I Don't Think It Works That Way

"Sie sind unter uns" means "they are among us." I think you can probably think too much into that.

Watch at YouTube.

Molting

If I suggested to you that this time-lapsed video looked like the classic scene from Alien, wherein one organism comes bursting from the body of another, thereby killing it, would you be able to watch it with a quiet mind?



You're welcome.

Watch at YouTube.

Man Rams SUV Into Car Decorated With "Obama/Biden" Sticker

This seems like a part of the silent social contract: A person can express a preference for a political ticket on that person's personal automobile with a reasonable expectation that no one is going to try to run said automobile off the road.

Unfortunately, some people seem to have rejected that notion.

In Nashville yesterday, a man picked up his 10-year-old daughter in his car that sports the natty Obama-Biden sticker from the federal election in 2008. Another motorist notices the sticker and proceeds to follow, honk at and give the finger to the man. This continues until the other motorist decides to run his SUV into the back of the man's vehicle and then, instead of driving away or getting out and exchanging insurance information, the motorist guns his engine and pushes the combined mass of motor vehicle nearly onto the sidewalk.

The aggressive motorist faces a charge of felony reckless endangerment.

More telling yet is the story of harassment and intimidation collectively told in the comments to that news post by people who sport Obiden stickers. Honking, finger-waving, and aggressive driving is something I have never experienced myself, with my Kerry-Edwards and Defeat Bush! stickers.

Chilling.

Via Shakesville, with much thanks.

What The What?

I'm just going to reprint the whole of this:

A well-heeled Philadelphia school district gave out laptops to students—then used the webcams attached to covertly spy on them, both at school and at home, according to a class-action lawsuit. The case, Blake J. Robbins v. Lower Merion School District, was filed after one of the school’s vice principals disciplined Robbins’ son for “improper behavior in his home,” using a photo taken from the camera as evidence, according to the filing.

The laptops were issued to 1,800 students at three high schools in the district, each with a built-in webcam that, according to the lawsuit, administrators can activate remotely and covertly. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all the students and their parents. They’re seeking damages for invasion of privacy, theft of private information, and unlawful interception and access of electronic information.

Words fail me.

Oh Dear

Don't let this in your house! That's the first step in their plan!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

Oh, For Pete's Sake

This is the caliber of my elected officials:

Lawmakers look dumb for reviving Obama hoax
Gail Kerr

In the Handy Guide for Newspaper Opinion Columnists, this is called shooting fish in a barrel. Or hitting a slow-pitched softball.

Four Tennessee state representatives, all Republicans, have signed up to be plaintiffs in a lawsuit against President Barack Obama, aimed at forcing him to prove he is a United States citizen by coughing up his birth certificate.

O Lord, let these names be branded into Your mind, so that at the end of the world, Your angels may look and find them in the Book of Dumb, that they have everlasting ridicule:

Eric Swafford, for Cumberland and part of Bledsoe Counties;

Stacey Campfield, for part of Knox County, and who also seems to believe that women are more powerful than handguns;

Glen Casada, for part of Williamson County, and also the Republican Caucus Assistant Leader; and

Frank Nicely, for part of Knox County.

These four polemic poindexters believe that Obama should release his birth certificate to the public, once and for all, just to relieve the public of this pressing and controversial concern, you know? Specifically, they have volunteered to go in as co-plaintiffs on a California man's lawsuit to have Obama's birth certificate released to the public. They volunteered on Tennessee 104th General Assembly letterhead. That makes it an official boneheaded move.

You can see Barack Obama's official birth certificate here. It's not the original, but it's attested by the State of Hawaii.

Are these people after the original birth certificate?

Of course, this flap isn't about the birth certificate. Nothing Obama can do -- or anyone else in the position to release the birth certificate -- is going to sate these hyenas. They are going to continue believing that Barack Obama was born in Kenya, or Polynesia, or wherever*, because they want to. They also cherish their theories about what Hillary Clinton did with Vince Foster's body. They're those kinds of insatiable vultures.

*The most outlandish theory I heard is that Obama is Malcolm X's love child, and Stanley Ann Dunham had to fly to Canada or somewhere so Obama wouldn't be born an American citizen, or something, which of course completely disregards the fact that even Malcolm X was an American citizen argle blargle fazzzzzzzzz pop!

Ihr Ausweispapieren, Bitte

CHECKPOINT ARRESTS: A DUI checkpoint in Wilmington on Friday night resulted in 16 people being charged with drunken driving. Newport Police Chief Michael Capriglione, who heads the New Castle County Checkpoint Strikeforce, said police set up a checkpoint from 9 p.m. Friday until 2 a.m. Saturday at Pennsylvania Avenue and Tower Road. Officers also recovered a stolen vehicle and arrested five people on fugitive warrants, four on drug counts and 42 for other charges.

So, these cops, who were looking for drunk drivers, arrested 67 people, of whom 16 were driving drunk. The other 51 were not driving drunk, but they were wanted for something, so the cops arrested them.

As Slacktivist notes, in order for the police to know who's wanted, they have to run an ID check. Is that within the purview of a drunk driving checkpoint? How does running papers help the police determine who's drunk? This sounds a whole lot like everyone's papers were checked and the cops arrested those who were caught in their nets.

This checkpoint was so successful, I'm sure it's going to be repeated. Where? When? How often? Are the checkpoint cops going to be issued their own uniforms? Are their powers going to stop at checking IDs for warrants? How long before a K9 unit gets assigned routinely to any checkpoint? Will the cops be empowered to search your car on suspicion? Will they fall under the expanded FISA powers that don't seem to be going away, giving them all the time they need to get a search warrant after the fact?