New fossils reveal a world full of crocodiles (Reuters)

Reuters – New fossils unearthed in what is now the Sahara desert reveal a once-swampy world

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Picking Paint Colors

People warned me, but I didn't believe that picking paint colors would be the hardest part of building a home. For the exterior color, we drove around until we found a new home that was exactly the color we wanted. We queried the owner about what paint he used and asked our builder to duplicate it.

Easy, right?

That's when we learned that paint changes color if you put it on an "imperfect smooth" stucco versus the original home's bumpy stucco. With the bumps, the color becomes subtle and textured and beautiful, albeit different, in every light. On our home it turned canary yellow. When darkened slightly to get the harsh out, it turned green. On the fifth try, we got something that didn't look so much like a practical joke on the neighbors and decided to go with it. Five tries isn't so bad, right?

Tragically, our house also has an interior, and apparently it's a tradition to paint those walls too. I have been informed that many of our room colors need to be different from the others for reasons that my boybrain cannot comprehend. And maybe we need some accent walls. And it all has to match the baseboards, counter tops, cabinets, floors, drapes, area rugs, and furniture. Okay, that seems doable, sort of, until you toss in a few more
variables:

1.    The paint has to be zero VOC (little or no off-gassing). It's my own requirement. That severely limits choices, and faux glazing is impossible.
2.    We don't have furniture picked out. Or drapes. Or rugs.
3.    We have only tiny non-representative samples of counter tops.
4.    The paint color changes dramatically in every type of light.
5.    The paint color changes dramatically depending on what it is near.
6.    Every family member has a different opinion.

Does it sound impossible yet? Wait, there's more.

The city doesn't allow builders to hook up to both gas and electricity prior to government approval to move in. You have to pick one or the other, to keep you from moving in before the home is deemed safe and ready. We needed the gas hooked up first, to test some other systems, so that means we will never see the interior walls in any light approximating our future normal light until after the walls are painted.

It gets better.

When you see a color on a tiny swatch, it might look tan, for example. But when you paint it on a wall it turns yellow or green or red. And not just a little. The wall color will have almost no correlation to the sample you picked. It is pure randomness.

In a few minutes I will call the paint store for my 25th paint sample. (Not an exaggeration.) Some of the choices are colors that are clearly grey on the sample but have names like "Flaming Orange." WTF????

So it's a bit like the game Battleship, where you drop random depth charges on the color chart and see if you can narrow down a zone where the good color is hiding. Except in this case the person you are playing against is both blind and lying.

All I know is that if we find even one color that doesn't look like a jaundiced albino rat when applied to the wall, I'll be lobbying hard to paint all the rooms that color and buy only black furniture, black drapes, and black rugs. I hear black goes with everything. Wish me luck.

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Where was the Libertarian Party?

by Rhys M. Blavier

Election Day 2009 has come and gone. Relatively speaking, this election was as insignificant as any off-year election is, as opposed to a mid-term election, but it still could have been an important year for the Libertarian Party, if we had simply bothered to show up. There were six elections / ballot initiatives which could have possibly been affected by the Libertarian Party… if we actually had a long-term strategic plan. As it is, some things happened for which it is notable that the LP had no role in. In no particular order, let’s look at where we could have had real impacts this year.

Governor’s Race – New Jersey: New Jersey voters tossed out their incumbent Democratic Governor, Corizine, in favor of Republican Chris Christie. It may have happened because Corizine is very unpopular with the citizens of his government-corruption prone state .While Christie’s election is not necessarily a bad thing, what made this election notable was that it swung on independent voters. Christie won 49% of the vote, Corizine won 44% and independent candidate Chris Dagget walked away with 5% of the vote.

Governor’s Race – Virginia: Republican candidate, Bob McConnell, with 60% of the vote, easily won election over his Democratic opponent, Creigh Deeds. For over 35 years, Virginians have consistently voted into office Governors of the opposition party to that of a sitting President, so this win might have seemed inevitable. What made this race notable for the LP is that it was again the independent voters who made the difference. In 2008, Virginia bucked its own tradition of voting for Republican presidential candidates and, instead, voted for Democratic candidate Obama.  In that case, Obama won because Virginia’s independent voters were pretty evenly split between Obama and McCain. This year, however, independent voters were 2 – 1 in favor of McConnell and we can see the results from that quite easily.

