It required a horrifying ignorance of history to write this. Also present are depressing levels of dumbassedness about art, economics, math, psychology, management, cause and effect, music, political science, human motivation, human rights, climate, agriculture, science, culture, and individualism.
If I have the time, I'm going to Fisk every sentence. The Communists made the Nazis look like amateurs.
In the meantime, check out this book.
The Black Book Of Communism. If I can get contact for Jesse Myerson, I'm going to mail him a copy. For the good of the human race.
I haven't had time to watch all of this, but the Libertarian Blogosphere is touting it as the greatest episode of Paul Krugman torture available for children under 18. Posting it here for future reference, in case I'm in a bad mood one day and need cheering up.
Here's what someone calling himself Tyler Durden had to say about the vid:
Forget Ali - Frazier; ignore Santelli - Liesman; dismiss Yankees - Red Sox; never mind Silva - Sonnen; the new undisputed standard by which all showdowns will be judged happened in Spain over the weekend.
During a debate on Europe's crisis, Pedro Schwartz (a mild-mannered Spanish 'Austrian' economics professor) took on the heavyweight Paul 'I coulda been a Fed Chair contender' Krugman, and - in our humble opinion - wiped the floor with his Keynesian philosophy.
From the medicinal use of more debt to fix too much debt, to the Japanization of world economies and the demand-side bias of every- and any-thing - interested only in the short-term economic growth; the gentlemanly Spaniard notes, with regard to the European crisis, the fact that "Keynesians got us into this mess and now we have to sacrifice our principals so that they can get us out of this mess".
Humble and generous in his praise - though definitively serious with his criticism - Schwartz opines: "Often Nobel prize winners are tempted to pontificate on matters that are outside the specialty in which they have excelled," noting "the mantle of authority whereby what ever they say - whether sensible or not - is accepted with resignation from some and enthusiasm by others."
Krugman's red-faced anger is evident at the conclusion as he even refused to shake Schwartz's hand after the debate.
For 15 minutes of both education and entertainment - this is as good as it gets...
•Starting from around 35:00 the Spanish professor praises and criticizes in a thoughtful and gentle tone
•At around 39:00, he addresses the demand-side description of the world
•Krugman's less-than-happy response (which sparks quite a rowdy argument) begins around 48:20
From ABC News comes this account of Michele and Marcus Bachmann's counseling center, a business that will help lead gay and lesbian clients back into the closet:
A former patient who sought help from the Christian counseling clinic owned by GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann and her husband, Marcus, told ABC News he was advised that prayer could rid him of his homosexual urges and he could eventually be "re-oriented."
"[One counselor's] path for my therapy would be to read the Bible, pray to God that I would no longer be gay," said Andrew Ramirez, who was 17-years-old at the time he sought help from Bachmann & Associates in suburban Minneapolis in 2004. "And God would forgive me if I were straight."
In the past, Marcus Bachmann has disputed the clinic has treated gay patients this way. But Ramirez's account, which was first reported by The Nation, is similar to the counseling session that appears on new undercover video shot by a gay rights advocacy group last month. That footage shows another counselor at the Bachmann clinic telling a gay man posing as a patient that, with prayer and effort, he could eventually learn to be attracted to women and rid himself of his gay urges.
Here's why the Bachmann campaign is getting so much attention on this issue. There's a guy in Iowa named Bob Vander Plaats who has gotten a few Republican candidates to sign a "pledge" affirming their belief in heterosexual marriage, the Defense Of Marriage Act, opposition to Sharia Law, and the like. The "pledge" begins with the following preamble:
Faithful monogamy is at the very heart of a designed and purposeful order - as conveyed by Jewish and Christian Scripture, by Classical Philosophers, by Natural Law, and by the American Founders - upon which our concepts of Creator-endowed human rights, racial justice and gender equality all depend.
Does Bob Vander Plaats not own a Bible? And if so, has he ever cracked the cover? Please allow me to climb into the pulpit of the sepulchre for today's scripture readings, helpfully assembled by a website called BiblicalPolygamy.com:
Abraham had 3 wives - Sarah, Hagar and Keturah
"Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar." Genesis 16:1
"And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife." Genesis 16:3
"Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah." Genesis 25:1
Here's a brief summary of the marital career of King David, who made Newt Gingrich look like an amateur. David hadat least 18 wives - Michal, Abigail, Ahinoam of Jezreel, Eglah, Maacah, Abital, Haggith, and Bathsheba, and "10 women/concubines"
"Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife." 1 Samuel 18:27. (See also 1 Samuel 19:11-18; 25:44; and 2 Samuel 3:13-14; 6:20-23.)
