That's Not News!

There's so much crap going on in the world right now that people are having a hard time discerning what is news and what isn't news. So allow me to provide a public service by clarifying what isn't news:

Alex Jones calling the Oklahoma tornadoes a "government conspiracy" is not news. That is Alex Jones being Alex Jones. With him, the question should never be "what does he consider to be an inside job?", it should be "what doesn't he consider to be an inside job?" And the answer to that question is "very little." I'm sure if the man had an irregular bowel movement, he would blame it on the government. "My stool is black? Curse you, NWO!"

Westboro Baptist Church calling the tornadoes "God's punishment" is not news. That is just Westboro Baptist being Westboro Baptist. Anyone who is the least bit shocked by this has not been paying attention to the hate cult. They believe God hates everything. I wouldn't even be surprised if the church decided to wave around posters proclaiming "God Hates God!" That's how backwards and demented these bigoted fundies are.

So new rule: no more "news stories" about Alex Jones or Westboro Baptist. These people do not deserve our scorn or ridicule even our attention. They deserve to be ignored!

Radio Host Wants To Shoot Clinton In Vagina

Never heard of radio host Pete Santilli? Don't worry. Neither have I. He's an internet radio host who's more obscure and bat-guano insane than Alex Jones. And apparently, he's not too happy with Hilary Clinton and her handling of Benghazi, so much so that he wants to shoot here "right in the vagina."

I want to shoot [Clinton] right in the vagina and I don't want her to die right away; I want her to feel the pain and I want to look her in the eyes and I want to say 'on behalf of all Americans that you've killed, on behalf of the Navy SEALS,' ... the families of Navy SEAL Team Six who were involved in the fake hunt down of this Obama bin Laden thing, that whole fake scenario - because these Navy SEALS know the truth, they killed them all - on behalf of all of those people, I'm supporting our troops by saying we need to try, convict, and shoot Hillary Clinton in the vagina.

Now I'm no fan of Clinton, but I don't want her shot in the vagina--mainly because that would detonate the suitcase nuke crammed up in there!

But in all seriousness, we don't need to resort to violent rhetoric, even if the people it's directed at are responsible for needless violence. We're more civilized than that!

Obama Admin Admits To Killing American Citizens

Eric Holder admits to Congress what most sensible people have already known for quite some time: that the Obama administration has killed American citizens through drone strikes.

In conducting U.S. counterterrorism operations against al-Qaida and its associated forces, the government has targeted and killed one American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, and is aware of the killing by U.S. drones of three others, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy.

Al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric, was killed in a drone strike in September 2011 in Yemen. Holder said three other Americans were killed by drones in counterterrorism operations since 2009 but were not targeted. The three are Samir Khan, who was killed in the same drone strike as al-Awlaki; al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, a native of Denver, who also was killed in Yemen two weeks later; and Jude Kenan Mohammed, who was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan.

Quickly following this confession, Eric Holder, Barack Obama, and the rest of the administration responsible for coordinating these strikes were detained and shipped to Guantanamo Bay where they await trial by military tribunal for their war crimes, the ultimate penalty being capital punishment.

Oh wait. I'm sorry. That last part is what would happen in a just and humane world. But we don't live in that world. We live in a freaked-up world where war criminals are not punished, but rather are rewarded with libraries dedicated to them!

If Clinton couldn't be impeached for being blown by an intern, neither Bush nor Obama will be indicted for their war crimes. As I said many times before: those with power get slapped on the wrist; those without it get the book thrown at them! Again, why do we call it the "justice" system?

Bill To Require Warrant For Phone Record Seizures

Here's some good news, especially in light of the AP phone record scandal: a bill has been introduced that would require federal agents to obtain a court order before seizing phone records:

Currently, the Telephone Records Act allows the feds to demand phone records from service providers by using only an administrative subpoena to obtain basic subscriber information. Basic subscriber information can include a customer’s name, address, credit card number, and phone records.

The Telephone Records Protection Act consists of just one sentence amending that law (.pdf) and would force federal agencies to seek judicial review to obtain records in order to avoid a situation like the one that recently happened with the Associated Press.

The bill would protect the phone records of all Americans, not just journalists, and would require federal agencies to state “specific and articulable facts” to prove to a court that the records and information being sought is “relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation."

Now I hate to be a Debbie-Downer, but let's be honest: as good as this bill sounds, does it actually stand a chance of being passed?

In the words of Big Macintosh, "Nope!"

