Eric Holder Heads to Ferguson to Fix Everything, Ice-Bucket Challenge Rules the Internet, Teachers Unions vs. Police Unions in NYC: A.M. Links

• 

  Wikimedia Commons

  Attorney General Eric Holder will visit Ferguson, Missouri, on Wednesday, so that whole problem is just going to go away immediately, probably.

• A curious feud between New York City teachers union leadership and the police department is raising eybrows and tensions among the rank-and-file of both fields.
• The Washington Post's Michael Gerson writes that Rand Paul is the wrong Republican to talk about racial issues because… (cue things libertarians have heard a billion times).
• The runaway success of the ice-bucket challenge is inspiring other charities to ask people to dump cold water on themselves for the good of humanity.
• Pardon me, but we need more presidential pardons, writes The New York Times editorial board.
• J.K. Rowling issued another Harry Potter short story, again, as a tactic to drive traffic to the online Potter experience, Pottermore. Sounds like "Harry Potter and the Neverending Promotions," huh?

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Comments

[Snark Plissken]

Attorney General Eric Holder will visit Ferguson, Missouri, on Wednesday, so that whole problem is just going to go away immediately, probably.

I fear this *may* slow down his investigation into those lost emails.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

"A curious feud between New York City teachers union leadership and the police department."

The parasites are turning on each other!

[WTF]

That will happen when the host is drying up.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Attorney General Eric Holder will visit Ferguson, Missouri...

No one's talking about immigration or Iraq much anymore. Imagine that.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Fist, you're collapsing like the Tigers while Snark is streaking like the Royals.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

How about the Orioles?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

#$%&

[Idle Hands]

Nats all the way. How about that litigation case.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Well, Peter Angelos is a dick.

[Idle Hands]

Yes. But it seems like the mlb made alot of promises all around that it's ass couldn't cash

[Fist of Etiquette]

They can't toss up a same-sex marriage thread right before and expect me to be on my game. Anyway, PM Links is where the real money is.

[Lord Humungus]

There's money to be made here? Why wasn't I informed?

[Snark Plissken]

You were supposed to file a 1099, didn't you get the memo?

[Lord Humungus]

I thought this Koch money was all under the table. Shit.

[Ted S.]

Snark isn't the only person streaking.

[Lord Humungus]

Lindsay Lohan penning memoir, planning for it to be a trilogy: report

Lindsay Lohan is working on a memoir about her life, and it's apparently going to be written in three parts.

"I want to put a lot of photos and cool stuff," Lohan, 28, told the Daily Mail. "It will probably be like a trilogy, like Harry Potter because there's so many.

Nevermind that "Harry Potter" is fiction - and a series of seven books. Lohan is planning to maximize on her writing because it has been "therapy" for her over the years, she said.

I would read this if it was ghostwritten by SugarFree.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I smell a kickstarter campaign

[WTF]

LiLo vs Warty Hugeman and the Doomcock of Doom

[Ted S.]

Don't call her Lilo.

This is Lilo.

[WTF]

Yowza!
I stand corrected.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

I am in.

[Idle Hands]

meh... Why can't she just make a porno. Reading is hard.

[gaijin]

"I want to put a lot of photos and cool stuff,"

With these kind of descriptive powers, I am sure her memoir will garner a Nobel Prize in Literature.

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

It's possible that Lohan's private life may be nigh-indistinguishable from the darkest corners of SugarFree's imagination.

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

You know who else wrote a biography?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

William Manchester?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Anne Frank? Oh wait, that was a diary.

[The Tone Police]

Bill Ayers?

[waffles]

SPoiLer: She dies in the end.

[Fist of Etiquette]

She's less likely to make it to the final book than George R.R. Martin.

[hamilton]

The runaway success of the ice-bucket challenge is inspiring other charities to ask people to dump cold water on themselves for the good of humanity.

I for one support nipple-raising challenges of any form.

[gaijin]

What I don;t understand is all the people pouring cold water on themselves are basically choosing not to give any money to charity...so outside of some vague goal of 'awareness' how is this a success for ALS?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

You give some if you do the ice dump, if you do not do the dump, you give more.

[gaijin]

ah...got it.

[$park?'s head exploded]

Right, so all of the people getting water dumped on them are showing that they're cheap bastards only in it for the publicity.

[Steve G]

selfie culture. I don't get it.
Was at the Luray Caverns this past weekend and saw this gal w/ a telescoping arm with her phone attached at the end. Every photo she took of the caverns was a selfie with her mug in the middle. I stared and laughed dumbfounded. With these people it's not about documenting what they are seeing for the memories, it's just a backdrop for another goddamn selfie.

[db]

What if you don't do the.ice dump *and* don't give? Sounds like these.folks are extorting "donations".

[WTF]

Someone posted the other day that if they got 'nominated' they would donate money to a different charity.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

You could just post a picture of one of your hands, with middle finger extended?

[$park?'s head exploded]

I've been wondering that same thing for the past several days. The only thing I can come up with is that it's more important to publicly show that you've paid some sort of lip service to a charity than it is to make a meaningful donation.

[Pro Libertate]

What happened to quietly giving to charity? I guess that went out with being humble. Or honest. Or sane.

[Restoras]

Compared with the same time period versus a year ago, donations are up significantly.

[Mock-star]

....and since the ice bucket thing thing started, I havent heard any of my prog friends suggest that private charity could NEVER fill in for government funded disease research.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Washington Post's Michael Gerson writes that Rand Paul is the wrong Republican to talk about racial issues because...

He's not a Democrat trolling for easy votes?

[Doctor Whom]

At least Gerson isn't still going on about libertarianism and vampires. Peak Derp is truly unreachable.

[Lord Humungus]

keep reaching for the stars!

[Lord Humungus]

Groom fakes his own death to get out of wedding

Blandford wanted to call off his engagement to British fiancee Alex Lanchester. The two had met in college in Connecticut when Lanchester was studying in the States for a year. They got engaged last year before Lanchester returned home at the end of semester, and their plan was to get married in Connecticut last week.

Apparently getting cold feet and unable to face the conversation himself, Tucker decided to fake his own death to get out of the engagement. Where it gets really sociopathic, however, is that he called Lanchester himself, assuming a fake voice and pretending to be his father, to tell his fiancee that he was dead.

[The Tone Police]

Never trust dbags with goatees and earrings.

[Jordan]

And his fiancee doesn't even look that British.

[Lord Humungus]

is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm guessing the former.

[Jordan]

A very good thing.

[db]

What do millennials think about faking one's death to avoid marriage?

[waffles]

Approve. Marriage is a scam foisted upon us by the evil wedding industrial complex.

[gaijin]

51% support it and 52% do not according to the latest RR poll.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

+1 poll post

[Ted S.]

Only one poll post?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Per issue. I would expect 11+ poll post per day.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Imagine going through all that effort just because you don't have the balls to say 'no.'

Dude has serious issues.

[Ted S.]

Dump her via Twitter.

[Idle Hands]

I believe the title of said short story was "Harry Potter and the Giant Cash Cow".

[Doctor Whom]

If she can milk the cash cow for all it's worth, why not?

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

"Sounds like "Harry Potter and the Neverending Promotions," huh?"

This is actually the way ebook promotion works. It looks odd when someone like Rowling does it, because she already has more money than God. But for many ebook authors, this is the way to drive sales and put rice and beans on the table.

And a cheap Merlot.

[The Tone Police]

J.K. Rowling issued another Harry Potter short story, again, as a tactic to drive traffic to the online Potter experience, Pottermore.

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Bone

[UnCivilServant]

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Bone

Contrary to this site's normal conventions, it's actually a story about ossuary inventories.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

You don't fool me one bit! SugarFree wrote that, and it is everything you would think!!!!!!

[db]

What's an "ice-bucket challenge?"

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That thing my employees are trying to convince me to do with them. I told them to do the fire challenge first.

[UnCivilServant]

Wouldn't it be easier to do both at the same time? Light yourself on fire and then get doused in ice water?

[db]

Make sure that's water in the bucket your employees hand you.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Flaming Gas Bucket CHallenge

[hamilton]

Your serfs employees have money to give away to charity?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I am a benevolent god

[WTF]

You clearly missed the class on wage theft.

[jmomls]

This ice bucket thing is not really a challenge, is it? I mean, there's no way to FAIL the challenge.

