note to self; do not flirt with PM of Denmark when wife is sitting next to you.

[mr simple]

It looks like she had to separate them.

[The DerpRider]

The best thing about those are the photos with Michelle's reaction.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

RACISM!!!!

Sniffit
"Celebration or not, I find this tasteless and disrespectful."

Justify it. Seriously. You people are ridiculous. What you find tasteless and disrespectful is that a black man is our POTUS. Admit it. Nothing he could possibly do would ever be ok in your mind. Ever. No matter what the man does, you're going to invent some reason for complaining about it. And you wonder why the rest of us have essentially stopped listening to you people? GROW. UP.

December 10, 2013 02:56 pm at 2:56 pm |

[Steve G]

Well, this does seem like a peek inside the teathuglican playbook. Every other link on drudge links the president to something that he has absolutely zero involvement in. My favorite one so far was the unisex hat that The Man "ordered"

[Rufus J. Fisk]

I assume this is a comment from Huff post? I love how most people think the best way to prove their point is to throw in "grow up" at the end of the comment, as if that has proved their point.

[Isaac Bartram]

At an event Tuesday marking the passing of Nelson Mandela, Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt snapped a selfie with U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Also the picture below the link shows the Danish PM (or at least I assume that's who the blond chick is) holding the phone.

[Isaac Bartram]

Although on a second look I saw that BO's left hand is also on the phone.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Out of all the songs in the RS discography they keep going back to 'Brown Sugar' and 'Satisfaction' and 'Start me up.'

Even the fish are numb to it.

[Enough About Palin]

This should do the trick

[Pro Libertate]

They played the wrong songs. What they should've played was "Get Out of My Fjord."

I said, hey! you! get out of my fjord.
Hey! you! get out of my fjord.
Hey! you! get out of my fjord.
Don't hang around cause two's a crowd
In my fjord, baby.

[Elspeth Flashman]

+1 19th Nervous Breakdown.

[Pro Libertate]

There's also the "Herring Shuffle."

[itsnotmeitsyou]

It's not what men do, It's what WARTY does.

[Dweebston]

+1 kilohitlers

[sarcasmic]

NYPD Beat Family and Killed Pet Parakeet in Own Home, Lawsuit Says

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-yor.....wsuit-says

A Staten Island woman has sued the city claiming police entered her St. George home without a warrant, beat her family and killed her beloved pet parakeet, according to court documents.
.
.
"We will review the allegations in the complaint, which at this point are merely allegations," a spokeswoman for the department said.

And nothing else happened.

[pan fried wylie]

Haven't you seen nightmare on elm street 2? Parakeets are fucking dangerous!

[Tim]

They mistook him for a stool pigeon?

[SugarFree]

Oh, look... Gawker has been assigned a dunphy:

leoflapperUGabrielle Bluestone11L
I am a member of the law enforcement community, and also a liberal. I am a strong supporter of animal rights and am a frequent visitor of gawker. That being said, I do not know much about the situation that the officers in this particular story had to deal with; just as all of the readers don't. Time and time again I see stories similar to this and when I read the comments all I see are free associations from people who blatently express that they have no law enforcement training whatsoever. All I ask is that instead if immediately condemning law enforcement personnel for their actions on the basis of shoddy video footage and a clearly opinionated article, try to educate yourself in what they do and what they deal with on a daily basis. If you don't, you may as well get all of your news from Facebook via memes. Yesterday 10:36pm

[Kaptious Kristen]

And the Gawkerites all probably said "Oh! You're right , sir! Sorry, sir! Won't ever happen again, sir!"

[Andrew S.]

That LEO has a long way to go before he can match up to the mastery of a Dunphy post.

[SugarFree]

And they have an American as well:

gawkhawk2UGabrielle Bluestone1L
Of course Gabrielle didn't give us all the facts. And a mother of 10 with the last name of Lugo. Hmmm, I can only imagine who is footing the bill for all the little degenerates. Uncle Sam most likely. Yesterday 9:59pm

[alan_s]

Too bad they don't have a SugarFree.

[Jordan]

That parakeet could have been coming straight for him!

[SugarFree]

BIRD FLU!

[Kaptious Kristen]

I'll just leave this here before somebody else does.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The beauty of the internet is you can tell him to fuck off and he can't haul your ass in. Being powerless makes men nervous.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

We're always asked to wait to get 'the facts' before condemning cops - which logically is fair. But when the facts clearly stack against the cops, meaningful action is rarely taken. This is where the public trust erodes.

The fuckers rarely pay the price for when they act like depraved barbarians in disregard for the law and people's rights.

[sarcasmic]

Act?

[sarcasmic]

They would rather public trust erode from their doing nothing than public trust erode from admitting fault. They must keep pretending that they can do no wrong so they can lie and say they are trustworthy. If they admitted fault then they could no longer pretend that they are worthy of public trust. Not just cops, but government in general. That's why the drug war will never end. It would require admitting fault.

[The Late P Brooks]

Americans have been on a gun buying FRENZY!

Threatened with the further abrogation of their rights, Americans have been buying guns. It's baffling.

Scientist will offer proof that we should restrict people's ability to possess firearms. It's all sensible and reasonable, so shut up and bend over!

[waffles]

How long can sales go up and it still be considered a frenzy? I feel like the same headline has been trotted out each quarter since Obama won the election in 2008.