"David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife. 1 Samuel 25:39
"David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives." 1 Samuel 25:43
"But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife," 1 Samuel 25:44
"Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;" 2 Samuel 3:3
"And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; And the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron." 2 Samuel 3:4-5
"And David took him more concubines and wives" 2 Samuel 5:13, 1 Chronicles 14:3
"And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things." 2 Samuel 12:7-8
"And David comforted Bathsheba his wife..." 2 Samuel 12:24
"And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house." 2 Samuel 15:16. (See also 2 Samuel 16:21-23.)
If you're reading this rant in a U.S. hotel room, chances are there's a Gideon Bible in the nightstand. Here's an account of Gideon's record as a Baby-Daddy:
"And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives." Judges 8:30
Here's the wife count for Abraham's grandson Jacob, who had 4 Wives - Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah:
"And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her." Genesis 29:23
"And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also." Genesis 29:28
"And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her." Genesis 30:4
"When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife." Genesis 30:9
And here's what Vander Plaat missed on racial justice and gender equality:
Deuteronomy 21:10-14 "When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her."
Deuteronomy 20:14 "But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself"
And if you do go out and capture some foreigners, for god's sake please get 'em circumcised:
Genesis 17:13 "He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant."
Genesis 17:27 "And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him."
Mr. Vander Plaats and Mrs. Bachman, those are the traditional values conveyed by Jewish and Christian scripture.
Those traditionas are wrong. It's that simple. They aren't wisdom, they aren't just, they aren't humane. They're wrong. Humans shouldn't own each other. It's wrong. Men shouldn't own women. That is wrong. I don't believe that it makes sense for someone to have 40 wives. I don't think you believe it either.
Those teachings aren't inspired. They're the best that we could do at the time, based on what we knew.
It's time to out grow them, not just on slavery and racism, but on the rights of our gay and lesbian friends. I almost forgot this one. Mr. Bachman, why are you letting Michele out of the house so much?
Here's what happened when God saw that Eve had eaten from the Tree Of Knowledge, bringing sin into the world.
Genesis 3:16 "To the woman, the Lord God said 'I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
Happy 2011. Since you folks generally don't hit links, I've scraped this excellent collection of videos from the Injustice Everywhere blog, stolen it, and reposted it here. All in hopes that you will hit THIS LINK and give this guy some more traffic. That's the only way you're going to see which video won the contest. I repeat, you must hit THIS LINK to see which video of Police Misconduct won. Here is Mr. Injustice Everywhere:
Once again it’s time for our annual “Worst Police Misconduct Videos of the Year” reader’s poll. Here we post some of the more egregious, but not all, of the videos that were released in 2010 in association with claims of police misconduct. Of course, some of the incidents tied to these videos did not occur in 2010, but the videos for those reports weren’t released to the public until this year so they are included.
Each video is associated with a number and are listed in no specific order. At the end of the post is a poll where each visitor may select up to three of the videos that they consider the worst examples of police misconduct caught on video for the year. At the end of the voting period, midnight on New Years Eve of 2010, we will begin tallying the votes and present the five worst videos of the year on New Years Day.
(Note: Our list of the worst police misconduct videos of 2009 as selected by our readers is here.)
So, without further ado, here are the candidates… VIDEO 1 – 47 votes
November 11, 2009:
A Texas State trooper was caught on dashcam slamming a female motorist face-first into a concrete barrier while arresting her on suspicion of drunk driving after she called police to report an accident. Prior to slamming her into the wall the dashcam recorded him telling the woman “You’re fixing to get hurt, don’t make me put you on the ground, you understand?” The woman was never charged and the now-former trooper was sentenced to probation after convicted on a misdemeanor assault charge.
