American Family Association caveman Bryan Fischer is extremely upset today about the victory of Satan’s demonic ideology. In other words, the usual. Take it away, Bryan.
It is ugly, it is dark, it is vicious, and it is demonic.
I don't believe in demons. If I did, though, "ugly, dark, vicious and demonic" are just the words I might use to describe Fischer. I do believe in idiots, however.
For the life of me, I cannot figure out how the fiscal cliff deal was not a huge win for conservatives, despite their whining. They've wanted to make the Bush tax cuts permanent for a decade, and they got it. What did they give up in return? A two month delay in the sequestration. What will the President have to offer them in place of deep cuts in domestic spending? Nothing I can think of. Most of the GOP doesn't want defense cuts, but they want to replace that with even more domestic cuts than sequestration requires. Plus, they can play chicken with the debt limit again. Am I missing something?
they’ll send notices to every permitholder to turn inthei guns by a specific date. then they would sent swat teams to those who do not comply. those who still refuse will be arrested. divide and conquor. those who offer resistance will be amde examples of, and shot onthe scene.
you might see ruby ridge ocurring all over... (SIC!)
I think that confiscation would almost immediately cause an event where LEOs are fired upon and probably killed. Then the state/fed gov. will overstep their bounds and guerrilla type tactics will be employed by citizens. Then we’ll see who’s talking and who’s walking. May God Bless America.
LESSON NO. 1: If a bureaucrat, or a soldier sent by a bureaucrat, comes to knock down your door and take you someplace you do not want to go because of who you are or what you think -- kill him. If you can, kill the politician who sent him. You will likely die anyway, and you will be saving someone else the same fate. For it is a universal truth that the intended victims always far outnumber the tyrant's executioners. Any nation which practices this lesson will quickly run out of executioners and tyrants.
I think civilians have more guns than the Army. It is illegal for the army to attack civilians. Confiscation will start with bullets hot and fast.
(Wrong, the army can attack civilians who take up arms against the government during a general insurrection. Civilians have more guns, true, but the army has a lot more really big guns, as well as bombs, missiles, armored vehicles, etc. Some yokel who thinks a .50 Barrett is an awesome weapon just has no clue what can be brought to bear.)
Of course, this is all a big steaming pile because confiscation isn't going to happen. The problem is that many of these half-baked guerrilla fighters equate registration or any new restrictions with confiscation. It is only a matter of time before some of them act out.
The nuts will have help and encouragement from an unlikely source: crackpot sheriffs who have bought into the idea that the local sheriff is the ultimate authority and therefore has veto power over all state and federal law enforcement actions. Sheriffs called out to fight the law (resisting gun confiscation)
This crazy notion is more prevalent than you might realize. A couple of years ago, a county attorney here in west Texas threatened to arrest ATF agents who had detonated confiscated explosives in the county without clearing it with the sheriff. When questioned about this, the CA repeated Sovereign Citizen talking points almost verbatim. A federal judge and some marshals took time out from prosecuting drug dealers and the like and traveled to the yokel's county seat to set him straight on legal principles he should have learned in high school government classes, let alone in law school.
The Republicans lost two things last night:
1. They voted for a tax increase. Yes, you could argue that voted for new tax cuts, but no one on the right will see it that way, except for maybe Grover, who is trying to remain relevant.
2. They violated the Hastert rule. Boehner can no longer argue that a bill has to be put to the floor only if a "majority of the majority" wants it.
As for what happens in two months, think of this:
1. Of the sequestration cuts, only the defense cuts are really cuts; the domestic cuts are mostly moving numbers around.
2. Not raising the debt ceiling will hurt businesses directly, and wall street because our credit rating will fall.
Which of those really looks like they are going to hurt Democrats politically?
The Republicans lost two things last night:
1. They voted for a tax increase. Yes, you could argue that voted for new tax cuts, but no one on the right will see it that way, except for maybe Grover, who is trying to remain relevant.
2. They violated the Hastert rule. Boehner can no longer argue that a bill has to be put to the floor only if a "majority of the majority" wants it.
As for what happens in two months, think of this:
1. Of the sequestration cuts, only the defense cuts are really cuts; the domestic cuts are mostly moving numbers around.
2. Not raising the debt ceiling will hurt businesses directly, and wall street because our credit rating will fall.
Which of those really looks like they are going to hurt Democrats politically?
Well, that sounds a lot better. I hope you are right. I just felt disappointed at how little the Democrats got in the fiscal cliff deal, though I'm very glad for the unemployed their benefits were extended.
A number of prominent Republicans have signed on to the Family Research Council’s “Start Debating, Stop Hating” campaign in response to a Southern Poverty Law Center report that labeled the Family Research Council a “hate group.”
.......
Ironically, the ad argues that “our debates can and must remain civil - but they must never be suppressed through personal assaults that aim only to malign an opponent’s character,” right after it refers to the SPLC as “the radical Left” that’s “spreading hateful rhetoric.”
The ad is undersigned by a number of leading Republican politicians, social conservative and mainstream alike: House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Sen, Jim DeMint (R-SC), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), Rep. Steve King (R-IA), and even Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
The ad also says:
“The surest sign one is losing a debate is to resort to character assassination."
Fischer is looking and sounding more like Senator Palpatine every day.
He's too stupid and too openly hateful to be analogous to Palpatine. Palpatine was always a hater and an anti-alien bigot, but he kept those ideas to himself until after he had become Emperor. He made sure to win the game (or at least he thought he'd won) before he started writing his hates into law.
I do tend to be more optimistic, but I think of it this way: Without the deal, everyone's taxes would have gone up a lot, we would have lost the UI extension and all of the research credits, and milk would have gone up to $8. The status quo was anything but, it had to be fought for.
And Boehner didn't say "Fuck you" to Reid because he was feeling good.
Wondered what that screeching sound was, thought it might be somebody's transmission giving out or a cat being strangled. But no, it seems Pam Geller caught wind of the Al-Jazz acquisition of Current TV. Oddly enough, she seems sort of tame about it. Perhaps they upped the Thorazine dosage.
I do tend to be more optimistic, but I think of it this way: Without the deal, everyone's taxes would have gone up a lot, we would have lost the UI extension and all of the research credits, and milk would have gone up to $8. The status quo was anything but, it had to be fought for.
And Boehner didn't say "Fuck you" to Reid because he was feeling good.
There's still a part of me that is thinking that this is all a good cop, bad cop show that allowed McConnell to step in and make a deal that seems like a huge win for the GOP.
You could be right, but remember when it was the Democrats who had the herding cats problem and how weak it made them look even when they managed to get something passed?
There's still a part of me that is thinking that this is all a good cop, bad cop show that allowed McConnell to step in and make a deal that seems like a huge win for the GOP.
So far, the only folks who seem to think it was a win for the GOP is...well, the GOP. Erick, Son of Erick, is over at Redstate declaring that the GOP either pushes the country into a default and keeps it there until Democrats scream for mercy, or else the whole lot up for reelection in '14 is going to get primaried.
Glenn Beck is crowing (via Twitter and his own website) over the fact that the Wall Street Journal has apparently reported that Al Gore and company had previously refused to sell Current TV to him on "ideological grounds". I would link the story, but I am too lazy to defeat the WSJ paywall for this purpose.
Setting aside the implications of this (how Gore prefers "terrorists" to Beck as some online comments already have it), didn't Beck claim that he would be more powerful NOT being on TV when he was booted from Fox?
Before Al-Jazeera bought Current TV, TheBlaze looked into buying it but we were rejected by progressive owners.glennbeck.com/2013/01/02/did... WG
Wondered what that screeching sound was, thought it might be somebody's transmission giving out or a cat being strangled. But no, it seems Pam Geller caught wind of the Al-Jazz acquisition of Current TV. Oddly enough, she seems sort of tame about it. Perhaps they upped the Thorazine dosage.
Give it time. This is big. It indicates the internal entrenchment of the Sharia-Caliphate within these here United States by the Moozlamic giant known as Al Jazeera!!
The top rate on capital gains went back up the late Clinton era rate of 20%, a fair sight better than Bush's 5% and 15%. I don't know if any loopholes were closed.
If you dig around, wingers are going nuts about a 3.8% "Obamacare surcharge tax" effective January 1st and adding that percentage to capital gains.
So far, the only folks who seem to think it was a win for the GOP is...well, the GOP. Erick, Son of Erick, is over at Redstate declaring that the GOP either pushes the country into a default and keeps it there until Democrats scream for mercy, or else the whole lot up for reelection in '14 is going to get primaried.
You see, if I was as conspiratorial minded as many conservatives are, I would think he is playing bad cop.
Glenn Beck is crowing (via Twitter and his own website) over the fact that the Wall Street Journal has apparently reported that Al Gore and company had previously refused to sell Current TV to him on "ideological grounds". I would link the story, but I am too lazy to defeat the WSJ paywall for this purpose.
Setting aside the implications of this (how Gore prefers "terrorists" to Beck as some online comments already have it), didn't Beck claim that he would be more powerful NOT being on TV when he was booted from Fox?
[Embedded content]
With Beck who can be sure what he's thinking. That man's only real constants are his desire to remain 'in opposition' and his need for attention.
The new rates on capital gains will range from 0% and 15% on 90+% of taxpayers and 20 and 23.8% on the remainder - those who make over the $400/450 threshold, plus those who get hit with the 3.8% surcharge imposed to fund the health care reform.
So, the deal extends the Bush tax cuts for most Americans, but hikes it back to pre-2001 levels for a few people, and hikes it slightly higher for a fraction of those folks.
Restores the 39.6 percent rate for high-income households, as in the 1990s: The top rate would return to 39.6 percent for singles with incomes above $400,000 and married couples with incomes above $450,000.
Capital gains rates for high-income households return to Clinton-era levels: The capital gains rate would return to what it was under President Clinton, 20 percent. Counting the 3.8 percent surcharge from the Affordable Care Act, dividends and capital gains would be taxed at a rate of 23.8 percent for high-income households. These tax rates would apply to singles above $400,000 and couples above $450,000.
Reduced tax benefits for households making over $250,000 (for singles) and $300,000 (for couples): The agreement reinstates the Clinton-era limits on high-income tax benefits, the phaseout of itemized deductions (“Pease”) and the Personal Exemption Phaseout (“PEP”), for couples with incomes over $300,000 and singles with incomes over $250,000. These two provisions reduce tax benefits for high-income households. This sets the stage for future balanced approaches to deficit reduction, which could include additional revenue through tax reforms that reduce tax benefits for Americans making over $250,000.
Raises tax rates on the wealthiest estates: The agreement raises the tax rate on the wealthiest estates – worth upwards of $5 million per person – from 35 percent to 40 percent, in contrast to Republican proposals to continue the current estate tax levels.
Breaking: another blue-state GOPer, after experiencing actual suffering, gets an inkling that his party's Randian, sociopathic philosophy doesn't work so well in reality:
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) said his debilitating stroke has sparked a new interest in the experience of people on Medicaid.
In an interview published Wednesday, Kirk said that most Illinois residents insured through the low-income health program would be eligible for just 11 rehabilitation sessions following a stroke.
"Had I been limited to that I would have had no chance to recover like I did. So unlike before suffering the stroke, I’m much more focused on Medicaid and what my fellow citizens face," Kirk told the Chicago Sun Times.
Fidelity Investments put together a summary sheet for the various changes, including the tax rate and other tax provision changes:
Tax changes
Income tax rates. Permanently extends the lower tax rates as well as all of the other tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 for single filers with taxable incomes below $400,000 and joint filers with taxable incomes below $450,000. The top income tax rate will permanently increase from 35% to 39.6% (as scheduled under current law) for single filers with taxable incomes above $400,000 and joint filers with taxable incomes above $450,000.
Limits on exemptions and deductions for higher wage earners. Permanently reinstates the phase-out of personal exemptions (PEPs) and the limitation on itemized deductions (Pease) for single filers with adjusted gross income (AGI) above $250,000 and joint filers with AGI above $300,000.