For a real challenge, try dodging bullets or escaping from a straitjacket inside a trunk that's been dropped in the East River.

[Kurt]

I wouldn't have thought so either, but my seven year old nephew basically threw the water over his head and started running around like a nut. Maybe got a few drops on his back. So, challenge failed.

[blighted non millenial]

Never underestimate the oppurtunity for fail.

http://youtu.be/1t2zn7Ve0bw

[Lord Humungus]

Yesterday was the 787th anniversary of the death of Genghis Khan

Could he have conquered Europe?

[Raven Nation]

Conquered? Probably.

Held on to it and created a united Europe like some people think? Nah.

[Restoras]

Know who else tried to conquer and unify Europe?

[$park?'s head exploded]

Sid Meier?

[Raven Nation]

Napoleon.

[Ted S.]

Joey Tempest?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Sidney Applebaum?

[Snark Plissken]

They call me mad, but one day when the history of France is written, they will mark my name well...

[Pro Libertate]

To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down.

[Lord Humungus]

Boris: Something's missing.

Doctor: What?

Boris: I don't know, I feel a void at the center of my being.

Doctor: What kind of void?

Boris: Well... an empty void.

Doctor: An empty void?

Boris: Yes. I felt a full void about a month ago but it was just something I ate.

[Pro Libertate]

How I got into this predicament I'll never know. Absolutely incredible. To be executed for a crime I never committed. Of course, isn't all mankind in the same boat? Isn't all mankind ultimately executed for a crime it never committed? The difference is that all men go eventually, but I go six o'clock tomorrow morning. I was supposed to go at five o'clock but I have a smart lawyer. Got leniency.

[UnCivilServant]

The EU?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Well this day in history Augustus, Vilfredo Pareto, Groucho Marx, Blaise Pascal and James Watt died.

[$park?'s head exploded]

That's a whole lot of awesome dying on the same day.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Seriously. The only name missing from that list is Lou Reed.

[Tonio]

Thanks for that, Rufus. I was unaware of who VP was, and now understand the handle of one of our semi-regular commenters.

[Snark Plissken]

Mother Nature Network considers him a climate change hero, based on the fact that he killed lots of people (and people are a scourge upon the earth)

Paging Barfman.

[hamilton]

Friedersdorf notes that the Compton School Board has approved AR-15's for campus cops. This will end well, I'm sure.

[C. S. P. Schofield]

My experience of Kampus Kops suggests that they shouldn't even be issued nail clippers.

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

There you libertarians go again. Always looking to restrict access to firearms.

[Idle Hands]

ehh clippers can be dangerous I think water balloons would probably suffice.

[PBR Streetgang]

A moderately loud whistle. At most.

[Idle Hands]

Why would they need guns at all, doesn't cali have some of the toughest gun laws in the country? Are they implying that criminals don't follow laws?

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

Exactly. They don't have shootings in California. Or Chicago. Or Washington DC.

[Lord Humungus]

...just one more law away from Nirvana (not the band).

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sounds like "Harry Potter and the Neverending Promotions," huh?

Dumbledore bless the free market.

[Ted S.]

JK Rowling wasn't the first person with a neverending story.

[invisible furry hand]

ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah

[Obama's Buttplug]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd7XnOnSkkA

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

+2 Goo

[Lord Humungus]

Only Rich Know Wage Gains With No Raises for U.S Workers

Call it the no-raises recovery: Five years of economic expansion have done almost nothing to boost paychecks for typical American workers while the rich have gotten richer.

Meager improvements since 2009 have barely kept up with a similarly tepid pace of inflation, raising the real value of compensation per hour by only 0.5 percent. That marks the weakest growth since World War II, with increases averaging 9.2 percent at a similar point in past expansions, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled by Bloomberg.

[Jordan]

No jobs? No raises? BUT S&P 500 BABY! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!1

/central bank clowns

[waffles]

Imagine a country where there are no rich people. What a magical place that would be!

[KPres]

But real wages didn't decline during the recession, whereas income among the wealthy crashed.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The runaway success of the ice-bucket challenge is inspiring other charities to ask people to dump cold water on themselves for the good of humanity.

It's all a scam perpetrated by Big Testicle De-retractor.

[Jordan]

I hope you still have your shocked faces handy...

Georgia county refuses to pay medical bills after SWAT tosses grenade into baby's crib

HABERSHAM COUNTY, Ga. ? Officials in Habersham County, Ga., said Monday they do not plan to pay for the medical expenses of a toddler seriously burned during a police raid based on faulty intelligence.

[...]

Habersham County officials initially said they would consider helping pay hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of medical bills for the toddler, but on Monday announced that they will not.

"The question before the board was whether it is legally permitted to pay these expenses," officials said. "After consideration of this question following advice of counsel, the board of commissioners has concluded that it would be in violation of the law for it to do so."

Oh, it would be illegal to pay the kid's medical bills. Of course.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I have a suggestion, dissolve the SWAT team and use that budget

[WTF]

Blowing up a baby in the first place though, perfectly legal. Because FYTW.

[C. S. P. Schofield]

I foresee Habersham County officials scrambling to explain to their constituents how they are going to pay for a hundred million dollar settlement.

[Rhywun]

Well, at least that kid will grow up with a healthy disrespect for cops, amirite?

[Ted S.]

IFH's Revenge

Giant saltwater crocodile kills Australia fisherman

A man has been killed by a giant saltwater crocodile as he was fishing with his wife in northern Australia.

The man, 57, was attacked by the 4.5-metre (15ft) reptile as he waded into the Adelaide River to unsnag his line, south of Darwin.

His wife heard a scream and turned around only to see "a tail splashing in the water", officials said.

The body was found a few hours later, and the crocodile was shot dead by the police.

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

Deadly faunae in Australia? That was unexpected.

[WTF]

They have giant deadly fauna in Alabama, too.

[Bobarian]

Australian for "Dog bites man"

[invisible furry hand]

UPDATE:

The shooting of the popular albino-headed crocodile Michael Jackson was unfortunate but necessary, a researcher says, after the reptile killed a man on the Adelaide River.

[Obama's Buttplug]

south of Darwin

No shit.

[Slammer]

Hey, ladies ? catcalls are flattering! Deal with it

Walking confidently past a mass of men, making eye contact and flashing a smile shows you as you are: self-possessed and playful. The wolf whistles that follow will send your ego soaring.

I imagine the catcall stretches back to ancient construction times, when the Israelites were building the pyramids, with scores of single Jewish women hiking up their loincloths, hoping for a little attention.

[The Tone Police]

The new-wave Jezeblist obsession with catcalling is so weird and insular. We don't all live in New York; I've never seen catcalling in my large-ish Midwestern city.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah, see more gawking than catcalling.

[Tonio]

They don't like gawking, either. See "Male Gaze."

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

That's exactly what it's all about, though. A bunch of whiter-than-thou provincials who move to NYC at 18 and can't believe what an actual urban environment is like. They're the cultural dicks.

[Rhywun]

I do live in NYC and I have never seen or heard a catcall.

[Pope Jimbo]

Hah! We banned ogling here in Sunny Minnesoda way back in 1995.

http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1.....c54301b90e

The fine upstanding ladies who work in downtown Minneapolis are now free from the lecherous stares of common street workers. This leaves them free to be ogled by the high paid white collar workers.

[jmomls]

*Hah! We banned ogling here in Sunny Minnesoda way back in 1995.*

Who'd want to ogle a bunch of mustached cankled women?

[Elspeth Flashman]

I got catcalled last weekend while out getting beer. Made my day.

[Restoras]

+1 wolf whistle

[Rufus J. Firefly]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP94PlEtsEQ

Long cool woman?

[Rhywun]

If I were a woman I would probably hate it but I wouldn't moan about it all over the internet.

[Warty]

Getting catcalled by a car full of high school girls is awesome. That's all I can say about the subject.

[invisible furry hand]

You saucy slag!

[Ted S.]

They obviously don't know your reputation.

[$park?'s head exploded]

Lucky for them they didn't stop.

[WTF]

Why? It's not like Warty has a rape dungeon or anything...oh.

[Idle Hands]

Well the thing about those high school girls....

[Bobarian]

Getting locked up in a cellar is awesome. That's all Warty will let me say about the subject.

/Terrified car full of high school girls

[Rhywun]

Dead giveaway...

[Juice]

Israelites were building the pyramids

Israelites did NOT build the pyramids.

