Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
Geithner wants power to oust more executives.
This “Sharia law” flap over an Obama State Department nominee may be the stupidest non-issue of his administration. It seems to stem from a blog post at NRO about a guy wrote a letter claiming he heard Koh say something at a conference that no one else at the conference seems to have heard. And from that, you get this bit of Fox News hysteria.
Speaking non-issues, this whole thing about Michelle Obama touching the precious queen? What David Boaz said.
Man puts giant swimming pool in his living room. The story also involves a fictional penguin.
Jackson, Mississippi’s crazy-ass mayor says he’d like to become part of the DEA. Or maybe a U.S. Marshall. I have to say, I’m rather pleased that that article I commissioned for Reason is now the top Google hit for the phrase “worst mayor in America.” I’m sure there’s plenty of competition.
The L.A. Times editorial board is terribly concerned about the credibility of scientific experts in the courtroom. Good! Except that the source of their angst is the Phil Spector case, one of the tiny percentage of cases where the defense was actually able to outspend the prosecution.
Hey Joe? I’m actually with you on card check. But this isn’t helpful. Right wingers, retire this guy. He’s killing you.
Oregon bill would raise the smoking age to 21.
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on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 7:19 am by Radley Balko
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TheAgitator.com
About the penguin guy, his writing kinda reminds me of Douglas Adams. Especially this line: “My parents offered the opinion that buying a penguin was a reckless and irresponsible thing to do. This was a very frequently offered opinion, however, so it was discarded.“
Who in the hell is in charge of the Republicans- Jerry Springer? Why is Joe the Plumber doing ANYTHING on behalf of them? Who in the hell wants to hear him speak??? Notre Dame?
paranoiastrksdp wants more power to oust Geithner
Speaking as a subject of the crown (well, actually, we’ve technically been citizens of the UK for some time, but it sounds fancy), I can tell you that probably the same proportion of the British public give a toss about MO touching the queen over here as with you… which is to say, unless they’d already decided to be anti-MO, none at all. On a day when there was alleged “rioting” protesting the G20, to call this a non-issue would be to insult non-issues.
Unless it was, you know, inappropriate touching where the royal bikini goes. And now I’ve given everyone a mental image they don’t need, I’ll be off.
So if you can’t touch, just how does Prince Phillip go about Tappin Dat Ass?
By the L.A. Times editorial you would think that defenses normally have the unlimited funds of the giverment ( renamed due to stimulus incentives).
Re: Dumbass pool boy.
What a dumbass.
Hey Joe? I’m actually with you on card check
Radley;
I think I can guess what your position is but Joe the Plumber doesn’t know which way he believes because he doesn’t know what it is. I guess the “authentic American worker” will have to wait for his handlers to tell him his position.
Immaculate fondling can lead to immaculate sucking and next thing you know the immaculate plastic proves too thin and you got an immaculate baby on your hands. No worries it only happens every 2000 years give or take. Well, more often in staunchly Republican households.
As for MO laying a hand on the precious Queen, is that really a worse diplomatic faux pas than http://politicalhumor.about.com/b/2008/07/11/bush-goodbye-from-the-worlds-biggest-polluter.htm? (”in his parting words to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at his final G-8 Summit, Bush managed to outdo himiself. “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter,” he said, punching the air and grinning widely as the two leaders looked on in shock.
Bush also had another embarrassing episode in which he addressed the Italian prime minster in Spanish. “Amigo! Amigo!” he called out to Silvio Berlusconi, whom the White House had previously insulted in a press packet which described him as one of the “most controversial leaders in the history of a country known for government corruption and vice.”)
On the Sharia story:
“Darwish: Well, uh, I heard that he doesn’t mind referring to laws, foreign laws and integrating them into the U.S. legal system.”
First of all, you HEARD? You mean you didn’t even go check the facts for yourself and just took some schmuck’s word for it? Nice journalism work!