Payroll tax. Restores the employee Social Security payroll tax contribution to 6.2% on income up to $113,700 in 2013. This payroll tax contribution had been temporarily reduced to 4.2%.
AMT (alternative minimum tax) patch. Permanently extends the AMT patch with annual inflation adjustments.
Estate and gift tax. Permanently extends the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption of $5.12 million (with annual inflation adjustments), but increases the top tax rate from 35% to 40%. Provisions for spousal portability and reunification of the estate and gift tax are also permanently extended.
Capital gains and dividends. Permanently extends the 0% and 15% tax rates for long-term capital gains and qualified dividends for single filers with taxable incomes below $400,000 and joint filers with taxable incomes below $450,000. The top rate will permanently increase to 20% for filers with taxable incomes above these thresholds.
The new 3.8% Medicare tax enacted under the healthcare law is not repealed and takes effect as scheduled in 2013. The new 3.8% tax applies to single filers with modified AGI above $200,000 and joint filers with modified AGI above $250,000. As a result, the tax law will include four different rates for long-term capital gains and qualified dividends depending on the investor’s modified AGI and taxable income: 0%, 15%, 18.8%, and 23.8%.
Breaking: another blue-state GOPer, after experiencing actual suffering, gets an inkling that his party's Randian, sociopathic philosophy doesn't work so well in reality:
I'm glad he's recovering, but I'm betting he'll change his tune on Medicaid as soon as the Tea Baggers try to primary him.
Kirk (my rep) was always a loyal Republican, voting for everything the GOP ever put forward under Bush. Luckily, he never was a bagger. That said, I'm taking a Wait and See stance right now.
He's too stupid and too openly hateful to be analogous to Palpatine. Palpatine was always a hater and an anti-alien bigot, but he kept those ideas to himself until after he had become Emperor. He made sure to win the game (or at least he thought he'd won) before he started writing his hates into law.
////Also just to give the devil his due, if you grew up on Naboo where the only aliens nearby where gungans, wouldn't you be an anti alien bigot also?
I'm glad he's recovering, but I'm betting he'll change his tune on Medicaid as soon as the Tea Baggers try to primary him.
Like Toomey and Rubio, he's got 4 years before he has to face such a challenge. And also remember that Illinois is not Kentucky. A primary challenge from the looney right would be much less likely to succeed here.
Breaking: another blue-state GOPer, after experiencing actual suffering, gets an inkling that his party's Randian, sociopathic philosophy doesn't work so well in reality:
Sen. Kirk used the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, which is a truly world class facility. Members of my family have been patients there and I cannot speak highly enough about the care they received.
Just watching a local newscast of Sen. Kirk's return to work. One interesting note is that at one point he was close enough to death that he believes (and I think he's telling the truth) three angels visited him.
I can't calculate it, but it wouldn't surprise me if most of the rich made more money on the stock market today than the increased taxes will cost them.
Just watching a local newscast of Sen. kirk's return to work. One interesting note is that at one point he was close enough to death that he believes (and I think he's telling the truth) three angels visited him.
Just watching a local newscast of Sen. kirk's return to work. One interesting note is that at one point he was close enough to death that he believes (and I think he's telling the truth) three angels visited him.
Just watching a local newscast of Sen. kirk's return to work. One interesting note is that at one point he was close enough to death that he believes (and I think he's telling the truth) three angels visited him.
Ghosts of Medicaid Past, Medicaid Present, and Medicaid Future?
Just watching a local newscast of Sen. kirk's return to work. One interesting note is that at one point he was close enough to death that he believes (and I think he's telling the truth) three angels visited him.
The pheasant, once king of Iowa’s nearly half-a-billion-dollar hunting industry, is vanishing from the state. Surveys show that the population in 2012 was the second lowest on record, 81 percent below the average over the past four decades.
The loss, pheasant hunters say, is both economic and cultural. It stems from several years of excessively damp weather and animal predators. But the factor inciting the most emotion is the loss of wildlife habitat as landowners increasingly chop down their brushy fields to plant crops to take advantage of rising commodity prices and farmland values.
Over the last two decades, Iowa has lost more than 1.6 million acres of habitat suitable for pheasants and other small game, the equivalent of a nine-mile-wide strip of land stretching practically the width of the state. And these declines have been occurring nationwide.
[...]
Damn the pheasants - we need more corn syrup to fatten our bellies and ethanol to to pour into our SUVs.
I remember as a kid watching (black and white) TV shows where the likes of Bing Crosby would be hunting pheasant in Iowa. Those were the days, when men were men, pheasants were plentiful, and sugar came from Brazil.
The unfortunate thing is that Sen. Kirk does support an 'assault weapons ban', but I knew he might support that. I'll send him a letter asking him to change his position, but I'm not going to be hostile about it. He's a good egg and I'm still glad I voted for him.
Damn the pheasants - we need more corn syrup to fatten our bellies and ethanol to to pour into our SUVs.
I remember as a kid watching (black and white) TV shows where the likes of Bing Crosby would be hunting pheasant in Iowa. Those were the days, when men were men, pheasants were plentiful, and sugar came from Brazil.
If you can can find a way to knock over the sugar industry, please tell me. It's a malefactor, but no one can afford to spend the political capital it would take to break their price supports.
The unfortunate thing is that Sen. Kirk does support an 'assault weapons ban', but I knew he might support that. I'll send him a letter asking him to change his position, but I'm not going to be hostile about it. He's a good egg and I'm still glad I voted for him.
What's so great about assault weapons in a civilian environment? I can understand hunting rifles, handguns, shotguns and other types of weapons, but assault weapons, especially those that are military grade?
If you can can find a way to knock over the sugar industry, please tell me. It's a malefactor, but no one can afford to spend the political capital it would take to break their price supports.
US tariffs on sugar imports mean that we pay twice the world market price for sugar. Sugar is a raw material used to make other products. It is counterproductive and just plain dumb to put tariffs on raw materials but not on the finished products that are made with that same raw material in another country. All that does is kill off the domestic businesses that use sugar as a raw material.
Per capita deliveries of caloric sweeteners increased by 32 pounds, or 27 percent, from 1970 to 151.4 pounds in 1999. Since 1999, per capita sweetener deliveries decreased by 14.3 pounds to 137.1 pounds in 2008. Sugar and sweeteners have maintained a 36- to 40-percent share of the steadily growing U.S. per capita consumption of carbohydrates.
[Link: www.ers.usda.gov...]
The corn state senators have made sure that Brazilian products are not going to compete with US corn-based products. That, and the small sugar-beet industry (which brings in Senators from the south) make sure we Americans buy most good ol' US sugar.
Damn the pheasants - we need more corn syrup to fatten our bellies and ethanol to to pour into our SUVs.
I remember as a kid watching (black and white) TV shows where the likes of Bing Crosby would be hunting pheasant in Iowa. Those were the days, when men were men, pheasants were plentiful, and sugar came from Brazil.
I went pheasant hunting a few times back in the day
What's so great about assault weapons in a civilian environment? I can understand hunting rifles, handguns, shotguns and other types of weapons, but assault weapons, especially those that are military grade?
They aren't military grade is the thing. Military weapons based on the AR-15 platform are full-automatic or three-round burst. As for large caliber rifles, they just aren't used by criminals. Normal pump-action shotguns are far more likely to be cut down and turned into a crime gun that a Barrett .50 cal.
They aren't military grade is the thing. Military weapons based on the AR-15 platform are full-automatic or three-round burst. As for large caliber rifles, they just aren't used by criminals. Normal pump-action shotguns are far more likely to be cut down and turned into a crime gun that a Barrett .50 cal.
They aren't military grade is the thing. Military weapons based on the AR-15 platform are full-automatic or three-round burst. As for large caliber rifles, they just aren't used by criminals. Normal pump-action shotguns are far more likely to be cut down and turned into a crime gun that a Barrett .50 cal.
And you can get a photocopied guide to making them full auto at most gun shows. That should be banned for sure.
The corn state senators have made sure that Brazilian products are not going to compete with US corn-based products. That, and the small sugar-beet industry (which brings in Senators from the south) make sure we Americans buy most good ol' US sugar.
Corn state does include Illinois, by the way. the Land of Lincoln is second only to Iowa in corn production and one thing neither Mark Kirk nor Dick Durbin will do is challenge the ethanol and sugar rules that support corn growers.
They aren't military grade is the thing. Military weapons based on the AR-15 platform are full-automatic or three-round burst. As for large caliber rifles, they just aren't used by criminals. Normal pump-action shotguns are far more likely to be cut down and turned into a crime gun that a Barrett .50 cal.
They're also weapons that could just as easily be substituted by bolt or lever-action rifles of similar caliber.
They aren't military grade is the thing. Military weapons based on the AR-15 platform are full-automatic or three-round burst. As for large caliber rifles, they just aren't used by criminals. Normal pump-action shotguns are far more likely to be cut down and turned into a crime gun that a Barrett .50 cal.
A friend of mine in 7th grade was killed while shooting a semi-auto rifle with full auto capability and a large magazine. He dropped it and it somehow fired, went on full auto, and shot off the whole clip while jumping around on the ground. He took a gut wound in his lower stomach which pierced his diaphragm. He died a month later of an infection. He never regained consciousness.
I've kinda had my mind made up about gun control ever since then.
And you can get a photocopied guide to making them full auto at most gun shows. That should be banned for sure.
I'm afraid to even google that. I've never heard of such a thing, and as far as I'm aware you'd need a machine shop to make the alterations to the lower receiver, and that's even if you can get a hold of the required trigger parts.
And of course, gods help you if you ever get caught...
And you can get a photocopied guide to making them full auto at most gun shows. That should be banned for sure.
You can't ban the guides, its been tried and the bans don't survive a 1st Amendment challenge. The Supreme Court has been very consistent on that point, subjecting any kind of restrictions on speech to Strict Scrutiny, which means that the presumption is that the restriction is unconstitutional.
As for those guides, most of them are out of date. Firearms manufacturers have changed their designs to make the types of conversions depicted impossible. Illegal conversion are bad for business and a gun that is easily converted cannot be manufactured (per federal regulations).
They're also weapons that could just as easily be substituted by bolt or lever-action rifles of similar caliber.
That is irrelevant. The question in this country is never "why should a person be allowed to own that?", instead it is "Why should a person be restricted from owning that?" The bias is to be against regulation, for we are citizens who are capable of making our own decisions.
As for those guides, most of them are out of date. Firearms manufacturers have changed their designs to make the types of conversions depicted impossible. Illegal conversion are bad for business and a gun that is easily converted cannot be manufactured (per federal regulations).
and nobody sells old guns in pawn shops or on the net. nope. doesn't happen. Those guns that can be converted to full auto aren't hoarded by "collectors" nope. Doesn't happen.
There should be no such thing as a "gun collector." That's like hoarding human skulls. It's vile.
That is irrelevant. The question in this country is never "why should a person be allowed to own that?", instead it is "Why should a person be restricted from owning that?" The bias is to be against regulation, for we are citizens who are capable of making our own decisions.
Why should they be restricted? Such rifles don't serve a legitimate purpose that couldn't be filled by a manual-action rifle.
I'm afraid to even google that. I've never heard of such a thing, and as far as I'm aware you'd need a machine shop to make the alterations to the lower receiver, and that's even if you can get a hold of the required trigger parts.
And of course, gods help you if you ever get caught...
Just owning such parts and a compatible lower receiver is 'constructive possession' in the eyes of the ATF. Penalty is 5-10 years in prison.
Conversion of semi-auto weapons to full auto was once an issue, but it is not an issue anymore.
Target shooting, home defense, and small game hunting are not legitimate purposes?
Target shooting is a hobby. It's keeping a killing machine to use as a toy.
If you can't hit a home invader with six shots, you don't need to own a gun. Why keeps an assault rife to use for personal protection anyway? A handgun is much better suited to the task.