Mayor’s Race – New York: In this race, Independent candidate Michael Bloomberg won a very narrow victory against his Democratic opponent, the essentially unknown City Comptroller. The name of the Democratic candidate is not important. What is important is that even with spending approximately $100,000,000 (yes, 100 million) dollars of his own money, Bloomberg only won 51% of the total vote, only 5 points ahead of his Democratic opponent. This will be Bloomberg’s third term, which was only possible because he supported changes to New York City’s term limit law, which had limited mayors to only being able to be elected for two terms. A strong Libertarian presence could have raised the term-limit issue by speaking strongly for them.

House of Representatives Race – New York’s 23rd District: What can be said here that hasn’t already been said? In what was probably the most noteworthy race of 2009? For the first time in over 150 years, this district will not be represented by a Republican. The story is remarkable. The Republican Party chose Dede Scozzafava, an NRA-approved candidate who also was pro-choice and in favor of same-sex marriage. The Democratic Party chose an un-noteworthy sacrificial lamb, Bill Owens, because the New York state House has a one person majority and they didn’t want to risk losing that majority by running their state Representative in an “unwinnable” race. So what happened? The far-right stepped in and ran their own Conservative Party candidate, Doug Hoffman, against Scozzafava. Why? Because she wasn’t conservative enough to satisfy far-right extremists, like Sarah Palin and Dick Armey. I think that this race was probably the most important this year because for what it signifies.  The extreme far-right conservatives are not interested in Republican Party loyalty, they put political ideology above all else.  Hoffman had no knowledge of or concern for “his” district’s local issues, he didn’t even live in that district  In a move reminiscent of the worst examples of the “rotten boroughs” in British politics before the 20th century, the national leaders in the far-right conservative movement found someone whose only “qualification” was the purity of his ideology. Don’t worry though, if Hoffman HAD won, he promised that he would move into the District he would then be representing. Scozzafava eventually pulled out of the race and put her support behind the Democratic candidate.  The extreme conservatives didn’t simply put their own candidate in a roll to beat the Republican candidate; they chased a loyal Republican out of the Republican Party, itself. In the end, enough loyal Republicans still voted for her that Conservative Hoffman lost. The final tally? 49% to 45% to 6%. I told you, folks… they’re eating their own.

This race, more than any other, demonstrates the collectivist desires of the extreme far-right conservatives… Local issues are not important to them; they want nothing less than to fill Congress with extreme conservative political ideologues who will put the desires of the conservative movement above every other consideration. Ideological purity is their litmus test, and having elected officials who will do the bidding of political masters instead of serving the needs of their constituents is a model for a one-party state with a collectivist government.  We have seen such systems before and, trust me; their loyalty is NOT to their constituents… it is to their party.  The far-right conservative extremist movement is trying to lead America down a very dangerous road.

In addition to these for elections, there were two ballot initiates that need to also be included in our summary. The first of these was the vote to overturn the law which passed the Maine legislature that made same-sex marriage legal in Maine. Drawing an immense amount of support from OUTSIDE the state, the conservatives managed to overturn that law by garnering 53% of the public vote to repeal it. The other ballot initiative we need to make note of was the approval in Breckenridge, Colorado of a law which decriminalizes all personal possession of one-ounce or less of marijuana. State and federal laws are still in place but for the first time, a city has stood up and said “it isn’t worth the government fighting to enforce those laws”. And who was responsible for this victory? If you said the Libertarian Party, you would be completely wrong. The organization that was responsible for getting 71% of the voters to approve that law was the modestly named ‘Sensible Colorado’… 71 freaking percent of the voters approved this and the LP had no hand in (and, thus, get no credit for) this win. Both of these initiatives were about personal freedom, personal MORAL freedom. If we, as Libertarians, are not the ones who can stand up for the side of freedom, then who the hell needs us?