[Steve G]

Yeah imagine, that you strongly imply to folks the store is closing 'soon' and *surprise!* you get a mad rush at what they perceive to be 1 minute before closing...

[Lord Humungus]

Teh Crazeee is strong in this one.

Woman sets fire to ex-boyfriend's home while seeking 'closure' after new girlfriend moved into apartment they shared

A 26-year-old woman from Florida has been arrested after allegedly setting fire to her ex-boyfriend's door to 'get closure'.

Kaelyn Marie Partenza faces arson charges after allegedly confronting her boyfriend, Brian Morris, at the apartment they used to share.

When the couple started to row, Partenza used lighter fluid and a lit cigarette to set fire to the front door, police say.

[gaijin]

Florida. meh.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Poor Florida Man.

[sarcasmic]

Drink driving teen who killed four is spared jail 'because he's rich': Judge lets 'spoiled' boy facing 20 years off with probation after lawyers blame his wealthy parents

Ethan Couch, 16, of Keller, Texas, had faced 20 years behind bars but walked away with 10 years probation Tuesday
Youth pastor Brian Jennings; mother and daughter Hollie and Shelby Boyles; and 24-year-old Breanna Mitchell all died in the June 15 accident
A psychologist called by the defense blamed the teen's behavior on his parents, claiming they gave him 'freedoms no young person should have'
State District Judge Jean Boyd agreed and said she didn't think he could get adequate therapy in jail

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

[Steve G]

'freedome no young person should have'

Wonder what Lenore Skenazy would think about this...

[Jordan]

"Drink driving"

Does nobody over there speak English?

[General Butt Naked]

Any idiot that believes we have rule of law in this country needs put in front of a drunken idiot son's bumper.

[Andrew S.]

Wonder how much daddy paid the judge for that sentence.

But yeah, lets let this kid off. We need the jails for people who do terrible things, like put substances into their own bodies that we don't like.

[sarcasmic]

We need the jails for people who do terrible things

Did you miss the part where he killed four people?

[sarcasmic]

We need the jails for people who do terrible things

Did you miss the part where he killed four people?

[Andrew S.]

Did you miss the dripping sarcasm in my post?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

sarcasmic.. is your name ironic?

[sarcasmic]

Sometimes.

[sarcasmic]

Revenge is a dish best served cold: McDonald's customer smashes up drive-through counter with an axe because his chips were not warm enough

Customer, 26, seemed dissatisfied with the response of staff to his complaint
He got out of his van and used an axe to attack the drive-through window
The rampaging customer then hurled the weapon inside the store
Police arrested him a short time later after he tried to flee in his van

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

[db]

Chips? In France? Don't they know they're called Freedom Fries?

[Lord Humungus]

almost 97% unrelated, but I play an online FPS called "Rising Storm" which is WW2 Japan vs. the US. One of the "strengths" of the Japanese team is the massed Banzai charge which causes a game-induced fear to the U.S. opponents - eg, they can't aim as well.

However, when playing on the U.S. team, we can also charge with bayonets fixed - often crying FREEDOM FRIES! through the mics. Of course the fear effect doesn't take hold of the opponent, but the lulz make it worth the effort.

[WTF]

Frites de la Libert

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Patates de fraternite.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Pommes de terre d'egalite!

[General Butt Naked]

First of all, chips aren't supposed to be warm.

Secondly, you go to mcdonald's for burgers and fries, NOT chips. Go to the 7-11, or something, dude.

[BakedPenguin]

"Chips" is Brit for "fries".

[Matrix]

I dunno. I like warm tortilla chips when I go to mexican restaurants.

[Vulgar Madman]

They forgot the mayonnaise!

[The Last American Hero]

Was it a regular axe or one of those scary assault axes painted black with the rubberized grip?

[Lord Humungus]

U.S. budget deal could usher in new era of cooperation

A bipartisan budget deal announced in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, though modest in its spending cuts, would end three years of impasse and fiscal instability in Washington that culminated in October with a partial government shutdown.

While praised by the Republican leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the agreement faces a challenge from some House conservatives and will require support of the minority Democrats to pass.

The backing of President Barack Obama, who also hailed the agreement as "a good first step," should help round up votes of his fellow Democrats. He urged Congress to quickly pass it.

[wareagle]

more important to the media horde and the DC insiders that they get along rather than do the right thing.

[Austrian Anarchy]

Yep, but their version is sucking up to the most Marxist bully, so they can all get along.

[Rich]

The Ryan-Murray plan would blunt the effect of automatic "sequester" spending cuts by allowing federal agencies and discretionary programs to spend $63 billion more over two years, while savings are made elsewhere. It also would provide an additional $20 billion to $23 billion in deficit reduction over 10 years.

See, doing nothing *is* an option!

[Pro Libertate]

Please, God, no. Let me iterate: "No, fuck you, cut spending." A LOT.

[sarcasmic]

Jailhouse crocks: Behind the prison walls look at the higher than ever number of sick pensioners costing a fortune to keep locked up

Almost 250,000 federal and state prisoners are currently said to be classified as 'aging' or 'elderly'
The costs of confining older prisoners are around double that of the average younger inmate at $68,270 per year
Three-strike laws and life-without-parole became popular ways to keep felons in jail, causing soar in prison numbers

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-bars.html
I know I sure feel safe knowing those geezers are locked up.

