News Roundup for 11/15/11

Armed and dangerous -- no, not the cops...

-Headline of the Day-
"City Claims Occupy Wall Street Protesters Were Stockpiling Weapons, Fights Court Order To Reopen Park."

Them Occupy Wall Street commies got big piles of guns and stuff!

Wait, no. According to the City of New York, currently fighting a legal battle to declare Zuccatti Park a free-speech-free zone, are getting a little creative in their defense. Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway "filed a motion on behalf of the city today opposing a court order requiring the NYPD to allow Occupy Wall Street demonstrators back into Zuccotti Park."

In that motion, Holloway wrote, "It was our understanding that the protesters may have had a significant number of items that could potentially be used as weapons." For the record, that could be pretty much anything. The biggest threat to public safety cited were "cardboard tubes with metal pipes inside," which I guess are more weapony than just metal pipes. Other evidence of a heavily armed protesters includes the aftermath of an October 1st march across the Brooklyn Bridge, where authorities reportedly found "knives, mace and hypodermic needles were observed discarded on the roadway."

OK, I'm going to go ahead and call bullshit on that one. One, who discards a knife? Those things cost money. And cops have been macing protesters, not the other way around. Finally, hypodermic needles? Yeah, that's my weapon of choice, right up there with thumbtacks -- it's New York, those are called "litter." I'm surprised they didn't include used condoms in that list of "weaponry."

There's a lesson to be learned here, of course. If you're going to stockpile weapons (or be accused of it) make sure they're guns.

When the cops come to take your guns away, the NRA will have a hissy. Guaranteed. (Gothamist)


-Racism is dead!-


Click to embiggen

Except when it's not. (McClatchy)


-Bonus HotD-
"Scalia and Thomas dine with healthcare law challengers as court takes case."

You know, it's one thing to have a conflict of interest and it's quite another to go out of your way to create it. The first is called "random stuff that happens in life," the second is called "being a dick about it." (LA Times)

Stories to Watch: 10/14/11

Got some stuff I need to do later and I'm running out of time right now, so tonight's going to be a shorty. Now here's the news...


Another day, another violent police action against the Occupy Wall Street protesters. Police and city governments should probably be aware that every incident like this is a PR coup for the movement. In other words, if you want them to go away, you're doing it wrong.


On the anti-Wall Street front; something's up. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner promises "dramatic enforcement actions" against financial criminals.


Josh Marshall detects a distinct shift away from deficits and toward jobs.


An appeals court blocks parts of Alabama's insane anti-immigration law.


Do regulations kill jobs? The answer is no.


Finally, the rapture preacher is back with a new date for the end of the world.

Related articles

• Occupy Wall Street Cleanup Delayed, What Next? (mtv.com)
• Top 10 Occupy Wall Street Conspiracy Theories (huffingtonpost.com)
• On TIME.com: 'The World Is Watching' Occupy Wall Street Protesters (newsfeed.time.com)
• Occupy Wall Street Face Off with Police [Photos] (wcbsfm.radio.com)

Stories to Watch: 10/3/11

Polling shows that most people expect Barack Obama to lose reelection. I look at the GOP field and I'm a lot less convinced. Still, polling influences polling, so don't write it off.


How to talk to news media -- in particular, Fox News. If you're planning to ever protest anything, watch this and see how it's done.


The Transportation Workers Union in NYC will go to court "in hopes of blocking New York City from forcing bus drivers to transport any Occupy Wall Street protesters after the New York police department commandeered at least three buses to take many of the 700 protesters off the Brooklyn Bridge this weekend." The report says this will happen today, but no update and it's getting late.


Bob Inglis argues at Bloomberg that dealing with global warming is the conservative thing to do. It's a pretty solid argument, but I had a lot of trouble getting past this first paragraph: "Normally, the country can count on conservatives to deal in facts. We base policies on science, not sentiment, we insist on people being accountable for their actions, and we maintain that markets, not mandates, are the path to prosperity." Don't worry, you'll stop laughing eventually.


Evidence that straw polls don't mean shit; after Herman Cain wins a straw poll in Florida, an actual poll shows Mittens Romney has him by four points in the state. Bonus fun; Gingrich beats out Perry.


"Class warfare" ain't what it used to be. The gazillionaires complaining about this can officially be called "whiners."


Finally, Sarah Palin is nobody.

Related articles

• NYPD Arrests 700 #OccupyWallStreet Protesters On The Brooklyn Bridge (occupiedwallstreet.wordpress.com)
• Check Out The "Occupy Wall Street Journal" The Official Newspaper Of The Protesters (businessinsider.com)
• Arrests Don't Deter Wall Street Protesters (brandtstandard.com)

Stories to Watch: 9/26/11

Finally. I needed to get some bandwidth issues taken care of and it took me a lot longer than I thought it would. I think I've got it squared away now, but I'll run diagnostics later tonight to make sure. I'll set them up to run overnight. For once, I'll be productive even while I sleep. Now here's the news...


Greg Sargent takes on the idea of a third party by pointing out that there isn't exactly a third position on most issues for that party to take. Hence, it would be redundant. I'd go a bit farther and point to parliamentary systems where several parties exist; those tend to be narrowly focused parties (dealing almost exclusively with environmentalism, women's rights, copyright reform, etc.) that wind up as part of one coalition or another along the conservative/liberal divide. All we do in the US is skip the coalition building part. You may agree, you may disagree, but it's always nice to see a sound, logical argument. Paul Krugman also takes a stab at the issue.


The House and Senate continue to wrangle over disaster relief spending as the government faces a possible shutdown. David Dayden of Firedoglake makes an excellent case for Democrats sticking to their guns.


Allegations of the use of excessive force get awfully hard to deny in NYPD crowd control during the Occupy Wall Street protests. I want you to stop a moment and consider the political shitstorm that would ensue if police treated 'bagger protesters this way. I guess it's OK to abuse liberals.


Speaking of 'baggers, how racist can they be? How's this?


The DNC capitalizes on the bloodthirsty and hateful nature of the crowds at GOP debates.


Finally, Florida Gov. Rick Scott is just a clown.

Related articles

• Comedian Lee Camp Asks Important Questions About the Police Response to OccupyWallStreet (crooksandliars.com)
• Keith Olbermann calls out Media Blackout on 'Occupy Wall Street' Protest (finaloutlaw.com)
• Liveblog of #OccupyWallStreet: NYPD's Crackdown on the Protest (dissenter.firedoglake.com)