Hey, DHS: I “reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority.” So go ahead and put me on your list. Also, way to reinforce the very sentiments your report warns about!
Latest calls to end the drug war: Clive Crook in the Financial Times, Mike Gray in the Washington Post, Stanley Crouch in the NY Daily News.
Everything you thought you knew about the Columbine shootings was wrong.
My boss continues to expose how politicians, activists, and the media are exploiting the death of Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart to pass an ignition interlock law.
Euchre! Haven’t played in ages, but I must have played thousands of games in college.
I’m not sure this is a “fail.” It’s actually sorta’ true.
A fine use of taxpayer money: EPA hosts two-day conference on bedbugs.
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TheAgitator.com
“Analysis defines “rightwing extremism in the United States” as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority. ”
Hey, what’s T-Jeff (Thomas Jefferson) doin’ in lockup?
Heh…I can just see the EPA bureaucratic resolution on this one…
“We propose regulations to ensure that any suspension of voluntary bodily functions and natural suspension of consciousness is properly secured, but not constrictive, thereby prohibiting any hostilities via Cimex lectularius.”
Can’t find anyone here in TX who knows how to play Euchre. In the Navy, it was one of my favorite pastimes, and a buddy and I would enter tournaments. Nothing like a fast paced Euchre game.
“Hey, DHS: I “reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority.” So go ahead and put me on your list. Also, way to reinforce the very sentiments your report warns about!”
I’m pretty sure you were probably on their list long before that report was even conceived. Your listing probably says, “Has trouble accepting authority, refuses to follow directions, argues about helpful government programs, mouths off, and shows disrespect for our nations drug warriors.”
I only come here every day to see if they came to get you yet.
Yahoo games has a pretty popular Euchre game. Ive played a few thousand games there. Picked it up from a college roommate who had family in Ohio. Lots of fun.
When I was a kid my Italian grandfather taught me a very similar game called Briscala. Never played Euchre till college though.
Where’s Balko from? My experience has been that everybody from Ohio is required by law, tradition, and whatever else to not only be a Euchre player, but be an enthusiastic Euchre player. And when I say everyone, I mean literally everyone.
Regarding the bedbugs, I’m actually okay with my tax dollars funding that symposium…bedbugs are not currently known as disease carriers, but research apparently indicates that they’d be potential hosts for hepatitis B or Chaga’s disease (both of which fall clearly into the realm of legitimate public health concerns) and there’s been resurgences of them out here in the Midwest.
There are a few things I think that it’s okay for the government to pay for…this would be one of them. :)
Although…it should really be the states doing that symposium, not the feds.
I don’t see the issue with the EPA conference. How is that a waste?
Does anybody have a link to the actual text of the DHS report?
Nevermind, found it:
http://www.rogerhedgecock.com/resources/HSA_RightwingExtremism_Report_april2009.pdf
I had bedbugs in my apartment, and they’re apparently unkillable without DDT. So I hope the EPA spends time figuring out how to kill them faster than the six months of (apparently) weak-sauce poison spraying the exterminator did.
Also, I think the current poison used is considered a contributing factor in Gulf War Syndrome.
If you’re interested in the subject, the book “Dark Banquet” by Bill Schutt has a long section on bedbugs. Bedbugs can actually be a fairly serious problem. Even assuming they are not a disease vector (and as noted above, no one is sure), they can make a living space practically uninhabitable until eliminated. One problem is the resale of infected furniture, since resalers will often claim they have “sanitized” the bedding or other furniture. Unfortunately, properly sanitizing bedbugs from furniture is fairly expensive, raises costs, and basically defeats the purpose of refurbishment and resale.
When I lived in Atlanta the Purdue and IU alumni clubs would have a Euchre tournament immediately after the Bucket game. We (Purdue) usually lost the Euchre tournament, which of course was just more proof that IU students had more time to screw off and play cards than Purdue students :)
Come to think of it, that was back before Joe Tiller revived Purdue football, so we were probably losing the football game too.
I had never heard of the game before encountering it at college.
Re: DHS report. The report is pretty clearly targeting violent extremists, not the Radley Balko’s of the world. I’ve never seen this site condone or seriously suggest violence here in the US as a means to affect political change.
Perhaps #1 reveals why I’m ALWAYS pulled out of line for extra inspection / scrutiny when I fly. Seriously, every time I fly they single me out for extra procedures (i.e. check my shoes, put me through some air sniffing machine, questions, etc.)
“I reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority”.
Add me to the list as well. What a bunch of jack-booted thugs.