[Raven Nation]

Serious question: assuming many of these folks are not a danger to society, if you let them go, does the state have a further obligation to provide some kind of care?

I mean, if a guy is, say, 75 years old, it's unlikely he will get a job, has no savings, and depending on how long he has been locked up, may not have paid enough into SSI to get a payout. So, if you release them, do you just give them a new suit and say good luck?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'm betting no.

Didn't a similar example happen in Shawshank?

[sarcasmic]

Basically. Minus the suit.

[The Late P Brooks]

Oh, no! Those evil bastards at the NRA will object to these sensible restrictions!

The NRA wants you to die in a hail of bullets.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I would prefer to die in no other way.

[Dweebston]

More so than death by snu-snu?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Being raped to death by Chyna sounds unpleasant and drawn out

[Jordan]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of clitdong either.

[sarcasmic]

Taaaaaaaaaxi! New York cab drivers display pot-bellies and chest hair in tongue-in-cheek PINUP calendar for 2014

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-2014.html
Hey ladies! This is for you!

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

We'll be in our bunk.

[Eduard van Haalen]

That's OK, I didn't need breakfast anyway, I'll eat later once I've recovered.

[Ted S.]

Nobody forced you to click on the link. :-p

[Kaptious Kristen]

I could stand to see more of #2...

[Brian D]

FEMALE GAZE!!!

[Jordan]

This is why there are no cab driver libertarians.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Thanks! and #2 is nice.

[Steve G]

Well, I'll sleep well tonight knowing that although the commission wasn't involved in the production, the Taxi Commissioner approved the results.

fuuuuck you

[Lord Humungus]

Seattle barber stabs customer in testicles

The victim finished getting his hair cut and asked the barber to stop joking with him. In response, the barber threatened to kill, punch and stab the victim, according to the report.

According to the report, the barber grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed the victim in the gut, though the scissors didn't make it past the victim's jacket.

The barber stabbed the victim a second time -- in the crotch this time -- ripping the victim's pants and making contact with his testicles, according to the report.

I hope the haircut turned out well...

[Pro Libertate]

You'll like the way eunuch?

[Enough About Palin]

+ 1 death sentence

[Eduard van Haalen]

Some states have passed or are considering laws putting a cut off date on which federal gun laws and regulayions the state and local cops can enforce. If the feds afopt new gun laws or regs in the future, they'll have to enforce them without state or local help.

http://bit.ly/18zpeYf

[Elspeth Flashman]

from the article: The legislation is based on the long-standing principle of the "anti-commandeering" doctrine. Upheld regularly by the Supreme Court, it holds that states cannot be forced to carry out federal acts, laws, regulatory programs, and the like.

I approve!

[WTF]

The feds will just resort to their usual tactic of withholding highway funding or some shit until the states fall into line.

[Lord Humungus]

Americans Say Dream Fading as Income Gap Hurts Chances

The widening gap between rich and poor is eroding faith in the American dream.

By almost two to one -- 64 percent to 33 percent -- Americans say the U.S. no longer offers everyone an equal chance to get ahead, according to a Bloomberg National Poll. And some say the government isn't doing much to help.

"There's a lot of policies that make it easier for the rich to get richer and the poor to go nowhere," says Ryan Sekac, 26, a mechanical engineer in Westerly, Rhode Island.

[Drake]

Obviously this situation calls for more government!

[sarcasmic]

Every dollar that the government doesn't take from a rich person to give to a poor person is a dollar stolen from a poor person and given to a rich person!

/Tony

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Where is that poor bastard anyway?

[Matrix]

Shut up! Don't make him come back!

[Rhywun]

Job done!

/obama

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What policies exactly make the rich richer?

Dude is a mechanical engineer. He probably earns a nice living. He's not even in his peak earning years which is about 10 years away.

What's he complaining about?

[Rhywun]

He "cares" about poor people - unlike monsters such as you.

[Elspeth Flashman]

. . . So can you only get richer if you were rich to begin with then? The "poor" have no chance at all? And aren't these terms all relative?

Stupid zero/sum reasoning.

[Lord Humungus]

This Former DEA Agent Is Going to Work in the Marijuana Business
The revolving door between business and government just made an unexpected turn.

Patrick Moen is a 36-year-old former supervisor at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, where, until recently, he led a team based in Portland that fought methamphetamine and heroin traffickers.

Now, he is embarking on a career change. A rather dramatic one. The Wall Street Journal reports today in a delightful article that Moen has become the in-house lawyer at Privateer Holdings Inc., "a private-equity firm that invests solely in businesses tied to the budding legal marijuana industry."

In other words, the revolving door between business and government just made an unexpected, and very druggy, turn.

[Steve G]

tsk, tsk, how unethical!

[Kaptious Kristen]

unexpected turn

The The Atlantic writer doesn't know what "unexpected" means, I see. Years of experience on one side of a particular professional can turn into a very lucrative career on the other side. Happens al the time, every day, in many different fields.

[Ted S.]

Look at all the Congresscritters who become lobbyists.

[Rich]

"the budding legal marijuana industry."

Smokin' characterization, but please put a lid on it.

[Lord Humungus]

Man only noticed knife in his back after a good night's sleep, police say

The 42-year-old from Trenton, New Jersey said he managed to get an undisturbed 10 hours of sleep before his brother informed him he had a 5-inch blade poking out of his torso.