VIDEO 2 – 12 votes
October 29, 2010:
A Fond du Lac Wisconsin police officer was caught on surveillance camera inside a jail holding area slamming a handcuffed mentally-ill detainee face-first into a table so hard it lifted the man’s legs off the ground and resulted in a gash that required stitches in his head. While the officer was suspended without pay for three days over the incident the man’s family claims that he suffered worse injuries than are being described and hasn’t been the same since the incident, describing him as a “walking vegetable”. VIDEO 3 – 15 votes
October 18, 2010:
An undercover Seattle Washington police officer is currently under investigation after a surveillance camera inside a convenience store captured him kick a 17-year-old boy in the crotch then repeatedly kick him in the face while it appeared as though he was attempting to cooperate. The officer claimed the boy was just involved in a drug buy bust that went wrong when the undercover officers were robbed by the suspects they tried to buy drugs from. However, as you watch the video, note how the two kids look surprised by the commotion outside and go out to see what’s happening… would someone who just ran from a botched robbery do that? Oddly, the police apparently didn’t suspend the officer pending investigation until they found out the video was going to air on the news. VIDEO 4 - 14 votes
October 18, 2010
The same Seattle Washington police officer shown kicking a compliant teenager in Video 3 then allegedly went outside and punched a man who was attempting to videotape what was happening. However, aside from a single report in the press, there was no other word on any investigation taking place regarding this incident. In fact, officials refused to even view the video which was sent to the press. VIDEO 5 – 14 votes
April 17, 2010:
Two Seattle Washington police officers are still the subject of an internal investigation after both county prosecutors and the city attorney refused to press charges against them for their roles in this video captured by a freelance photojournalist where a gang officer can be heard telling what turned out to be an innocent man that he would “beat the Mexican piss” out of him before grazing his face while stomping on his hand. Later a female officer can be seen stomping on the man’s leg. Officers later released the man but didn’t offer him medical treatment even though he seemed unsteady on his feet. A second investigation began on allegations that one local TV station, which refused to air the story, colluded with officers to keep misconduct reports out of the news. One of the officers was also implicated in another incident a week after this video came out where he’s accused of choking a handcuffed suspect in the back of his cruiser. No video of that exists since the officer failed to activate his in-cruiser dashcam as required by policy. VIDEO 6 – 9 votes
October 30, 2010
Two Miami Florida police officers are still suspended while under investigation over a cellphone video that made it’s way on YouTube showing an officer strike a man in or near his head while being held down by several other officers. That man, a youth services worker, was allegedly picked out of a crowd for now apparent reason and prosecutors were going to drop charges against him until the video went public. Then prosecutors moved ahead anyway and charged him with a stand-alone count of resisting arrest without violence for, according to his lawyer, trying to cover his head during the beating until he lost consciousness. VIDEO 7 – 26 votes
August 5, 2010:
A Kershaw County South Carolina deputy has been indicted on a federal civil rights charge over his use of excessive force when he was caught on jail surveillance cameras repeatedly beating a handcuffed detainee with a metal baton while another deputy watched and shoved the man back when he tried to get away from the blows. The man suffered a broken leg in the attack and the other deputy seen in the video was fired over the incident as well but no word on charges against him. VIDEO 8 – 7 votes
November 27, 2010:
Four Springfield Massachusetts police officers have been disciplined over their roles in a videotaped beating incident where officers held down an unarmed man while another repeatedly beat him with a flashlight on video captured by a nearby homeowner. One officer, who has been charged over the incident, has been fired while two others were suspended for 45 days and the fourth was suspended for 15. [0] VIDEO 9 – 8 votes
September 21, 2010:
A Summit County Ohio deputy has been suspended for 30 days over a videotaped incident where he slammed a handcuffed detainee against a wall then sent him head-first into an opposite wall before kicking him in the jail’s intake room. The deputy claims the man tried to headbutt him though the video seems to show a head movement that appears more incidental due to the man being pushed than something intentional. The sheriff attributed this incident, and others this year, to stress over recent layoffs. [0] VIDEO 10 – 17 votes
September 2010:
The police chief of Wister Oklahoma was caught on video slamming a 50-year-old woman into a wall then using a leg-sweep takedown on her, slamming her face onto the floor. The rough treatment left the woman with a black eye, bruised her ribs, and dislocated her knee. The incident apparently stemmed from the woman swearing at the chief when she went to complain about how the department was handling an investigation into an unspecified resident’s death. The chief charged her with using profanity in public and resisting arrest but no word on any adverse action suffered by the chief. VIDEO 11 – 9 votes
September 5, 2010:
Six Dallas Texas police officers were involved in this video showing officers chasing a man for riding his motorcycle on a sidewalk then beating him after forcing him off his bike with their police cruiser. One officer was charged with assault for striking the man 5 times with a baton and another for striking him with his fists and knee. A third officer was also charged with evidence tampering for turning his dashcam away from what was happening. One officer was heard on radio during the chase telling them to get in close and that he was going to beat this guy. VIDEO 12 – 31 votes
