News & Media

My post on the Rolling Stone portrayal of Tsarnev has, to say the least, generated a bit of an emotional response. Much of it positive, but there’s certainly a fair amount of disagreement. I think the problem that some people have with the cover is that it has a tendency to humanize Tsarnev. On that cover, you see him as

But its propaganda arm seems to have hit it right on the head in this film about American celebrity and consumerism. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irw7SRv-l44] H/T: Rushie UPDATE: It seems that I was fooled. This is not from North Korea. This was created by Slavko Martinov – and seems to be a parody/commentary. Source. Fuckin’ Rushie.

I rented a car from Enterprise. DC issued a speeding ticket to that vehicle, claiming it was going 43 mph in a 30 mph zone. Fine: $110. Because it is a rental, the citation went to Enterprise, which did not bother to investigate or contest the citation. They then gave me notice of the citation and a deadline to contest

I’m usually pretty proud to be from Massachusetts. Cradle of Liberty, great education system, almost no country music… Massachusetts is supposed to be one of the places that helps pull the center of the national intellectual curve up a bit. Nevertheless, once and a while, I have an epic facepalm that makes me realize that the place can be wicked

Conor Friersdorf breaks it down here. It does make you wonder why we’ll cast the Constitution aside to prevent a statistically insignificant event, meanwhile we’ll let far greater (and preventable) threats continue unchecked.

Bob Dylan went for a walk in Long Branch, New Jersey. An old white guy walking around a hispanic neighborhood looked “suspicious,” so a cop demanded to see his ID. When he couldn’t produce it, she detained him until his story checked out. (source)

Heard of Justin Carter? (See, e.g., http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/03/tech/social-media/facebook-teen-jail) Apparently, he made a stupid sarcastic comment attempting to joke about shooting up some kids and eating their hearts.  It isn’t a real threat against any identifiable person–it even contained an “lol j/k” disclaimer.  Yet, the constitutional schoars at the Comal County TX District Attorney’s office (http://www.co.comal.tx.us/cda/index.htm) have kept him in jail for four

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV-M-83Yr4k#at=63]

This audio is 12 minutes long. I usually don’t have 12 spare minutes to listen to audio recordings unless someone is paying me to do so. I got sucked into this, and it was some of the most uplifting 12 minutes I’ve had in recent years. University of Wisconsin students showed up to an NSA recruiting session and verbally kicked

Getting the word out.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0wL9Li0f1Po]

But it is… its news that a member of congress swore in without using a religious text… she used the Constitution. (source) What a novel idea.

To protest in favor of women’s rights and against Sharia, three women went into a mosque, in Stockholm, and shed their clothing. (source) In the immortal words of André Vippolis, that’s not really cool, man. I have no quarrel with their point, but as stupid as the Abrahamic religions are, those who gathered peacefully to practice their silly superstitions have

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, (and the GOP nominee for governor) has his panties in a wad because the Fourth Circuit held that Virginia’s laws prohibiting oral and anal sex were unconstitutional in light of Lawrence v. Texas. He’s asking the Supreme Court to overturn the decision, at least when it comes to minors. (source)