That is irrelevant. The question in this country is never "why should a person be allowed to own that?", instead it is "Why should a person be restricted from owning that?" The bias is to be against regulation, for we are citizens who are capable of making our own decisions.
Too bad John Boehner didn't land a part in Les Miserables. I could see him singing his own version of "Speaker in the House".
Welcome my pawns,
Sit yourself down
And meet the best House Speaker in town
As for those Dems
All of them crooks
Rooking the taxpayers
cooking the books
Seldom do you see
Honest men like me
A gent of good intent
Who's content to be...
Speaker of the House
Doling out the charm
Ready with a handshake
And an open palm
Tells a whopper lie
Fakes a little stir
Teabaggers appreciate a bon viveur!
Glad to do the Kochs a favor
Doesn't cost me to be nice!
But nothing gets you nothing, everything has got a hefty price.
Speaker of the House
Keeper of the zoo
Ready to present an ALEC Bill or two.
Listen to me whine, Spewing out the hate
Sneaking in my earmarks
When they can't see straight
Everybody loves a wing nut
Everybody's Uncle Paul
I do whatever pleases Jesus,
Gonna make Obama fall..
Eventually there has to come a time when we as a nation ask where the need for public safety takes precedent over the right to be an idiot. Because if that right is inalienable, then all efforts to ensure public safety can be overridden by the argument that one has a right to gamble not only with his life, but the lives of those around him.
They aren't military grade is the thing. Military weapons based on the AR-15 platform are full-automatic or three-round burst. As for large caliber rifles, they just aren't used by criminals. Normal pump-action shotguns are far more likely to be cut down and turned into a crime gun that a Barrett .50 cal.
LOL at the thought of a sawed-off Barrett .50. It'd still be three and a half feet long.
Eventually there has to come a time when we as a nation ask where the need for public safety takes precedent over the right to be an idiot. Because if that right is inalienable, then all efforts to ensure public safety can be overridden by the argument that one has a right to gamble not only with his life, but the lives of those around him.
Does the right to keep and bear arms take precedence over the right to keep and bear children? The NRA says hells yes.
Was she now? I wasn't aware that the details needed to determine that had been released to the public.
/sarc
Is that the defense now? "We don't know all the facts"? How about Jacob Roberts, who stole his buddy's rifle, loaded magazines, and tactical vest? Was his buddy a "responsible gun owner"?
Should responsible private gun owners get background checks before selling a gun even if the law does not require it?
Yes. Mechanisms should be put in place to route all firearms sales through the National Instant Check System (NICS). The one concession I make to Newtown is that I originally favored an exception for transfer within a family. I no longer favor such an exception; A hunting rifle bought for a brother's birthday needs to go through (NICS).
Is that the defense now? "We don't know all the facts"? How about Jacob Roberts, who stole his buddy's rifle, loaded magazines, and tactical vest? Was his buddy a "responsible gun owner"?
The one concession I make to Newtown is that I originally favored an exception for transfer within a family. I no longer favor such an exception; A hunting rifle bought for a brother's birthday needs to go through (NICS).
That would be the fellow who shot up Clackamas Town Center several days before Lanza in Newtown. The one who blew his brains out after the rifle jammed.
That would be the fellow who shot up Clackamas Town Center several days before Lanza in Newtown. The one who blew his brains out after the rifle jammed.
How did his friend store his rifle and gear? How was the theft accomplished?
Yes. Mechanisms should be put in place to route all firearms sales through the National Instant Check System (NICS). The one concession I make to Newtown is that I originally favored an exception for transfer within a family. I no longer favor such an exception; A hunting rifle bought for a brother's birthday needs to go through (NICS).
That opinion will get you removed from the NRA's Christmas card list that's for sure. Here is a question.. What if a rightful gun owner passes away and their will says to give all of their guns to a violent relative who wouldn't be allowed to buy them from a store or a gun dealer. Does the law have anything to say about that?
No, we're not. You asked if someone was responsible. I replied with a request for information in order to make the determination. One cannot say whether someone was or was not responsible if one does not know what actions that person took.
No, we're not. You asked if someone was responsible. I replied with a request for information in order to make the determination. One cannot say whether someone was or was not responsible if one does not know what actions that person took.
He did not have the guns locked up and Roberts stole them while staying over for the night.
A "responsible gun owner" would have a gun safe. I think they should be mandatory for all gun owners.
Okay, but if someone has a collection of guns locked up in a safe but there is a break in and a hostage situation and the criminal is saying "Open the safe or they die" my guess is that the criminal gets the guns just about every time.
I think you can make it difficult, but you can not prevent the guns in your house from getting into the wrong hands.
That opinion will get you removed from the NRA's Christmas card list that's for sure. Here is a question.. What if a rightful gun owner passes away and their will says to give all of their guns to a violent relative who wouldn't be allowed to buy them from a store or a gun dealer. Does the law have anything to say about that?
I'm not a lawyer with experience in such a matter, so I stress that my answer should not be seen a definitive. With that disclaimer given, it is my understanding that an executor has an obligation not to transfer a firearm to someone who is prohibited from owning one. Thus if the relative had been convicted of beating his girlfriend, the executor would be obligated not to transfer the firearms, regardless of what the will said. I do not know if an executor is obligated to use the NICS.
Okay, but if someone has a collection of guns locked up in a safe but there is a break in and a hostage situation and the criminal is saying "Open the safe or they die" my guess is that the criminal gets the guns just about every time.
I think you can make it difficult, but you can not prevent the guns in your house from getting into the wrong hands.
Isn't this true of any sworn law enforcement officer that has family? And in that scenario the odds are high of putting a fully automatic rifle on the streets.
Seems like this argument logically leads to the only responsible gun owner being a disaffected loner that doesn't have so much as a dog to hold hostage.
Isn't this true of any sworn law enforcement officer that has family? And in that scenario the odds are high of putting a fully automatic rifle on the streets.
Seems like this argument logically leads to the only responsible gun owner being a disaffected loner that doesn't have so much as a dog to hold hostage.
Quoted for Truth.
And the disaffected loner is the person who most people would think most likely to do something wrong themselves.
Wayne LaPierre completely missed the mark by calling for armed guards in schools in the wake of Newtown instead of making a plea for all responsible gun owners across the country to secure the firearms they own and if they can't secure them in their house then to store them somewhere else where they would be secure. Heck, he missed the side of the barn with his idiotic reaction. Guns are inherently unsafe and nothing is more important to preserving 2nd Amendment rights than for rightful gun owners to demonstrate they can be trusted to secure firearms they own. Instead he came off as a raging lunatic with his pitch for MOAR GUNZ!
Not if you plan to eat it, and if you're calling it game then that's ostensibly the point of the exercise. .22 LR is the way to go, and a semi auto allows for a humane fast follow up if necessary.
Isn't this true of any sworn law enforcement officer that has family? And in that scenario the odds are high of putting a fully automatic rifle on the streets.
Seems like this argument logically leads to the only responsible gun owner being a disaffected loner that doesn't have so much as a dog to hold hostage.
I'm just pointing out that not even a gun safe can truly secure a gun in the house. You can reduce the probability that it will end up in the wrong hands, but you can not eliminate the possibility.
I'm just pointing out that not even a gun safe can truly secure a gun in the house. You can reduce the probability that it will end up in the wrong hands, but you can not eliminate the possibility.
Hell, better thought experiment: Whose hands are the "wrong hands"? In the hypothetical situation where I am a "responsible gun owner" and use trigger locks, a gun safe, keep the ammunition in another location, etc...yet I still get my handgun and shoot a neighbor...are my hands the "wrong hands"?
I'm just pointing out that not even a gun safe can truly secure a gun in the house. You can reduce the probability that it will end up in the wrong hands, but you can not eliminate the possibility.
But that's true of anything that can be used to harm someone. The test is "Was a reasonable standard of care exercised?"
Hell, better thought experiment: Whose hands are the "wrong hands"? In the hypothetical situation where I am a "responsible gun owner" and use trigger locks, a gun safe, keep the ammunition in another location, etc...yet I still get my handgun and shoot a neighbor...are my hands the "wrong hands"?
A person ceases to be responsible when they decide to commit a crime.
A person ceases to be responsible when they decide to commit a crime.
Then short of developing precognitive law enforcement officers, we must live with the reality that there are scores of "responsible gun owners" who are a bad day away from killing their fellow man.
The corn state senators have made sure that Brazilian products are not going to compete with US corn-based products. That, and the small sugar-beet industry (which brings in Senators from the south) make sure we Americans buy most good ol' US sugar.
The Brazilians just convert it into ethanol and sell it to us in that form.
A ten round capacity limit on magazines is simple and easy to comply with. I'm set up for that, would only have to surrender the three fifteen round mags I have grandfathered in from before the California ban went into effect. I have a few twenty five rounders for the Ruger 10/22 stashed with family in Washington State in case I ever move back, but I'd be fine if I had to part with them too.
The six round limit some people here like to talk about is a different matter. It would require me to surrender or modify dozens of magazines for different guns, several of which are valuable C&R / Antiques with internal wells, and depending on how the ban is worded could require permanent alterations by a gunsmith.
I support a ten round national limit on everything except tubular mag lever action rimfires. I'm also for having all semi-autos, rifles and pistols fall under the NFA, require a moderate ATF tax stamp for transfer. I'd also include ultra compact revolvers in the above proposal.
I'm just pointing out that not even a gun safe can truly secure a gun in the house. You can reduce the probability that it will end up in the wrong hands, but you can not eliminate the possibility.
My gun safe has a silent alarm function. I spent a shitload on that fucker.
Speaking of religious nut job apoplexy, over on Conservapedia "in the News" column on the front page, they have this entry:
Homosexuality is reportedly on the increase in Kabwe, Zambia and residents have called on police to curb the vice. Night club owners are being asked to bar a group of known sodomites from entering their premises before people’s morals are compromised.[9]
Thank God for efforts to get at one of the root causes of rebellion to Scripture. [10]
Yes, these conservatives would be quite satisfied if some dictator sent gays to the gallows.
Hostess Brands Inc. began contingency planning for a liquidation more than a year before irate bakers went on strike, court records show.
The bankrupt Irving-based snack maker has consistently said that a strike by the bakers — members of its second-largest union — pushed it into liquidation mode. The bakers have countered that the company’s woes predate the strike.
Clearly, planning for a possible liquidation predates the strike and even predates union votes in the fall on the company’s last best and final offer.
I appreciate hearing from a collector who is willing to make compromises, and is also able to explain the problem with something like a six round limit without insulting me for my lack of gun knowledge.
I could just sell all the guns I inherited and be down to just a few, but I have trust issues and don't know that many people I'm absolutely positive I wouldn't regret providing with a firearm.
I'm not surprised. However, the union that decided to strike should have been wise enough to realize they were on the edge anyway.
IOW, if you find yourself walking on a ledge, even if the ledge is not of your design or plan, you've still got to be careful about falling off.
It's not a new idea, and its had plenty of bad press, but I think the idea of employees (whether via unions or individually) owning part of a company has merit, to try and avoid cases like this.
I could just sell all the guns I inherited and be down to just a few, but I have trust issues and don't know that many people I'm absolutely positive I wouldn't regret providing with a firearm.
I did sell all of the guns I inherited, because they were my Uncles special things, his pride & joys, and they weren't things I wanted to own, but they meant enough to him, that I didn't want them melted either.
It'd be better if you owned a Barrett and had plenty of ammo for it. A .50 cal rifle would be an excellent positional defense weapon against zombies. The bullet's velocity ensures that a hit to the cranium will generate a shockwave that will completely destroy the zombie's brain, while the round's velocity and striking power give it a good chance to hit a second zombie behind the first and damage it seriously. It's semi-auto with a powerful recoil, ensuring shots will not be wasted.
It'd be better if you owned a Barrett and had plenty of ammo for it. A .50 cal rifle would be an excellent positional defense weapon against zombies. The bullet's velocity ensures that a hit to the cranium will generate a shockwave that will completely destroy the zombie's brain, while the round's velocity and striking power give it a good chance to hit a second zombie behind the first and damage it seriously. It's semi-auto with a powerful recoil, ensuring shots will not be wasted.
