Fuck its silent in here.......

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

"I don't know why everybody is running to buy these expensive and useless machines. I can overcome the body scanners with enough explosives to bring down a Boeing 747," Rafi Sela told parliamentarians probing the state of aviation safety in Canada.

"That's why we haven't put them in our airport," Sela said, referring to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport, which has some of the toughest security in the world.

Those Israelis are pussies.  They don't even arm their pilots with guns!  How is their record against hijackings?

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=95001213

Oh.

The El AL model works for El AL, but it isn't very scalable (cant find numbers, but American probably flies more flights per day from O'Hare than El AL flies overall):

http://www.businessinsider.com/sorry-the-el-al-israeli-security-model-will-never-work-here-2010-1

And that article doesnt get into the fact that the Israelis have marshalls on every flight (who appear to be much more professional than US marshalls (who are on only a small percentage of US flights))

It may make sense to hold off buying the scanners if they don't work (TSA/HS is becoming the new military industrial complex, and we still have the old one), but our air systems requires some level of technology.

Let's also not forget the perfunctory military service of every able-bodied Israeli citizen...  I would imagine that when looking at a plane full of fat, slobby American citizens versus a plane full of Israelis who may or may not be two years removed from the top of their IDF Krav Maga class in basic; a terrorist may consider the former a slightly softer target.

Karate? The Dane Cook of martial arts? We use Krav Maga. We've got an ex-Mossad guy. He comes in on Thursdays. Tuesdays he does a really rigorous spin class.

[Quality Start Machine]

"In 2004 the social question that animated the campaign was gay marriage. Before the election season had unfolded, I had talked to George about not making gay marriage a significant issue. We have, I reminded him, a number of close friends who are gay or whose children are gay. But at that moment I could never have imagined what path this issue would take and where it would lead."

Laura Bush, from her new memoirs; probably the most decent person in the White House in those eight years.

Also:

This week, Bill Frist, the former Republican Senate Majority Leader again offered qualified praise for the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, Republican Senator Bob Bennett is on the verge of losing his primary in Utah, primarily because he briefly sponsored a health care bill with Ron Wyden that went nowhere.

What these two episodes show is the degree to which the Republican Party lurched to the right during the health care debate. Ideas that were until recently moderate became dangerous socialism. Right-wing elites like Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and the Congressional leadership led the opposition to health care reform, whipping the base into a frenzy. That frenzy, in turn, pulled the whole rest of the party along with it. It's pretty clear that plenty of Republicans in Washington would have liked to cut a deal if left to their own devices, but they weren't left to their own devices.

http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/the-gop-hcr-lurch-and-the-republicans-left-behind

Thoughts?

My thoughts are that just because a person considers themselves a Republican doesn't mean they also have to be a frothing, anti-socialist sideshow of a person. There used to be something called a liberal Republican, was there not? Why wouldn't there still be such a thing?

The modern Republican Party likes to say they're the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Reagan. 2/3 of them would be Democrats by today's standards.

[Gilgamesh]

More shenanigans in Pen's backyard.

The Arizona Department of Education recently began telling school districts that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English.

The best part:

In the 1990s, Arizona hired hundreds of teachers whose first language was Spanish as part of a broad bilingual-education program. Many were recruited from Latin America.

Then in 2000, voters passed a ballot measure stipulating that instruction be offered only in English. Bilingual teachers who had been instructing in Spanish switched to English.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703572504575213883276427528.html

Also:

HB 2281 would make it illegal for a school district to have any courses or classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity "instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."

It also would ban classes that "promote resentment toward a race or class of people."

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/precollegiate/article_c1f53405-acab-5f21-a580-a199a68ff76c.html

I have no idea what to make of this.

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

I have no idea what to make of this.

Obviously, it's just more small government from the land of Barry Goldwater.

[Brownie]

More shenanigans in Pen's backyard.

The Arizona Department of Education recently began telling school districts that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English.

The best part:

In the 1990s, Arizona hired hundreds of teachers whose first language was Spanish as part of a broad bilingual-education program. Many were recruited from Latin America.

