Assholes and Officers

The arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Gates is not about race. At least, it shouldn't be.

Sergeant James Crowly, a white officer, responded to a report of a possible break-in in a upscale neighborhood in Cambridge at about noon last Thursday. Upon arriving at the scene, Crowly found the house to be occupied by Henry Gates, a 58-year-old black man. Henry Gates had just returned from an overseas trip, and found his front door to be jammed shut. His (also black) driver had to force open the front door with his shoulder, causing a neighbor to call the police. By all accounts, Gates' attitude towards the officer was confrontational and belligerent. He initially refused to provide identification and repeatedly shouted things like "this is what happens to black men in America!" And, "I'll speak to your Mama."

Officer Crowly entered the home and was eventually able to determine Gates' identity and that he did live there. As Officer Crowly left, Gates continued his diatribe from the front porch of the home, at which point Officer Crowly arrested him for disorderly conduct. Charges were later dropped.

First, the arrest report does not mention why officer Crowly entered the residence uninvited. That is an issue.

Second, the arrest report states that once inside the home, Officer Crowly did ascertain that Gates lived there. This was Gates' home. The report says nothing about Officer Crowly ever feeling threatened by Gates, a 58-year-old disabled Professor who walks with a cane. The arrest was made simply because Gates wouldn't shut up.

Remove race. Let's consider: An officer, and an American.

An officer arrested an American in his own home, because the American was a dick to the officer.

It should not matter how belligerent Gates was being. Once the officer identified Gates as the resident of the home, he did his job in ascertaining that there was no break-in. He could have left. He should have left. Instead, he placed the American under arrest, because the American was an asshole.

We cannot allow police officers in this country to arrest Americans in their own homes because the Americans are assholes. There was no cause for arrest. The officer was wrong.


The report filed by arresting officer James Crowly via The Smoking Gun.

Rush Limbaugh is SUCH a WHORE!

It is difficult to say how much of Rush Limbaugh's character is an act, and how much is legit. But regardless of whether or not the wind with which he fans the flames of conservative outrage is genuine, he is compensated somewhere in the neighborhood of $35 million a year. Not bad for a snake oil salesman.

Recently, it has become increasingly clear that in Limbaugh's world, money trumps supposed ideology. He has been advertising, both live and pre-recorded, for General Motors Corporation. This would be dissonant for any honest person, since he has stated repeatedly that GM should have been allowed to go bankrupt rather than receive a bridge loan from the US government. One wonders how his ditto-head army rationalizes his lauding of GM's warrentee, moments after he ridicules GM's government backed warentee.

It is getting rediculous. On Tuesday April 28th, he parlayed a tirade about GM becoming an employee-owned company, and a suggestion that it may be un-American to buy an American car, into a live advertisement for GM. He even has the balls to post the entire transcript to his website.

I'm seeing every car come off the assembly line with a welded-in Obama bumper sticker, maybe even an Obama hood ornament. I'm laughing here at union leaders deciding what union workers are going to make, what the wages are gonna be. I can't wait to see that contract negotiation. I can't wait to see the United Auto Workers negotiate with the United Auto Workers, and I can't wait for the UAW to threaten to go on strike, telling the UAW if it doesn't meet its demands, that the UAW is going to go on strike. I just can't wait to see this. Yeah, hood ornament. Obama interiors by Michelle. These cars are going to be designed by the Sierra Club, folks, and Greenpeace.

You know, if you want a General Motors car, while it's still General Motors, right now is the time to do it. Honest-to-goodness. So they're holding on to Cadillac. They're holding onto Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC, and -- I happen to know this -- General Motors has got a new sales plan for Cadillac and they've still got the Hummer, too.

They've gotta get rid of the inventory, so they're backing for five years the power train, five years, hundred thousand miles, whichever comes first, a full year of OnStar is standard on every Cadillac model. OnStar is amazing. In fact, it's got a nav system that beats most other navigation systems if where you want to go... Like if you're headed to Port St. Lucie, and where you want to go in Port St. Lucie is not in the navigation system, all you have to do is call the OnStar operator, and they'll give you a turn by turn directions because they know. There's a number if you're in an emergency, if you need a car unlocked. If you go into McDonald's and you get all upset in there because they're outta McNuggets, and you didn't shut the car off.

The keys are in it, you go back out, and you're still mad because you got no McNuggets. "My God, how do I get in the car?" Call OnStar, and they'll unlock the car for you. Well, they may not get... They'll direct to you where they do have McNuggets, if the McDonald's you're at doesn't have them, but yeah, OnStar can do a lot. And also this. If you lose your job, they'll make the car payment up to 500 bucks a month, up to nine months, and it's such a shame 'cause the Cadillac is a great car. We've driven a lot of them. What's the crossover? It's the XRX or something. It's just a great car. So General Motors is still moving automobiles out there, doing what they can, and they are making deals, and if you want a General Motors car, now might be the time to look into it.

END TRANSCRIPT

rushlimbaugh.com

Also shilling for McDonalds. Yeah, ok then. What a fucking whore.

Canada Killed Natasha Richardson

SOUND REASONING

In an otherwise banal rambling about the nonspecific evils of national health insurance, The Weekly Stan-turd's Fred Barnes threw in this odd desperate attempt at making you dumb socialists understand what's really at stake here.

It's worth noting how Canadian health care failed to save the life of actress Natasha Richardson after a recent ski accident. The nearby hospital had no scanning equipment or neurosurgeon, and there was no helicopter to fly her to a trauma center. By the time she arrived at one, she was brain dead. Why wasn't proper treatment and equipment at hand? Government had decided not to pay for them.