/Just a bit of analysis.
Useless if you're on the move, and overkill even from a well-defended position.
China's economic boom has seen its coral reefs shrink by at least 80 percent over the past 30 years, a joint Australian study found, with researchers describing "grim" levels of damage and loss.
Useless if you're on the move, and overkill even from a well-defended position.
Overkill if it hits just one. The second may not be terminated, but it'll be knocked down and damaged, making it a lesser threat and probably an easier target.
Overkill if it hits just one. The second may not be terminated, but it'll be knocked down and damaged, making it a lesser threat and probably an easier target.
All you do is turn a sea of shambling corpses into a minefield. Is that one dead or did you just take off its legs? Did that one just move or was the body settling?
All you do is turn a sea of shambling corpses into a minefield. Is that one dead or did you just take off its legs? Did that one just move or was the body settling?
A minefield, though, is stationary. A mass of zombies who are disabled or have been trapped can be disposed of with explosive charges. A zombie minefield just means its time to build some Bangalore Torpedoes.
A minefield, though, is stationary. A mass of zombies who are disabled or have been trapped can be disposed of with explosive charges. A zombie minefield just means its time to build some Bangalore Torpedoes.
So you spend an hour pulping a few dozen zombies with rounds from your Barrett. Besides the definite kills, others have had limbs taken off, but are still mobile and still capable of biting you. Meanwhile, the report from every round you fired off has attracted zeds from blocks, if not miles, away. Instead of dealing with what might have been a small crowd, you've now drawn a horde to you from all directions.
Here's just one of the difficulties inherent to a six round limit. What do you do with something like a Johnson 1941? It has an internal ten round rotary magazine. You could try to weld in plugs somehow but that would permanently damage the feeding mechanism and likely make disassembly a real problem, and the law can't exactly rely on an owner always loading four snap caps first.
The best answer is probably just exempt it by name, since it's a rare WWII era antique that was never issued in many numbers to begin with. Surviving guns go today for at least $5K each, and that number would probably double if it becomes a named exemption. But if we make an exemption for it are we also going to make exemptions for other internal magazine designs like Garands or hundred year old SMLEs and C96 Mausers? If we go down this route eventually we're going to want to identify a practical cutoff between legitimate collector's antiques and current, non-bullet button design California legal assault weapons that have to be taken apart to be reloaded.
It's a messy proposition, and along the way you're going to alienate a lot of otherwise reasonable gun owners who actually want to see stricter gun control enacted. Eventually you may get your six round limit, and if the strategy is to talk about it now in order to compromise on ten, fine, I understand that. But if you actually believe that we're going to, or even should, jump from the current state of law to a national six round limit, I think you're overreaching.
So you spend an hour pulping a few dozen zombies with rounds from your Barrett. Besides the definite kills, others have had limbs taken off, but are still mobile and still capable of biting you. Meanwhile, the report from every round you fired off has attracted zeds from blocks, if not miles, away. Instead of dealing with what might have been a small crowd, you've now drawn a horde to you from all directions.
Kragar's idea of dropping cabled weights from a high wall is the winner. On the move you want suppressed .22 lr subsonics.
Not if you plan to eat it, and if you're calling it game then that's ostensibly the point of the exercise. .22 LR is the way to go, and a semi auto allows for a humane fast follow up if necessary.
Here's just one of the difficulties inherent to a six round limit. What do you do with something like a Johnson 1941? It has an internal ten round rotary magazine. You could try to weld in plugs somehow but that would permanently damage the feeding mechanism and likely make disassembly a real problem, and the law can't exactly rely on an owner always loading four snap caps first.
What reason do you have to own such a thing? As I said earlier, there should be no such thing as a "gun collector." A firearm owner should be able to justify the need for every firearm they own. "They look pretty and go 'bang' real loud" isn't a good enough reason to be able to keep weapons of mass murder in circulation.
What reason do you have to own such a thing? As I said earlier, there should be no such thing as a "gun collector." A firearm owner should be able to justify the need for every firearm they own.
Well, I guess that is analogous to those who have outlawed what I, when I was kid, used to be able to get for my chemistry set, which are today considered too poisonous (yet if handled properly are not.)
For the life of me, I cannot figure out how the fiscal cliff deal was not a huge win for conservatives, despite their whining. They've wanted to make the Bush tax cuts permanent for a decade, and they got it. What did they give up in return? A two month delay in the sequestration. What will the President have to offer them in place of deep cuts in domestic spending? Nothing I can think of. Most of the GOP doesn't want defense cuts, but they want to replace that with even more domestic cuts than sequestration requires. Plus, they can play chicken with the debt limit again. Am I missing something?
I consider myself a non-bat-shit crazy economic conservative and I consider the fiscal deal a strong win for non-bat-shit crazy conservatives. Tax cuts made permanent for all those under almost 500 K; am I missing something? with a chance to revisit a grand bargain later for cutting the size of government. In Obama's post game speech yesterday, he essentially invited a further grand bargain solution, admitting the size of government has to be sensibly cut. I second your questioning of am I missing something.
I used to think the nutty opposition was based on race, but that ain't it. It goes much deeper. Obama's generation itself is kind of being attacked. The opposition is part generation based... ie America's greatest generation is dying off and Obama represents some horrific failure of this generation, the whole marxist shtick of the tea party, but I also think they hate the fact he's kind of an relatively unemotional guy with a strong erudition. This taps into the dumbing down of America and the perverse love for Palin by the same crowd. They like the fact she's an idiot.
I think if Obama were more of an idiot, the tea party might like him better. So, Obama's eduction is a strike against him(Ivy League, President of Law Review). And the fact that the overwhelming percentage of W's tax cuts are permanent get tossed under the bus. Kind of sad and disgusting. The republicans threw out my old senator in Indiana... Lugar for being too smart, way too smart actually, and sane. These were his two sins.
I had to search Uncle's house to find the weapons, once the family moved him to an Alzheimers care facility. Room by room. I knew there were a LOT of weapons, but I didn't know how many. Once I had searched every inch of the house, I needed to secure the weapons. And unload them all. God Bless, the instruction manuals were there. I mean honestly, how would I know if the red or the black button meant it was off? It was a REALLY bad day in my life, but it had to be done, and I got it done.
Glenn Grothman, a Wisconsin state senator since 2005, proclaimed in a press release late last week that Kwanzaa, the holiday designed to give blacks their own Christmas and Hanukkah equivalent, is nothing but a left-wing scam to divide blacks and whites. Because what better way to begin the new year than with some good and very old fashioned race baiting? Here's an excerpt from Grothman's release:
Of course, almost no black people today care about Kwanzaa—just white left-wingers who try to shove this down black people's throats in an effort to divide Americans. Irresponsible public school districts such as Green Bay and Madison (and who knows how many others, see links below) try to tell a new generation that blacks have a separate holiday than Christians. Waring Fincke, left-wing West Bend lawyer and vice chair of the Washington County Democratic Party, encouraged people to learn more about Kwanzaa in a column in July. Fortunately, almost all black people ignore Waring Fincke and his ilk and their efforts to divide Americans.
The West Bend Republican calls for an end to Kwanzaa, which he describes as a fake holiday aimed at dividing blacks and whites.
There are no statistically significant numbers of African-American or Hispanic-Americans in Europe.
There are no significant number of Uyghur-Mongolians in Australia either, which accounts for the lack of homicides by horse stampedes in that country, no doubt.
There top pushed article is DEATH PANELS!!, and the second article is... "NOW RADIO WAVES COMING FROM YOUR FAUCET?"
Bwahahaha...
I wonder if the radio waves will interact with the fluoride in some yet unknown manner?
A marketing opportunity for the prepper industry?
"Stay in touch with the family and your survival group while you wash dishes! Our new faucet/AM/FM/MP4/NOAA/CB combo allows just that, bringing the world of audio entertainment and information right to your soapy fingers!"
There are no significant number of Uyghur-Mongolians in Australia either, which accounts for the lack of homicides by horse stampedes in that country, no doubt.
They could just as well argue that the low number of Americans in Europe is what keeps the murder rate down.
There are no statistically significant numbers of homicidal-Americans or psychotic-Americans in Europe.
I had my own experience with a relative's weapons cache while I was living in California back in the 80s. I dropped by my parents' house to see how my dad was doing on his project to restore a '41 Chevy pickup (now mine, btw). My stepmother's mother had died a few weeks earlier and the stepmother had been cleaning out her mom's house. I was sitting at the kitchen table with my dad when the stepmother emerged from the garage with a small but seemingly heavy cardboard box in hand. It was very old and dusty. She said she had found it in her mother's garage and thought I might be able to identify the contents. I could, for she opened the box and casually lifted out a LIVE 75mm ARTILLERY SHELL, fuse and all, from World War 2. I got her to hand it to me, very, very carefully, then asked her to put a fluffy towel in the bottom of the box. She did so and I gently placed the shell back in the box. We then left the house, in some haste. We called the sheriff, who called the CHP, who called in the Air Force EOD team from a nearby base. The AF bomb squad removed the shell and put it in an armored box on the back of a truck. It was destroyed on the AF weapons range. The ATF took statements from everyone and decided that the stepmother's father was probably responsible. Since he had been dead for 10 years, there were no charges.
I had my own experience with a relative's weapons cache while I was living in California back in the 80s. I dropped by my parents' house to see how my dad was doing on his project to restore a '41 Chevy pickup (now mine, btw). My stepmother's mother had died a few weeks earlier and the stepmother had been cleaning out her mom's house. I was sitting at the kitchen table with my dad when the stepmother emerged from the garage with a small but seemingly heavy cardboard box in hand. It was very old and dusty. She said she had found it in her mother's garage and thought I might be able to identify the contents. I could, for she opened the box and casually lifted out a LIVE 75mm ARTILLERY SHELL, fuse and all, from World War 2. I got her to hand it to me, very, very carefully, then asked her to put a fluffy towel in the bottom of the box. She did so and I gently placed the shell back in the box. We then left the house, in some haste. We called the sheriff, who called the CHP, who called in the Air Force EOD team from a nearby base. The AF bomb squad removed the shell and put it in an armored box on the back of a truck. It was destroyed on the AF weapons range. The ATF took statements from everyone and decided that the stepmother's father was probably responsible. Since he had been dead for 10 years, there were no charges.
A few years back, one of my parents' neighbors passed away. Korean war vet. When the family was going through his garage, they found a half dozen live grenades tucked away under a work bench.
Jeepers H Crackers. You just can't escape the weirdness. I'm looking for a new guitar, so I'm perusing Craigslist. Here's this guy selling a guitar and he's got a link to infowars with the listing.
Maple neck, ebony fingerboard, pearl block inlays, grover tuners, chrome hardware, Floyd Rose, and EMG 81/85/SA pickups, case (raising funds for infowars.com)
Now, I have nothing against someone wanting to document their trials and tribulations and life story and then trying to sell it make some money (and he has a website pushing this or that product.)
Yet as someone who has spent years working on myself, addressing various health issues, and who has also studied personal training, it becomes pretty obvious rather quickly when one is being fed just another marketing trick.
The subject/producer doesn't sound like a huckster, but at the same time he's not telling you something you don't already know, or can't find in one minute at your fingertips.
Plus the documentary is full pretty obvious silliness, like i want to look like that guy before and afterthis "before and after" photo comparison. Can you tell what he's done with the images?
Fun math fact of the day: Kids are better at logarithmic guessing than adults are.
In other words, if you have a log scale of 0-1 or 1-100, and you ask a kid or an adult to plot where .2 is on the first or 20 is on the second, the kid will more accurately plot the number than an adult will.
We start out with a logarithmic concept of numeracy, and it gets taught out of us and replaced by a linear one, to the extent that we're never quite as good as logarithmic plotting again unless we study it and use it.