[Juice]

To clarify, a compliment is "You're beautiful," and not "I like your nipples," a crude comment beyond the point of no return.

I'd be flattered by "nice nipples." Don't you want nice nipples that are appreciated by others?

[Lord Humungus]

Behind Closed Doors, Obama Crafts Executive Actions

Since then, the process of drafting what will likely be the only significant immigration changes of his presidency ? and his most consequential use of executive power ? has been conducted almost entirely behind closed doors, where lobbyists and interest groups invited to the White House are making their case out of public view.

Mr. Obama's increasingly expansive appetite for the use of unilateral action on issues including immigration, tax policy and gay rights has emboldened activists and businesses to flock to the administration with their policy wish lists. It also has opened the president, already facing charges of executive overreach, to criticism that he is presiding over opaque policy-making, with the potential to reward political backers at the expense of other interests, including some on the losing side who are threatening to sue.

fuck that congress shit.

[invisible furry hand]

Obama Crafts Executive Actions

He should have stuck wigh scrapbooking

[gaijin]

or crafting porters...and ales

[Jerryskids]

Didn't Bill Clinton get into some trouble for some crafty executive actions behind closed doors?

Ah, if only we could return to the days when the President screwed the American people one-at-a-time. It's the personal touch that's missing.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah well, the excuse will be he has no choice because of Republican obstructionism.

[WTF]

Which democrats would totally buy if there was a republican president with a democrat congress, like Bush.

[invisible furry hand]

Ladies and gentlemen, the stupidest writer on Gawker

All The Things Not to Do When You Capture Your Own Child Mugger

[The Tone Police]

Dang, I thought you were exaggerating:

If you are nonviolently mugged by a child, continue to let him run along with his friends. The world will be a better place.

[Doctor Whom]

Given the ferocity of the competition, that's quite an accomplishment.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I'm sending my kids to mug Jordan Sargent

[Jordan]

At least he's getting slapped around pretty good in the comments.

[The Tone Police]

Somedays I think it's intentional.

[$park?'s head exploded]

Self-flaggelation is better when you can get others to do it?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

'On Friday, a white lady...'

I pretty much stopped there and glanced over the rest. Anyone who starts an article this way is an idiot and so is the editor.

Though I found this comment intriguing:

"People like you are the reason I keep saying "I'm a leftist, not a liberal."

What does that mean? Aren't they one and the same? Or at least on the same spectrum/side?

[Mock-star]

Im a liberal, but never a leftist.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"he did, by her own admission, willingly cause the commotion that led up to police being summoned"

Yeah, what was she thinking, getting a kid who stole her phone arrested? It's clearly her fault!

[hamilton]

BrightSource solar energy plant kills 1 bird every 2 minutes by burning them out of the sky.

Which makes solar energy much cooler.

[Snark Plissken]

David Burge ?@iowahawkblog 11m
Geez, if I knew Obama's green energy program would result in a practical death ray, I'd have supported it

[hamilton]

Is there nothing Iowahawk doesn't do more awesome than everyone else, dammit?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Twitter was made for Dave Burge to rule.

[Juice]

Shouldn't ecowarriors get there ASAP and start smashing mirrors?

[Lord Humungus]

Why Jordan Doesn't Want More Palestinians

Jordan's dilemma is that if it allows more Palestinians into the country, the kingdom, which already has a Palestinian majority, would be transformed into a Palestinian state. But by mistreating the Palestinians and depriving them of basic rights, Jordan and other Arab countries are driving them into the open arms of extremists, especially Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.

The Jordanians have clearly chosen to follow the second option, which means keeping as many Palestinians as possible out of the kingdom. As far as King Abdullah is concerned, it is better to have radicalized Palestinians outside the kingdom than to let them into the kingdom, where they would cause him more trouble.

The Jordanians see the Palestinians as a "demographic threat" and are constantly searching for a solution to this problem. Jordan's biggest fear is that its kingdom will one day become a Palestinian state. Jordanian authorities seem determined to do their utmost to avoid such a scenario, even if that means being condemned by human rights groups.

[Slammer]

Let's ask Jordan, he's in the thread right now.

[Jordan]

Yo, fuck the Middle East. No further comment.

[Colonel Slanders]

Have you been listening to some S.O.D.?

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

+1 Speak English or Die

[Free Society]

Jordan is Palestine. No shit their population would be majority "Palestinian". When the rest of the world expresses outrage about the treatment of Palestinians, they need to direct it towards Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and whichever other shithole I'm neglecting to mention.

[Rhywun]

You don't get invited to many cocktail parties at the UN, do you?

[Juice]

So the Palestinians should move out and abandon their homeland because...

[eyeroller]

J.K. Rowling issued another Harry Potter short story, again

There ought to be a law!

[The Last American Hero]

Good for her. She's no Tolkien, but I'm sure if JRR had written "The Adventures of Young Aragorn" or a story about what was going on at the Lonely Mountain during the LOTR, fans would gobble it up.

[Rasilio]

He probably did, or at least had a few scraps of notes on it that his son could publish later on to keep milking that cash cop

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

+1 Brian Herbert

[Lord Humungus]

Senate Democrats Have $8M July, Have $32M Banked

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $7.7 million in July and is ready to spend the bulk of it to turn back Republican challengers. The Democrats' campaign arm has now raised almost $104 million and, as of Aug. 1, the group has spent more than $73 million for the fall campaign.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee said over the weekend that it raised almost $5.4 million in July and has $26.6 million ready to help candidates. Fundraising summaries show Republicans with $76 million raised and $53 million spent, outpacing 2010 and 2012 efforts.

[Raven Nation]

I'm sure there will shortly be a flood of media stories decrying the corruption of politics by money.

[WTF]

Yeah, those damn republicans trying to buy another election!

[Jordan]

Sisters Renuka Shinde, Seema Gavit, to be first women executed in India

Delhi: Two sisters who kidnapped 13 young children and forced them to work as pickpockets before murdering them are to become the first women to be executed in India.

Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit became India's most notorious serial killers when they were convicted of a series of child murders in 2001 and sentenced to death. They were charged with 13 kidnappings and 10 murders and were found guilty of five killings.

Now, 13 years after their convictions, they are to be hanged at Maharashtra's Yerwada jail after India's president rejected their final appeal for mercy.

Their imminent executions have revived painful memories in India of some of the most brutal crimes in its recent history. One of the victims was an infant under two years old who died after his head was smashed against an electricity pole.

The sisters themselves were barely adults when they began their killing spree - Gavit was just 15 when she killed her first victim and her older sister was 17.

[Free Society]

Dalmia, you were right! If only they had a living wage, then this would have never happened!

[MegaloMonocle]

Anyone care to argue that these two women are having their rights violated?

[Lord Humungus]

Iceland Sees a Potential Volcanic Eruption, and Airlines Cower

Airlines are hoping a volcano in Iceland won't reprise the 2010 "ash crisis" that shut down much of Europe's airspace and cost nearly $2 billion.

The Icelandic Met Office raised the aviation alert level to orange for the Bardarbunga volcano, following a major earthquake early Monday, the largest in the area since 1996. On the five-color scale, orange sits one level below red, which denotes an active eruption or one that is imminent. The 15.5-mile-wide volcano sits beneath Europe's largest glacier and rises about 6,200 feet above sea level. Bardarbunga began exhibiting increased seismic activity on Saturday.

[Jordan]

Global warming, right?

[Lord Humungus]

Gaia crying out in pain.

[Matrix]

Someone in the comments section is blaming it on AGW.

[Protagoronus]

http://m.dailykos.com/story/20.....u-All-Know

Good koverage here

[The Late P Brooks]

The Washington Post's Michael Gerson writes that Rand Paul is the wrong Republican to talk about racial issues because... (cue things libertarians have heard a billion times).

Free association is bad, children, mmmmkay?

[Lord Humungus]

We've already used up the planet's resources for the year

To follow its changing calendar date, Global Footprint Network, an independent think tank, takes Earth's total biocapacity ? its ability to renew resources and absorb our waste ? divides it by humanity's collective ecological footprint, and then multiplies that by the number of days in the year to arrive at the date by which we've used up our annual "budget."