So, what lessons should the LP learn from these elections? A couple of things. One is that being an extreme far-right, conservative neo-Republican party will not win for us.   Those people are not disaffected, they are simply scared. They have their own machine and we would simply get swallowed entirely by them… and good-bye to the Libertarian Party. Another lesson is that independents really do matter. They might not be enough to win an election on their own, but that can certainly swing an election. In these elections we can all see the importance of a liberal movement. If we can mobilize it, we can win. The moderates, independents and liberals who turned out in numbers sufficient to elect Obama last year are the unmotivated and disaffected pool of voters we can turn to.  There is power there, strength that is simply waiting to be utilized.

The Republicans are feeling elated about winning the two governor’s races this year.  They are patting themselves on the back by seeing importance on the wrong victories.  While governors might be the Chief Executives in their state, they have no role in formulating national legislation.  The two House elections this year, both of which were won by the Democratic candidates, are much more significant in the larger picture of current American politics. What this says about the 2010 election possibilities is fascinating.

Candidates in reliable Republican districts will now be facing primary challenges from the far-right if they are not seen as being ideologically pure enough.  Why is that important?  Remember center-left Republican Senator Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island? He had to spend most of what he had in his campaign war chest to beat a far-right Republican opponent for the Party’s nomination.  After the primary fight, he didn’t have enough money left to effectively campaign for the Senate seat, itself, and he lost to the Democratic nominee.  We can look for more of this in 2010 as big money from national figures fighting for their far-right agenda will flood into the coffers of Republican candidates who aren’t seen as being conservatively pure.  Any primaries in which the far-right challenger looses will leave the winner with little or no money to campaign for the actual seat or office in question.

Since Obama’s election a year ago, he has turned this country’s very active liberal base into an unmotivated “lost generation” looking for someone to give them hope. THAT is where our future lies. WE need to be the ones who can break the American liberals out of their ennui, to rally and mobilized the untapped political power they represent. THEY are the people who can make or break elections. Those people are looking for leadership and hope. Now is the time to bring back Ed Clark’s Libertarian movement. Now is when we need his “low-tax liberals” to rise up again and take the Libertarian Party back from the neo-Republicans.   In every one of the elections I have mentioned here, WE could have made a difference, we could have made ourselves known again to the general public, we could have been leaders… and, to be politically viable, our future rest with being able to harness the unfocused liberalism which Obama has let wither away. The conservative extremists are destroying the Republican Party and the Democratic Party is showing itself to be incapable of leadership. There are holes being torn in American politics and, as nature abhors a vacuum, those holes WILL be filled. What we have to ask ourselves is, can we the party that fills those holes?

Since 1984, the LP has driven itself to an extreme end of the American political spectrum, an end that is mostly allied with the extreme far-right.  That is not what first attracted the general public to the idea of libertarianism.  It was the combination of the ideas of fiscal responsibility AND liberal social policies that first put the LP on the lips of the American people.  Both the Republicans and the Democrats parties are moving farther and deeper into their own ideological extremes.  I believe that any two-party system is going to naturally gravitate between polar opposites.  The reason that it is important for America to also have a centrist party is because there needs to be a party that can comfortably welcome people from the right, left and middle.  What makes the Libertarian party important is not conservative or liberal politics; it is our view of the role and function of government.  What we oppose is authoritarianism.  Personally, I am pretty far to the left while the political figure I know and admire the most is pretty far to the right; I believe that some government is necessary and she is an anarchist.  Where we find commonality is our shared belief that neither the Republican nor the Democratic Party are serving the American people. THAT is why we both share a belief in libertarian philosophy, and the day that we can get both my moderate right Republican father and my independent green (liberal AND vegetarian) sister to vote for our candidates is the day that we will know that we have arrived.

 

© Copyright 2009 by Rhys M. Blavier

 

Rhys Blavier’s passion is studying government, politics and The Constitution from an historical analysis perspective and then imagining how government can be changed to better serve its people.  He also believes that government should serve all of its people rather than just corporations and the wealthy. His personal motto is “Truth, Justice, and Honor… But Above All Honor” because, he says, you can have truth without justice or honor, you can have justice without truth or honor, but you cannot have honor without truth and justice. He also believes that there is nothing so sacred or controversial that it cannot be questioned and/or laughed at.