I read the article about Columbine and sadly was not surprised people jumped to conclusions lied or otherwise bent the “facts” to push their various agendas conveniently all having to do with more regulation and or expanded police/government power.
Being from the area, I can attest that the violence-ridden streets of Portland, ME necessitate the acquisition of tanks from the DoD. How else are you supposed to take care of these guys (http://pictureisunrelated.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/wtf_pics-lobster-knife-figh.jpg)?
Really Radley? You “reject” federal authority? You ” refuse to accept, consider, submit to, take for some purpose, or use”, or “refuse to hear, receive, or admit” federal authority in favor of state or local authority? You may disagree with the role of the role of the federal government versus state, but I’m pretty sure you don’t actually reject it.
Someone here linked to the PDF of the report, it’s a quick read and really doesn’t say anything controversial. This isn’t to say that some overzealous jackass cop (or department) somewhere won’t use this report as a pretext to do something that oversteps their authority and/or get back at someone; I can picture what someone like Arpaio could do with this and we know the “left-wing” reports were used as justification to spy on PETA and anti-war groups. But the report itself doesn’t say anything partisan or untrue and seems pretty accurate.
(There’s also no mention of a “list” in the story, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one;)
The DHS report is frightening because it focuses on political views of potentially dangerous groups, not the ACTIONS, of groups. In the same article they laud soldiers who “fight to defend the constitution” while at the same time pissing all over the constitution. Gee I wonder how these soldiers are so easily “exploited”.
#17 Todd,
Never let a crisis go to waste…
I wonder if making this t-shirt will get me put on some kind of watch list …. http://www.cafepress.com/bkieffer.377445584
What if you reject federal authority in favor of individual sovereignty?
Well, B #23, that a Gitmo-ing.
Glad you made the design in the Jr. Ringer shirt Kieffer – that’s my favorite!
Radley, I love you buddy, but Hemipterans are vectors for some very, very nasty diseases (many being uncurable protozoan based). The bedbugs aren’t really the issue so much as the crap swimming around in their gastric cecae is.
Their proboscis makes them particularly effective vectors. Just because bed bugs aren’t known to spread diseases yet doesn’t mean they can’t and won’t in the near future. It’s a matter of time before a specialized protozoan develops some feature or trait that makes it go from an obligate parasite / commensal of hemipterans to a nasty put-you-in-the-hospital-or-casket parasite of humans. Protozoans are r reproduction strategists and have a high probability of developing mutations due to the nature of their life history – in other words they evolve quickly.
Ounce of prevention = pound of cure, and all that. Don’t be so hard on the EPA, or at least not on this issue. I’m sure you could find something more useless to nail them on.
I got to agree with the other folks…what’s your beef with the bedbug conference? Scientific research is a legitmate use of taxpayer money, IMO.
Bedbug reports in NYC have seen something like 300% surge in the last 2 years, and NYC bedbugs show something like 200x more immunity to DDT than populations elsewhere. They are virtually unkillable using legal extermination methods. This is a public issue for some of us who ride the subway and are terrified of this prospect.
Heh, where I grew up the card game of choice is 45s. Now that is a screwed up card game
I remember working in Florida for the summer one year, and asked my roommates if they wanted to play euchre. I got blank stares except for the guy from Chicago, who thought it was a great idea. We then spent the next two hours trying to explain the concept to people not from the Midwest. Who never got it.
Point is, nobody knows about the game outside of the Midwest. If you know about it, odds are, you have a Midwest connection somewhere.
And also, there is a direct correlation between playing euchre and calling a soft drink “pop”.
Because it is pop, dammit. Suck it, soda drinkers.
Now excuse me while I call clubs and tell my partner to put ‘em down, because I’m going alone.
My girlfriend and I both had bedbugs in our buildings. We spent a really absurd amount of time and money trying to get rid of them, and in the end threw out probably 75% of what we owned, sealed the rest up in rubber tubs, put them in storage for a year, and bought new stuff. So, bedbugs effectively do a lot of property damage–you don’t think of it as such because they aren’t actually eating your furniture, but the infestations are difficult enough to treat that often the best course is just disposal.
“I only come here every day to see if they came to get you yet.”
Ditto. Remember, the cops have already “accidentally” showed up at Radley’s house once this year.
Just FYI Radley – Toledo cops in action:
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Avis=TO&Dato=20090414&Kategori=NEWS02&Lopenr=904140217&Ref=AR
I’m starting to think this was Radley’s idea of an April Fool on his readers, since he hasn’t written more about it.
Euchre is alive and well in parts of Canada as well. It’s been years since I played but you never forget.