Alright. Time to work out at the 92nd street Y. Where it's going to be jam-packed, because of the kind of people who only go to the gym for a couple weeks after New Years.
Dune is about as sci-fi as you get. Very little in it makes any fucking sense and yet it all hangs together nicely.
Am not a fan of science fiction to any great extent but enjoyed the first of the Dune series, as it is as much about human interaction and politics as it is about anything scientific or fictional.
Dune is similar to a epic work of historical fiction, set in the far future. If you can get past the SF background, it's essentially a novel about empires and revolutions, with a messianic figure for added measure. Basically an allegory for Western civilization since about 600 BC.
Skip the movies. They make no sense if you've never read the novel. For that matter, skip the sequels to the first novel; they get progressively sillier.
Dune is similar to a epic work of historical fiction, set in the far future. If you can get past the SF background, it's essentially a novel about empires and revolutions, with a messianic figure for added measure. Basically an allegory for Western civilization since about 600 BC.
Skip the movies. They make no sense if you've never read the novel. For that matter, skip the sequels to the first novel; they get progressively sillier.
I started reading the Game of Thrones series, mainly because I want to watch the HBO series, but I just can't get into it.
I started reading the Game of Thrones series, mainly because I want to watch the HBO series, but I just can't get into it.
I think there were something like 375 sequels to Dune. Okay, maybe only a hundred and fifty: I wouldn't want to exaggerate here. One night some of my friends and I started making up our own Dune sequel titles and it developed into a contest: Son of Dune
Mighty Joe Dune
Guard dog of Dune
Lorna Dune
Dune of the Dead
Dunesberry Dunesberry RFD (this was especially clever since Mayberry RFD was itself a sequel and known for little else but that.) Dune Patrol
There were many more, but this was over 30 years ago and, yes, alcohol was involved.
I think there were something like 375 sequels to Dune. Okay, maybe only a hundred and fifty: I wouldn't want to exaggerate here. One night some of my friends and I started making up our own Dune sequel titles and it developed into a contest: Son of Dune
Mighty Joe Dune
Guard dog of Dune
Lorna Dune
Dune of the Dead
Dunesberry Dunesberry RFD (this was especially clever since Mayberry RFD was itself a sequel and known for little else but that.) Dune Patrol
There were many more, but this was over 30 years ago and, yes, alcohol was involved.
Well, just to be very clear, "riding the worm" in this case is NOT a metaphor! The worm in question, though, does make an excellent variety of poop, known euphemistically by the Guild Steersmen as "spice."
Plus the documentary is full pretty obvious silliness, like i want to look like that guy before and afterthis "before and after" photo comparison. Can you tell what he's done with the images?
So the right wing is in a tizzy because Glenn Beck claims he made an offer to buy Currents but was rebuffed because of ideological reasons.
Anyone know how much he actually offered? Him saying he made an offer doesn't mean much if he didn't have the money to back the offer or wasn't particularly serious.
But this is going to be the kerfuffle of the day to be sure.
Thanks, but no thanks. Hypothermia isn't one of my favorite activities to engage in.
When I was back in Boston I would occasionally go down to the L Street bath house in South Boston and watch them do their annual "swim" (was more of a run into/ out of the water as fast as possible)
So the right wing is in a tizzy because Glenn Beck claims he made an offer to buy Currents but was rebuffed because of ideological reasons.
Anyone know how much he actually offered? Him saying he made an offer doesn't mean much if he didn't have the money to back the offer or wasn't particularly serious.
But this is going to be the kerfuffle of the day to be sure.
Jeepers H Crackers. You just can't escape the weirdness. I'm looking for a new guitar, so I'm perusing Craigslist. Here's this guy selling a guitar and he's got a link to infowars with the listing.
Investigations are easy. Legislating is hard. Ergo, commence the investigations. Gives appearance of doing something, even though outcome is essentially preordained and known to the parties beforehand.
Investigations are easy. Legislating is hard. Ergo, commence the investigations. Gives appearance of doing something, even though outcome is essentially preordained and known to the parties beforehand.
SNAFU They're cemented in a caricature of themselves. When we need this stupid congress to get some meaningful things done they announce another stupid hearing in the Senate. What a waste of time and money. Where's the gun violence hearings?
Yet the GOP has already said that they understand that letting the debt ceiling lapse would be bad for the economy. They don't have the leverage they think they do.
The sequester and debt ceiling has revealed what we've known all along - both sides want spending. Different priorities, but they want spending. The GOP is more hypocritical in this regard because they've sold a bill of goods on cutting taxes as a way of cutting spending, but they've done plenty to run up the debt because they didn't pare back spending when they cut taxes.
Good thing about where I work in the summer, with all the electronics in the room we have to keep the Air Conditioning CRANKED so it's always nice and cool in here
Bad thing about where I work in the winter, with all the electronics in the room we have to keep the Air Conditioning CRANKED so it's always FRAKKIIN FREEZING in here
King raised his objections in person during the closed door meeting with Boehner later Wednesday.
“I told him, ‘You have no idea what it is like for me. I have Al D’Amato in my district. His daughter and son-in-law have been driven out of their homes and his 98-year-old mother is living in a broken-down home right now,’” King said, referring to former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato.
“He is threatening to bring busloads from Island Park to demonstrate. Al is ranting like a madman,” King said.
As much as I dislike King, I like Senator Pothole even less.
A U.S. drone strike in the South Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan killed at least six people, Pakistani government officials said Thursday, including the powerful Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir Wazir.
Nazir was killed along with another key commander of his group, Rapa Khan, and four other militants in the missile strike late Wednesday on Nazir’s vehicle near Wana, the largest town in the South Waziristan area, said a local government official who asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
So by dimwit's logic, why tax the rich at all ever? If America's wealthiest 1% can't handle Clinton era tax rates than frankly they're a bunch of whiners. If you're telling me that you make over 250 grand and can't handle paying 35% to 39.5% then you're a wuss.
So by dimwit's logic, why tax the rich at all ever? If America's wealthiest 1% can't handle Clinton era tax rates than frankly they're a bunch of whiners. If you're telling me that you make over 250 grand and can't handle paying 35% to 39.5% then you're a wuss.
Bryan's argument is that if we don't pamper the "Job Creators" they won't CREATE JOBZ! Jobs at Walmart, Papa John and Hobby Lobby!
Want to know what created a bunch of high-paying, skilled tech jobs? THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT!
Some will leave - just as some Democrats left when Bush was re-elected and some Republicans did for Obama's election. Those same examples, plus the examples of other nations such as France, tell us that most of them will remain.
It's pretty simple, really. You get what you pay for, and once you've paid it doesn't take long before anywhere you could go to pay less has, well, less.
Some will leave - just as some Democrats left when Bush was re-elected and some Republicans did for Obama's election. Those same examples, plus the examples of other nations such as France, tell us that most of them will remain.
It's pretty simple, really. You get what you pay for, and once you've paid it doesn't take long before anywhere you could go to pay less has, well, less.
The banking execs cried and cried when they didn't get their million-dollar bonuses after crashing the entire freakin economy. They threatened to go elsewhere their mad money skillz would be appreciated. Guess what! CEO's and money managers get paid a whole bunch LESS in other countries.
At least three suspected al Qaeda militants including a local commander were killed on Thursday in Yemen by a strike from an unmanned aircraft, residents and a local official said.
The attack in Redaa, in the southern al-Bayda province was the fifth by a pilotless plane in the space of 10 days in the impoverished country, where the United States has stepped up drone strikes against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
,,,,
A local official said the commander's name was Muqbel al-Zubah.
Aaron Greene, one half of New York City's most spoiled bombing suspects, has finally spoken out on his arrest — and, well, he may just be playing the tabloids... and us. In addition to claiming his shotguns were for "hunting and fishing," he seems to be pleading the New Year's defense: "It was a very small amount of experimental fireworks," Greene, speaking about the explosive charges against him and his privileged girlfriend from prison at Rikers Island, told The New York Post's Kevin Fasick and Dan Magnan
"...The Secretary of State assembled her staff. “I’m going to New York Presbyterian Columbia Hospital to fake a blood clot underneath my skull. Tell the university physicians I want a trumped-up MRI within an hour. Let Public Relations know I’ll need a rough draft of their release before dinner. I expect everybody to jeopardize their licenses and careers so I can dodge a 2012 scandal that the public slept through."
Turns out that gun ban bill in Illinois does exist, though its not quite as bad as it was rumored to be. It would still outlaw sales of 80% of all semi-auto pistols and rifle, so its far too extreme. But it doesn't provide for confiscation, its registration period is of reasonable length, nor does it ban pump shotguns.
I still hate it and I'll write letters to try to defeat it, but wanted you to know what it really is.
Turns out that gun ban bill in Illinois does exist, though its not quite as bad as it was rumored to be. It would still outlaw sales of 80% of all semi-auto pistols and rifle, so its far too extreme. But it doesn't provide for confiscation, its registration period is of reasonable length, nor does it ban pump shotguns.
I still hate it and I'll write letters to try to defeat it, but wanted you to know what it really is.
I'm interested in seeing what the final version will be once the lobbyists have their say and the back room deals are made.
Interesting analysis of crime and homicides in Chicago showing the demographics/economics that play into where the homicides are most prevalent. It's not really a surprise, but it does suggest that the Chicago PD needs to take a page from the NYPD on Compstat and apply it to where the crime is greatest.
Interesting analysis of crime and homicides in Chicago showing the demographics/economics that play into where the homicides are most prevalent. It's not really a surprise, but it does suggest that the Chicago PD needs to take a page from the NYPD on Compstat and apply it to where the crime is greatest.
Chicago is intensely resistant to Compstat, despite its great success. I don't really understand it.
I'm interested in seeing what the final version will be once the lobbyists have their say and the back room deals are made.
If anything passes, which I still think unlikely. The bill's supporters are going to try to hurry the bill through with as little debate as possible, which might well come back to bite them in the butt when the lawsuit over the bill gets filed.
Lloyd Blankfein was one of the guys (like Warren Buffet) calling for higher taxes on the rich. But he's been cashing in stock grants for the past few months, about $10 million so far, which (if you assume the entire amount is taxable) helps him avoid about $500K in taxes with the new higher rates.
And it's all perfectly legal - every money manager will take advantage of the tax law as in effect - to maximize profits to their shareholders/investors. They took advantage of the law in effect, and the expected hikes to conclude deals before the higher rates took effect. We'll hear a few more stories like this, but after the 1Q 2013, things will settle down as the new rates filter through transactions. After all, if you're paying cap gains taxes, you've made money. You'll just be paying a few percentage points more.
Well, true. If it passes at all (Ha!) it will be an incredibly watered down, toothless version of whatever it is now and it won't mean anything.
We're so weird about guns in this country. Whenever these big massacres happen -- which is a hell of a thing to type, BTW -- we all get concerned about gun violence and about how and why and OMGWTF, but we don't do anything about it. Then, when anyone suggests doing something about it, the gun nuts start hoarding more guns and ammo and the NRA and its lobbyists start freaking out about tyranny and ZOMG WE'RE GOING TO WAR OVER OUR RIGHTS.
Right on cue, nothing happens, people forget about their earlier outrage, and we go on as we have been, then we're shocked when another gun nut flips his shit and opens fire.
Just a small bone to pick there, but it's not always a true "gun-nut" that flips their shit and shoots up a crowded place. I don't think many of these mass-shooters were your typical "gun-nut" per-say.
Where the gun-nuts fit into this equation is when these events happen and the possibility of new restrictions and regulations come to light. They flip out (helped mightily by the NRA), and the regulations subsequently get quashed due to the massive lobbying from the NRA et al. Even regulations that would have an infinitesimal impact on their ability to obtain and operate a firearm are shot down (I know, I know, try the veal.)
That's when somebody who has 'snapped' can easily obtain a firearm (Columbine kids, V-Tech shooter, theater joker, Sandy Hook). Upstate NY guy was a criminal, not sure about the Sikh-temple madman (was ex-military supremacist IIRC?) I wouldn't deign them as "gun-nuts." It was the ease they were able to obtain law-enforcement and military-grade weaponry.