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The Long Dilbert Tail

You're probably aware of the Long Tail concept. The idea is that technology makes it economical for companies to sell items for which there are only a handful of buyers in the known universe. The trick is to sell lots of different items to lots of different buyers. And if those items are manufactured with special features for each buyer, it's called mass customization.

The new Dilbert Store is a good example of both the long tail and mass customization. You can search for any Dilbert comic ever made, find the one that speaks to your own bizarre sensibilities, and in a few days a package arrives at your door with that comic on a coffee cup, or water bottle, whatever. This solved a big problem for us because if you asked a hundred people what was their favorite Dilbert comic, you'd get about hundred different answers. It isn't practical for us to guess which comics would be most popular.

Now a similar thing is happening with price and co-branding. We're starting a test of corporate discounts at The Dilbert store so that you and your co-workers can, if you play your cards right, pay 20% less than the cubeless masses, in return for some exposure within your company.

If the test works out, we'll expand it to include co-branded products and other company focused offers. For example, suppose your company wants to internally promote network security, or disaster recovery, or safety, or some other message. The appropriate department could order Dilbert goods that include your company logo and the on-topic Dilbert comic, all for 20% off. If you play your cards right, that means "free shirt" for you.

If you want to get in on the 20% off test, send an email to dilbert@ordering.com with "corporate discount program" in the subject.  Include the contact info of the person at your company that handles this sort of thing.
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Lost man drives nine hours to get newspaper (Reuters)

Reuters – An elderly man who went out to fetch a morning newspaper ended up driving nearly 400 miles after getting lost and taking a wrong turn onto a major Australian highway, police said on Wednesday. The man, 81-year-old Eric Steward, eventually stopped and asked for directions after driving for nine hours, from the New South Wales country town of Yass to Geelong in the southern Victoria state.
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Jilly Gagnon: Secret Michelin Man

“Michelin has gone to extraordinary lengths to maintain the anonymity of it inspectors. Many of the company’s top executives have never met an inspector; inspectors themselves are advised not to disclose their line of work, even to their parents.” -The New Yorker

November 23,

Arrived home from my “business trip” in “Kansas City.” If my wife knew that I was really at the Double Tree Times Square, asking the concierge to book me into Y—- and Brasserie G—– under “my name,” she’d be hysterical. After all, parent-teacher nights are pretty horrendous, even with the support of your partner. Thank god for the “inconvenient timing” of the “annual company retreat.”

The intelligence I gained was hardly worth the effort: stunning ceviches at Y—-. Unfortunately, less talent when real cooking is applied — another risk I’ve taken, possible discovery at literally every intersection, for nothing.

Except the ceviche, of course, and the missing parent-teacher conferences bit. I suppose I have to be thankful for the little things – what else is there in a life as dark as mine?

December 12,

Discovered a clever new ploy to fend off my wife’s increasingly prying inquiries into “what happened at work,” and her evident frustration at my vague talk of conference calls and documents: an invented work enemy.

This “Evan,” as I’m calling him, has already been worked into the last three nights’ conversations, to great success. My suspicions that he has secretly been taking the pink post-its out of my desk during my bathroom breaks or trips to the coffee lounge, ones I specifically choose from each new supply shipment for color-coordinating purposes on quarterly reports, seem to have gone over especially well. Her commiseratory “gosh, he just sounds like the worst kind of sneak. You know, I wouldn’t even put it past him, I really wouldn’t!” confirmed her credulity very reassuringly.

What shall Evan do tomorrow in order to “keep me late at the office” while I go report on Chef B—–’s new venture, I wonder? Maybe he claimed to have faxed some important files for review to the Sioux Falls branch, but I found out at some point during the day that not only did he not fax them, he didn’t even complete them? I’ve established that his kiss-assery allows him to weasel out of situations where the blame should be his and his alone, but will this seem like too much for even Debbie to swallow? Will consider overnight.

Excellent monkfish at La R—–. Will send a follow-up team to look into this development further.

December 19,

Fear a leak at headquarters. Can’t go into details now, no time, but suffice it to say that Reviewer X45-BABS hasn’t shown up for days. Could her family have discovered she wasn’t, in fact, a licensed massage therapist? Did she crack under the pressure of this cruel double life? Or was she a Zagat in our midst this whole time, undermining the organization from within?

