LA State Government and Jindal Rip UP US Constitution

  By Greg Laden | May 22, 2013 - 4:11 pm | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

… To protect gun owners by repressing journalists.

On Tuesday, the Louisiana Senate passed a bill that would imprison and fine journalists who intentionally publish information about the state’s concealed-carry handgun permit holders. Reporters who violate the law would face penalties of up to $10,000, six months in jail, or both; public safety officials and police officers who leak permit information to the press would face penalties of up to $500, six months in jail, or both. Journalists in Louisiana say the bill is clearly unconstitutional, but that won’t stop it from becoming law: After the Senate vote, it headed to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s desk for his signature.

MJ has the details on why this is bad.

The thing is, I know this blatant oppression of the Constitutional Rights Rights of Americans can’t happen becase the 2nd amendment allows us to protect ourselves from an oppressive government. I assume the members of the Press in Louisiana will all now by guns so when Jindal’s black booted storm troopering thugs come to get them, the Journalists can defend themselves.

Worst Person In The World: Emma Way of the UK

  By Greg Laden | May 21, 2013 - 5:32 pm | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

Emma Way (formerly @EmmaWay20, but she has deleted her account) was driving down the road and turned into oncoming bike riders who were in a race. She hit one of them, knocking him into the woods. He’s OK.

She tweeted abut how proud she is of having done that, making the claim that this was OK because bikers don’t have the right of way and don’t pay road taxes.

The police picked up on her tweet and tweeted her a suggestion that she report the incident and DM them back. Others picked up on her tweet and scanned her social networking streams and found all sorts of other horrid things. Apparently she was into doing selfies of herself (obviously) tailgating other vehicles and driving at excessive speeds.

Emma Way is a horrible, terrible, awful person. Is she redeemable? I don’t know. Maybe you found this blog post because you are googling her and she’s a job applicant. If you hire her and find out that she’s reformed, post a comment and let everyone know!

(And she will be looking for a job. Her current employer appears to be poised to fire her.)

The UK does not have a road tax.

How To Get Rid Of Fur Balls: Caturday Book Recommendation

  By Greg Laden | May 18, 2013 - 7:31 am | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

Crafting with Cat Hair: Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat

Got fur balls?

Are your favorite sweaters covered with cat hair? Do you love to make quirky and one-of-a-kind crafting projects? If so, then it’s time to throw away your lint roller and curl up with your kitty! Crafting with Cat Hair shows readers how to transform stray clumps of fur into soft and adorable handicrafts. From kitty tote bags and finger puppets to fluffy cat toys, picture frames, and more, these projects are cat-friendly, eco-friendly, and require no special equipment or training. You can make most of these projects in under an hour—with a little help, of course, from your feline friends!

Women abusing and killing men

  By Greg Laden | May 10, 2013 - 10:26 pm | Uncategorized
3 Comments

The news for Minnesota today, and over the last few days, is unbelievable. Here in the twin cities, the body of a guy who police think was killed by his girlfriend was found in a swamp. She’s in prison serving time for a different crime but now the investigation may move towards charging her with homicide. Just earlier this week the body of a man who authorities say may have been killed by his wife was found in the Mississippi river. Originally police had been searching a lake near Saint Paul but it turns out his body had been dumped elsewhere, presumably by his homicidal wife. And this weekend there will be a major volunteer effort to expand the search for a young man in Eden Prairie, and I’ll bet we’re going to find out that he was killed by his girlfriend too. And of course, a few weeks ago we heard about the North Saint Paul 17 year old boy who’s body was “found” by his “girlfriend,” but then it turns out that he was killed by that very same girlfriend, who eventually admitted it.

And this all comes at the same time as news of that horrific thing in Cleveland, where three young men were kidnapped nearly 10 years ago by some woman who was a sexual predator, who then raped them again and again and …

…. hey, wait a minute …

And in today’s news….

  By Greg Laden | May 10, 2013 - 4:42 pm | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

We have a big race coming up in the Twin Cities. The local news just reported that “in light of the events that happened in Boston, runners are encouraged to pack light when they go to the race.”

The death toll in Bangladesh has gone to 1,000 as one person was pulled out alive after 17 days.

Today, the atmospheric concentration of CO2, which should be about 280 ppm, reached 400 ppm. It will fluctuate a bit below and above 400 over the next couple of years, then stay above 400 for the long term, certainly over the life time of any infants born today. This is all going to look pretty silly when sea levels rise 9 feet. Which will just be the beginning.

As I write this hipsters are being interviewed about the shooting that just happened in South Minneapolis. They were hyped.

The news reporters can no conceive of an address in the 2700s would be near the corner of 28th street. This is what happens when we let suburbanites handle our news reports. Also, yes, it matters if it is “N” or “S” because almost every avenue in the city has a North and a South part.

That is all for now.

Frank Wolf, Spy Catcher. Or Not.

  By Greg Laden | May 5, 2013 - 6:23 am | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

From Wikipedia: “The National Rifle Association gives him a A- and the American Civil Liberties Union gives him a 0%. Some other rankings include 0% from Clean Air Flow Energy, 100% from National Right to Life, 0% from the Human Rights Coalition, 17% from the National Educational Association, 5% from the League of Conservation Voters, 92% from the United States Border Control and 10% by the Alliance for Retired Americans.”