According to the group's calculations, it would now take an Earth and half to support our current rate of resource extraction. By mid-century, under "modest" projections for population growth and food and energy demand, we might need three Earths. For now, our activities are the definition of unsustainable; if we don't reduce consumption and increasing efficiency, GFN warns, they could become a physical impossibility:

[hamilton]

Is forcing them all to read The Ultimate Resource a violation of the NAP?

[Free Society]

These are the same people that would impose a socialist dictatorship on us, starving us for our own good. Quite posting Salon article Humungus, you're killing me

[Lord Humungus]

I forgot the trigger warning.

[Steve G]

So, can't we just raise the deficit?

[Zeb]

Yes, because all trends continue indefinitely in a linear fashion, there is no such thing as recycling and people never adapt to changing conditions.

[Slammer]

Heh.

[Raven Nation]

Nice.

[Ted S.]

Why can't Chip Bok and Henry Payne come up with stuff like this?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Local meteorologist tweets:

If the month ended today, it would rank 3rd coolest August on record in Baltimore. Still two weeks to go...

? Ava Marie (@AvaWBAL) August 19, 2014

[removed][removed]

[$park?'s head exploded]

I wonder what events occurred on the first and second coolest.

Also, cool by whose standard?

[Idle Hands]

The fonz knows cool maybe we should ask him?

[wwhorton]

We have had two noticeably cooler summers in a row, and last winter we got like legitimate amounts of snow. Not Minnesota snow, but like actual sticking snowfall in central MD, which is unusual.

[Lord Humungus]

America's new racial low point: More crying black mothers, and tear gas on our dreams

While the world watches aghast, America's penchant for exporting guns, tanks and destruction to other places in the name of law and order has shown up on our own doorsteps, in our backyards, with people pinned into parking lots and onto their porches. They are told they must stay where they are or risk being shot with rubber bullets or have their faces and lungs sting with the inhalation of tear gas.

Public space in Ferguson is awash in black tears, but it is the sirens that we hear wailing. The people would weep, but they are too busy running, ducking and taking cover from the angry sounds of a system that does not love them, does not care about their meager "rights."

[Free Society]

"black tears". What a stupid fucking article, I'm not shocked it came out of Salon. As if the problem with excessively powerful police is that they happen to pick a victim of the wrong color. A progressive doesn't care about excessive state power unless they can physically see it adversely a black guy and even then their problem isn't with state power, it's with the inner thoughts of the thug state enforcer.

Fuck racism, the problem is the state.

[tarran]

Actually, they like black people getting stomped, they just don't like it in plain sight. They want the 'benefits' of racism without the negative press.

[Free Society]

Being the fascists they are, they like all sorts of injustice kept out of sight.

[WTF]

Thank God Obama ushered in our post-racial nation.

[John]

Maybe you should not attend violent protests if you are pregnant. Just a thought.

[Ted S.]

Police militarization is a bad thing, but that headline made me laugh, which was probably not the intention.

[jmomls]

*They are told they must stay where they are or risk being shot with rubber bullets or have their faces and lungs sting with the inhalation of tear gas*

I'm sure all these stupid looters and protestors are really proud at looting and protesting on behalf of a thug.

[waffles]

I'm going to burning man this year. After learning of it in 2007 (coincidentally I found Reason the same month) I've made it an aspiration to go enjoy the madness. Wish me luck.

[Lord Humungus]

Say hello to my friend Mystiek when you're there.

[The Tone Police]

Never had any interest. The height of civilization is climate controlled spaces and general opulence.

But have fun!

[Restoras]

The height of civilization is climate controlled spaces and general opulence

So, Vegas?

[waffles]

There will be opulence. Libertine, not necessarily libertarian. Although on the return trip through Reno there will be sex, guns, and gambling. So there's that.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

We'll look for you in the Norquist-Doherty phalanx.

I've thought about handing out cheapo thumb drives loaded with Economics in One Lesson and The Law, but I don't know how well it would go over.

[waffles]

Oh that's a thing! I'm beyond excited and have no idea how this trip will go down. Best laid plans, you know?

[Knarf Yenrab!]

(I don't think it's a thing, sadly)

But if you've ever wanted to watch Objectivist polyamorists hooking up with truly incredible carnies in public places, you will be in the right place.

[waffles]

Watch? I think participation is actively encouraged.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

I'd be afraid of getting...things...caught in their piercings.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

There is another gender gap out there...

Parents spend more time talking about money with boys than girls

A gender gap exists between boys and girls when it comes to discussing finances and feeling confident about money matters. Boys are more likely than girls to say they talk with their parents about financial matters and also more likely to report feeling smart about money, according to newly released data from T. Rowe's annual Parents, Kids and Money Survey. The survey includes responses from children ages 8 to 14 and their parents.

[Ted S.]

Boys probably ask; girls probably don't.

[Bobarian]

You cisnormative sexist stereotyper!

[Mike M.]

Attorney General Eric Holder will visit Ferguson, Missouri, on Wednesday, so that whole problem is just going to go away immediately, probably.

Oh great, America's chief racial arsonist is heading over there with his loaded gas can and Molotov cocktails. I'm sure he's really to going help matters out a lot.

By the way, how are the trials of the "alleged" killers of Delbert Belton and Christopher Lane coming along? For some funny reason, our Journolist media haven't been saying much about those victims lately.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

To make sure I understand, the man whose career will be defined for the unholy, idiotic justification of the premeditated killing of untried, unconvicted, unaccused Americans by the federal government is going to MO to investigate the unpremeditated killing of an untried, unconvicted, unaccused American by the local government?

[Bobarian]

The important part is local vs. federal.

We're here to help.

[Free Society]

The Washington Post's Michael Gerson writes that Rand Paul is the wrong Republican to talk about racial issues because... (cue things libertarians have heard a billion times).

The comments section in 500 times worse than the article. The opinions of the average WaPo reader about libertarian is basically every logical fallacy and accusation of racism that could possibly be leveled. Delving into the mind of the common man is a rather frustrating exercise. And these dumbfucks' vote counts as much as mine.

[Idle Hands]

RMS70
9:13 AM EDT
The flaw in libertarianism is that it essentially boils down to wanting all the rights but none of the responsibilities. There is only the self and no common good.

hahahahahahaha

[Idle Hands]

Isn't that feminism?

[trshmnster the terrible]

See, as penance for having the right to your own production, you must surrender a certain percentage of said production to the government who grants you those rights. It's only fair for society!

/statist

[Free Society]

James Schroder
9:07 AM EDT
The problem here is that, republicans in general and to a certain extent Rand Paul in particular, have spent the last 20 years alienating hispanics, blacks, women, gays, the young, the old, literally almost everyone except right white people.

Argument? Who needs an argument when you can just make accusations?

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Who can forget when Republicans alienated the old with Medicare Part D? Or when they signed the Free Money for White People Act?

[Free Society]

Or when they voted to not annex all of Mexico after the Mexican-American War, because who wants a bunch of short smelly brown people voting? /19th century Democrat

[Bobarian]

"Rand Paul in particular, have spent the last 20 years alienating hispanics, blacks, women, gays, the young, the old, literally almost everyone except right white people"

Was he doing this as part of his duties as an eye surgeon?

[John]

Gerson really wants to challenge Paul Krugman for most appalling human being currently writing a newspaper column.

[Idle Hands]

Dave Harris0413
8:52 AM EDT
The flaw in Libertarianism is that when you let people do whatever they want, they may do illegal and disgusting things. Yes, Civil Rights forced some degenerate white people to behave a little better toward blacks. But to Republicans, trying to exploit hate and fear of the government for political advantage, this was a bad thing. Funny how they're not suggesting that the government should do nothing when rioting black people are the majority.

With out the state spending money on obamacare and roads we'd all be blood thirsty animals.

[John]

If you object to any government effort to criminalize anything, you have objected to all government efforts of any kind. So saying that a black family should be able to get a voucher and send their kid to private school is exactly the same thing as saying the country should return to Jim Crow.

Didn't you know that?

[Free Society]

Why do you want to re-segregate our schools, John? I guess libertarianism is all about racism! /person of average intelligence

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

The flaw in Libertarianism is that when you let people do whatever they want, they may do illegal and disgusting things.

Good thing we have Dave Harris to point out which things are disgusting and which are not. Question is, when Dave Harris dies, who will guide us? Because we can't have so much freedom that others will get disgusted.

Yes, Civil Rights forced some degenerate white people to behave a little better toward blacks.

Yep, that's exactly what the whole civil rights movement was about. This guy knows his history.