Secondly, she complains about foreign laws being incorporated into the US system. Well, lady, the Lacy Act, Title 16 § 3372 of the US Code, already does that. The law reads:
“It is unlawful for any person—
(1) to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase any fish or wildlife or plant taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law, treaty, or regulation of the United States or in violation of any Indian tribal law…or of any state or foreign law.”
Yes, ANY FOREIGN LAW. People have been convicted under this law for bringing back pets from other countries, even though it’s not illegal to possess, buy, or sell them in the U.S. but because it is illegal in another country (like Brazil, for instance). How’s that for already incorporating foreign law, lady?
The smoking law. I think the smoking and drinking ages should be 18 but at least they are being consistent.
I like to think that if I met the queen or someone like that, I would give a good vigorous handshake and say “pleased to meet you, Liz”. The seriousness with which the queen’s tenders take proper etiquette is hilarious.
The queen can kiss my rebel colonist ass.
I’ve always wanted to own an elephant seal. It’s for the cops that knock down my front door to serve a warrant meant for my neighbor. That’ll learn ‘em.
Maryland Police Accused of Beating Shackled Teen, Covering It Up
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512110,00.html
So surprising to see this coming out of Baltimore…
Yeah, to Fox News, Obama can do no right and Bush could do no wrong. They’re nothing more than the PR branch of the Republican Party. Their target audience are basically that group of people who, if you gave them a concrete block and called it a cream puff, would believe you.
For me, Fox News is kind of like a masochistic form of entertainment, like watching a televangelist. If you regularly hang around rational independent thinkers a lot, you lose perspective about how delusional much of mainstream America really is. Watching shows like that snap you right back into the real world with the force of a baseball bat across the forehead.
I also like to watch how far their skirts ride up when they’re sitting on that couch.
BTW, not only do Americans not have to bow or curtsy to the queen, it’s actually a bit rude. Only the queen’s subjects bow to her, and since we’re not really her subjects, bowing to her is a lie.
In the picture I saw in the paper this morning, the Queen and Prince looked so tiny compared to the Obamas it was crazy. I know she’s old and all, but dang.
I say, if there is one thing U.S. liberals, libertarians, conservatives, and even anarchists should agree on, it’s f*** the monarchy.
“I’m rather pleased that that article I commissioned for Reason is now the top Google hit for the phrase “worst mayor in America.”
I was rather pleased to find out that my realitythinking website was at the top of the list when I did a search for THINKING on searchinchrist.com. I also got a kick out of the results when I did a search on SEX TOY. haha!
Luckily, I don’t think Mississippi is at the top of the list of Obama’s best places for high level federal recruiting. I personally wish they would move their state further away from Alabama.
I don’t like smoking laws. It seems like they started the trend toward believing that any law that saved lives was unquestionably a good law. With those floodgates open, no activity is safe from government.
I guess someone between eighteen and twenty-one can’t be trusted with a decision about whether to smoke but they can certainly be trusted with the choice about whether to join the army and piss away their life in some god-forsaken desert on the whim of a ego-maniac.
I know some of the Indians on the Canadian border have been making a KILLING for some time by smuggling cigarettes. With dual citizenship and remote areas, it’s easy to slip across the border. They’ve been smuggling to Canada for some time, due to their ridiculous taxes. As America becomes more restrictive, I can see them importing from Mexico and selling to both US and Canadian buyers…
Police wait out man holed up in Affton
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/02/2009
A man is holed up in an Affton home this morning, and the St. Louis County Police Department’s tactical unit has been called out.
The man has no hostages, said Sgt. Tracy Panus of the County Police. The home is in the 8500 block of Palmetto Drive, off Weber Road in the Affton area.
About 7 a.m., the tactical unit was activated. Panus said police are considering the man armed. “In our minds, a tablespoon could be a weapon,” she said. “We’re going to wait him out, like normal.”