Then in 2000, voters passed a ballot measure stipulating that instruction be offered only in English. Bilingual teachers who had been instructing in Spanish switched to English.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703572504575213883276427528.html

Also:

HB 2281 would make it illegal for a school district to have any courses or classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity "instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."

It also would ban classes that "promote resentment toward a race or class of people."

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/precollegiate/article_c1f53405-acab-5f21-a580-a199a68ff76c.html

I have no idea what to make of this.

I think students still learning English should have teachers that practice shitty grammar and pronunciation. Further, people with terrible math skills should have a Constitutionally-protected right to teach math to students in schools.

The last item is a response to reported activities of La Raza. A simple play at the Googles brings me this. And this.

I don't think the much-ballyhooed Arizona law is particularly good, but it isn't outrage-producing either, especially when the Federals hold routine checkpoints and random stops up and down I-19, I-10 and I-8, checking people's trunks, everyone's IDs, etc.

Arizona wants a solution to the problem, although my observation as an outsider who has plenty of family out there is that the biggest problem in Arizona is not the migration of Mexicans. It's the migration of Californians.

[Gilgamesh]

More shenanigans in Pen's backyard.

The Arizona Department of Education recently began telling school districts that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English.

The best part:

In the 1990s, Arizona hired hundreds of teachers whose first language was Spanish as part of a broad bilingual-education program. Many were recruited from Latin America.

Then in 2000, voters passed a ballot measure stipulating that instruction be offered only in English. Bilingual teachers who had been instructing in Spanish switched to English.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703572504575213883276427528.html

Also:

HB 2281 would make it illegal for a school district to have any courses or classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity "instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."

It also would ban classes that "promote resentment toward a race or class of people."

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/precollegiate/article_c1f53405-acab-5f21-a580-a199a68ff76c.html

I have no idea what to make of this.

I think students still learning English should have teachers that practice shitty grammar and pronunciation. Further, people with terrible math skills should have a Constitutionally-protected right to teach math to students in schools.

The last item is a response to reported activities of La Raza. A simple play at the Googles brings me this. And this.

I don't think the much-ballyhooed Arizona law is particularly good, but it isn't outrage-producing either, especially when the Federals hold routine checkpoints and random stops up and down I-19, I-10 and I-8, checking people's trunks, everyone's IDs, etc.

Arizona wants a solution to the problem, although my observation as an outsider who has plenty of family out there is that the biggest problem in Arizona is not the migration of Mexicans. It's the migration of Californians.

I can understand some of the logic behind the English speaking requirements.  Some.  However, if these are quality educators whose major problem is that cannot stop the rolling of their "r's" then it is simply foolish.  Moreover, a thought experiment, would a teacher in Arizona from either Brooklyn or Boston also be subject to termination?

You aren't wrong with your comparison to the activites of the feds, however, this law is worded in such a way that allocates too much discretion to a police officer to determine what "reasonsable suspicion" is.  What criteria is the average cop going to use?  I have a strong feeling it's going to be the people who don't look like they are from around there.

[morpheus]

More shenanigans in Pen's backyard.

The Arizona Department of Education recently began telling school districts that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English.

The best part:

In the 1990s, Arizona hired hundreds of teachers whose first language was Spanish as part of a broad bilingual-education program. Many were recruited from Latin America.

Then in 2000, voters passed a ballot measure stipulating that instruction be offered only in English. Bilingual teachers who had been instructing in Spanish switched to English.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703572504575213883276427528.html

Also:

HB 2281 would make it illegal for a school district to have any courses or classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity "instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."

It also would ban classes that "promote resentment toward a race or class of people."

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/precollegiate/article_c1f53405-acab-5f21-a580-a199a68ff76c.html

I have no idea what to make of this.

I think students still learning English should have teachers that practice shitty grammar and pronunciation. Further, people with terrible math skills should have a Constitutionally-protected right to teach math to students in schools.

The last item is a response to reported activities of La Raza. A simple play at the Googles brings me this. And this.

I don't think the much-ballyhooed Arizona law is particularly good, but it isn't outrage-producing either, especially when the Federals hold routine checkpoints and random stops up and down I-19, I-10 and I-8, checking people's trunks, everyone's IDs, etc.