I shudder to even think of the last option.

January 2,

Close call today; while walking into F—- for a “business dinner” with an out-of-work actor I found on Broadway (I only told him his role, of course), saw my wife across the room, gobbling and gabbling away with an unknown male. Was able to duck out just before she looked towards the spot where I’d been standing — her sense of self-preservation must be nearly as honed as mine.

Do I dare to dream that this could be a sign that I can finally reveal myself to her, that our carefully concealed footsteps are actually following the same mysterious pathways? A Mr. and Mrs. Smith story come to life?

No, no, it’s probably just an affair. Can I even hold it against her, considering the depths of darkness I’ve plumbed in my pursuit for the perfect poussin? Do I even have enough of my soul left intact after this brutal life of constant deception and palate-cleansing sorbets to care?

A lucky break for the actor, though, luckier than he’ll ever know. Even being seen with me there would involve him more deeply than he could possibly imagine. Sure, my cover has been solid up to now, but that X45-BABS incident has left us all shaken.

Incidentally, she finally turned up … floating in the Hudson. Investigators are assuming some sort of love rivalry because of the slashes in her face — if only they correctly read the Z that all of us at the office see there, they might start to find a hint of the truth …

January 14,

Have just arrived home from a debacle at P—- on the Bowery.

When I sat down to a cozy dinner with my book of Joyce, leather elbow patches proclaiming my life of the mind, I sensed that something was off. Things were … too smooth. My water tasted like Fiji, though I specifically said that tap would be fine, and the hostess, an attractive girl in a silk sheath, smiled at me lingeringly, a ridiculous action given her age and my twenty years of battles with foie gras.

And then it happened.

The chef sent me a complimentary appetizer, something “special for a very special guest.”

Who could have possibly revealed me this way? Ever since my hasty departure, during that horrible flight down darkened alleyways, every drop from every window air-conditioner a veiled threat, I’ve been going over the last weeks and months in my mind, to no avail. The fact that I can’t find a single incident, a single exchange, that could be the root of this awful betrayal is even more terrifying than it would be to know whose hand holds the gun now pointed right at my stomach.

Though it’s probably already too late, I have to take as many precautions as possible, at least make a mummery of protecting myself, if only to help maintain my own sanity. No one must read this journal, in case I do somehow manage to escape with my identity intact. Therefore, in tribute to its station, I make of it a final, bitter meal …

Read more: New Yorker, Comedy and Satire, Michelin Reviewers, Michelin, Comedy and Humor, Humor, New Yorker Michelin, Satire, Secret Agents, Secret Michelin Man, Michelin Guide, Dangerous Life of Reviewers, Humor and Satire, Comedy, Comedy News

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Trapped thief drops trousers in bungled burglary (Reuters)

Reuters – He wiggled, jiggled and even dropped his trousers, but a thief trying to break into a supermarket in Portugal stayed stuck fast in a tiny window until he was rescued by police and the fire brigade.
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Worst Finder Ever

Now that I'm married, one of the questions I fear the most is "Can you look in the X and see if you can find the Y?" Oh, I try. But my wife refuses to learn that I will never succeed.

X and Y might represent, for example, the special cheese hiding in the fridge, or the "good pillow" hiding in the bedroom, or the yellow folder hiding in the kitchen. There are a variety of reasons I will not succeed in finding the desired item. About 25% of the time the item is not in the room, or pile, or container where it should be. Another 25% of the time the item is inadequately described, as in "the light brown socks in the drawer with the other brown socks, but not camel colored or reddish brown, and not the old ones."

But the biggest reason for my seek-and-find failures can be attributed to Transdimensional Materialization Phenomena (TMP). This involves items not being where they belong when I look for them, but tunneling through a wormhole and materializing right where they belong when my wife looks in the same place two minutes later. Apparently this phenomenon is triggered by just the right coupling of exasperation and sarcasm.

As a stepdad, I often get the find-and-drive request. This one is worse than most because the penalty for getting the wrong item involves driving across town a second time. And this brings me to my story. It began with a request for a specific bathing suit that was allegedly in a particular drawer, and needed to be across town within an hour for a 12-year old girl's birthday party.