Police told the New York Daily News that they were not entirely convinced by the unidentified stab victim's story, and added that he had thus far been "very uncooperative" with detectives.

Trenton Police Lt Mark Kieffer told the newspaper: "I don't know if we believe his story. It's hard to believe, but sometimes (with an incredible incident) it's just dumb."

[Rich]

The 42-year-old from Trenton, New Jersey said he managed to get an undisturbed 10 hours of sleep before his brother informed him he had a 5-inch blade poking out of his torso his kidneys had been removed and he was immersed in a tub of ice water.

[The Late P Brooks]

These scientists on Bloomberg pimping their scientific study haven't yet mentioned the source of funding for their science.

But don't worry, this is just modest and reasonable, and any sane person will find it unobjectionable.

[The Late P Brooks]

"LARGE CAPACITY PISTOLS!"

Home defense is apparently a myth.

[gaijin]

contextual links, they're what's for breakfast. Get some today!

[db]

I use a large cap pistol to defend my home on a daily basis. If I had kids I would probably use a shorty AR because of the reduced wall penetration of the 5.56x45.

[Fist of Etiquette]

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is backing legislation that would require all children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years who attend a licensed preschool or daycare to get a flu vaccine.

Bloomy is doing his best to protect the carbon-based units infesting New York City.

[Austrian Anarchy]

Headline: Pope Beats Miley Cyrus

[BardMetal]

Oh I wish I could read that headline in the paper.

[Lord Humungus]

Afghan Money Pit Claims Another Military Victim

A Washington Post report Monday indicated that the United States has already dumped more than a hundred million on the Afghan military headquarters in Kabul. Yet because of problems with contractors, including theft and mismanagement, the project remains unfinished. U.S. military officials are now scrambling to find funds to complete the project.

This project represents an endemic dilemma across Afghanistan. As the war winds down, and as relations between Afghan President Hamid Karzai break down, the United States has already committed billions of dollars to projects that are not likely to be completed. According to the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR), some 47 Afghan military projects worth $1.1 billion won't be completed until 2015.

[Steve G]

A colleague just returned from a year over there supposedly trying to help them build their "Air Force". Not that it wasn't anything I'd already heard and seen many times before, but the sheer sense of hopelessness in all of her tales was utterly depressing.
I mean if you gave it the morgan spurlock or michael moore treatment, it would completely eclipse anything else they'd done to this point.

[Pro Libertate]

Given the direction of modern military technology, we should give them a bunch of weaponized Air Hogs.

[Steve G]

We could give them completely idiot-proof weapons, it wouldn't make a difference. They don't get out of bed, they don't show up to work...and the Afghan officers ask our people to wake them up, get them to work, fuckin ask them nicely to wear fuckin underwear. Most can't even read, in their own language. And we're still stupidly trying to teach them ours so they can read tech manuals for equipment that is light-years ahead of their inherent capability to use.

[Lord Humungus]

Afghan Airforce: Why do I imagine a truck driving up. Out the back pops a bunch of men flapping their arms like birds.

[Lord Humungus]

Rep. Tim Griffin ? Standing Athwart 'Pacman' Yelling 'Stop'

Griffin, 45, says he's finally found an "iconic symbol" to describe the country's fiscal woes, one that everybody can relate to: Pacman. He points to a series of pie charts on a poster board, which an increasingly greedy Pacman chowing down on an diminishing slice of pie that represents the discretionary spending portion of the federal budget. Pacman is the mandatory, entitlement spending (primarily Medicare and Medicaid) that threatens to crowd out all other funding in the absence of significant reforms.

"We got to stop Pacman's mouth from closing," Griffin says. "Constituents need to know that all the spending cuts, and all the budget battles, are not because there's a bunch of crazy people up here, who just don't want to fund things. That is what they're led to believe.

[The Late P Brooks]

Kochtopus hates the Obamacare!

Who could have seen that coming?

For some reason, I interpret "trying to get young healthy people to opt out" as "explaining what the Obamacare actually is/does".

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I meant to put this here.

http://politicalticker.blogs.c.....ministers/

[Redmanfms]

I don't like Mandela and don't think an American President should have attended the funeral of a lifelong Communist in the first place, but...

Obama must be the most self-absorbed politician in American history if he clearly lacks any inner voice that might tell him that such behavior is massively fucking inappropriate at a damned funeral.

I can't wait until this floppy-eared court jester is out of office; fuck me he's an embarrassment.

[Jordan]

That's how a narcissist behaves.

[John]

Narcissist. He is not a sociopath. A sociopath would have read the situation and behaved perfectly because doing so fit his needs. Obama is a complete narcissist. He cannot comprehend that any situation could concern anything but him.

[tarran]

Just watch... when he is *out* of office, he's going to come apart at the seams.

Narcissists hate it when someone takes the stage away.

[John]

That is what I thought would happen to Clinton. But I guess maybe Hillary's career has kept him going. If Hillary doesn't win in 2016, what do you think will be t he darker household the day after the election? The Obamas facing life out of office or the Clinton's knowing finally after 24 years their time in the national spotlight is over?

[The Last American Hero]

No, they'll send Chelsea in to finish the job in 20 years.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

He'll be back to the Senate or find some sort of National Scold position to hector the country about how stupid and evil we were to not follow him into the light, etc.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

But...it was a CELEBRATION!