Arizona wants a solution to the problem, although my observation as an outsider who has plenty of family out there is that the biggest problem in Arizona is not the migration of Mexicans. It's the migration of Californians.

I can understand some of the logic behind the English speaking requirements.  Some.  However, if these are quality educators whose major problem is that cannot stop the rolling of their "r's" then it is simply foolish.  Moreover, a thought experiment, would a teacher in Arizona from either Brooklyn or Boston also be subject to termination?

You aren't wrong with your comparison to the activites of the feds, however, this law is worded in such a way that allocates too much discretion to a police officer to determine what "reasonsable suspicion" is.  What criteria is the average cop going to use?  I have a strong feeling it's going to be the people who don't look like they are from around there.

Not saying this solves anything, but at least they tightened up the language a little.

http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/central/story/Arizona-lawmakers-OK-several-changes-to/qNpxW7Jonkm9shejhnkiSQ.cspx

[Brownie]

More shenanigans in Pen's backyard.

The Arizona Department of Education recently began telling school districts that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English.

The best part:

In the 1990s, Arizona hired hundreds of teachers whose first language was Spanish as part of a broad bilingual-education program. Many were recruited from Latin America.

Then in 2000, voters passed a ballot measure stipulating that instruction be offered only in English. Bilingual teachers who had been instructing in Spanish switched to English.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703572504575213883276427528.html

Also:

HB 2281 would make it illegal for a school district to have any courses or classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity "instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."

It also would ban classes that "promote resentment toward a race or class of people."

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/precollegiate/article_c1f53405-acab-5f21-a580-a199a68ff76c.html

I have no idea what to make of this.

I think students still learning English should have teachers that practice shitty grammar and pronunciation. Further, people with terrible math skills should have a Constitutionally-protected right to teach math to students in schools.

The last item is a response to reported activities of La Raza. A simple play at the Googles brings me this. And this.

I don't think the much-ballyhooed Arizona law is particularly good, but it isn't outrage-producing either, especially when the Federals hold routine checkpoints and random stops up and down I-19, I-10 and I-8, checking people's trunks, everyone's IDs, etc.

Arizona wants a solution to the problem, although my observation as an outsider who has plenty of family out there is that the biggest problem in Arizona is not the migration of Mexicans. It's the migration of Californians.

I can understand some of the logic behind the English speaking requirements.  Some.  However, if these are quality educators whose major problem is that cannot stop the rolling of their "r's" then it is simply foolish.  Moreover, a thought experiment, would a teacher in Arizona from either Brooklyn or Boston also be subject to termination?

They should be if they constantly butcher English. Ron Santo, George W. Bush and Richard M. Daley shouldn't be anywhere near an ESL class.

You aren't wrong with your comparison to the activites of the feds, however, this law is worded in such a way that allocates too much discretion to a police officer to determine what "reasonsable suspicion" is.  What criteria is the average cop going to use?  I have a strong feeling it's going to be the people who don't look like they are from around there.

That's where my problem with the bill lies. Joe Arpaio, for example, takes liberties with the law, and this would just be license for him to send his deputies out loaded for Bear.

The changes to the law Morph linked to make sense. However, they'd do better to scrap the law and start over.

[MikeC]

I have worked for the local police department in surveillance and worked with the county as a reserve officer and reasonable suspicion is never one sole factor. Through schooling and constant training it is drilled into you over and over that if your targeting someone based off one factor, give up because its not going to hold up in a court of law. So your not going to see officers flying out of their car at the sight of every Mexican on the streets, just like you don't see officers jumping out of their car for every black person in Chicago.

These are some of the things Arizona Law Enforcement are already using to build "reasonable suspicion."

Kobach produced a training video for sheriff's deputies that includes a section on what can constitute "reasonable suspicion" that a person is in the country illegally.

Among the 20 items Kobach lists are demeanor, language, dress and presence in areas known for drophouses or human smuggling.

Kobach stresses in the video that it takes more than one factor to add up to "reasonable suspicion."

Arpaio has been engaged in what he calls "Voluntary Compliance" he wants to make life so miserable for illegals that they will leave his state willingly. He knows and everyone knows its impossible to round everyone up and deport them, but he can go around enforcing federal and now state laws and drive them somewhere else. After all as the border became more secure in the California and Texas sectors they just pushed all the illegal activity into Arizona.