But to Republicans, trying to exploit hate and fear of the government for political advantage, this was a bad thing.

What a subtle shift from libertarians to republicans! Bask in the glow of rhetorical mastery.

Funny how they're not suggesting that the government should do nothing when rioting black people are the majority.

In a world where "libertarians=republicans", this is funny.

[Free Society]

+1

[$park?'s head exploded]

Wait, that comment doesn't possess any shred of internal logical flow. It's just a bunch of sentences typed out following each other.

I know, I know, big surprise.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

The flaw in Libertarianism is that when you let people do whatever they want, they may do illegal and disgusting things.

As Alan Watts was fond of saying, this is the worldview wherein the distrust of human nature and laissez-faire relationships between political power and the people is based on the assumption that you will rape your grandmother if the police weren't there holding a club over your head.

Quis custodiet something something.

[VG Zaytsev]

Are not the readers of WAPo almost entirely leftwing bureaucrats and non-profit employees?, aka America's Nomenklatura?

I can't think of any reason why those people would hate libertarians.

[Jerryskids]

Maybe not as electrifying as the JK Rowling news, but tasering the shit out of a guy lying handcuffed on the ground because he won't get up and get in the car is pretty shocking.

Why the horrified onlookers finally intervened to get the guy in the car instead of intervening to stomp the cop to death is beyond me.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What accent were the girls speaking?

Anyway, the girl saying 'what a bitch' is classic and they did good to upload it because that cop was indeed a bitch. A dumb irresponsible bitch.

[Lady Bertrum]

The incident took place on an Indian Reservation in SD.

The cop was too small and weak to physically get the guy into her vehicle so tazzing him repeated will make that happen. Stupid cop being stupid.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ah.

The standards have lowered the barriers to entry in the law enforcement profession.

[Steve G]

Just sounds like a NA accent.

[Raven Nation]

Well that's a relief:

http://www.espnfc.us/barcelona.....nent-again

[WTF]

I don't understand why the guys he bites don't beat the shit out of him.

[John]

Me either. Or if the guy is not tough enough to do it, one of his teammates do it for him. Haven't these clowns ever watched the NHL?

[invisible furry hand]

Because you'd be sent off and banned for a few games too. Much better to let him get sent off, win the game, and then target him the next time you're playing him. If you do it right, you could even break his leg in a legal tackle

[John]

Sure. But why wait? That is why you have goons. You let one of your bench warmers beat the shit out of him.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Because you can't replace red carded players. You either have to use a sub, or you're down a player... Neither solution is particularly "optimal"

[John]

Yeah, but he gets carded too. So you just end up even.

[Slammer]

Well, punching his fucking teeth out would solve the problem.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He needs braces anyway.

[tarran]

Wow. Slaughter on the high seas.

Fiji police investigate high seas shooting video

A cellphone left behind in a Suva taxi by an Asian fishing boat crewman is at the heart of a horrific video showing the killing of four castaways on the high-seas.

Whether the dead men are Fijian, stateless Rohingyas from Burma or Somalians, is still unresolved.

Nor is it known who killed them or why.

Official data has identified a tuna boat seen nearby as the men were killed in the water.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The best part were the selfies.

I can just imagine if Vikings had cameras. 'Look ma, my first head!'

[The Late P Brooks]

Staten Island teachers -- many of whom are related to NYPD officers -- have been especially vocal about their union's stance.

Lori Demarest Barrett, a kindergarten teacher at PS 26 in Travis, was quick to change her Facebook profile photo to one of her standing proudly by her husband, Greg, in his NYPD uniform at a recent recognition ceremony at police headquarters in Manhattan.

"This teacher did not give permission to my union to use MY dues to support Al Sharpton. I support my husband, the NYPD detective and his brothers in blue," she said. "From all the posts I've read, I haven't seen one post supporting this. I don't understand how a union could use money from its members to support a cause that we all did not agree upon."

"As a teacher and wife of a police officer, I am disgusted and ashamed to be a UFT member today. This is disgraceful," teacher Jennifer Lorraine posted.

A culture of dependence on the government teat. When will the vicious cycle be broken?

[Restoras]

When will the vicious cycle be broken?

Well, eventually you do run out of other peoples money. Just not soon enough and not before government has forcibly taken everything that's lying around.

[John]

You miss the real deliciousness in this. The Democrats have treated public employee unions as ATM machines for leftist race baiting efforts for years. Now the marks are getting wise. This is real blue on blue violence here.

[WTF]

I don't understand how a union could use money from its members to support a cause that we all did not agree upon.

Really? And this woman is a teacher?

[trshmnster the terrible]

Must not be a history teacher

[invisible furry hand]

The faith shown here in public school teachers' intelligence and knowledge is really quite touching

[John]

I bet she has no idea that her Union dues are spent on everything but helping her.

[hamilton]

I don't understand how a union could use money from its members to support a cause that we all did not agree upon.

Yummy, yummy tears.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I find this to be quite hilarious.

[Lord Humungus]

Reporter Blasts Clinton Royalty: 'Who Gets to Hold Her Crown While She Speaks?'

"But the contract they signed shows they were willing to agree to terms no self-respecting institution would. She wants a private jet, a presidential suite, rooms for staff, and, get this, all cell phone charges for everyone paid for. Oh, and if the $225,000 is not enough UNLV has to spring for a stenographer, and no one gets to see the transcription except -- Hillary. No media coverage at all, no statements, keep the rabble out of the room. The contract also says Hillary is not -- and this is in all caps -- endorsing the sponsor. That is, she does not want anyone to think that she actually likes UNLV. No one can take a picture of Hillary and post it to Facebook or tweet it unless, of course, you get her agent's permission.

"I gather UNLV held firm on a provision that no one was allowed to look her directly in the eye and that men were supposed to bow and women curtsy before her. I don't know who should be more embarrassed, Hillary or UNLV? I only have one question: Who gets to hold her crown while she speaks?"

[gaijin]

Are you ready?

[WTF]

What difference at this point does it make?

[John]

The leftists hate the Clintons. Once they get a champion for 2016, it is going to be a blood bath.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Question:

I'm thinking of spoiling my ballot in the next election.

How do people view this? Is it wasteful? A good way to protest?

[tarran]

Depends. What is your goal in the exercise?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

No goal. The options are just plain terrible. The Conservatives are retarded on social policy and spend more than progressives, the Liberals are led by an empty-suited gaffe machine drama queen and the NDP, well they're just a bunch of socialists.

[tarran]

If you can't write in None of the Above, then go for it!

My understanding is that in Canuckistan there is a fine for spoiling the ballot, so I'd recommend going the rejected ballot route.

Leaving something blank allows the vote counters to 'fill' it in later, so I'd blacken 'all' the circles.

[$park?'s head exploded]

Voting is a stupid waste of time that legitimizes a failed system.

[Ted S.]

You can't cast a write-in vote for anybody?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I wish.

[Pope Jimbo]

I will only vote for candidates that I actually support. Some ballots that means that I only vote in one race.

One time (late 90's?) I didn't vote for anyone at all. I picked up a blank ballot and walked directly over to the vote tabulating machine (much to the consternation of the lady running the machine).

My dream is that when no votes actually out number the votes for a candidate people will start to notice and the "winner" won't be able to claim a mandate.

[Warty]

Are all the videos autoplaying on page refresh for everyone else? It creates quite an effect.

[Lord Humungus]

OT: I'm buying a new amplifier; a McIntosh MC2100
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LTqt.....sh2100.JPG

It's an late 60s/early 70s solid-state piece that uses, uh, autoformers on the output stage. It does, however, have a cool retro-industrial look which will look good once I get a matching McIntosh preamplifier.

[John]

http://blogs.rollcall.com/roth.....aces/?dcz=

Republicans gaining steam in House races as well as Senate races. They can still fuck it up, but the possibility of November being a blood bath for Dems continues to grow. If it happens, does the Party finally turn on Obama?

[Lord Humungus]

nah... it's racism, yo!

[Idle Hands]

Th only way the "fuck it up" is if they pass some kind of immigration "reform" while Obama is in office. Obama could be dragged at gunpoint to sign that bill by republicans and he would be forever known as the Ab Lincoln for hispanics it would be unbearable. I don't get what the republicans would stand to gain on immigration at all right now.