Bedbugs are beasts of the abyss! I moved out immediately after finding an infestation in my new apartment and had to throw away a lot of my stuff for fear of spreading it to a new location. They are virtually unkillable and a bedbug can survive on a single feeding for EIGHTEEN MONTHS!
They pretty much disappeared from the country for a couple of decades apparently because we used to spray the shit out of DDT but they’ve made a comeback due to the ban and an increase in international travel. New York’s problem largely started out in hotels frequented by tourists.
Even as an anarchist, I can see how a conference on bedbugs can be beneficial especially given that there is no alternative apparatus to remedy the situation (bedbugs infestations would probably fall under the same umbrella as infectious diseases, in a sense). I didn’t think much of bedbugs, except within the context of nursery rhymes, until I actually had to LIVE with them. Oh the horror…*shudder*
This is a point of complain though:
“Researchers say one of the main problems is that there are few chemicals approved for use on mattresses that are effective at killing bed bugs.
The EPA has withdrawn many of the chemicals over the last 50 years because of health and environmental concerns.”
Spend money to make up rules, spend even more to get rid of them…
Unrelated to anything, but I thougt you might get a kick out of this story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090410/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_poland_elephant
“Polish politician fumes over “gay” elephant in zoo”
“Researchers say one of the main problems is that there are few chemicals approved for use on mattresses that are effective at killing bed bugs.
The EPA has withdrawn many of the chemicals over the last 50 years because of health and environmental concerns.”
Spend money to make up rules, spend even more to get rid of them…
Eh. I think concern about spraying pesticides on mattresses is pretty legitimate.
Haven’t played Euchre in years now, but it’s fairly widely-known and played up here in Wisconsin. I learned how to play it as a teenager, then spent many nights drinking and playing it with friends until I was well into my 20s.
@ 19
re: Rejecting Federal authority.
From the report:
“…and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely.”
Federal authorities are given specific enumerated powers. If believing in the 10th amendment and attempting to hold Federal Authorities to their specifically enumerated powers makes “an individual or group” potentially dangerous right wing radical or terrorist, the ole USofA has officially jumped the shark. Though I’m sure we could come up with a 20 page list of events from the last 50 years as competition for the “jump the shark” moment.
About a 1/4 of the stuff on failblog is not a fail at all, but a win.
“Scientific research is a legitmate use of taxpayer money, IMO.”
I don’t care what your problem is, it is never a warrant to steal from your neighbors.
Go *fuck* yourself.
#43 Billy Beck
Come on, a disagreement from the anarchist perspective doesn’t warrant that kind of language. I really doubt you would say that to his face.
Libertarians (not anarchists) believe government has legitimate roles. It’s up for debate if public health is under that list – but dangerous and communicable disease control is probably a lot closer to “libertarian” than “give everyone free health care”. It’s a type of “force” even though it’s not done by human hands. We can disagree on the gray areas like that without pulling out the swords.
Lighten up buddy.
“I don’t care what your problem is, it is never a warrant to steal from your neighbors.”
Says the user of the 100% government science funding developed internet.
@#45 Bobzbob
That’s what gets me about the “fuck you if you support anything” anarchists. They may disagree with the government funding, and they may think they have better answers to problems derived from proper thinking.
But they need to be nice about it because they are as guilty as the rest of us of using the force of government to their own benefit.
I hate to use the roads example, but if you say “fuck you” to any government spending, then “fuck you” for ever driving on the road”. It doesn’t matter that private roads may be better (sure think so) – you, mr “fuck you” anarchist, used those roads, and you are as guilty of the same crime as the rest of us.
#45 Bob,
Guess I can’t complain about squat because I was once in a public school. OK! Let’s ramp up to 90% taxes and no one can complain! Yea! Rock-solid-logic there, Aristotle.
Once and for all on this line of reasoning: If there’s a service provided by the government it HAD TO BE FUNDED with my taxes. I will use the fuck out of that service since I have funded it…while trying to get the service cut.
My position is in no way compromised by having used (or still use) the service.
Now, why are you lumping all anarchists together instead of just addressing Billy Beck?
@#47 | Boyd Durkin |
Bobzbob did not lump anyone together. I may have appeared to lump people together to you, but I was specifically speaking to the logic that *many* anarchists subscribe to – namely everyone who wants government is a worthless thief and punishment should follow. If you benefit from “theft” by using “the fuck out of that service”, you are just as guilty as the guy who went out and stole the goods to begin with. Condemn yourself first, then I’ll listen. Make excuses as to why you should steal as much as you can because a tiny portion came from your stolen money…well, I just don’t know what to say Aristotle. I was addressing the argument, not the brotherhood of anarchists.
