News & Media
Go Bernie Go!
Bernie Sanders is filibustering the fucked up tax-cuts-for-billionaires bill. Thank you, Mr. Sanders, for being the only remaining member of the Senate who gives a shit about us. (Live here on Cspan)
Leave Miley Alone
So Miley Cyrus got caught smoking out of a bong. BFD. She’s 18. That is what 18 year olds do. Cyrus claims that the bong was loaded with salvia, not marijuana. The video, available on TMZ (if you give a shit about watching it) shows behavior consistent with that claim. Cyrus says that she’s having a “bit of a bad trip,” which is inconsistent with marijuana use. She also seems incoherent for 90 seconds — again, more consistent with salvia than marijuana.
"Life Saver" means something else…
Without discussing the merits or demerits of the death penalty, can we all agree that “life saver” is not the term you use to describe someone who supplies you with sodium thiopental? (Sodium thiopental is the drug you administer in a lethal injection execution). (source)
Best. Christmas. Song. Ever.
Holy shit, my awesomeness meter just broke. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ysfQjKKi70] H/T: Wyatt W.
First Amendment Badass: Hossein Derakhshan
By J. DeVoy You may have never heard of Hossein Derakhshan or his more popular moniker, Hoder. More than a name, Hoder.com – now a parked GoDaddy page – was one man’s outlet for free speech in Iran, a country not given to free expression and individual liberty. Yesterday, Derakhshan was released on furlough from a 19.5-year sentence on an unprecedented $1,500,000 bail. While normally a sentence associated with rape, murder or America’s asinine drug laws, a trial court gave Derakhshan the sentence based on the following charges: cooperation with hostile states, propagating against the regime, propagation in favor of anti-revolutionary groups,
Update: Wikileaks, Lieberman, the New York Times, and the First Amendment
Update – I was interviewed on WTOP in Washington, DC, on this subject. (source)
Yale Law Journal Logo
By J. DeVoy Let’s see, a crocodile (or alligator) and what appear to be croquet wickets. Are we sure it’s not just a glorified Lacoste ad?
Wikileaks, The NYT, and the First Amendment
I was interviewed by Slate yesterday, for an article discussing why Joe Lieberman’s saber rattling about prosecuting the New York Times is an empty threat. The Brian Palmer article that came from that interview is here. My conclusion was that since the New York Times lawfully obtained the Wikileaks information, and it had no part in their procurement, there is no liability. Of course, that begs the question of whether Wikileaks / Assange would be able to find shelter under the First Amendment as well. No sense in me re-writing the analysis, since Nick Bravin (also at Slate) wrote a
"The Cup Size Choir"
By Tatiana von Tauber Sexy. Fun. Brilliant. (Daily Mail article here.) [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5wNafq4v-E]
To serve, protect, and to ass rape little boys in drag. Thank you Uncle Sam!
The United States Government hired DynCorp, a private “security contractor” to train the Afghan Police. That training requires DynCorp to show these local Afghan cops how to shoot guns, investigate crime, and how to fuck little boys up the ass. Wha?????? One of the cables released by Wikileaks reveals that the U.S. Ambassador met with the Afghan Interior Minister to discuss a “boy party” thrown by DynCorp for Afghan recruits. (source) (source) Bacha boys are eight- to 15-years-old. They put on make-up, tie bells to their feet and slip into scanty women’s clothing, and then, to the whine of a
Google to Internet Users: "All Your Angry Comments Are Belong to Us"
by Jason Fischer Google, allegedly in an effort to improve the civility of user comments, has determined that the “caps lock” key should not be a part of laptops that will be made to support its forthcoming operating system. (source)
Christians should be slaves. Textbook fails to support that view. Panties are wadded.
by Randazza Dennis and Aimee Taylor got their panties all in a wad because their son had to read the book “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America,” in his personal finance class at Bedford High School.” (New Hampshire) In the book, the author (Barbara Ehrenreich) recounts experiences she had while trying to make a living at minimum wage jobs all across America. She criticizes the current conditions in America, arguing that our economic system is unfair toward the poor. So who is that most likely to piss off? You guessed it… “christians”. Aimee Taylor is quoted as
Joy to the world, and naked women
By Tatiana von Tauber As a boudoir photographer I see lots of women naked. Most clients fall into two groups: Those who look so hotter than they ever thought they could, or those who use boudoir photography to confirm they are as fat, cellulite-ish or unsexy as they feared (I’m an artist, not a Photoshop God). Too often I deal with clients’ self-body hatred and it’s come to a bothersome point — having befriended women whose bodies are scarred not for beauty but for self-preservation and basic survival. While producing The Art Cure project, a breast cancer awareness art show
“Feminism” In Iceland: Saving Women From Their Own Adulthood
By Dr. Marty Klein Iceland, the world’s oldest democracy, is now heading in exactly the opposite direction. And they’re doing it in a familiar way—by eliminating choices regarding sex. Iceland has now criminalized all strip clubs. And forget even something as quaint as a topless bar; the repression of the 1950s is looking positively progressive, as the law even makes it illegal for a business to profit from the nudity of employees. What makes this law particularly repulsive is the crowing of self-proclaimed “feminists” and “women’s advocates,” who seem unable to grasp the simple idea of adult choice. Member of
All that has worked since 9/11
Bruce Schneier writes: The truth is that exactly two things have made air travel safer since 9/11: reinforcing cockpit doors and convincing passengers they need to fight back. The TSA should continue to screen checked luggage. They should start screening airport workers. And then they should return airport security to pre-9/11 levels and let the rest of their budget be used for better purposes. Investigation and intelligence is how we’re going to prevent terrorism, on airplanes and elsewhere. It’s how we caught the liquid bombers. It’s how we found the Yemeni printer-cartridge bombs. And it’s our best chance at stopping
TSA now run by Pedobear
by Randazza We really must be at the verge of tipping into Idiocracy. It was once believed that you could spot a pedophile just by looking at him. This theory is now proven scientific fact. Now I’m not saying that I have evidence that TSA Administrator John Pistole is a practicing pedophile, but he certainly has never publicly denied it. He has the pedo-pale skin, the pedo smile, and the pedo voice. I was thinking that it might just be a coincidence. And then… the TSA started feeling up children at the airport… saying it was making us “safe” from
Why can't Bernie Sanders be president?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5OtB298fHY]
WTF NJ?
The NRA reports that a guy just got 8 years in prison for having guns in locked cases, which he was transporting from one house to another, while moving. New Jersey’s restrictive gun laws provide an exception for just this situation, but the NRA claims that the judge refused to tell the jury that. (source) Update: Reason has a more fleshed out discussion of the case here.
Everything we know about life may change today
Nasa has apparently discovered a new life form – in a poisonous lake in California, no less. Wired explains: All life on Earth is made of six components: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur. Every being, from the smallest amoeba to the largest whale, shares the same life stream. Our DNA blocks are all the same. (source) But this little critter uses arsenic instead of sulfur phosphorous. If there can be an arsenic-based life form on earth, who knows what could be waiting for us out there…. pretty goddamned cool stuff if you ask me. Nasa is supposed to
Bond… Julian Bond…
Faithful Readers: It is Wednesday Night here on the left coast and time to check in with the patrons of this fine blog. Although some might say it is too late to apologize for not checking in last week, our fearless leader held down the fort rather nicely. Most probably know the night before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest nights for DUI’s and since most people don’t have an attorney on speed dial they get to talk to my half-asleep ass at all hours of the morning. Lets move on to someone who’s life is a tiny bit more