Just wanted to make that distinction, but they can easily pass some decent legislation that will have little to no actual impact on responsible, law-abiding gun owners. But it needs to be explicitly sold on those merits in order to have significant push-back against the NRA's lobbying. And I don't think it'll happen in this administration, because for how smart Obama and his admin are, I think they're terrible at selling and marketing their ideas against an intransigent opposition.
They aren't military grade is the thing. Military weapons based on the AR-15 platform are full-automatic or three-round burst. As for large caliber rifles, they just aren't used by criminals. Normal pump-action shotguns are far more likely to be cut down and turned into a crime gun that a Barrett .50 cal.
I think I muddled my question: What use does these types of weapons have in a civilian environment? Especially those in the same category as the Bushmaster XM-15?
The weapons I mentioned do have civilian uses (hunting, personal protection), but the assault weapons like the XM-15, what purpose do they serve in a civilian environment?
Father shoots his 16 year old in Waller County. The son was walking to meet his dad and the Dad thought he was a deer shot him 3 times.[Link: www.texashuntingforum.com...]
I heard the story on the radio going home yesterday, just googled it and was surprised how many stories there are of "man hunting accidentally shoots son."
Maybe eye exams for gun owners would be a good idea?
Science and medicine for a full recovery...
I have an idea! Let's start adding silencers to the hunting mix. That'll be really good when somebody's mistakenly shooting at you while you're by a raging waterfall.
They won't prosecute the father for shooting his kid (apparently, he's a crappy shot so the kid is still alive), but the game warden will want to talk to him about hunting out of season.
I heard the story on the radio going home yesterday, just googled it and was surprised how many stories there are of "man hunting accidentally shoots son."
I'm from a hunting family. Been doing it since I was a little kid. I mean...3 shots...at something you 'thought' was a deer? Come the hell on. Either criminally evil or certifiably stupid, there's no middle-ground 'oops' here.
Just a small bone to pick there, but it's not always a true "gun-nut" that flips their shit and shoots up a crowded place. I don't think many of these mass-shooters were your typical "gun-nut" per-say.
Can we at least agree that it's much easier to kill a bunch of people in a hail of bullets than it is to beat, stab, or strangle them to death?
I think that's the issue here. Easy access to high capacity guns and ammo + irresponsible owners + a bunch of idiots who don't know how to properly deal with their problems = a pile of dead bodies on the ground. Yet anytime someone brings that up, the NRA and their useful idiots start bleating about tyranny and ZOMG WE'RE BEING DISARMED BY TEH GUBMINT and the conversation goes nowhere.
The ladies are, of course, suing the everloving shit out of the police department. May we suggest a second home in the south of France, we hear it is lovely this time of year.
Can we at least agree that it's much easier to kill a bunch of people in a hail of bullets than it is to beat, stab, or strangle them to death?
I think that's the issue here. Easy access to high capacity guns and ammo + irresponsible owners + a bunch of idiots who don't know how to properly deal with their problems = a pile of dead bodies on the ground. Yet anytime someone brings that up, the NRA and their useful idiots start bleating about tyranny and ZOMG WE'RE BEING DISARMED BY TEH GUBMINT and the conversation goes nowhere.
Which is so stupid!
Not one single, ONE SINGLE PROPOSAL put forth since Newtown that I've seen involves taking weapons from those who already have them or completely cutting off access to them from those who don't.
The assault weapons ban would prohibit certain weapons, but would almost certainly grandfather in existing guns. It would also do nothing to affect the legality of shotguns, handguns and most hunting rifles, all of which can be dangerous.
What also gets me is that the "OMG THEY ARE COMING FOR OUR GUNZ!!" crowd seems to not have a clue about the virtually impossible logistics of actually carrying out such an initiative.
I mean think about it: To actually round up all the guns in the United States would take a dedicated, well trained, heavily armed force many times larger than the current U.S. military. This force would then have to be dispatched to every corner of the country to try and locate and reclaim EVERY REGISTERED FIREARM. Think about how much time, money, personnel and resources would need to be expended on such an effort.
Of course the conspiracy theorists respond to such a criticism by saying the U.N. will help with the round up, but the even with UN assistance assembling the required personnel, resources and funding would be virtually impossible. To say nothing of the fact that U.N. involvement in such a matter would be a violation of I believe both domestic AND international law.
It only takes 17 Republicans fucking with Boehner to force a second vote. He'll win...but he may have to go to a second vote to do so.
I understand protest votes but not for someone who's unemployed. But then again Paul Broun is the guy who compared Obama to Hitler before he even became president.
Didn't know that but there was a frontpage article about him here I remember because of Broun's shall we say interesting views about theory of evolution.
Complimentary cavity searches for everyone! And they cavity searched both women without changing gloves.
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Somewhat related. I've been writing a story about immigration (both legal and illegal) set in the American southwest and one of my sequences features a jerk cop who harasses a Latino (who is a legal citizen) and searches his vehicle by claiming he smells marijuana.
Apparently it's a very commonly used (and legal) tactic to justify a vehicle search.
From the looks of it, the revolutionaries haven't found somebody to back in a race against Boehner. Fucking figures.
Nobody else wants the job right now. Cantor voted for Boehner. He'll be speaker after Boehner steps down, or in the next congress, but he wants Boehner to take the heat for the next little while as there are more negotiations with President Obama to come.
"...On a political level, Republicans must not confuse climate change with other science vs. belief issues. On this issue public opinion will eventually move in the direction of established facts regardless of how much distortion we generate.
We can give hedged answers on the age of the universe with little consequence. Denying the reality of evolution won’t cause anyone to lose their favorite beach house, or for that matter, their favorite island. Climate change, on the other hand, is becoming apparent enough to the average layman to affect their holiday plans. We cannot swim against this scientific tide much longer."
Nobody else wants the job right now. Cantor voted for Boehner. He'll be speaker after Boehner steps down, or in the next congress, but he wants Boehner to take the heat for the next little while as there are more negotiations with President Obama to come.
Pretty much this. Boehner's already under the bus, Cantor just asked the driver to circle around for another run.
Plus, who in their right mind would want to try to control that group of lunatics. It's like herding cats that are on an acid bender.
Someone on FB just mentioned that someone seriously suggested her. Yeah someone who's not elected and is a proven quitter is a good idea for Speaker. Derrrrrrrrrrrrrrp.
It may be a party in disarray, but unfortunately all this means that they're going to be only more likely to take the debt ceiling hostage.
I wish that Obama and the Dems had gone for the gold and gotten a debt ceiling hike tied into the taxation bill, I think that the GOP would have folded, but if I was wrong that would have been kind of shitty. However, now we just have the debt ceiling fight all the fuck over again and they may be crazy and stupid enough to hostage take.
As someone pointed out yesterday, the redistricting that happened means most of the hardcore lunatics are sitting in safe places. Michelle Bachmann has been elected four times to congress despite being an obvious nutjob.
Much of the political work that needs to be done is at the state level. Things are not going to get better until the congressional redistricts are made less partisan.
If you choose the easy course of ignoring our Constitution, it does not change the fact that Mr. Obama is barred by that same Constitution from acting as president. I am sure that if you turn your judicial mind to the ramifications of this fraud, both foreign and domestic, you will understand that the harm you will have done insures your impeachment and eternal dishonor at some point down the road: If not this House of Representatives, then the next, or the next, or the next.
They'll go with the nutter they know, not with the even more likely to be out there unknown.
Despite the claims made and spread courtesy of Breitbart, there were no alternatives to Boehner. No one was stepping up as an alternative with sufficient votes. The few who did vote against him is the extent of a protest vote, and nothing more.
The votes for West (who's now out of Congress) is laughable, but it's akin to throwing your vote away - the political equivalent of a temper tantrum. And given that Boehner didn't need those votes, they're essentially sidelined anyways.
Yeah because it's not like Barack Obama got a majority of the vote and EC. Nope, he shouldn't be sworn in because some butthurt idiot on WND thinks he shouldn't. Just like Earl Warren refused to swear in Nixon because petty hatred was more important than actually doing your job.
It may be a party in disarray, but unfortunately all this means that they're going to be only more likely to take the debt ceiling hostage.
I wish that Obama and the Dems had gone for the gold and gotten a debt ceiling hike tied into the taxation bill, I think that the GOP would have folded, but if I was wrong that would have been kind of shitty. However, now we just have the debt ceiling fight all the fuck over again and they may be crazy and stupid enough to hostage take.
As someone pointed out yesterday, the redistricting that happened means most of the hardcore lunatics are sitting in safe places. Michelle Bachmann has been elected four times to congress despite being an obvious nutjob.
Much of the political work that needs to be done is at the state level. Things are not going to get better until the congressional redistricts are made less partisan.
Agree with everything you're saying especially about the state level. Got an important governor's election here in Virginia in November. Hoping like hell this is the year we finally buck our trend of electing a governor from the party not in the WH. This state can't afford Ken Cuccinnelli's nuttiness as governor. Fortunately, tehre are rumors that Lt Governor Bill Bolling may bolt the GOP and run as an Indy or at least undermine Cooch.
As someone pointed out yesterday, the redistricting that happened means most of the hardcore lunatics are sitting in safe places. Michelle Bachmann has been elected four times to congress despite being an obvious nutjob.
I'm pretty sure that Crazy-Eyes Bachmann retained her seat by less than about 4000 votes.
I'm pretty sure that Crazy-Eyes Bachmann retained her seat by less than about 4000 votes.
True but I think Obdicut's point is not Bachmann in particular but some of the more nutty Congresspeople as a whole. I just looked at Louie Gohmert. 72% of the vote.
“She is so raped right now,” said Nodianos to the camera. “There won’t be any foreplay for a dead girl. It ain’t wet now, to be honest. Trust me, I’m a doctor.”
He was referring to an incident in late August, when two players on Steubenville High School’s prestigious football team, The Big Red, reportedly drugged a 16-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her, carrying her unconscious body by the wrists and ankles from party to party, urinating on her and abandoning her at the end of the night at her parents’ house. The players, Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond, are currently on house arrest in Steubenville after being remanded from the county juvenile detention center.
The boys glorified their crime online, shooting Instagram photos of the assault, making lewd updates on Facebook and Twitter, and allowing their friends, like Nodianos, to shoot photos and make their own updates and videos about the incident. In spite of the abduction and attack’s high profile in social media, townspeople have been reluctant to aid the prosecution of the crime in any way, lest it jeopardize The Big Red’s chances at another state championship.
Nate Hubbard, 27, a volunteer Big Red coach, went so far as to accuse the victim of making the whole thing up to excuse a night of excessive partying, “The rape was just an excuse, I think,” he told the New York Times.
Yeah because it's not like Barack Obama got a majority of the vote and EC. Nope, he shouldn't be sworn in because some butthurt idiot on WND thinks he shouldn't he's black.
Boehner promised him a vote on Sandy relief this week.
Yep, a deal is a deal. Boehner gets the first part of the relief package passed on Friday, King votes for Boehner as Speaker. Quid pro quo is SOP in Congress.
Steve King still got 54% of the vote running against a former governor's wife in a high turnout year. It's nice that some of the nuts like West, Walsh, etc were defeated but a lot of them remain in office even though Congress is unpopular. Hell, my own Congressman has this seat as long as he wants it. While, I don't favor Constitutional term limits, I do not like the overwhelming power of incumbency either in the House.
How do high schoolers become so sick, demented, and detached from reality to perpetrate such horrendous criminal acts? I suppose the teabaggers would blame video games and Hollywood....and Obama.....and teh gays.
Steve King still got 54% of the vote running against a former governor's wife in a high turnout year. It's nice that some of the nuts like West, Walsh, etc were defeated but a lot of them remain in office even though Congress is unpopular. Hell, my own Congressman has this seat as long as he wants it. While, I don't favor Constitutional term limits, I do not like the overwhelming power of incumbency either in the House.