[John]

There was a real danger of that happening right up until Obama started acting on his own. Obama really is an amazing political fuck up. All he had to do was hang in there and wait the Republicans out and they would have caved. Instead, he shot his mouth off and stopped deporting alien children and created the border crisis and made it impossible for Republicans to cave no matter how badly they want to do so.

And I don't think Hispanics are going to end up ghettoized the way blacks have been. The problem with playing the racial game with Hispanics is that unlike blacks they and whites intermarry at a high rate. There was a very interesting census report that came out this month showing how more and more Hispanics are identifying as white. That is very bad news for Democratic hopes of making Hispanic the new black.

BTW, every time I hear how Democrats are going to ride the Hispanic vote to a permanent majority, I think of the old Richard Pryor routine about how "white folks are tired of our shit and are going to get themselves some new niggers". Life really does imitate art.

[Lord Humungus]

As an aside I was at the Holland State Park Beach last weekend. There was a Hispanic family next to us playing frisbee. It was interesting to hear them talk as they slipped fluidly in and out of Spanish & English, the latter with perfect Midwestern slang.

[John]

Intermarriage has always been and will always be the key to ending tribalism. Once the tribes intermarry, you can't tell them apart anymore and they go away. This is why religious groups like Orthodox Jews and Amish are so fanatical about keeping their kids from marrying outside the faith. Once intermarriage becomes common, the tribe dies.

[$park?'s head exploded]

Oh goody, republicans take control. That ought to get things moving in the right direction.

[John]

Obama has said that if the Democrats lose the Senate, his last two years in office will be unbearable. If that doesn't make you root for the Republicans to win big in November, you have no heart.

[$park?'s head exploded]

If my choice is between dog shit and cow shit, consider me heartless. The president being miserable means nothing to me.

[John]

If you can't appreciate schadenfreude, you really can't appreciate life and you have my sympathies.

[$park?'s head exploded]

This is one of your dumbest statements. Just wanted to let you know.

[John]

You just think it is dumb because you are stupid. Being stupid makes the world look like that sometimes.

[$park?'s head exploded]

John, you are the proverbial stopped clock; sometimes you get things right, but you're generally a moron.

Calling someone stupid and saying you can't appreciate life without reveling in the misery of others is a clear indication, as if more were needed, that you are indeed a horrible person.

[John]

Calling someone stupid and saying you can't appreciate life without reveling in the misery of others is a clear indication, as if more were needed, that you are indeed a horrible person.

If you can't appreciate justice and people getting their just deserts, you are a horrible person. You don't mean to be, you just can't help it. The Democrats have screwed things up massively. They deserve to lose. Them losing is a good thing to be appreciated even if that means people who don't deserve to win win. They can get theirs later.

Sometimes it is perfectly appropriate to enjoy the suffering of others; namely when they have brought that suffering on themselves and deserve to have it happen to them. This is one of those times.

[tarran]

Are you saying Jesus was a terrible person, John?

[John]

Tarran,

Jesus was a pretty intense guy. While he may have loved his enemies, he didn't seem to have much of a problem with them getting theirs in this life. I am pretty sure he wasn't too upset about the Temple money changers having to look for new jobs.

[$park?'s head exploded]

I'd like to believe that taking pleasure in the misery of others and is a net bad for the human race because it leads to a never ending game of one-upmanship with all sides wanting to win only to make the other side miserable. Eventually a point is reached at which everyone is generally miserable. Good plan, it doesn't seem to be going so well for the country right now.

[Zeb]

People getting what is coming to them is good. Reveling in their misery is not a positive personality trait and doesn't make the world a better place.

Hate the sin, love the sinner, no?

[Andrew S.]

I don't care about how it affects Obama. But if the Republicans take the Senate, the next two years are going to be nothing but bickering and fighting, while nothing gets done.

Now THAT'S a reason to hope the Republicans take the Senate.

[John]

And if the Democrats suffer a soul crushing defeat, perhaps they will decide to be a bit less retarded and more like they were under Clinton.

Like it or not we are stuck with the two party system and it isn't going away any time soon. Getting kicked out to the wilderness knocked a little sense into the Republicans. Doing the same now to the Democrats is the only hope of knocking some sense into them.

[$park?'s head exploded]

I won't hold my breath waiting for proven examples of the sense that got knocked into any particular group of politicians.

[John]

Then it doesn't matter does it? So why do you feel the need to care one way or the other? And if you don't care, why are you commenting on this thread?

[$park?'s head exploded]

To mitigate your belief that the Republicans will ride into congress and save us all.

[John]

To mitigate your belief that the Republicans will ride into congress and save us all.

Since I never said any such thing, let me ask you again. If you don't care, why are you commenting on this thread?

Let me take a guess, you are a concern troll who is really a Prog trying to muck up the board. How about that idea? If you are not, stop acting like one and commenting on things you claim not to care about and pretending people believe things they clearly don't.

[$park?'s head exploded]

I have a sense of humor and a love of the absurd. The mere fact that anyone would believe that changing people in control will make a difference to anything in any meaningful way is funny.

[John]

The mere fact that anyone would believe that changing people in control will make a difference

So I guess if the US and the North Koreans swapped governments, it wouldn't make any difference? Since all governments and all leaders are the same, why would it?

Just because the choices are not perfect or even good, doesn't mean they are the same. Things can always be worse.

[$park?'s head exploded]

"Things could always be worse."

Now there is a rallying cry to get behind.

[Jordan]

It's worth it just for that and the inevitable yummy Shriek tears.

[MegaloMonocle]

The Repubs will presented with endless opportunities to screw the pooch. The only real suspense is, which one(s) will they take?

Immigration reform/amnesty?
OCare insurance bailouts?
Some dumbass kultur war bullshit?
Braindead overreach on the many Obama scandals?

[Ken Shultz]

"A curious feud between New York City teachers union leadership and the police department is raising eyebrows and tensions among the rank-and-file of both fields."

I think it should raise eyebrows that no one else who matters, neither the voters of New York City nor the politicians who represent them, seem to be willing to feud with either one of them.

[John]

The New York Public School system spends like a hundred million dollars a year paying teachers who, mostly because they are perverts who tried to hit on or molest students, sit in a room and do nothing all day because they can't be trusted with students but also can't under union rules be fired.

The people of New York pay outrageous taxes to support their schools. Yet, the Post documented a few years ago how some schools didn't even have textbooks. Meanwhile, they pay millions to keep deviants on the payroll.

[trshmnster the terrible]

That's quite the gig. Get paid to sit in a room and surf the Internet all day.

[MegaloMonocle]

[looks around nervously. closes browser.]

[John]

I watched the original Taking of Pellum 123 on DVR a couple of nights ago. What a great movie. And it is a great illustration of why movies today suck. The movie is totally un PC. There about twenty really funny and well written scenes that could never be in a movie today. In one scene, Walter Mathau comforts a wounded under cover officer who has long hair saying, "just hang in there ma'am a ambulance will be here in a minute". In another, a black cop standing in the subway tunnel in between the highjacked train and police snipers tells his boss over the radio "you be sure they know I am here, I am not exactly easy to see in the dark". The whole movie shows people as they actually are and how they actually talk, at least people 1970s New York. Thanks to PC, Hollywood can no longer do that and its movies are much worse for it.

[Lord Humungus]

One of my favorite 70s movies - Walter Matthau is great in it. I also recommend "Charley Varrick" if you haven't seen it.

[John]

I like that one too. I can't believe both Mathau and Jack Lemon are gone. What great actors.

It really is true they don't make actors like they once did. Watch Oceans 11 sometime (the remake), Carl Reiner and Elliot Gould walk away with that film. The blow Brad Pitt and George Clooney off the screen. The same is true of Alan Arkin and John Goodman in Argo. Goodman is a bit younger than Arkin but of the same mold. And they own that movie not Ben Aflak.

[wwhorton]

Alan Arkin is a badass. IMO one of the most under-appreciated actors in film.

[John]

I agree. If he had done nothing else but play Yosarian in Catch 22, he would be a bad ass. He has about a million great roles. I love him and Peter Falk in The Inlaws.

[Dave C]

He was very good in Glengarry Glen Ross. As as matter of fact, everybody was good in that movie.

[John]

That movie really had a hell of a cast. Scott Glenn is another really underrated actor who was also really good in Glenngarry Glen Ross.

[invisible furry hand]

Who said you could post with men?