Do you want all our actresses to DIE, America??? Well, do you???

Obviously Natasha Richardson did not die in a freak accident when she refused medical attention after she hit her head while skiing. She died because the lousy government run hospital in Mont Treblant, Quebec (Population 9,000) did not have a neurosurgeon on call like they would have here, in the good ole' U S of A.

Yeah, ok then.

Defeat Obamacare - Fred Barnes, The Weekly Standard

Republican Road to Recovery

has no map.

Here is the "alternative budget" released by Boehner, etc.

Here's a challenge: Try to find a specific idea in it. Not just vague generalities or criticisms of the real budget proposal. But a real, actual, idea. Go ahead. Look.

This is a flow chart?

Glenn Beck of Fox News

Words fail.

Happy PI Day!

For years, nerdy science organizations around the world have celebrated Pi Day on 3/14. The Greek symbol, pi, is an irrational number formed by the fraction of a circle's circumference divided by it's diameter. It has been calculated to trillions of digits, but is approximately 3.14. Thus, 3-14. March 14th. Pi Day!

Today, Congress made it official: HR 224 summery reads that the resolution:

Supports the designation of a Pi Day and its celebration around the world.

Recognizes the continuing importance of National Science Foundation math and science education programs.

Encourages schools and educators to observe the day with appropriate activities that teach students about Pi and engage them about the study of mathematics.

The resolution passed unanimously 340-10...

340-10??? Um. Wait. What kind of mouthbreathing assclown congressperson would vote against PI? This resolution does nothing but promote science education. There's no money going anywhere. There's no resources being allocated. Who would vote against simply recognizing PI day? ...


UT-3 Chaffetz, Jason [R]

AZ-6 Flake, Jeff [R]

NV-2 Heller, Dean [R]

IL-15 Johnson, Timothy [R]

FL-1 Miller, Jeff [R]

TX-19 Neugebauer, Randy [R]

TX-14 Paul, Ronald [R] <---LOL !

IN-6 Pence, Mike [R]

TX-2 Poe, Ted [R]

PA-9 Shuster, William [R]



The [R] stands for 'Retard', probably.

The GOP: "We even hate PI."

The CERN Large Hadron Collider

Somewhere under Switzerland is the world's most awesome particle accelerator. Just thinking about it gives theoretical physicists HUGE boners. It cost $7 billion and hasn't really worked yet. But when it does, it will help us explain the nature of matter, energy, missing dimensions and the Big Bang(!).

What's it do? Any particle accelerator does just that; accelerates particles. The CERN LHC is the biggest ever built. It will accelerate lead ions to very near the speed of light, then smash them together with protons and see what comes out. It's awesome, as described below, in hip-hop.


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George Bush Sr. Makes Everybody Cry

Obama Breaks Campaign Promise to Daughters

First daughters Malia and Sasha Obama got a big surprise after school Wednesday: a brand-new swing set.

They squealed with delight upon seeing it, a spokeswoman for the first lady said.

President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, went to work while the girls were at school, arranging for the set to be installed on the south grounds of the White House within sight of the Oval Office, where their father spends plenty of time.

Ok. That's pretty fucking adorable. But this is a blatant attempt to distract from Obama's failure to deliver as President. Sasha and Malia were clearly promised a puppy. A swing set is a swing set. A swing set is not a puppy. Where the Hell is the puppy, Obama?

This is just another camping promise broken by President Hopey. Never forget, America. Demand the puppy.

Capillary Economics

Conservative-Republicans are almost universally proponents of supply-side economics, often called "trickle down economics." Briefly described, it is the theory that economic growth is best achieved by providing tax cuts or other benefits to businesses and rich individuals, that this will indirectly benefit the broad population.

For example, cutting the corporate tax rate will allow a corporation to increase it's profits, allowing it to invest, expand, and hire more workers. Another example may be cutting the capital gains tax, that rich individuals would be more likely to invest in the market, providing liquidity for corporations to expand.

While it may seem intuitive that supply side economics would work as designed, it is difficult to see any correlation, historically, as seen in the following graph:
(Source: http://www.faireconomy.org/research/TrickleDown.html)




We also meet a philosophical issue, however, when we realize that even when supply side economics works perfectly, the poor do slightly better, while the rich become opulently rich.

In the wake of the 2002 Bush tax cuts, the "income gap," the gap between the income levels of the rich and middle class/poor grow consistently, while purchasing power stagnated. (The rich got richer, the middle class got less middle class, the poor got poorer.)

So.

Is it sound economic policy to expand the GDP by allowing poor and middle class to feed off the detritus floating down from the top tax brackets? Or would perhaps a philosophically better policy incorporate helping the people on the bottom have more prchasing power with which to grow the economy: demand-side economics?

Recently, President Obama outlined his proposed budget for Fiscal 2010. The budget shows a shift away from the previous administration's belief in trickle-down tax policy.

The budget will allow the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2011, raising the tax rate on the top bracket from 36% to 39.6%. It will also increase taxes on capital gains by 5% to 20% and limit deductions and other loopholes. It also lowered taxes for middle class Americans. Demand side economics.

Can economic prosperity trickle up? No. That's stupid. Or is it?

Students of biological sciences know that the tallest of trees can bring water and nutrients from the roots to the very tips of every branch and leaf. It's a very efficient system, relying only on the adhesive and cohesive properties of water. It's called capillary action.

The Obama Economic team is attempting to grow the economy from the roots up.

Capillary Economics. Will it work?
.