It should surprise no one if this bill doesn't pass, which it probably won't. The state only exists to retain and expand its power. It would be against its own interest to limit it, which is why any attempt to do so will be futile.

The state wields the sole privilege in society of using force and coercion. It holds the monopoly on power, and as such, exists only to serve the powerful over the powerless.

I know that's not exactly an optimistic view, but considering history, both past and recent, it's sadly the most realistic one.

Democracy In A Nutshell

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Yup! That sums it up fairly well.

Cops Beat Man Nearly Dead Over Ticket

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Remember my post yesterday about the woman who died from an asthma attack in court because the sheriff's deputies assumed she was faking and they refused to give her her medicine? You want to know what's worse than that?

Well, not this story. The man in this story is still alive--but barely!

A California truck driver was beaten half to death by cops two years ago. Why? Because he asked them to read his ticket!

On September 2nd, 2011, Russian immigrant Olegs Kozacenko was driving his truck when he was pulled over by Officer Andrew P. Murrill of the California Highway Police. Murrill attempted to ticket him for driving too many hours in the truck. Kozacenko refused to sign the ticket before reading it.

At this point, NBC Bay Area reporters learned, Murrill decided he needed to make a “forcible arrest.” He and his partner, Officer Jim Sherman, claim that Kozacenko was “actively resisting” and “exhibiting extraordinary strength” in doing so. The consequences were “life-threatening injuries including a crushed left orbital eye socket, multiple facial fractures, a broken left arm, a concussion, unconsciousness and possible neurological damage.”

Kozacenko nearly died, as the nearest hospital did not have an emergency room advanced enough to treat his injuries.

So asking to read your traffic ticket before you sign it is grounds for “forcible arrest”? Good grief! What excuse won't the pigs give to use lethal force on unarmed citizens?

And you know what's worse? The man wasn't even guilty of the offense he was being ticketed for. So this whole ordeal was pointless to begin with.

Oh wait! Scratch that. That wasn't the worst part. The worst part is that the cops claim there is no video or audio footage of the incident. They claim that "all associated radio logs have been deleted by system malfunctioning for this time period.”

Well, isn't that convenient! Funny how the pigs are always watching and taping you until they start brutalizing you. Isn't that an odd co-inky-dink?

And the police wonder why there's a huge demand for people to legally videotape them while on duty?

In a just, humane world, these cops would be fired and arrested for aggravated assault. But we don't live in a just, humane world. We live in a freaked up world. And if anything, these pigs were probably given administrative leave.

That's our "justice" system for you: if you have power and authority and you do something wrong, you get a slap on the wrist; but if you have no power or authority, you have the book thrown at you. Makes you wonder why we even bother calling it "justice." It's more like "just us!"

Daily Pony: Ron and Rand Paul

Ron and Rand Paul by ~GennadyKalugina on deviantART

The two greatest American politicians in pony form? It's like combining peanut butter and chocolate! :D

Democrats: Party of Censorship

If you thought the Department of Justice seizing Associated Press phone records was an egregious violation of press freedom, you haven't heard the worst of it!

The Obama-led DOJ was revealed to not only have obtained the phone records of a journalist who received leaked information about North Korea in 2009, but also pried into his personal life, tracking his every movement, his private phone conversations and e-mails, and accused him of committing crimes in order to do so--even though what he did was perfectly legal!

And spare me, Obama apologists, with your counter-argument of "But Bush did this, too!" No, he didn't! As bad as Bush was, he never went this far, as Glenn Greenwald explains:

It is virtually impossible at this point to overstate the threat posed by the Obama DOJ to press freedoms. Back in 2006, Bush Attorney General Alberto Gonzales triggered a major controversy when he said that the New York Times could be prosecuted for having revealed the Top Secret information that the NSA was eavesdropping on the communications of Americans without warrants. That was at the same time that right-wing demagogues such Bill Bennett were calling for the prosecution of the NYT reporters who reported on the NSA program, as well as the Washington Post's Dana Priest for having exposed the CIA black site network.

But despite those public threats, the Bush DOJ never went so far as to formally accuse journalists in court filings of committing crimes for reporting on classified information. Now the Obama DOJ has.

Whenever you hear about government censorship, chances are the politician behind it has a 'D' next to his name. The Democrats have cemented themselves as the party of censorship, whether it be self-censorship (political correctness) or media censorship.