March 16, 2010:
Two Denver police officers are under investigation over a videotaped incident in March of 2010 where they detained a man who was walking his dog because he told a motorist that the officers had pulled over that he would testify on his behalf since he witnessed the driver stop when officers were citing him for failing to stop. However, once the man started to use his cell phone to take pictures officers took him to the ground and began to punch him while attempting to take his cell phone, all of which was caught on another bystander’s video recording. VIDEO 13 – 19 votes
April 4, 2009:
Two Denver Colorado police officers are still under investigation over a year after an incident that was caught on the police department’s own “HALO” cameras which showed officers take down and beat a man who was simply standing on a street corner and calling his father, a Pueblo County Sheriff’s Deputy, asking him what to do while police were roughly arresting his friend. The video contradicted police reports filed by the officers which tried to justify the beating and arrest but, a year later, department officials decided to only suspend the officers for a couple of days for lying on the report which sparked outrage and the eventual resignation of the Dept of Public Safety director. VIDEO 14 - 31 votes
June 29, 2010:
Two Marin County California deputies are the subject of a lawsuit filed by a 64-year-old man who was tasered three times in an incident captured on the taser’s built-in camera as shown above. The suit alleges that deputies barged into the man’s home after paramedics had already treated the man for a leg injury when he hurt himself in a fall. Cops were called because paramedics heard the man exclaim that he was in so much pain he would have shot himself if he had a gun and officers wanted to have him committed for being suicidal. He was charged with resisting arrest but those charges were dismissed later by a judge. VIDEO 15 – 13 votes
February 24, 2010:
Two Columbia Missouri police officers are being sued by a man who was tasered on dashcam video, shown above, about 30 seconds into what appears to be a typical traffic stop after he asked why he was being pulled over. He claims that officers then began to beat him off-camera before arresting him on resisting arrest charges that were later dismissed when the prosecutor couldn’t show how the man could have known why he was being arrested in the first place. VIDEO 16 – 11 votes
July 2008:
A New York NY police officer shown in this video footage brutally beating an Iraq war vet with a baton in the apartment building where the vet was staying with his mother was later acquitted of charges against him because the man he beat was too terrified to testify and could not be found before the trial. The video was kept from the public eye since 2008 until right before the trial this year. VIDEO 17 - 60 votes
February 11, 2010:
A Columbia Missouri SWAT team videotaped their raid in on a family’s home that was based on questionable information they received from a paid informant. That raid resulted in a family’s corgi and bull terrier being shot while a 7-year-old was nearby inside the home. The cops say they did the evening raid because they expected this guy to be some big dealer but all they found was a pipe with resin and a grinder. The couple was charged with simple possession and child endangerment but the raid sparked a civil rights lawsuit that is still pending as well as promised reforms from the department itself. VIDEO 18 – 44 votes
March 3, 2010:
At least four Prince George’s County Maryland police officers and two police commanders are the subject of ongoing federal and internal investigations into their actions in the above video and subsequent actions during the investigation into it. The video contradicted officer’s claims in reports that a student they beat during celebrations after a college basketball game had attacked a police horse. The video clearly showed he did nothing to provoke the attack and his subsequent arrest as well. VIDEO 19 – 13 votes
March 28, 2010:
A Streamwood Illinois police officer has been charged with aggravated battery and official misconduct for beating a motorist with his baton at least 15 times after he had tasered the man’s passenger and it was all caught on dashcam. The men he tasered and beat were unarmed and didn’t present a threat to the officer who is now on paid leave and may eventually face even more charges in this case. VIDEO 20 – 6 votes
November 5, 2010:
A South Bend Indiana police officer was suspended for 30 days without pay over what happened in this video. The officer was found to have violated departmental policies when he intentionally hit a suspect with his police cruiser, shattering his knee, while the man was fleeing on foot. The officer claimed he turned into the grass to avoid hitting the suspect but the video was found to have contradicted that claim. VIDEO 21 – 6 votes
March 24, 2010:
A Newark New Jersey police officer was suspended without pay and indicted for using excessive force and falsifying reports to cover it up after this video surveillance tape captured him assaulting a teenager at an apartment complex without justification. Three other officers present during the incident were reassigned while under investigation but no updates were available in regards to their status. Charges against the 15-year-old boy were dismissed. VIDEO 22 – 24 votes
February 29, 2009
A Carrollton Texas police officer is the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit over a 2009 incident caught on dashcam video that shows him slamming a man against a car and then to the ground after the man informed him that he had a concealed weapon permit but wasn’t given a chance to show it to officers at the scene. He wasn’t arrested that day because he didn’t do anything wrong… the officers were investigating him on suspicion of stealing license plates but he was just a car salesman putting temp tags on a sold car.
