Serious Question...

Is there a reason why we can't just construct a big-ass concrete dome to lower to the gulf floor and cover this broken rig?

Messed Up

I've penned many-a cop-bashing post in my time here—but the truth is: in my personal experience cops have been by-and-large helpful, business-like, and in some cases absolutely invaluable. There is certainly a higher than average dick-ratio among police as compared to other professions, but they are doing a difficult job than most people would never dream of.

With the exception of in my rear-view mirror, when I see a police officer I still have an initially positive reaction and a default position of respect. So, when something like this shooting in Washington goes down, I think it is seriously fucked up.

Now that that's clear, a couple of tangents based on yesterday's events:

1. The following paragraph should doom Mike Huckabee's chances of becoming President:

Man sought in deadly ambush had prison sentence commuted
Lakewood, Washington (CNN) -- The man wanted for questioning in the fatal shooting of four police officers had his 95-year prison sentence commuted by then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, authorities said late Sunday.

I know the rules are different for Republicans, but come on...it should be pretty difficult for GOP voters to square that one.

2. Where is the right-wing NRA-asshat pundit claiming more guns in the diner would have stopped this? All four victims were armed, trained, and probably wearing vests.

3. Despite my practical opposition to the death penalty because of the horrendous flaws in our criminal justice system, this is a perfect example of why I think the idea of a death penalty is valid. Not that a cop, or anyone else's life is intrinsically more valuable than anyone else's, but there should be a societal deterrent against killing a cop. Don't give me any shit about the d.p. not being an effective deterrent—everyone should understand that if you kill a cop, you should expect the chair. Period.

UPDATE: A lone Seattle police officer was confronted by Clemmons, who was armed with a gun he took from of of the slain officers, and shot him dead.

This is Your Criminal Justice System on Drugs

Will there ever be a politician with the balls to work on abolishing some of the draconian and ultimately ineffective drug sentencing laws in this stupid country? Jacob Sullum at Reason:

Last week the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that bong water is an illegal drug. Under state law, a controlled substance includes any "mixture" containing that substance, "regardless of purity." The consequences of reading that definition literally can be severe. In the case before the court, a woman whose bong contained 37 grams of water with traces of methamphetamine will now be treated as if she possessed 37 grams of speed, which converts possession of drug paraphernalia, a petty misdemeanor punishable by a $300 fine, into a a first-degree drug offense, punishable by seven or more years in prison. Three dissenting justices wrote that the majority's interpretation of the statute "misapplies the plain-meaning rule...runs counter to the legislative structure of our drug laws, does not make common sense, and borders on the absurd."

In that column, Sullum refers to a previous absurdity...

Back in 1993, I wrote a piece for Reason in which I highlighted the ridiculously unjust results of including the "carrier medium" for LSD (typically blotter paper) in calculating the drug's weight for sentencing purposes:

Under federal sentencing guidelines, selling 100 doses of LSD in pure form triggers a minimum sentence of less than a year, but selling the same amount on paper will get you a sentence of at least two years, three months. And if you were old-fashioned enough to drop your acid onto sugar cubes, you will end up behind bars for no less than 15 years, eight months.

That makes about as much sense as tacking on the weight of the car in when someone's busted for a bag of weed in the glovebox.

Mandatory sentencing and the disparity between different drugs has made this whole thing a fucking joke.

[h/t Sullivan]

The Fred Phelps of Iraq

A disturbing story from Iraq [via Sullivan]:

...Hamizi's group and others like it are believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than 130 gay Iraqi men since the beginning of the year alone.

The deputy leader of the group, which is based in Baghdad, explained its campaign using a stream of homophobic invective. "Animals deserve more pity than the dirty people who practise such sexual depraved acts," he told the Observer. "We make sure they know why they are being held and give them the chance to ask God's forgiveness before they are killed."

And why, exactly, is this not enough of a confession to put this asshole under arrest? If the Iraqis won't do it, I seem to remember U.S. forces detaining, torturing, and even killing plenty of Iraqis for far less.

(Photo: The bodies of gays on the streets of Iraq. By Bilal Hussein/AP.)

WTF?

What the fuck is wrong with Firefox these days? Anybody else having issues? It is crashing all the freaking time on me, and the Firefox on my G5 at home has completely shit the bed. It won't even launch without immediately crashing—and that sucks, because it's got my most extensive bookmarks lists, and I don't know how to salvage that.

UPDATE: Our power outage forced a restart of the computer, Firefox launched and just updated itself from 3.0.1 to 3.5, so, we'll see what happens... What I really want is a way to revert either my Firefox or Safari back a couple generations so I can use the online proofing system from my magazine's printer—the newer versions of both these browsers are incompatible (java errors). In the meantime, I'm going to save/export my bookmarks and look into alternatives...

UPDATE 2: Ahhh. I see Firefox has been updating itself to beta versions for two months...An explanation for the unstableness? Sons of....

The Next Unemployment Statistic...

Needs to be the goddamn idiot who thought a photo-op of a jetliner escorted by fighter jets flying into New York Harbor was a good fucking idea. Can him and every asshat up the chain that stamped it for approval.



It was apparently the Defense Department using a decoy-version of Air Force One and two F-16s so they could film it over the Statue of Liberty or something. The DoD did notify the FAA and NYC authorities, yet seemingly NO ONE thought to raise their hand and fucking scream "BAD IDEA, PEOPLE!"

936

WTF? Can anybody convince me that Wall Street isn't some combination of bed-wetting pussies, space aliens, and embezzlers? No substantive action has been taken regarding the bailout, yet the market is all over the place. Nothing bad enough actually happened to cause the 700-point drops, and nothing good enough happened to justify a 900-point gain.

It's a crock of shit.

Worst. Headline. Ever.

Penis theft panic hits city

By Joe Bavier Wed Apr 23, 1:07 PM ET

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.

Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur.

Another reason to skip that holiday in the Congo...