Allow me to digress and explain that getting the wrong bathing suit for a 12-year old girl's pool party might be the very worst mistake one can make.
I had a full day planned, and I decided I wasn't going to make the trip twice. This time, damn it, I was going to get it right, no matter what it took.

The task was made harder by not really listening to the description of the bathing suit in the first place. I recalled that it had more than one color, and there was something about brown, pink, and blue. And it was in the bottom drawer of the dresser. Allegedly.

I soon found the only candidate that fit the description, or so I thought.
But my spider sense told me something was wrong. Maybe there was an accessory that I would later learn was something I should "obviously" bring along. Or maybe, as is often the case, what looks brown to me is actually blue or even green, and I have the wrong item entirely.

But this time I was determined. I weighed my options. I decided to take the entire drawer out of the dresser and load it into the back of the minivan.
Later, when it became clear that I had the wrong item, I could push the button to open the back hatch of the minivan and say, "Maybe the item you want is in the drawer." I planned to be all smug about it.

But would one drawer be enough? The other drawers had ancillary and peripheral items that might have been in the "obvious" category for use with a swimming suit. Does a swim suit imply that one also needs a particular t-shirt to wear over it? I was in way over my head.

I figured I could fit the contents of the entire dresser in the minivan. All I had to do was take out one drawer at a time, walk each one down three flights of stairs to the garage, load the minivan, then reverse the process after my triumphant delivery.

The only catch is that I couldn't get the drawers out of the dresser. They have a latch thingy, but apparently it was only designed for people who have both fingers and screwdrivers as parts of their hands. I pushed and pulled and jiggled and cursed. Nothing.

So I called the 12-year old and asked for a complete verification of the item I was about to bring. This wouldn't indemnify me from the inevitable error I was about to make, but at least it would look like a good effort. So I described the item I had selected, and was informed that although it matched all the colors of the target item, flowers are not the same things as stripes, so it was not the right one. I was sent to look harder.

I unloaded the drawer on the bed, spread out all of the items and spoke aloud as I eliminated all the not-the-right-bathing-suit items. As I neared completion of this task, and it was clear I would not be finding the desired item, I was overwhelmed with a sense of dread. History was consistent.
Failure was inevitable.

Then my phone rang. The 12-year old voice said, "Maybe it's in the closet in the purple thing." And.it.was. I verified the target item by bead straps, color, size, pattern, and location. I did it!

Like a champion, I drove across town with my successfully found item tucked in a used Safeway bag. As I pulled up to the house, the 12-year-old's future potential stepmom was outside. I handed her the bag and she asked, "Do you want to wait until I make sure this is the right item?"

I rolled up my window and gunned the minivan toward freedom. I turned off my cell phone and hid for the rest of the day. That's a little thing I like to call success.

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Dial 911 and someone dies

by Richard C. Evey

I first have to tell you the story and then give you the other bad news. I have taken portions of a news story, giving you the main facts and the important details that will lead to the main point of this writers rant.

Mr. Meservey, a resident of Stanwood, Washington, was drunk and belligerent when he got into the drivers seat of his car. He had been cut off by the bartender after he got pushy with a few females customers.

A number of the customers were concerned about a man attempting to drive, as he presented to be a risk to himself and most important, others on the road. One of the customers call 911 and told the dispatcher that they were all concerned about the guy leaving the parking lot and informed the dispatcher that he was extremely intoxicated.

Officer Troy Meade, 11 year LEO, of the Everett PD arrived at 11:39 PM, 5 minutes later Officer Steven Klocker arrived.

Mr. Meservey was hedged in by cars on both sides and a parking lot fence in front of him. Meade parked his patrol car behind Mr. Meservey boxing him in. He had nowhere to go.

Joanne Hancock was outside the bar when the LEOs arrived and went inside and told the people that “They’ve got him.” A group of people went outside to watch the arrest.

Meade spent over 5 minutes trying to convince Meservey to get out of the car. Klocker reported that Meade’s attitude was “belligerent” and that Meade “used language which made him (Klocker) uncomfortable because of the nearby civilians.”