This fact has been verified through the Obama administration's actions, ranging from this recent revelation of the DOJ prosecuting journalists and seizing phone records, to the administration prosecuting whistleblowers (more so than any previous administration combined) and attacking dissenting news outlets.

But it's not just Obama who's at fault. Recently, his vice president, Joe Biden, suggested taxing violent video games. This shouldn't be the least bit surprising, as Democrats like Hilary Clinton and Joe Lieberman have been leading the charge against video games.

And which party has been pushing for internet censorship? SOPA? PIPA? CISPA? All heavily-supported by Democrats, who, to no one's surprise, receive political donations from Big Media. (And do I even need to mention the liberal media?)

And this is hardly a recent development with the Democrats. For decades, their party has been pushing censorship, from Tipper Gore crusading against violent rap lyrics in the 1980s, all the way back to the turn of the century with president Woodrow Wilson imprisoning thousands of war protesters and dissidents.

So why are Democrats so adamantly pro-censorship, despite being "liberals"? Simple. Contrary to popular misconception, the Democrats are not liberal. They no longer support (or rather, never have supported) liberalism--or at least what the philosophy used to be.

Whereas free speech was the crux of "classic" liberalism, it has proven to be the anathema of "modern" liberalism, or progressivism. Progressive ideology cannot survive within the marketplace of ideas. It cannot stand against the scrutiny allowed through free expression. Therefore, progressive Democrats must preserve their ideology by curtailing criticism and scrutiny against it.

Thus it is with all die-hard ideologues, from the Catholic Church to feminists. They know their dogma has no bearing in observable reality, so they must bend reality into their favor, and if it means silencing, even "eliminating", dissenters, so be it!

But as with all enemies of free speech, the progressive Democrats stand on the wrong side of history. Time has shown that those who advocate censorship always lose to those who advocate free speech and expression. The question remains, will the Democrats realize their folly and come to the winning side, or fade away into obscurity on the losing side? If history is any indicator, the latter answer will be true.

Daily Pony: Naked Lunch

naked lunch by *CSImadmax on deviantART

Curse you, cupcakes and gelatin! Why must you shelter Twilight in all her glory?!?!

Dafuq Is Wrong With Humanity?

Just when you thought your faith in humanity couldn't plummet any lower, a news story comes along proving you wrong. This article is one such story:

A woman died on a courthouse floor because Alabama sheriff's deputies refused to give her her medicine - after arresting her for an old traffic ticket, the woman's daughter claims in court.

Ayunna Johnae London sued St. Clair County Sheriff Terry Surles, jail administrators Austin Nash and Terry Marcrum, Southern Healthcare Partners, and its employee Jennifer Eisel, in Federal Court.

London claims her mother, Dwana Voncia London-Richardson, died gasping for breath in court after callous and unconstitutional treatment from the defendants.

Richardson suffered from asthma and other serious health problems, but the defendants refused to give her her medication, accused her of faking, and let her die in the courtroom, her daughter claims.

Southern Healthcare Partners, which provided medical care to inmates at the St. Clair County Jail, failed to treat her mother properly, London says.

Her 45-year-old mother died in May 2011 at the St. Clair County Courthouse while in the sheriff's custody.

Words fail me at this point.

How do you explain everything wrong with this story? A woman died from an asthma attack because the pigs running the courthouse thought she was faking and refused to give her her medicine. Anyone with basic human freaking decency can discern why that is immoral.

But I guess those in authority of our broken justice system can't discern that, which makes you wonder why we even bother calling it a "justice" system. In a just, humane world, these deputies would have been charged with manslaughter. But we don't live in a just, humane world. We lived in a freaked-up world. If anything, these pigs will be given a slap on the wrist and placed on administrative leave.

This story pisses me off so badly that I want to unleash a string of curses, but I feel that run-of-the-mill curse words cannot convey the righteous indignation I feel over this gross act of injustice. So I'm forced to use the Elder Swear.

Sorry, Dumbledore, but these pigs forced me to use it.

Here it goes.

Inhale.

YOUR MOTHER IS A********************* LOREM IPSEM**************** ADMINTUM VENIUM** *********** TRAGULA **********HIPPOPOTAMUS********** REPUBLICAN *****************DANIEL RADCLIFFE*******************WITH A BUCKET OF **************IN A CASTLE FAR AWAY WHERE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU********************SOUP**************************WITH A BUCKET OF********MICKEY MOUSE********A STICK OF DYNAMITE**************** MAGICAL******************ALAKAZAM!