Just to give you an example of how bad it has gotten as other states have footed the problem off to Arizona, i grew up in a little border town called Douglas, Arizona. When i was a kid we had maybe 50 Border Patrol agents in a 16,000 person town. Now that number is well over 500 agents.

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

I have worked for the local police department in surveillance and worked with the county as a reserve officer and reasonable suspicion is never one sole factor.

Not even a BULGE in a pocket?

[Slaky]

I have worked for the local police department in surveillance and worked with the county as a reserve officer and reasonable suspicion is never one sole factor.

Our very own Dwight Schrute!

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

I have worked for the local police department in surveillance and worked with the county as a reserve officer and reasonable suspicion is never one sole factor.

Our very own Dwight Schrute!

Maybe instead of devoting the resources that we do to low-level bullshit like public intox and drug crimes, we should let a lot of that stuff go, so our DA's can prosecute the fuck out of wife beaters and you know, other real criminals.

I agree with some things you are saying but not this. Drug crimes are real criminals, they destroy lives, communities, lead to violence and more crimes.

And to be fair your seeing the crimes from the lawyer side and I am seeing it from the law enforcement side. You might not like how an officer may use the "for his safety and ours" but your also not on the street putting your life on the line.

If your standing in front of me and I notice a bulge in your left pocket, that gives me every right for a initial pat down for a weapon. Because I don't know you and you don't know me, so I have no idea what you may or may do to me depending on the call I am going to. I am certainly not going to let my guard down if I am dealing with a known gang member notice a bulge in his coat or jeans pocket and just ignore it hoping it isnt a gun. If it isn't a gun, cool, thank god. If it is, well i might have saved my own life but i am certainly not going to trust the word of someone if they happen to say "oh it's nothing."

As for the Cop on Benson's boat he is protecting the public. If Benson sped off drunk (which the cops are charging him with being intoxicated) into the night and struck another boat killing people the victims family would then sue the Cops for not stopping his boat and checking to prevent the accident.

Cops are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If we don't bust suspect A with weed on him and he gets in a vehicle and kills someone (because that is driving under the influence) the Cops are going to get sued for not doing their job.

There was a recent incident in California where a police officer was attacked by a 6 foot 2 220 pound highschooler with a bat to the back of the head. Easily could have knocked the officer out, but he fell down with blood gushing out the back of his head tried to pull his firearm but the magazine fell out so he reached for his second weapon as the kid was coming back to hit him again. He fired once killing the teenager and right fully so, because he could potentially pass out at any moment. A life threatening situation to say the least.

But a few parents were upset that the officer killed someone in front of other kids. They felt the officer could of used his baton or pepper spray and that he shouldn't have shot the kid. Saying he wasn't within his rights to shoot.

I am sorry the parents feel that way but to me thats delusional thinking, someone has just used lethal force against you and tried to kill you. For any officer it's automatically to your gun, point it at person and shoot to end the threat against your life.

[R-V]

I have worked for the local police department in surveillance and worked with the county as a reserve officer and reasonable suspicion is never one sole factor.

Our very own Dwight Schrute!

This immigration stuff is boring anyway - I want to hear why the OilPenis of Deregulation currently splooging into the Gulf that's going to be the fourth worst* man-made disaster in history is Obama's fault.

1. Hiroshima
2. Nagasaki
3. ACORN
4. BP oil spill

[Yeti]

I have worked for the local police department in surveillance and worked with the county as a reserve officer and reasonable suspicion is never one sole factor.

Our very own Dwight Schrute!

This immigration stuff is boring anyway - I want to hear why the OilPenis of Deregulation currently splooging into the Gulf that's going to be the fourth worst* man-made disaster in history is Obama's fault.

1. Hiroshima
2. Nagasaki
3. ACORN
4. BP oil spill
5. Slavery

Let's assign all the correct blame'd.

[Powdered Toast Man]

I just hope they get this stupid shit cleaned up so it doesn't ruin my vacation to the beach in two weeks.  Fucking morons.