[Dave C]

Sure you don't mean Ed Harris? Probably got them confused because they were both in The Right Stuff.

[John]

Yes David. I mean Ed Harris. And yes, I got them confused because of The Right Stuff. Harris played "John Glen" in that movie thus the confusion.

And Scott Glen is a good actor too, just not in Glengarry.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

You know you're living in the post-racial era when John mistakes Denzel Washington for Walter Matthau.

[John]

LOL. The Denzel version was an awful remake, in case you were not being a smart ass. The original was made in 1974 and is vastly superior to the remake.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

(I was being a smart ass)

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Some of the less formulaic writers in Hollywood still take the same attitude toward racial reality in dialogue. Tarantino is the obvious example (though Django was a POS), but movies like LA Confidential do the same, too.

There are just so many more movies today that there's a lot more Crash-style garbage to go with the well-written material.

[John]

Yes, there still are some good movies made. But they are few and far between. The thing about Pellum 123 is that for its time it was a good movie but it was not an instant classic. It is not like it is the Godfather or something. Now well made movies are the rare exception. It used to be they were not quite the norm but pretty common none the less.

[Lord Humungus]

I've found that - at least for modern stuff - that foreign films are better than ever. South Korea, for example, has quite a few good serial killer movies that are gruesome but also show a human side to those involved.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0353969/

and

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190539/

and the cinematography can truly be beautiful too, unlike some of the junk I see today.

[John]

I find the same. French movies got good again after the government stopped subsidizing them. I find European movies to be generally better.

[WTF]

I find European movies to be generally better.

Probably has something to do with the fact that they aren't dumbing them down to lowest common denominator so they can sell huge box office in multiple countries overseas, which is Hollywood's current business plan.

[John]

And Tarantino is a good example. He is a good filmmaker but I don't think he is great. But what he is more than anything is a fearless filmmaker. And he is about the only American filmmaker you can say that about. It is his fearlessness that makes him popular more than his skill. He is the only one even trying to give the audience any honesty.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Soderbergh, especially early Soderbergh, is a brave director. Cronenberg another. Greengrass and Scorsese are more hit and miss for in part because of their popular movies, but there's real courage in their work that you'll often see in directors who have the respect of their studio bosses. I still haven't recovered from United 93; I don't know how that movie got made.

Speculating, but if there's one reason why movies seem safer on the whole today, it's the distance separating today's average director from the final cut of "his" movie vs. his predecessors in the 60s and 70s who were working with much smaller budgets and less oversight and thus had more control.

[John]

That is a good point. And it is not just the director. It is also the writers. Movies used to be written by one guy or maybe a team of two or three. Movies now are written by large committees answering to focus groups. Any product produced by committee is likely going to be dumbed down and bland.

[Rhywun]

if there's one reason why movies seem safer on the whole today

I think the major reason is that every movie is now written to appeal to the widest possible audience, i.e. earn maximum dollars. Nothing wrong with that - but it makes most movies today boring as shit. The blandness of the two Pelham remakes compared to the gritty brilliance of the original is the perfect example.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

There are still loads of movies that aren't dumbed down. In the Bedroom wasn't a huge release, but it's an amazing movie in the tradition of the better films of the 70s. The Sweet Hereafter is another.

Among big releases, I agree that they're formulaic, and that's because of the blockbuster. But even then, you have people like Nolan running around creating stuff like Inception. Nolan isn't an auteur and approaches his movies like an engineer who has to balance popular entertainment with themes that interest him, but he's not making Transformers 4 or Predator 3 or something.

[Rhywun]

Inception was great - I wasn't expecting that.

[John]

yeah, I heard Inception was horrible. I have never watched it. Was I misinformed?

[WTF]

I thought it was pretty good, I wouldn't say great.

[robc]

I liked Inception a lot better before a friend of mine pointed out the flaw.

You've got one bit, make sure you get it right.

[John]

Yeah I hate when that happens Rob. It is kind of like Raiders of the Lost Arc. I am sure someone else had said it long before but I first had it pointed out to me on an episode of the Big Bang Theory of all places.

The entire movie is pointless. The Nazi's open the arc and God destroys them. That would have happened no matter what Jones did. He could stayed home teaching his college classes and the same thing would have happened. For whatever reason in over 30 years of watching and liking that movie, that fact never occurred to me. The movie has never seemed the same since.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

I haven't seen Inception in a while and can't think of the hole robc mentions, but the Raiders flaw isn't a flaw. The movie isn't about heroic Indiana Jones saving the day, it's about him being along for the ride to watch the Almighty strike down the evil bastich Nazis and how man plans and God laughs.

[Free Society]

Was he the one in The Expendables who doesn't pay his taxes?

[Obama's Buttplug]

Oops!

REPORTER: More than dozen witnesses confirm Ferguson cop's version of shooting

'Michael Brown rushed officer'

[Andrew S.]

Excuse me if I'm not very willing to take the word of "police sources" when it comes to police-involved shootings.

[John]

It very well may be a lawful shoot. If it is, the cops still have only themselves to blame for the resulting violence. If the cops hadn't, though decades of union enforced arrogance and unaccountability, created the perception no cop is ever held accountable for anything, people would have listened to their side of the story.

[Jordan]

Yep. It's still a great lesson about the militarization of police and their "us vs. them" mentality, as well as the necessity of outfitting cops with cameras.

[Rhywun]

the necessity of outfitting cops with cameras

One of the more leftist of the creatures running the NYC council is proposing exactly that in the wake of all this. I almost fell out of my chair.

[MegaloMonocle]

the necessity of outfitting cops with cameras.

Thus causing the po-po to hire more FOIA Denial Officers.

http://www.citylab.com/crime/2.....ge/378690/

That's because the department claims the footage, which is captured by devices financed by city taxpayers and worn by officers on the public payroll, aren't public records. Our newsroom's request for footage from the shootings under the California Public Records Act was denied.

Once footage becomes part of an investigation, the department says it doesn't have to release them. SDPD also said during the pilot phase of the camera program that it doesn't even have to release footage from the cameras after an investigation wraps.

[Andrew S.]

Perfectly said, John.

I don't know if this is a rightful shoot or not. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. But given history, I cannot trust that, regardless of the facts, that there will be a free and fair investigation that will get to the truth.

[John]

If the cop was in the right, I don't want to see him go to jail to satisfy the mob anymore than I want to see a guilty cop get off. The problem is that I and a lot of other people have no faith in the Police Department's ability to fairly investigate whether he was in the right. And that is a bigger problem than just one shooting, no matter how justified it was.

[Andrew S.]

Well said.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Dashcams and cop-cams would probably have helped the police here.

[wwhorton]

Absolutely, John. I've been saying to people that there are multiple issues here. One is whether Brown committed a crime; looks like he did. Another is whether the shooting was justified; I think the jury's still out, but it seems like it could go either way. The biggest of all, however, is the police culture.

They obviously didn't think they'd be called to account, which I think is why the chief has been effing up every single statement to the press and has been so cagey about releasing details. And then the response to the protests...Jesus. Yeah, make sure you've got snipers covering the unarmed, peaceful protestors and just send out a few meter maids to observe any looting that might happen. Well done, dipshit. Certainly shows where the priorities are, and obviously justifies turning Mayberry PD into a paramilitary force extraordinaire.

[John]

As Warty said, it is like they were writing a textbook on how to make the public hate your guts.

[Lord Humungus]

I thought that's when the taser was supposed to be used.

[ant1sthenes]

"Police sources tell me"

Ok, then.

[Mock-star]

I tried that cannabis lube and got high as a horny kite. Read this article to the end, its worth it.

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/se.....orny-kite/

[The Late P Brooks]

Yesterday, a couple of people were talking about a video of cops (in Chicago, maybe) shooting a guy. I have not seen it, but apparently, the story is: guy has rifle; cops arrive, surround him, yell at him, order him to put rifle down; he complies, and then "goes for the backup pistol"; dies in a hail of bullets.

Apparently, one of the cops sees him going for a pistol behind his back not visible to the other cops. Without having seen the body language, or the speed of his draw, the first thing I thought of was, "What if the poor bastard was just trying to put the pistol on the ground next to the rifle?"

Anybody know anything about this one?

[Andrew S.]