And now, the Congressman from Virginia is messing around with, and the key word here is “mess,” national security:

After a dramatic airport arrest by the FBI, which had been tipped off by a Republican congressman, the data concealed by a former NASA scientist with a one-way ticket to China has been revealed as pirated porn, not the secrets to the next interstellar drive.

In March Dr. Bo Jiang, 31, a former employee of the National Institute of Aeronautics (NIA) at NASA’s Langley Research Centre, was arrested just before he could board his flight to Beijing. He lied to investigators about what he was carrying – trying to hide the fact he had a spare laptop and old hard drive in his bags.

Jiang had been named by congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, as a suspect in the theft of the space agency’s sensitive secret research.

At a press conference after Jiang’s arrest, Wolf said he had called the head of the FBI personally to warn him of the danger the Chinese man posed, kickstart an investigation, and said Jiang could be involved in a serious security breach.

What is it with these Republicans? Do they not know that they have a serious job to do?

My thing on the Yanomamo in Slate:

  By Greg Laden | May 2, 2013 - 8:43 am | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

Two young boys are having an argument while their fathers, resting in hammocks, look on. The argument is over something silly but escalates until the dads decide to intervene. They equip each boy with a small pole and position them face to face, explaining the rules of the game. Each child has the opportunity to whack the other with the stick, in turn. The boys can continue to carry out this ritualized but stingingly painful combat until one of them gives up, handing victory to his opponent. Eventually, these boys will grow into men, and this sort of combat, using either long poles borrowed from the nearby dwellings or bare fists pounded on chests, will become a normal (though infrequently used) way to settle significant disputes between men. Dueling is part of the culture in which these children are being raised. Those who demonstrate the most bravery will likely rise in status, perhaps take on a leadership role, have a better choice in marriage partner, and perhaps have more than one wife.

Thousands of miles away, …

Click here to read my post that just went up in Slate!

(Feel free to tweet, facebook, and otherwise promote it! Thank you very much.)

Did Michele Bachmann Reveal Top Secret Information During A Public Hearing?

  By Greg Laden | April 15, 2013 - 7:00 pm | Bachmann-Michele
Leave a comment

Or is she just a blithering idiot who makes stuff up for her own political gain?

In a recent hearing of the Intelligence Committee, which she enigmatically sits on, like some kind of sick joke perpetuated by Squeaker of the House John Boner, this transpired between Bachmann and the CIA director:

[BACHMANN] … When the White House conducted their armed drone strikes in North Africa, particularly in eastern Libya prior to the attack on our mission in Benghazi on 9-1-1 last year, did the White House notify the State Department of the armed drone strikes before they were made?

[BRENNAN, LOOKING TOTALLY BAFFLED] Ah, armed droned strikes in Libya? Um, I’m unknowing of such and I would defer to the White House to address your question.

[BACHMANN] Were there any armed drone strikes in north Africa that were made by the White House?

[BRENNAN] The White House doesn’t have a drone capability/responsibility, whatever so…

…

[BACHMANN] I’m asking in north Africa, I’m asking, I’m asking director Brennan, were there any armed drone strikes that were made by the United States in north Africa prior to 9-1-1?

[BRENNAN] Well we usually don’t talk about any sort of specific actions, but ah, again, I don’t know what you could be referencing.

[BACHMANN] I’m just wondering if the State Department was aware, or if the military was aware, or if the CIA was aware. and if we aren’t going to talk about that we aren’t going to talk about that, but that’s a question I’d like to know.

….

[BACHMANN] But regarding the nuclear weapon program and our intelligence capability — again, we have a wonderful intelligence community, but we weren’t aware of the bombing in 1993 at the World Trade Center tower. We weren’t aware before 9-1-1 occurred in 2001, we weren’t aware of the Arab Spring developments, and we weren’t aware of the attack on the mission on Benghazi. How do we have confidence that we will know when Iran has amassed the capability of developing a nuclear weapon? I ask that because the President said last month that it would take approximately a year for [Iran] to develop a nuclear weapon once they had make that decision. Last week — we know that the current negotiations have gone without any breakthrough or any development. And so I’m very concerned about our intelligence capability of knowing with a high degree of certainty when Iran has either made the decision to develop nuclear weapons, or has obtained nuclear weapons.

[CIA OFFICIAL] I think this subject would be much, much better talked about in closed session.

[BACHMANN] I would look forward to that, and I would appreciated that. Could you comment on what is happening with, ah, we talk a lot about uranium development with Iran’s nuclear program, but Iran is also building a heavy water reactor capable of producing plutonium. What is the status of Iran’s heavy water reactor?

[BRENNAN AND THE OFFICIAL LOOK BAFFLED, THEN THE OFFICIAL SAYS] Well agian, this would be a subject for closed session I think.

[BACHMANN] I look forward to that.

A more detailed transcript, a video of the Michele the Moron (which I say in all due respect) carrying out what appears to be an act of High Treason, and some details about the comedy of it all, are HERE.