[db]

Man, the skies are nice right now. I should go flying.

[The Late P Brooks]

Time Magazine names Pope "Gimme Yo Munny" Man of the Year.

Hitler was unavailable for comment.

[Lord Humungus]

more POLLZ:

Obama Approval Plunge Pulls Down Democrats, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Hike Minimum Wage, Voters Say More Than 2-1

President Barack Obama's job approval among American voters drops to a new low, a negative 38 ? 57 percent, as the outlook for Democrats running for Congress and the U.S. Senate fades also, according to a national poll released today. He even gets a negative 41 ? 49 percent among voters 18 to 29 years old and a lackluster 50 ? 43 percent approval among Hispanic voters.

American voters say 41 ? 38 percent that they would vote for a Republican over a Democrat for the U.S. House of Representatives, the first time this year the Democrats come up on the short end of this generic ballot. Independent voters back Republican candidates 41 ? 28 percent. Voters also say 47 ? 42 percent that they would like to see Republicans gain control of the U.S. Senate and the House. Independent voters go Republican 50 ? 35 percent for each.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Hike Minimum Wage, Voters Say More Than 2-1

Oh, brother.

[db]

Well, with those numbers, the Dems will have a lock on 2014 after they ram a minwage hike through and demonize the Reps in the process.

[John]

Just because people favor something doesn't mean they vote on that issue.

[Loki]

Yeah, I'll believe these poll numbers when I actually see them backed up at the ballot box. Also, a lot can happen between now and next November.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Instead of a story about religion, here is a story about atheism.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union releases a report on worldwide anti-atheist persecution. The wordt offenders are Alabama and Mississippi. No, not really, no prizes for guessing the real answer.

http://reut/rs/1cxdEBf

[Eduard van Haalen]

Oops:

http://reut.rs/1cxdEBf

[OldMexican]

But this year's more comprehensive study showed six more, bringing the full list to Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

But, don't you see? The U.S. is so oppressive, it is in a category of its own. Putting nativity scenes is a much worse offense against "free-thinkers" (because that is how many of these pro-state zealots call themselves) than being hanged, drawn and quartered; or stoned to death.

[Ted S.]

This story is two days old, but a search of the site didn't yield any hits:

Drunk German trio dies in sauna accident

The brother of one of the dead men discovered the bodies at a family home in Ennepetal, North Rhine-Westphalia, police said on Sunday.

Police suspect the deaths of the men aged 48, 38 and 36 were an accident, although did not go into details. A doctor was only able to declare the men dead and no cause of death has been given.

The fire service measured carbon dioxide levels in the electric sauna but did not find them to be above normal.

Bild newspaper reported that the men had been at a Christmas party on Saturday night and one of the victims, named as Frank M., invited the men back to his house.

The link to Bild, which is in German, wonders whether perhaps the men threw alcohol on the sauna stones to produce steam instead of water; presumably inhaling the alcohol would metabolize it faster or something. But I can't imagine throwing enough alcohol to kill them on the stones.

[db]

Why would anyone expect CO2 levels to be above normal in an electric sauna?

[Brett L]

presumably inhaling the alcohol would metabolize it faster or something.

Very much so, but it burns the fuck out of your eyes. I learned this hanging with Danes. You absorb it through mucus membranes very rapidly. But it would probably take several gallons to kill three men in even a very small space.

[Brett L]

Okay, so I tried to watch The Independents last night. I just cannot do talking heads anymore. Really, I hope it gains a million viewers, but I just can't do the everybody talks format anymore.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

If it was in a fuck-talk format would you watch or like it then?

[Brett L]

No. The internet has broken my ability to watch/listen to people opine. Maybe if reason produced a 3 minute best-of-the-week clip, I could hang in for that.

[Steve G]

With Kennedy? um, yes...

[Eduard van Haalen]

Burglars hit Archbishop Desmond Tutu's home while he's at the Mandela funeral.They stole his stole. Well, maybe not, but it would be funny if they did.

http://apne.ws/19BNKYR

[Rich]

"Tutu Taken Talking Tata"

[OldMexican]

Now do you understand why Mrs. Obama was so upset at her hubby?

[Jordan]

I have no idea who that is, but she has some serious demon eyes going on.

[OldMexican]

She's the Prime Minister of Denmark and the woman with whom the president was shooting a few 'selfies.'

[John]

What a train wreck. He is flirting with the white woman and taking selfies at the Mandela memorial. For once I side with Michelle. Obama seems to have all of the public maturity of a 14 year old boy.

[Rich]

He's just paving the way for a Biden presidency.

[John]

Biden is a buffoon. But even Biden would act better than that.

[tarran]

The thing I wonder is why the other guys participated too?

I had assumed that due to the fact the parties appoint candidates in Europe as opposed to having them selected in primaries as is done in the U.S. they tended to field a more capable and less personality disordered slate of politicians.

[Rich]

It would have been great if Thorning-Schmidt had slapped the camera out of his hand.

[Isaac Bartram]

The picture has her holding the camera with both hands, whil BO has only one hand on it.

It looked like it was consensual on the part of all three.

Again proving that America is not exceptional in having a narcissistic freak for a leader.

[Loki]

Exactly. He's making sure that Biden looks like a model of mature statesmanship compared to him.