Since we always like to post the hilariously stupid things that progs say on Salon and Slate and Gawker, I'd like, for once, to show an astoundingly stupid attack on Balko from the right. This may be worse than your average Jezebel post

http://www.aim.org/aim-column/.....-ferguson/

[John]

If terrorists are targeting the police in Ferguson, they are pretty fucking incompetent terrorist, because I haven't seen so much as a single injured cop.

Terrorists do and have targeted police in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. And when they do you end up with a bunch of dead cops and a bunch of other cops who decide it is best if they take a few months worth of sick days.

I hope to God nothing like that ever happens in the US. Fuck this moron for raping the word terrorism and cheapening its real danger.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"This is precisely why police agencies have to be "militarized." It is clear in this case that the local and state police could not deal with the threats and violence."

No, the militarized cops weren't able to deal with a serious riot, so the governor sent the National Guard. The National Guard is *supposed* to be a backup for emergency situations which the police can't handle alone, even with all their toys.

So...sometimes there's an emergency requiring the police to get National Guard backup...THEREFORE, it follows that the police should get paramilitary stuff to be used in routine operations. QED.

[John]

That is a good point. They had all of that military shit and they still couldn't handle a riot and had to call out the National Guard. So what good is that stuff doing?

Yes, I know it allows them to play with big boy toys and terrorize people. But a few of us non LEOs don't view that as a feature.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Kinkaid is a neocon moron of the first order and has been for decades. Case in point:

It's not unreasonable to describe these coordinated attacks from the "violent criminal element" as terrorism. This is precisely why police agencies have to be "militarized." It is clear in this case that the local and state police could not deal with the threats and violence.

But our media seem not to be concerned about the fact that all of their talk about the "militarization" of the police proved to be completely erroneous, and that more military power is on the way precisely because the criminals and terrorists are becoming too big a problem for the local or even the state police to handle.

Yeah, because crime today is so much worse than it was 20 years ago, or 30 years ago when New Yorkers were living under a comparative siege of crime. As is the case with any good lawn-order type, his anxieties about crime relative to reality aren't fundamentally different from those of an irrational soccer mom like Shannon Watts.

But because of 9/11, somehow all this unrelated bs is justified. Presumably if the terrorists hadn't screwed up the 1993 WTC bombing, Kinkaid would've been selling his police-state apologies eight years earlier.

[The Late P Brooks]

From Andrew S' link:
It's not unreasonable to describe these coordinated attacks from the "violent criminal element" as terrorism. This is precisely why police agencies have to be "militarized." It is clear in this case that the local and state police could not deal with the threats and violence.

Holy shit.

How about this? Authority is derived from respect.

Your Maoist "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun" theory of totalitarian state supremacy sounds like terrorism to me.

[Real American]

I'm ready for the Hot Tub with Porn Stars Challenge

[Elspeth Flashman]

Just don't drink that water.

[David R]

Can anyone explain to me what the hell a "paraprofessional" is?

[invisible furry hand]

They're not professionals in the field, but work with the professional eg paralegal, paramedic, teacher's aide

[John]

I always thought it meant they were the airborne wing of the profession and parachuted to work and such.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

If my etymology is correct, professional refers to one who offers up a vow, or in modern times one who professes to possess particular, non-universal skills.

Para, of course, comes from the Greek for "pathetic lackey." Thus the neologism paraprofessional.

[invisible furry hand]

Your etymology is off. "Para" comes from the Greek for "crippled". So, Ironside.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

I'm pretty sure this is off.

In Greek mythology, Para was Hera's demigod handmaiden who was always being sent off on wild goose chases for the amusement of the royal court. In one memorable case, she was sent across the Aegean Sea to locate a particular species of papyrus that did not exist. Para searched for decades only to return empty-handed and having squandered half her all-too-mortal life, at which point Hera and her buddies burst out laughing at their hilarious joke.

Thus the origins of the contemporary word paralegal.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, assuming you're familiar with the term paranormal, a paraprofessional is someone who is trained (and certified) in the use of certain paranormal powers. Like, for instance, telekinesis or mind-reading.

Paralegals are a specific kind of paraprofessional who are employed for discovery purposes--using clairvoyance to see documents the other side doesn't want to share.

[John]

And for the record, good ones are really hard to find and require a lot of care and feeding once you do hire them. God help you if you get one who relies on the boiling cauldron method. You know much one of those things cost? And don't even get me started on how they smell up the office.

[$park?'s head exploded]

Give this man a dollar.

[robc]

So the Libertarian on the ballot vs McConnell and Grimes is a cop.

Im still voting for him, but it does make it tougher. Maybe he is in the 1% good cops.

[John]

Don't worry Rob. I would imagine running as a Libertarian got him kicked out of the cop club pretty quick. I doubt he gets out of many tickets these days.

[robc]

Just checked out his website.

Under platform-civil liberties, he has 4 bullet points:

End domestic spying. A warrant should be required for any domestic surveillance.
End state marriage. Consenting adults do not need permission from government.
End the drug war. Prohibition is costly, in dollars and in liberty, and unsuccessful.
Immigration reform. Peaceful people should be allowed to move freely, with minimal interference.

[robc]

http://david4senate.com/

Im sure someone can find something objectionable in there. I just started looking.

[robc]

And I found it:

Tax reform. End the income tax, and replace it with a sales tax.

It started good. But if you are a crazy outsider anyway, just go for it.

[robc]

Two different 3 way polls show him at 7%. One shows no change between McConnell and Grimes with him in the race, the other shows McConnell losing 1% of his lead.

So he is currently taking votes approximately even from both, with maybe slightly more from McConnell.

But I doubt he finishes at 7%. However, the TPers who supported Bevin are livid over the way McConnell treated him and Patterson is trying to woo them.

[robc]

Two different 3 way polls show him at 7%. One shows no change between McConnell and Grimes with him in the race, the other shows McConnell losing 1% of his lead.

So he is currently taking votes approximately even from both, with maybe slightly more from McConnell.

But I doubt he finishes at 7%. However, the TPers who supported Bevin are livid over the way McConnell treated him and Patterson is trying to woo them.

[robc]

Dammit squirrels.

[John]

The exit polls in the Virginia governor's race last fall showed the Libertarian candidate took more votes for the Dem than from the Republican.

Reason barely touched the issue. The assumption always is the Libertarian takes more votes from the Democrat. That seems to not be true lately. The Democrats actually seem to be paying a small price for allowing Obama to completely sell out civil liberties.

The VA guy was a lousy candidate and actually a pretty shitty Libertarian who supported GPS every car in the state in the name of having an efficient millage tax. And he still drew votes from the Dem.

[Rev-Match]

The VA guy was a lousy candidate and actually a pretty shitty Libertarian who supported GPS every car in the state

Not true. He only posed it as a possibility and stated that it would be done by reporting of miles with every state inspection.

[John]

And that is just as dumb of an idea. That would screw people who drove out of state. How could you tell how many of those miles were driven in the state? That completely defeats the purpose.

[GILMORE]

The runaway success of the ice-bucket challenge

Lou Gherigs disease is cured?

[jmomls]

Any disease that suckers have been ponying up bucks for has been cured?

[Lord Humungus]

harder harder!

[PD Scott]

Bardarbunga-bunga parties?

[$park?'s head exploded]

Earthquakes are really Gaia opening a new hole to stick something in.

[robc]

David is currently employed with the City of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, as a Peace Officer.

Small town cop. Harrodsburg had a population of 8340 in the 2010 census.

[robc]

Harrodsburg is the oldest permanent American* settlement west of the Appalachians**.

*I assume to distinguish from Spanish settlements in California or Indian settlements.

**source: wikipedia

[robc]

Better yes. He could have run on a single land tax, which would be even better.

[John]

I have seen that one Tundra. And yes, it is great.

George Kennedy is another underrated actor. Ever seen this

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072288/?ref_=nv_sr_2

It is one of Eastwood's best and Kennedy is brilliant in it.

[John]

I don't think Jeff Bridges has ever been in a movie I didn't like. Did you see him in True Grit? I have never have believed anyone could play a part made famous by John Wayne and pulled it off. John Wayne is just too much of a force of nature and cultural icon to be able to redo his work successfully. It is like trying to cover an Elvis or a Sinatra song. But Bridges did it.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Obligatory recommendation of the Fabulous Baker Boys for those who haven't seen it.

[John]

Yes I have. And it is good. It is really amazing the number of good movies he has been in.

I would also add Jagged Edge, Starman and KPax to the list of "damn that was a good movie" Bridges films.