Also, your example of “Let’s ramp up to 90% taxes and no one can complain!” is a great example of a straw man. I’ve read your comments plenty of times – you are smarter than that.
Bed bugs are a big problem. And the EPA should be addressing this issue, particularly in regards as to what extent their absolutist bans on various chemicals caused this problem in the first place.
Robin,
Absolutely agreed…although it should be noted that DDT is still used in malaria eradication programs so it’s not really an absolutist ban (but it’s absolutist enough to be addressed and possibly done away with, IMO).
Absolutist ban on “certain uses” of various chemicals? It seems like DDT, given the proper precautions could be used safely to get rid of the bed bugs that are probably infesting my apartment. If that means that I would have to stay out of my apartment for a certain period of time, not use my mattress, I don’t know, clean up the chemicals once the bugs are dead…seems worth it.
UCrawford–I know you agree with me, didn’t mean to sound argumentative, just venting general frustration.
“Point is, nobody knows about the game outside of the Midwest. If you know about it, odds are, you have a Midwest connection somewhere.
And also, there is a direct correlation between playing euchre and calling a soft drink “pop”.”
Non-sense, I learned to play euchre from my grandmother in Maine and she was never further west than Worchester Mass.. And it’s “tonic” not soda or pop. Although come to think of it I haven’t played euchre since I was in Michigan about 20 years ago.
“If you benefit from “theft” by using “the fuck out of that service”, you are just as guilty as the guy who went out and stole the goods to begin with. Condemn yourself first, then I’ll listen.”
Let’s straighten this out. Some people decided that I’m paying them X dollars for the privilege of working during the year 2008. If I don’t pay X dollars, those people will send goons to do many times X dollars worth of damage to me and my property.
Then, those people gave me a basket of stuff. If there’s any restrictions on using that basket of stuff, believe me, they’re good at telling me so. If I figure out how to use my basket of stuff to cause more than X dollars worth of expenses, that’s not stealing.
If I walk past an $11.95 all-you-can-eat place, and the owner picks my pocket for $11.95, and then tells me to have something to eat at his place, that’s stealing. If I then manage to pack away $20 worth of food, neither the owner, nor the other hapless people who got their pockets picked and ate less than $11.95 worth of food get to complain. And cutting my losses after getting my pocket picked by having something to eat doesn’t mean I can’t complain about getting my pocket picked in the first place.
Eh, it’s not just a matter of spraying chemicals. You need multiple treatments of the whole building and all the property in it, most likely using residual pesticides. So, it’s understandable that the EPA would have an interest in it, especially as such undertakings become more prevalent.
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/political-media/obtained-dhs-memo-warning-of-left-wing-extremists/
The equivalent report, equally sweeping, about left-wing radicals.
Matt D–well that’s probably true given the current state of affairs, but I imagine much less necessary once the situation is a bit more under control, or completely under control as it once was. Are we to just live with these bugs then? What do you suggest, because they can’t be stopped you know? There’s no freaking stopping them! Once they find there way into your bed you, and you feel like a goddamn leper, people afraid to pay you a visit, you might be singing a different tune.
Robin–you might have missed the earlier post, but yeah, I’ve had them.
@#54 | Zargon
Your analogy is good. I have another following similar logic.
Someone steals your TV. You want a new one, so you go to a shady dude selling TV’s and you buy one – following the same logic, he stole from me, you are going to cut my losses. You then turn around and judge the thief and anyone who buys from the thief and was too dumb for knowing the TV was stolen. It’s ok to buy from the thief as long as you know the tv is stolen and you wish theft would go away.
According to the anarchist philosophy, voluntary action of cutting your losses enables the evil system to perpetuate. Saying “do as I say, not as I do” is fine as long as you aren’t judging others for doing and saying.
I continue to belabor the point not to argue with this specific issue, but to show there is not an absolute right/wrong answer. Depending on how you define evil, we are all evil people. I sympathize and tend to agree with the anarchist position, but I can’t respect the poisonous “I’m right, you’re wrong, you horrible fuckwad” attitude anymore than I respect it when I hear it from the lefties and neocons. If you are interested affecting real-world results, it’s best not to hate the minds you want to change.
Negative karma for my elephant story? You guys are in a bad mood tonight, geez. :)
Negative karma for my elephant story? You guys are in a bad mood tonight, geez.