I don't think term limits would alleviate the problem. If a district is willing to vote in somebody as bad as Gomer/West/Walsh etc., if that guy gets kicked out after a few terms, they'll just find a new guanopsychotic to fill in.
Football "honor" more important than a rape victim's. It's getting harder and harder to be shocked by this stuff anymore.
And this probably counts as progress, that we even hear about it in the year 2013.
Seems like a subset of humanity can take nearly anything of any arbitrary meaning or value and use it to commit or justify the commission of heinous acts.
I don't think term limits would alleviate the problem. If a district is willing to vote in somebody as bad as Gomer/West/Walsh etc., if that guy gets kicked out after a few terms, they'll just find a new guanopsychotic to fill in.
Or take the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo approach and tattoo the entire torso stating he is a sadistic rapist pig.
The forehead is a better option because the torso can always be covered up. But as I remember Lisbeth threatened to come back and tattoo his forehead as leverage.
I'd happily settle for whatever the criminal justice system has deemed an appropriate penalty for repeated gang rape of a juvenile, whatever that might be.
The forehead is a better option because the torso can always be covered up. But as I remember Lisbeth threatened to come back and tattoo his forehead as leverage.
I'd happily settle for whatever the criminal justice system has deemed an appropriate penalty for repeated gang rape of a juvenile, whatever that might be.
If you're a god-fearin', Christian Republican, that would be a badge of honor.
I'm pretty sure that Crazy-Eyes Bachmann retained her seat by less than about 4000 votes.
But she did it! Four times the voters of Minnesota have sent a woman that crazy and extremist to the House. And in many other places, they're going to keep on doing it.
The demographic shifts are great, but they're not going to be happening for awhile in a lot of those districts.
I'm glad the fiscal cliff was avoided, but what I'm most worried about is year after year of the GOP holding the debt hostage to hack away at funding for stuff like women's health, food stamps, etc. etc. It's their stated plan. I am not a huge critic of Obama-- I have no idea what goes into politics at that level-- but last time he caved on a lot of things. I think they're going to ask for more again this time. It'll be great if the new, tough Obama from these negotiations shows up, but even in this one he gave a little, going from 250K to 400K.
But he's somewhat paralyzed. The real solution isn't in his hands, it's in the hands of citizens to force change at the state level.
How do high schoolers become so sick, demented, and detached from reality to perpetrate such horrendous criminal acts? I suppose the teabaggers would blame video games and Hollywood....and Obama.....and teh gays.
When you are a star on a big Football team, you are untouchable.
Boehner had promised that the Sandy vote would come up before yesterday.
He reneged - and gave no reasons. He failed to return Gov. Christie's calls four separate times. Never gave an adequate reason. Basically told NY, NJ, CT, and all Sandy victims to pound sand.
King was among those GOPers who called for action.
That could have been sufficient reason to cast a no vote - or threaten a no vote if the vote on Sandy aid wasn't done in time. Either the threat wasn't made, or it was and shown to be a hollow threat. Political SOP either way.
Boehner had his own reasons for delaying the vote, and splitting the vote into two separate parts - perhaps as a way to claim to be fiscally prudent even though the bill itself was pretty much clean of pork and was on point. The $400m in unrelated Sandy items were out of the bill by the point that the House could have taken it up. There's no reason to take two separate votes, except to make it more difficult to get passage.
That's bad precedent and it lengthens the amount of time before states get reimbursed for costs, infrastructure gets rebuilt, and businesses and individuals can rebuild their own situations because they await the government aid to get to work on the infrastructure upon which everything else depends (think beach replenishment/dunes/sea walls to lessen and/or prevent future damage).
It's the Inglorious Basterds method. Nazis can quit wearing uniforms, but they can't go wearing a headband/cap permanently.
Nah, see, we don't like that. We like our Nazis in uniform. That way we can spot 'em just like that. We're gonna give you a little something you cant take off. /Lt. Aldo Raine
How do high schoolers become so sick, demented, and detached from reality to perpetrate such horrendous criminal acts? I suppose the teabaggers would blame video games and Hollywood....and Obama.....and teh gays.
When you are a star on a big Football team, you are untouchable.
Penn State covered up the rape of young boys for decades to protect 1 person who wasn't even a player or a head-coach.
The area is apparently one of those 'cling to god/guns/religion' places, so it seems about par for the course that they'd condone violently raping a kid.
How do high schoolers become so sick, demented, and detached from reality to perpetrate such horrendous criminal acts? I suppose the teabaggers would blame video games and Hollywood....and Obama.....and teh gays.
Combination of being young males, poor parenting, and poor adult supervision/teaching in school. A bit more prone in athletic teams it seems since there is a need to develop a team spirit and sense of superiority since it proves useful on the field. Unfortunately, it can prove detrimental off the field since such an attitude can lead to extremely stupid actions.
I didn't see this sort of thing in high school personally, but I certainly saw it in college since the student-athletes (especially football players) were coddled and protected and had probably already been told for years how special and tough they were.
Penn State covered up the rape of young boys for decades to protect 1 person who wasn't even a player or a head-coach.
The area is apparently one of those 'cling to god/guns/religion' places, so it seems about par for the course that they'd condone violently raping a kid.
I'm not sure if it isn't worse. At least the Penn State horror was covered up by, oh, single-digit people, and they at least had the self-disgust to keep it a secret.
This is a whole damned town, and they're covering it up in broad daylight.
Twitter responses to Sir John of Orange keeping his job:
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Note to angry wingnuts, maybe you should have found a better candidate to replace Boehner than a man who was rejected at the polls in November. If you seriously think Allan West was a responsible vote for Speaker, you're an idiot.
But as long as the Big Corporations stay in business, we're good right?
When you have a disaster like this, sometimes those are the only ones in any position to sustain themselves without relief. How many small businesses can just reshuffle all their work to another location?
I wish there was more focus on small business (other than lip service) because they truly are the backbone of this country.
Boehner had promised that the Sandy vote would come up before yesterday.
He reneged - and gave no reasons. He failed to return Gov. Christie's calls four separate times. Never gave an adequate reason. Basically told NY, NJ, CT, and all Sandy victims to pound sand.
King was among those GOPers who called for action.
That could have been sufficient reason to cast a no vote - or threaten a no vote if the vote on Sandy aid wasn't done in time. Either the threat wasn't made, or it was and shown to be a hollow threat. Political SOP either way.
Boehner had his own reasons for delaying the vote, and splitting the vote into two separate parts - perhaps as a way to claim to be fiscally prudent even though the bill itself was pretty much clean of pork and was on point. The $400m in unrelated Sandy items were out of the bill by the point that the House could have taken it up. There's no reason to take two separate votes, except to make it more difficult to get passage.
That's bad precedent and it lengthens the amount of time before states get reimbursed for costs, infrastructure gets rebuilt, and businesses and individuals can rebuild their own situations because they await the government aid to get to work on the infrastructure upon which everything else depends (think beach replenishment/dunes/sea walls to lessen and/or prevent future damage).
King likely decided that he'd risk getting hosed again on the grounds that any replacement for Boehner would likely be worse. BOHICA!
I'd happily settle for whatever the criminal justice system has deemed an appropriate penalty for repeated gang rape of a juvenile, whatever that might be.
If the rapists are under eighteen I think it wouldn't matter unless they get tried as adults. Don't juvenile records generally get expunged when the child reaches their majority?
Of equal interest is to watch how the community reacts to this. If they rally behind their football team make yourself a clear note never to live anywhere near the place.
Program > People. Same attitude as the whole Penn State thing.
Yep, because the parents of the players all think the same thing: "This could my kid's meal ticket to a college scholarship! I can't let this floozy destroy my baby's future!"
I wasn't trying to equate anything here, just remarking on how the culture of football and militant conservatism will tolerate and actually incentivise these types of acts.
I'm sure that plenty of folks who supported Penn State, as well as the students and Alumni would happily have tried to cover up everything if given the opportunity.
When you have a disaster like this, sometimes those are the only ones in any position to sustain themselves without relief. How many small businesses can just reshuffle all their work to another location?
I wish there was more focus on small business (other than lip service) because they truly are the backbone of this country.
I think rape is worse than murder. Murder victims are taken from us. I am not, for one second, discounting the tragedy. Rape victims, however, live with it forever...until they die.
That rapists get a fraction of the sentence is, to me, an abomination. They should be imprisoned for as long as murderers and castrated. And elected officials who discount rape victims should be forever barred from public service.
This is why the gun nuts are worthy of ridicule. Cut someone's throat with a credit card? Yeah. Right after i bash someone's skull with a pineapple. Really. I understand why people value the 2nd amendment, I really do but stop lying about guns. They're designed for killing people. Credit Cards aren't designed for that. So, that's why it's absurd to compare the regulation of guns to say that of automobiles because a gun's purpose is to end a life whether that one is human or animal. It's why they were fucking invented. They were invented to be more efficient than earlier weapons.
“A holstered gun is not a deadly weapon. . . . But anything can be used as a deadly weapon. A credit card can be used to cut somebody’s throat,” said Rep. Dan Dumaine, an Auburn Republican.
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I could stuff a sock down his throat and he could die of asphyxiation. All people should be nekkid! Just think how easy it would be to go Christmas shopping in the malls during the holiday season.
Geithner Said to Plan Departure Before Debt Ceiling Deal
[Link: www.bloomberg.com...]
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to leave the administration at the end of January, even if President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans haven’t reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, according to two people familiar with the matter. After giving in to Obama’s previous entreaties to stay as long as needed, Geithner has indicated to White House officials and Wall Street executives that he is unlikely to change his departure plans this time,
Now the question will be, which big Wall Street company will he land with
Not necessarily. The vote may well have just been Congressional Kabuki, where the outcome of the vote is agreed on in advance, and many who vote against a person or measure who vote in favor if their vote was needed to pass the measure.
As at Penn State, the local football team is a driver for the local economy, so it becomes untouchable.
I used to think it was tied to the local economy but it isn't always so. It's a matter of what gets glorified.
The sports teams is a major point of connection to the community. Yes, everyone knows the high school is "there" and they probably attended it. But the reason they go back to the school on a regular basis is the game - football and basketball mostly.
Go inside and ask to see the trophies and awards. As a rule the academic ones are paper and parchment on the walls. What's inside special cases and often sitting in focus positions is the sports stuff, and it's large attention grabbing pieces of sculpture.
Do the academics get signs and statues and pep rallies? Do they bring in donations from alumni? Are there state and national championships for academic performance?
The economic effect is as much a chicken and egg situation as it is the driving cause. If the sports weren't held as the basis of glorification they wouldn't bring the business.
Close vote: Boehner received 220, Pelosi received 192
If only Boehner was a fraction of the Speaker as Pelosi. She was the best speaker probably in my lifetime. He is a joke; as ineffective as Pelosi was effective.
Geithner Said to Plan Departure Before Debt Ceiling Deal
[Link: www.bloomberg.com...]
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to leave the administration at the end of January, even if President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans haven’t reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, according to two people familiar with the matter. After giving in to Obama’s previous entreaties to stay as long as needed, Geithner has indicated to White House officials and Wall Street executives that he is unlikely to change his departure plans this time,
Now the question will be, which big Wall Street company will he land with
He has been in public service his entire career. Maybe he now deserves the big $.
Everyone around me has the flu. They all had flu shot recently, I did not and I do not have the flu. Flu shots are overrated.
yay for anecdotal experience trumping statistical analysis.
In general flu shots reduce flu illnesses. There are spot exceptions. Not least causing this is the fact that the flu shot is based on a projection of the most likely variation, but most likely is neither all variations nor always the one that happens.
yay for anecdotal experience trumping statistical analysis.
In general flu shots reduce flu illnesses. There are spot exceptions. Not least causing this is the fact that the flu shot is based on a projection of the most likely variation, but most likely is neither all variations nor always the one that happens.
