Monday, June 27, 2011

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

Remember when Bush trotted out the old "if you're not with us, you're against us" canard with respect to the Iraq war, that the Democrats rightly objected to because it was complete crap? Well, now that our president is engaged in illegal hostilities (yes, dropping bombs on a foreign country is a hostile act, despite what our esteemed president claims) with his own white-whale dictator, the shoe is on the other foot: Hillary Clinton Asks "Whose side are you on?"

Some of us are on the side of our constitutional republic and the rule of law. Whose side are you on, you opportunistic, hypocritical hack?

Friday, June 17, 2011

State Police and Feds Collude to Steal from Gamblers

This is insane. Every time I think the government couldn't sink any lower, I am amazed at the new scams they come up with.

Maryland Police teamed up with the feds to create a fake online poker payment business, and then simply kept any deposits made, totaling $30 million dollars. The trusting souls who desposited their money with the fraudulent agency won't get their cash back:

"The government is not going to give the money to gamblers."

Well there you have it. Setting up a fake business to scam customers is okay as long as you are the police, and they are merely "gamblers".

Thursday, June 16, 2011

They Aren't Even Pretending Anymore

Congress is moving to ban the sale of genetically modified salmon that grow twice as fast as regular salmon on one-tenth of the feed. The reason?

[Alaska Republican Rep. Don] Young argued that the modified fish would compete with wild salmon in his state.

What? Couldn't you at least have the decency to make up something about how genetically modified foods cause autism in children, or how drug smugglers prefer to store their illicit goods in bigger fish? That's your job, man! I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to just come out and say "because consumers would like their product over ours".

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Even Police Dogs Have More Rights Than You

Based on the increasing number of police stories I'm beginning to accumulate here, it may seem obvious to most that police officers are entitled to (or at least believe they are entitled to) many more rights than your average citizen. It may surprise some people to learn, however, that even police dogs are members of that elite and privileged class.

If you so much as make a noise the dog doesn't like, you might be facing up to 60 days in jail:

Stephens, 25, faces up to 60 days in jail if convicted of a charge of teasing a police dog when he allegedly got the dog riled up early April 3 when police were investigating a car crash outside the Mason Pub on Reading Road. [...]

"The defendant's words and actions created 'a clear and present danger' to the well being of the police dog as the dog violently attempted to exit the car, (and was) a danger to anyone who entered the car and a danger to anyone outside the car if the door or window had been opened," she wrote in a motion opposing Stephens' request to dismiss the charge.

You'd think a question of your free speech rights vs. the rights of a dog (whatever they are) would be an open and shut case, but then again, this is a police dog we're talking about. Normal rules need not apply (Presumably "teasing" a non-police dog is not a crime; non-police dogs being the proles of the canine kingdom).

And as for your dogs? Well, let's just say they are in mortal danger if they are on the scene in any way when the police show up.

Life Imitates Art Imitates Life

Via this story about a police officer who feels he was retaliated against by his department when he arrested a DA for drunk driving comes this gem:

Zinstein was later told in a visit from a Personnel Bureau lieutenant "that the department wanted to do right by him," sources said.

"He was told to figure out where he wants to work," one source said. "The lieutenant said he would make it happen for him."

As a fan of The Wire, my first reaction was "For God's sake, tell him you really, really want a job in the harbor patrol!"

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Debt Collectors Haul Father Out of House at Gunpoint

Heavily armed debt collectors break down a man's door, haul him outside in his underwear, throw him to the ground, plant a knee in his back, and in front of his three kids, demand to know the whereabouts of his estranged wife, who owes them money. Call the police, you say?

They were the police; a SWAT team run by the Department of Education, in fact. The man's wife had defaulted on her student loans. Even after they determined that she was not present at the location, the man and his three children spent six hours handcuffed in the back a police cruiser.

If this is how the DoE treats the innocent, woe to the person who gets on the wrong side of the Department of Fish and Wildlife's SWAT team.

UPDATE:

The DoE has responded to the story and insisted that the SWAT raid was not performed because of a loan in default, but instead because of loan fraud (you know, because that makes sending in a SWAT team and holding an innocent man and his children in a squad car for six hours so much more rational).