However, when the victim went to file a complaint three weeks later he was arrested and charged with resisting arrest after an officer asked him if he really wanted to pursue this. Since then he claims cops have been intimidating him by parking at his home at night and giving him tickets for parking on the street. VIDEO 23 – 8 votes
July 18, 2009:
A West Valley Utah police officer is the subject of a lawsuit filed by a man claiming he was picked up and thrown to the ground face-first by the officer who stopped him for allegedly running a stop sign. Apparently the officer tailed him without pulling him over until he got to his girlfriend’s house and then, when he got out of his truck, the officer turned on his lights. The officer then walked up to his truck, shoved him inside of it, then dragged him back out to shoulder-toss him face-first into the pavement while holding his arms behind him so he couldn’t break the fall. VIDEO 24 – 18 votes
December 11, 2010:
Kenton Ohio police are investigating how the man shown in this video, arrested on drunk and disorderly charges, ended up on life support in the hospital after his family started asking how it happened. This video appears to show one of the officers handling him in a processing area performing a leg sweep on him while he was handcuffed. The thing to remember here is that when someone is handcuffed they are extremely susceptible to severe head injuries since they have no way to brace themselves when thrown down like this and, often, their head takes the full brunt of the impact. VIDEO 25 – 122 votes
August 30, 2010:
A Seattle Washington police officer is still the subject of an investigation for fatally shooting a Native American woodcarver when he tried to stop him for carrying a block of wood and a legal knife. The man was apparently partially deaf and was wearing earphones so, according to witnesses, it didn’t appear as though he even heard the officer’s commands before that officer opened fire, striking him in the back and the side. Initial press releases from the police stated that the officer fired when the man rushed towards him with the knife but that was withdrawn in the face of contradictory witness statements. Subsequently, it appears as though his knife may not have even been open as it was found closed on the ground near his body. This, and several other cases in the last two years, has sparked calls for a federal investigation into the department. VIDEO 26 – 11 votes
January 16, 2010:
Phoenix Arizona police officers were accused of indiscriminate use of pepper spray which doused women and children during an anti-Maricopa County Sheriff Arpaio protest in that city. While police and some groups in that protest blamed anarchists for provoking police by throwing bottles and hitting a police horse with flagpoles, others claim that protesters were trying to push a mounted officer back when the horse appeared close to trampling protesters as it pushed its way into the mass of protesters, at which point video captures the discharge of pepper spray from that mounted officer. Others also claim that Phoenix PD officers had infiltrated the protesting group of anarchists as provocateurs and began to arrest protesters when the pepper spray was released. This video was a late entry requested for inclusion by a CopBlock reader on Facebook. VIDEO 27 – 9 votes
October 2010:
A number of Boston Massachusetts police officers are under investigation after videos taken by students at Roxbury Community College showed officers punching and using knee strikes on a 16-year-old who was wanted after escaping custody while held on assault and possession of marijuana charges. While officers claimed that the teen assaulted them, witnesses say he complied with every command given and that the arresting officers never showed their badges. This video was a late entry requested for inclusion by a CopBlock reader on Facebook. Sorry, the poll has closed. Please only vote for three entries. Voting ends at Midnight, December 31, 2010. NOTE: If there’s a video that you think we missed that could be worse than the ones listed here let us know and we’ll add it as a late entry if it qualifies. Late entries are added along with a number of votes that is equal to the median number of votes for all entries at the time of inclusion.
I've begged and begged, numerous times over the last few weeks.....
The politically motivated violence associated with anti-Obama sentiment has GOT TO STOP ! But it got out of hand again yesterday.
Dial it back, people, dial it back. The mainstream media groups are watching.
They are watching, aren't they?
Hello, media ??? Are you there? Anybody reporting on this?
Oh. Sorry. This incident doesn't fit the preferred narrative.
If any of you are fan's of Douglas Adams' Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy series, you probably remember Vogon poetry. Here's a brief description of the relative awfulness of Vogon poetry, from the Hitchhiker's Wikja:
Vogon poetry is of course, the third worst in the universe. The second worst is that of the Azgoths of Kria. During a recitation by their poet master Grunthos the Flatulent of his poem "Ode to a Small Lump of Green Putty I Found in My Armpit One Midsummer Morning" four of his audience died of internal hemorrhaging and the president of the Mid-Galactic Arts Nobbling Council survived only by gnawing one of his own legs off. Grunthos was reported to have been "disappointed" by the poem's reception, and was about to embark on a reading of his 12-book epic entitled "My Favourite Bathtime Gurgles" when his own major intestine--in a desperate attempt to save humanity--leapt straight up through his neck and throttled his brain. The very worst poetry of all perished along with its creator, Paul Neil Milne Johnstone of Redbridge, in the destruction of the planet Earth. Vogon poetry is mild by comparison.
Hold on a minute ! ! We have a new entry for one of those coveted Top Three Spots ! !