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/36DB0A49E2707D518625758C0049EA2E?OpenDocument#tp_newCommentAnchor
is “Michelle Obama touching the precious queen” a euphemism like “bopping the bishop”, but for ladies ?
this should definitely enter the vernacular. i’m twatting this now.
Michael Chaney I just read that article, and I must say I should have been a cop. Just for this reason as quoted from the article.
“Mussmacher, 34, has been suspended with pay since the April 2004 incident, even though he was convicted in February 2005 of second-degree criminal assault, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.”
Damn! This is April 2009
“I’ve always wanted to own an elephant seal. It’s for the cops that…”
Mattocracy, we don’t judge here. No reason is needed.
Glenn Nielsen thanks. That’s twice in two days my “SWAT never charges into danger, they only charge against harmless victims” theory is highlighted.
To be honest though a tablespoon is a weapon defense for the clown suited thugs really makes me worry.
@MacK,
SWAT teams ALWAYS charge into danger. It’s just that the danger might not be there until they show up.
Right on.
I honestly believe that if the cops really thought the people on the other side of the door had guns and posed an immediate lethal threat, they would employ different, probably more cautious, tactics.
Given the frequency with which they employ storm-trooper methods unnecessarily, one can only draw the conclusion that they do it because they like it.
In other words, it’s the thrill of bursting into a house, guns drawn, terrorizing the occupants, knowing there is very little likely danger to them/i> that motivates them to do it as often as they do.
It’s not a tactical decision. It’s a recreational decision.
What the hell? Why not just raise everything to age 21? Drinking, smoking, voting, driving, military, porno, intercourse, masturbation, internet access, employment etal. After all, only laws can solve societal woes.
Rather than lower standards for treating the Queen, why not instead raise everyone else’s to her level? Every individual should receive the respect Her Majesty enjoys, including the exclusive right to determine which instances of physical contact are welcome. When all other touching is universally classified as battery, the TSA and their ilk will have fewer ways to infringe on our liberties.
I thought Libertarians lived by the adages of “My rights end at my the tip of my nose” and “no initiation of force”. Touching someone else without their permission, whether it be the Queen or other, is an initiation of force and a violation of rights.
Since it’s being jostled about in levity, I guess the two above statements about libertarians are just more bs.
Tiochfaidh ar la!
[...] (via Radley Balko) [...]
I swear, the GOP is committing slo-mo seppaku right before our eyes. Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin? I’m supposed to take you guys seriously now?
Yeah, card check blows. Can’t you get someone credible to make that point. Like George McGovern?
The smoking law. I think the smoking and drinking ages should be 18 but at least they are being consistent.
Now if they’ll raise the voting age, start charging 20 year olds as minors, refuse them (18-20 yr olds) the right to enter into contracts, make sex with a 19 year old statutory rape, …
Yeah, we screwed them on the alcohol thing, let’s screw them on everything for consistency. It logically follows that a 20 year old should need mommy’s permission for a tattoo in the name of consistency, no?
“Every individual should receive the respect Her Majesty enjoys, including the exclusive right to determine which instances of physical contact are welcome.”
Sounds good to me – no human should be subject to an unwelcome touch. I don’t think that that is a contravercial statement.
I’ll note, though, that the Queen didn’t seem to disapprove at all. Nor have I seen any complaints about it here in the UK; the objections all seem to come from Americans looking for a reason to disapprove of the Obamas.
Oh, I dunno about “Liz”. She’s old enough to be my grandmother, I’d probably call her “ma’am” like anyone else her age. ;)
A sign of being brought up right.
“I say, if there is one thing U.S. liberals, libertarians, conservatives, and even anarchists should agree on, it’s f*** the monarchy.”
I don’t really have a problem with a monarchy, especially in the UK where the monarch really has no power (Oliver Cromwell and later King Billy made sure of that). It is a nice little tradition and makes the old people happy. It doesn’t offend me in the least. The Obama cult is another matter, however.
I approve of any -archy supported entirely by, and ruling over only, volunteers.