[wareagle]

raising the question of why it wasn't the VP attending the memorial since that's part of the job description. I guess Biden is dispatched to funerals of unimportant folks like Thatcher.

[a better weapon]

For your metal Wednesday morning, Throwdown is back and haven't lost as much edge as I would have guessed...

http://bit.ly/1gWroXh

[Rich]

US suspends non-lethal Syria aid

*** rising intonation ***

And the *lethal* aid ...?

[John]

Finally the president got down to signing the bill. That, too, reflected the over-the-top enthusiasm of the day. Presidents sometimes use several pens to sign important legislation. Obama gave the Affordable Care Act a special flourish, using a total of 22 pens to sign his name.

After the ceremony, Obama went to the headquarters of the Interior Department, where he held what amounted to a duplicate ceremony for an overflow crowd. During that event, he re-stated the promises that seem so troubling now that Obamacare has actually arrived. "I said this once or twice, but it bears repeating: If you like your current insurance, you will keep your current insurance," Obama said. "Nobody is changing what you've got if you're happy with it. If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor."

If anybody had any doubts, Obama pledged, the future would prove his words to be true. "Now that this legislation is passed, you don't have to take my word for it," he told the crowd. "You'll be able to see it in your own lives."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/.....le/2540444

But the charge that Obama lied to get Obamcare passed is just a rightwing meme.

[John]

Has anyone seen this? This has to be seen to be believed. It is straight out of a good SNL skit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L33IM1Jemg

[sarcasmic]

It's been all over the radio. That woman is nuts.

[John]

She really is. How did someone at MSNBC not stop her? Do they just hate her that much?

[sarcasmic]

Dude, MSNBC is a nuthouse. She's sane by their standards.

[John]

Maybe. I would rather believe that they all hate her as much as we do and let her go up and make a fool of herself.

[sarcasmic]

To them she's not making a fool of herself. To them she's making a very persuasive emotional argument. All you've got to do is shut down the rational part of your brain and emote. Do that and her appeals feel wonderful!

[John]

They know it is nuts. But they are guilty beaten down white people afraid to tell the black woman she looks like a loon.

[sarcasmic]

Ever watch that channel? They're all loons. Seriously. It's all irrational appeals to emotion. Last time I had that channel on it was Maddow with Elizabeth Warren as her guest. I tried to listen, just to see what the enemy is up to, but my head started to hurt. False premises, appeals to emotion... flayed straw men, it was a festival of fallacies. They're all nuts over there.

[Loki]

To them she's making a very persuasive emotional argument.

Not only that, but if her idiotic line of "reasoning" (I hesitate to call it that, emoting is a better word for it) catches on, then anytime someone says the word "Obamacare" they can shut down all debate about the health care law by simply accusing the person using the word of racism. It's just giving the low foreheads and moth breathers who watch her stupid show another weapon to use to shut down debate.

Afterall, it's not like they can actually defend Obamacare (oops, there I go, letting my racism show) on the merits, so what else can they do except attempt to shut down debate?

[John]

Good point Loki. In just a few months the act will go from "Obama's signature achievement" to "It is racist to associate that evil bill with Obama."

[Rich]

"Thup, nigga?"

[WTF]

"Obamacare pleeze."

[Lord Humungus]

some geekiness:

DIY Cellphone

Making the DIY cellphone can be a fairly involved process but it doesn't necessarily require specific electronics expertise. You'll need to order the circuit board and electronics components (about $200 total) and have access to some other electronics tools. There's a good amount of fine hand soldering to be done: about 60 components, mostly surface-mount, which can take from one to five or ten hours, depending on your experience. Programming and, especially, debugging the phone can take a while ? again, depending on your experience and how much goes wrong. Making the case requires some plywood and veneer, along with access to a laser cutter (or you can find your own way to enclosure the circuit board). In short, this is a difficult but potentially do-able project.

[Brett L]

Did we raise enough money to keep H&R open, or are we $50 short? It is hard to tell from the sidebar.

[Lord Humungus]

Without that $50, the magazine will fold. The Reason staff will be forced to spend the remaining money on hookers and blow.

[Andrew S.]

They're going to spend the money to help Reason obtain more orphans. Who do you think keeps the servers running? Who polishes the staff's monocles? Who cleans Nick's jacket?

[OldMexican]

India's Supreme Court has ruled that a colonial-era law criminalizing homosexuality is constitutional.

What? No Indian version of Modern Family? Barbarians!

[John]

Cantor being a politician no doubt has his flaws. But this is fucking great.

While the House ties up some legislative loose ends this week before adjourning for the year, there is one suspension bill the public ? and House Republicans ? might be surprised to find many Democrats opposing: a measure aimed at boosting pediatric medical research at the National Institutes of Health.

The "Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act," named after a 10-year-old girl who died in October following an 11-month battle with an inoperable brain tumor, would end $12.5 million in funding for party nominating conventions and authorize the money for pediatric research grants instead. It's the latest iteration of a proposal House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., unveiled in April and is sponsored by Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss.

"They're politicizing the death of a child by naming the bill after her," a Democratic leadership aide told CQ Roll Call on Tuesday. "That's pretty disingenuous and callous to use a tragedy like hers to advance something partisan."

http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/.....s-throats/

The Republicans are politicizing the death of a child!!

