Comments on: Morning Links

By: anarch

anarch — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:56:00 +0000

I approve of any -archy supported entirely by, and ruling over only, volunteers.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:38:57 +0000

“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.

By: anarch

anarch — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:04:59 +0000

I’ll note, though, that the Queen didn’t seem to disapprove at all.

A sign of being brought up right.

By: perlhaqr

perlhaqr — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:37:30 +0000

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. ;)

By: Chaos

Chaos — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:56:54 +0000

“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.

By: J sub D

J sub D — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:34:14 +0000

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?

By: J sub D

J sub D — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:23:12 +0000

Hey Joe? I’m actually with you on card check. But this isn’t helpful. Right wingers, retire this guy. He’s killing you.

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?

By: Oregon Commentator » Blog Archive » Less Freedom, Not More, OR “Excuse Me, Sir, But Do You Have a License for that Cigarette?”

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:35:01 +0000

[...] (via Radley Balko) [...]

By: fwb

fwb — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:56:25 +0000

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!

By: anarch

anarch — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:46:09 +0000

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.

By: MacGregory

MacGregory — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:20:28 +0000

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.

By: Dave Krueger

Dave Krueger — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:56:23 +0000

#26 Kieffer

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.

By: Kieffer

Kieffer — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:47:15 +0000

@MacK,

SWAT teams ALWAYS charge into danger. It’s just that the danger might not be there until they show up.

By: MacK

MacK — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:03:19 +0000

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.

By: Boyd Durkin

Boyd Durkin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:56:34 +0000

“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.

By: MacK

MacK — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:54:36 +0000

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

By: kinyahbrutha

kinyahbrutha — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:49:17 +0000

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.

By: Glenn Nielsen

Glenn Nielsen — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:45:16 +0000

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

By: Marty

Marty — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:43:46 +0000

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…

By: Dave Krueger

Dave Krueger — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:12:26 +0000

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.