The past 3 years I did not get the flu and I didn't get a flu shot. My wife gets a flu shot every year and she always gets the flu.
"...Defectors from Boehner included Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who voted for Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho). Freshman Reps. Jim Bridenstein (R-Okla.) and Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) and Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) all voted for Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), but Cantor himself voted for Boehner.
Reps. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) voted for outgoing member Allen West (R-Fla.). Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) voted for former Comptroller General David Walker. Speakers of the House do not have to be members of the House, although they all have been.
Rep. Tom Massie (R-Ky.) voted for Amash, and Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) voted for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)."
"...Defectors from Boehner included Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who voted for Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho). Freshman Reps. Jim Bridenstein (R-Okla.) and Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) and Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) all voted for Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), but Cantor himself voted for Boehner.
Reps. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) voted for outgoing member Allen West (R-Fla.). Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) voted for former Comptroller General David Walker. Speakers of the House do not have to be members of the House, although they all have been.
Rep. Tom Massie (R-Ky.) voted for Amash, and Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) voted for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)."
The past 3 years I did not get the flu and I didn't get a flu shot. My wife gets a flu shot every year and she always gets the flu.
Over the past 20 years my wife and I have not gotten a flu shot twice. Both times were the only times she got flu - and major cases both times. In my case I got a mild case of the flu once when I did not get the shot and once when I did.
Now we've got four cases for data points. That's four of several tens of millions over 20 years. That is a large margin of error.
Over the past 20 years my wife and I have not gotten a flu shot twice. Both times were the only times she got flu - and major cases both times. In my case I got a mild case of the flu once when I did not get the shot and once when I did.
Now we've got four cases for data points. That's four of several tens of millions over 20 years. That is a large margin of error.
Seriously, you're not turning into an anti-vaccer now, are you?
D_F too, apparently.
Anti-rational anti-science folks are anti-rationality and anti-science. Film at 11, assuming the world makes it to 11pm. It has every other day, but today is a new day and one never knows!!!1
Anti-rational anti-science folks are anti-rationality and anti-science. Film at 11, assuming the world makes it to 11pm. It has every other day, but today is a new day and one never knows!!!1
It's in jest I'm almost postive. I won't lie. When it is cold, I sometimes go global warming my ass. I know that AGW is still real but when it's a cold winter day.......I feel like we could use some of that warming heh.
It's hard to tell-- you are still an AGW-denier, as far as I know, so your grasp of science is obviously terrible. So you might well be going the anti-vacc route too.
My point, in case you missed it, is that he could have made a lot more money in the private sector.
My point, in case you missed it, is that not all in the public sector are working at minimum wage. Geihtners history, even in the public sector, is full of positions that come with titles/ perks/ good salaries
Best to take the flu shot and reduce your chances of getting flu, than not taking it and leaving it up to chance. Reduce chances of spreading one of the strains to family and friends. Herd immunity and all that.
The vaccine makers are trying to come up with a flu vaccine that takes into account more strains or figure out how to compensate for all the different strains that might come their way. If they can get a breakthrough on that front, it would be a game changer.
My point, in case you missed it, is that not all in the public sector are working at minimum wage. Geihtners history, even in the public sector, is full of positions that come with titles/ perks/ good salaries
Yes positions and salary that he earned. I never said he worked for minimum wage.
400K is not a big salary in the world of high finance. Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't all about the money.
Anti-rational anti-science folks are anti-rationality and anti-science. Film at 11, assuming the world makes it to 11pm. It has every other day, but today is a new day and one never knows!!!1
I'm no anti-vaxxer, but given the way flu shots are marketed, they can indeed be seen as overrated. And last year I had one and then got the flu anyways. So I can relate to that post.
That's not a suggestion that he wasn't making good money. It's pretty obvious that it was tongue in cheek and considering that many executives in the private sector of the same industry have bonuses bigger than his current salary, it's warranted. Let it be. It really isn't something to beat over.
Grimm said yesterday that the delays would cause many small businesses to shutter their doors.
Yep. I saw a tweet or post about someone bitching "Why didn't they have insurance to rebuild? Why do they depend on the gubmint?". All I could think of was the fact that you can rebuild your business (building, grounds, etc), but if the fucking road is washed away you won't have many customers, nor way to get supplies needed to serve those customers, or a way to get to those customers from your newly rebuilt from insurance money business. Simple minds can only hold simple thoughts I guess.
The only place I see Bryan Fischer is here and on RawStory. I wonder if he's being paid by the Left to look make the right look stupid.
I resent that.
And no, he's not an invisible do-nothing boogeyman. His association has a strong following. Strong enough to mold the Right. While yes, his name is obscure, the results of his, and his association, aren't. That Wikipedia page should give you a good start on what he has done.
I post a story. Then state (accurately) that he's not been working for slave wages, but I'M being an 'ass"
Thanks for weighing in!
And no one suggested he was working for slave wages. It was a tongue in cheek comment considering as I said that there many people in the private sector of the same industry who get bonuses larger than that. I said you were being an ass because of your attitude. Don't know why you're making such a big deal over a comment like that. No one implied that Tim Geithner was making little money working for the government.
Makes you feel kind of wonder what the three guys who bother reading Fox News Latino are thinking.
Actually, the Fox News Latino isn't that bad. News-wise, it's no worse than MSM (IOW, clueless and wanting to appear neutral), but doesn't stomp to the level of Fox News. Surprising, I know.
Tho there was one analyst during the elections that did made me cringe...
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I won't be shedding a tear over this but here's a reminder of where far right hate originates from. While prejudice and bigotry are a part of every country, in the US organized extreme right philosophy originated in Europe. Even in the Neo-confederate South the roots of their philosophies descended from France's proto-fascist colonialism, which is why the tribal nationalist Napoleon III lent unofficial ...
What's black, white and flat all over? iOS 7, if rumors prove correct. Anonymous sources in touch with 9to5Mac claim to know details about what's shaping up to be Apple's most radical iDevice update thus far: a flattened, minimalistic, anti-skeuomorphic UI poured uniformly atop its next-gen mobile OS. Apple's iOS GUI shake-up is largely attributed to Jony Ive, a sort of industrial design ...
In a speech to party cadres containing some of the boldest pro-market rhetoric they have heard in more than a decade, the country's new prime minister, Li Keqiang, said this month that the central government would reduce the state's role in economic matters in the hope of unleashing the creative energies of a nation with the world's second-largest economy after that of the ...
Californians Doug and Catherine Snodgrass are suing their son's high school for allowing undercover police officers to set up the 17-year-old special-needs student for a drug arrest. In a video segment on ABC News, they say they were "thrilled" when their son -- who has Asperger's and other disabilities and struggled to make friends -- appeared to have instantly made a friend named ...
The Justice Department is objecting to a proposed $20 million severance payment for American Airlines CEO Tom Horton, saying it's bigger than allowed by bankruptcy law. Horton became CEO when American filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 2011. The proposed merger of US Airways Group Inc. and American calls for Horton to lose that job and become chairman of the combined company. ...
H/T to Reddit's /r/Athiesm. So the Afghanistan President put forth a decree, banning or otherwise making illegal: Child MarriageForced MarriageDomestic Violence"Women as Chattel" (Giving a daughter or sister away to settle a debt)Murdering Rape Victims as Adulterers Which puts the country at least one baby step closer to being actually sane. So of course there's a riot about it: More than 200 male students ...
White House aides rankle at any comparison to Bush and Cheney. They dutifully note that in his first days in office, Obama ended the use of torture (a.k.a. enhanced interrogation techniques) and declared his intention to shut down Guantanamo. (Gitmo remains open, but that's mainly because congressional Republicans and Democrats thwarted the White House effort to develop a high-security facility in the United ...
In case you ever wondered just how much wealthy students dominate America's top colleges, here's a nice illustration from a new report by the Century Foundation. At the most selective schools in the country,* 70 percent of students come from the wealthiest quarter of U.S. families. Just 14 percent come from the poorest half. And while these statistics date back to 2006, I ...
As shocking and appalling as Wednesdays brutal murder was, Woolwich (wool-ich) is a not so surprising location for such an attack. As someone pretty local to Woolwich, I thought I might give a little profile of the area, if anyone is interested. Woolwich is traditionally a military area, with the old Arsenal at its centre and the new barracks one of London's important military ...
More: Has the Oklahoma Atheist Been Saved? Belief Blog Blogs Stand by. The Religious right assholes are either going to go apeshit about this or try to bury it. Please, feel free to tweet/retweet it to Bryan et al. (CNN) - Just days after she announced to the world from tornado-ravaged Moore, Oklahoma, that she is an atheist, it looks like Rebecca Vitsmun has ...
RIO DE JANEIRO -- The attacks have stunned this city. In one, an assailant held a gun to the head of a 30-year-old woman while raping her in front of passengers on a bus as the driver proceeded down a main avenue. In another, a 14-year-old girl from a hillside slum was raped on one of Rio's most famous stretches of beach. In ...
Fifty years ago, African-Americans were targets of the Ku Klux Klan's violent hate agenda as the Civil Rights movement gained steam in desegregating public institutions across the South. The Birmingham church bombings, which killed four little girls in 1963, was one of the most violent crimes the Ku Klux Klan has been responsible for in attacking Black Americans (on Friday, the president signed ...
Well, the preliminary numbers for CA are in -- and they're looking very good, with costs coming in below expectations. At this point, it looks as if this thing is indeed going to work. And think about the political dynamics. Because the Supreme Court decided to let states opt out of the Medicaid expansion, some states -- notably Texas -- will have a ...
Spacecraft could determine their position anywhere in the solar system to within five kilometres using signals from x-ray pulsars, say astronomers. Navigating in space is a tricky business. The usual method relies on Earth-based tracking stations to work out a spacecraft's distance using radio waves, a process that is accurate to within a metre or so. That's fine for the radial distance, but ...
Nice, right? Anyway, here's my thesis: Raiders of the Lost Ark is not an action-adventure movie about an archaeologist who plays by his own rules and saves the day. Instead, the film is an exploration of Marion Ravenwood's crippling drug addiction. An addiction that was born from her unhealthy relationship and continued association with Indiana Jones. Is it true? Who cares. Can I prove ...
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R-PA) brushed away a question about Latinos working in his administration during a roundtable discussion at The Union League in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Friday, telling the moderator, "If you can find us one let me know": MODERATOR: Do you have staff members that are Latino? CORBETT: No, we do not have any staff members in there. If you can ...
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More: $40 for Case of Bottled Water? 'Preying' on Oklahoma Tornado Victims Investigators with the Oklahoma Attorney General's office have already uncovered evidence of businesses taking advantage of the recent tornado's devastation by price-gouging in the weather-ravaged region, including a grocery store accused of charging consumers $40 for a case of water. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt told ABC News that 30 investigators from ...
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It has long been part of the Washington game for officials to discredit a news story by playing up errors in a relatively small part of it. Pfeiffer gives the impression that GOP operatives deliberately tried to "smear the president" with false, doctored e-mails. But the reporters involved have indicated they were told by their sources that these were summaries, taken from notes ...
Obesity is on the rise-- as is the incidence of Heart Disease, Diabetes, Stroke and various forms of Cancer. And, shockingly, diseases that had in the past begun in old age are now appearing at much earlier ages. A groundbreaking scientific study showed how easily (and inexpensively) the rate of occurrence of these and other serious illness could be greatly reduced-- but this information ...
I feel it's better to sing about these things ourselves and perform them with the people who it happened to than to have some journalist one day say 'then in 1971, one time when they were at the mudshark hotel...' But people have problems with things of a glandular nature in connection with things of a musical nature. They say why, music is way up here, and glands are way down there and they can't get 'em together, but then they are hypocritical because they take a band that doesn't sing about such things directly and couches their language a little and does it with a little choreography and say that that's great and that's real rock and roll. I maintain that there's no difference, we're just honest enough to get up and say 'this is this and that's that and here you are and respond to it' and the response is 'why... I'm hip, but of course I am offended'.