[WTF]

It's because they're not doing it for a good cause, like GUNZ CONTROLLZ!

[Loki]

The Republicans are politicizing the death of a child!!

Yeah, don't they realize that only Democrats are allowed to do that? And then only for good and noble things, like criminilazing gun ownership, not for taking money away from party nominating conventions and re-allocating it to pediatric research (or anywhere else where if might actually do something useful). The nerve of these Rethuglicans!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What a bunch of fucking shits the Democrats are. Didn't Obama shamelessly use kids every chance he could after Sandy Hook to pimp his gun-control agenda?

They're quite the incredible species these left-wingers.

[Andrew S.]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/ne.....050959.php

Man, it's so coincidental that dash cam footage just never seems to work in cases like this. What are the odds?

[John]

I find it incredibly difficult to believe that a 22 year old man with no prior history or mental illness or violence would attack a police officer, taking his baton and beating him with it over a traffic stop.

[The Last American Hero]

Maybe he just finished reading Balko's book.

[a better weapon]

Ugh, Campus Police are the scummiest. They always end up filled with the most incompetent and hot headed officers that the city precincts got tired of passing around.

[John]

That or they are young and it is their first job. But the smart ones don't stay long.

[Loki]

His family, which so far has declined to speak directly to the media, acknowledged in the statement that Redus had spent Thursday night with friends celebrating the end of the fall semester.

A witness told the Alamo Heights Police Department that she and Redus had gone drinking and bar-hopping.

I suspect they'll blame his death on TEH DEVUL LIQUOR. Unless, of course, the autopsy shows no drugs and a BAC under the legal limit. Then it will be quietly swept under the rug and nothing else will happen.

[John]

It is a very strange case. I find the charge that the guy attacked the cop to be totally unbelievable. At the same time, I also find it hard to believe the cop just shot him for sport. Something happened to start the altercation.

I don't believe the cops' story at all. But what did happen? Maybe the guy was drunk and shot his mouth off and the cop got into it with him. But if that happened, the shots will have been fired at very close range. If the kid was shot at five feet, I can't see anyway it is not manslaughter on the cops' part.

This case reminds me of the woman the cop killed in Culpepper Virginia. The entire altercation makes no sense.

[Loki]

IIRC, the cop in the Culpepper case was a known hothead who had had several complaints and incidents prior to that. It'll be interesting to see if the cop in this case has a similar history of issues.

I agree that the most likely explanation is that the guy "started" the altercation by failing to show the cop the proper respect, and instead of de-escalating and controling the situation the cop did/ said something to make the situation escalate. Probably so that he would have an excuse to shoot the guy (or at least beat him down, then when that didn't go according to plan he eventually decided to shoot him).

I also wonder how the guy got the cop's baton in the first place? If it was hanging from the cop's belt at his side I find it highly unlikely that Redus would have been able to grab it. Something doesn't smell right.

[John]

I am not sure the guy ever got the cops' baton. The cop says that but I don't think any of the witnesses say that. If the guy was rally beating the cop with a baton, then I probably side with the cop, at least as far as not charging the cop with murder or manslaughter.

[Loki]

True, there's no evidence to back up the cop's claim that he got his baton. My mistake for taking that part of the cop's story at face value. And even if the cop is telling the truth about the baton, he claims he got the baton back prior to shooting him. At the time of the shooting the only weapon the guy had was his fists, and unless he's a trained fighter, that's not a lethal weapon. The cop should have been able to subdue the guy without shooting him. Hell, the story linked above even states that the cop was bigger than Redus.

[tarran]

Fists, even untrained ones, can be a lethal weapon.

However, the cop's story stinks to high heaven...

According to earwitnesses, the kid asked the cop, "what are you going to do, shoot me?" about a minute before the gun was fired. The statement didn't alarm them enough to look out the window.

They didn't hear any struggle.

That doesn't sound like a desperate struggle more than a confrontation that was face-off.

I think the one grain of truth in the cop's story is that the kid did take the baton from him. My guess is that the kid took the baton away from him and tossed it aside and then asked the question "what are you going to do [now], shoot me?"

And the cop decided to shoot him. And then made up the pungent story of knocking the baton out of the kid's hand with the gun before shooting him.

[Gray Ghost]

The cop's story, and the investigation by either SAPD or BCSO is a pile of shit. The fucking news stations were the first to interview the kid's downstairs neighbor, who'd overheard part of the confrontation. He was wondering why the cops hadn't been by yet to ask him anything. Hello, is canvassing for witnesses no longer part of a homicide investigation? Then the dash cam doesn't work. And we haven't heard about the kid's BAC yet, which tells me that it's below 0.08.

Plus this clown had like 8 jobs in 9 years, including getting canned by BCSO twice. He'd been at this job at UIW for a little over two years, so that'd be 7 jobs in under 7 years. How much of a fuckup do you have to be to get probation'd out of that many departments?

I don't trust anyone with a financial interest in the litigation do investigate this impartially. Ooh, ooh, I know: let's investigate this potentially rogue cop, and if it turns out he went postal on the kid, our city can also be on the hook for a multi-million dollar judgement, after the plaintiff's lawyer gets done with UIW. That certainly won't induce us to find that the officer acted in accordance with procedure.

Maybe the Texas Rangers'd be o.k? Or the DOJ, if they weren't too busy jamming up MJ users.