It’s tax day, yo. :)
Then maybe this one will make youse guys feel better:
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/monkeys-pay-taxes-too/
“Monkeys Pay Taxes Too. “
Bed bugs started showing resistance to DDT in the 50’s – within a decade or so of the start of its use. Bedbugs still carry that resistance. So DDT would in the long run would be of little value. DDT is not used in much of the world because the target insects became resistant to it, not because of any ban. Mosquitos develop complete immunity in about 7 years if its use is widespread for things like agriculture.
Robin,
No worries…if I had bedbugs that were screwing up my sleep, I’d be pretty frustrated too. :)
Hey, what’s T-Jeff (Thomas Jefferson) doin’ in lockup?
Reminiscing about his own sweeping expansions of federal executive power?
“Also, way to reinforce the very sentiments your report warns about!”
I believe that’s known as a ’self-fulfilling prophecy’.
I too reject federal authority for state and local authority! How about that?
Under Republicans, the war protesters are treasonous and threatening, under Democrats, it’s back to fearing right-wing militias (those being anyone who doesn’t like government.) It’s endlessly predictable.
Also, the Columbine stuff I think I basically knew, it’s been coming out for years. The article DIDN”T mention the appallingly lax response of the police, though.
Also, did anyone notice the “tips” section in the Columbine article? Unless you have real evidence that your child has sociopathic tendencies, advocating spying on their every browser visit is downright creepy. Even knowing what they’re doing at at all times is downright absurd, and part of the new, bizarre ideas about childrearing… The ones where you think that your child is either about to shoot up the school, or that there’s a molester behind every tree.
“Under Republicans, the war protesters are treasonous and threatening, under Democrats, it’s back to fearing right-wing militias (those being anyone who doesn’t like government.) It’s endlessly predictable.”
I’m a little disappointed to see the Reason crowd jumping on this bandwagon of exaggeration and hysteria.
There really ARE some pretty scary right-wing extremist groups, mostly parts of the WP movement, which really ARE targeting ex-service-members for recruitment. It’s been a known problem for quite some time, and there’s no particular reason why law enforcement shouldn’t be informed about these sorts of things, which is precisely what the report discusses. Most of the “outrage” over the report has come from misrepresenting its contents and purpose by placing it in a generalized, rather than specific context.
Plus, the damn thing was commissioned under GW’s watch, making it somewhat nonsensical to claim that it’s some sort of special project of Democrats writ-large. They put out these kinds of alerts/reports regularly, including ones on leftist groups like the ALF. But people are acting as if these are the only two reports they’ve ever put out, and somehow that they should be equalized instead of realistic.
“Although…it should really be the states doing that symposium, not the feds.”
Which states? The incentive would be to wait for each state to wait for another state to do it.
Given that bedbug infestations can be spread across state and national lines (in, say, luggage brought home from a trip) it seems pretty reasonable as a Federal issue.
And it’s not exactly inherent in a ’symposium’ that it must involve a large outlay of Federal money. The attendees’ employers (probably state and local governments, and public and private universities) probably paid for transportation and housing. I doubt they rented space at the Ritz-Carlton.
Here’s the EPA description of the event. Doesn’t sound very posh:
EPA is changing the location of its National Bed Bug Summit in order to accommodate the expected attendance. The meeting will be held on April 14 through April 15, 2009, in the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, located at 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202; 703-769-3942; Sheraton Crystal City.
EPA’s National Bed Bug Summit meeting is free and open to the public. Seating is available on a first come basis. No RSVP or advance registration is required. The Summit’s agenda (http://www.epa.gov/oppfead1/cb/csb_page/updates/2009/bedbugmtg-agenda.pdf), directions, close-by hotels, transportation options, etc., are available on the Web site (5 pp, 258K, about PDF). For those who cannot attend in person, EPA is providing a webinar for the Tuesday morning session. Instructions for participating via webinar are also on the Web site (1 p, 52.01K, about PDF). Contact Karen Angulo (angulo.karen@epa.gov) by e-mail or telephone (703-306-0404) with questions.
Meeting participants will share information on topics including the expanding impact of bed bugs on the housing, hospitality, and other sectors; factors contributing to the growing problem; and the response of the public health community and government agencies. The meeting will provide a venue to communicate with others in the diverse community affected by the increasing problem of bed bugs.Participants will also identify ideas and options for bed bug prevention, control, and management; create strategies for outreach and education; and develop recommendations for action.
FYI, the bedbug conference agenda includes this on the first day:
Lunch (On Own)
ie, no luxurious taxpayer-funded lunch spread.
Jon H,
Valid point.