[mr simple]

The stories I've seen on this say the cop has had 8 or 9 different LE jobs in the past 8 years. So, yeah, probably a hothead with a history of problems.

[The Late P Brooks]

Making the DIY cellphone can be a fairly involved process but it doesn't necessarily require specific electronics expertise. You'll need to order the circuit board and electronics components (about $200 total) and have access to some other electronics tools. There's a good amount of fine hand soldering to be done: about 60 components, mostly surface-mount, which can take from one to five or ten hours, depending on your experience. Programming and, especially, debugging the phone can take a while ? again, depending on your experience and how much goes wrong. Making the case requires some plywood and veneer, along with access to a laser cutter (or you can find your own way to enclosure the circuit board) an old shoe. In short, this is a difficult but potentially do-able project.

If you were going to go to all that trouble, what could possibly be better than a Maxwell Smartphone?

[OldMexican]

Experts claim that the gestures made by the the [sic] sign language interpreter at the Nelson Mandela memorial didn't mean anything in American or South African sign languages.

Maybe he was speaking Jive...

[John]

Totally inappropriate and I feel bad for saying this. But that might be one of the greatest trolling jobs in history. Imagine if it was some guy who just stoop up and started doing fake sign and no one stopped him.

[WTF]

It would have exploded the awesome meter if he had worked in a few obscene gestures.

[John]

Doing it at all explodes the awesome meter.

[Loki]

Pope Francis is TIME's Person socialism advocate of the Year.

FTFT.

Edward Snowden was runner-up.

That's actually kind of surprising to me. I would have thought they would have at best ignored him, if not actively piled on to the "OMGZ he doesn't even have a college degree/ he's a traitor" bandwagon for embarrassing the God-King.

[tarran]

Why?

Nobody ever remembers the runner-up; yet if challenged, they can always say they did honor him.

It's the journalistic equivalent of damning with faint praise.

[John]

Exactly. If they had ignored him, that would have been a story. Naming him second means no one can say they tried to bury the story.

[John]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....?eref=sihp

Another reason to like Rick Perry, he is apparently destroying Texas football. Go Rick Go!!

[Brett L]

Just what I'd expect from an Aggie.

[John]

I would hope so. If an OSU guy ever becomes governor of Oklahoma, I would expect him to wage war on OU football.

[CatoTheElder]

Experts claim that the gestures made by the the sign language interpreter at the Nelson Mandela memorial didn't mean anything in American or South African sign languages.

So it was the sign language equivalent of "blah, blah, blah".

I'd say that's a pretty good translation of an Obama speech.

[Loki]

So it was the sign language equivalent of "blah, blah, blah".

It would have been better if he had been using real sign language to mock the shit out of Captain Zero.

"This guy's just up here pontificating and bloviating about nothing as usual. Once again he thinks it's all about him. Trust me you're not missing anything by not being able to hear him. In fact we should all be so lucky. Good God, when will it end? Why doesn't he just shut up, no one cares what he has to say anyway." etc., etc.

[Enough About Palin]

Experts claim that the gestures made by the the sign language interpreter at the Nelson Mandela memorial didn't mean anything in American or South African sign languages.

Perhaps it was in Flemish?

[Elspeth Flashman]

OT: went to court this morning for a client. Another dude is waiting to get called, reeking of (what I've been told is) the smell of a marijuana cigarette. Really, dude? 8 in the morning, and it's time to wake & bake before you go to court?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

My roommate who is a groundsman leaves the house at 5:30 a.m. and always smokes a bowl before leaving. Some people function on the stuff.. I don't know how but they pull it off.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Same here. He's 44 and just functions on it.

[John]

What was he going to court for? Maybe he needed to take the edge off.

[Pro Libertate]

He thought court meant tennis court.

[Loki]

What was he going to court for?

Probably marijuana possesion. I hear about these kinds of cases on the radio all the time. Some guy goes to court on a possession charge and either gets busted with more pot on him walking into the courthouse, or shoes up reaking of MJ.

SLD: MJ should be legal in the first place. But still, if you have to go to court for a possession charge, make sure there's not a dime bag in your coat pocket before you go, and don't wake and bake the same morning.

[John]

Most people caught up in the criminal justice system are there because they are incapable of understanding cause and effect. The idea that if you take pot into a court house you are likely going to create the effect of you getting in trouble, is beyond a lot of them.

Our justice system prays on the unlucky and the stupid more than anything else.

[tarran]

Most people caught up in the criminal justice system are there because they are incapable of understanding cause and effect.

Too true man, too true.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Child support non-payment. Or he was there as a "cheering squad" for some other dude called in for non-payment.

That's what I figured too. Might be his last chance to smoke for a while, so in case he was going to jail, might as well go baked.

[The Late P Brooks]

Really, dude? 8 in the morning, and it's time to wake & bake before you go to court?

Last chance?

[The Late P Brooks]

Matt and Kennedy should invite that puerile simpleton Melissa Harris Racetroller to be on their show, and then talk over her and make fun of everything she says.

I suspect she'd refuse to give up her home court advantage, though.

[Sevo]

Greenies find there is no 'low-priced spread':
(most of it's behind a pay wall, but the headline says it all)
"Eagle deaths split wind-farm debate"
http://www.sfchronicle.com/sci.....053033.php