Meade told Meservey “I don’t know why the f**k I am trying to save your dumb ass”, according to Klocker’s statement. Both officers pulled electro-shock torture devices (Tasers). Meade shot Meservey through the opened window. Meservey started the car and tried to drive away, over a concrete curb and ran into a chain-linked fence.

Remember Meservey was boxed in and Officer Meade could have just reached into the vehicle and removed the keys to the vehicle.

Meade then drew his weapon and took up a position near the left rear wheel of Meservey vehicle. “Time to end this, enough is enough” Meade said according to the Klocker. Then from a distance of 6 to 7 feet Meade fired 8, repeat 8, shots murdering Meservey.

When other LEOs arrived, they reported Meade was pacing back and forth. Meade then told the LEOs “I’m out of it, I want my Garrity.” He wants WHAT?? The “Garrity Rule” came out of a US Supreme Court ruling (Garrity v New Jersey, 385 U. S. 493, 1967) which triggers an enhancement of rights against self-incrimination that only government armed enforcers may enjoy. Any statement made after the Garrity incantation can only be used for departmental investigations BUT not for criminal prosecution.

In the Garrity case, LEO’s were advised that they had to answer questions subjecting them to criminal prosecution or lose their jobs. The Court rule that this was unconstitutional. There are two prongs in Garrity: first, if a LEO is compelled to answer questions as a condition of employment, the LEO’s answers and the fruits of those answers may not be used against the LEO in a criminal prosecution. Second, the department becomes limited as to what they may ask. Such questions must be specifically, narrowly and directly tailored to the LEO”s job.

Also, the Garrity Rule is not automatically triggered simply because questioning is taking place. The LEO must announce that they want the protection under Garrity.

My Take; The only force that should have been used in this situation was the force necessary to remove the keys from Meservey vehicle. Rather than using a logical approach to the situation, Meade (who was involved in a lethal shoot before) decided to go from talking to murder. Even the use of the Tazer is questionable.

There has been a $15 million lawsuit filed, Meade has been charged with first-degree manslaughter (manslaughter?) and placed on PAID vacation time (WHAT?). This person is walking the street at tax payer’s expense, if it was a civilian who did this: no bail and locked up until trial.

I ask: It would be nice if “We the People” had the same rights that the government paid Gestapo had? Announce a rule, then answer questions, get a slap on the wrist, go back to your job or get a paid vacation. I wonder how many LEOs have used this Garrity rule to get off, when they shoot someone or do some questionable action? Do they do it on their own, at the advice of a fellow LEO or a supervisor? Remember the blue wall!

We the People can invoke the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution but the Gestapo would take us to task and not let up, but the LEOs get a pass. If we do not talk to the LEOs, we can be charged with a crime of withholding information, non cooperation, obstruction of justice and a dozen other laws we do not know about. If “We the People” do not bow down we are toast. Remember “Animal Farm”; “We are all equal, some more equal than others.”

Anytime we seek “help” from the government paid armed law enforcement are we effectively allowing them to use deadly force?

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Top 10: Things to Love About Glenn Beck

America’s hero of hyperbole is stronger than ever these days. The growing list of sponsor drop-outs and petitions from civil libertarians can’t bring our dear Glenn Beck down. He may eventually end up broadcasting from his bomb shelter wearing a tin foil hat and talking into a soup can tied to the remaining hairs on his head. But for now, he’s planted firmly on his donut pillow at Fox News.

There’s a lot to love about Glenn Beck.

Number 10: He can out-rant anyone from Bill O’Reilly to Christian Bale

Sure, Bill O’Reilly can threaten to “do it live”, and Christian Bale will “trash your lights”, but Glenn Beck can outwit, outrage and out-rant the best of ‘em, from the pithy to the British.

During a conversation about health care reform on his radio show with a venerable opponent known only as “Kathy”, Glenn’s voice transformed into a psychotic growl as he ordered the woman to get off his phone. He spun into a frenzy, squealing once again, “Get off my phone!” in an eerie, falsetto howl. O’Reilly and Bale can do the whole angry thing, but can they do it in a spine-chilling shriek? Can they strike terror in the hearts of Kathy’s everywhere?

Didn’t think so.

Number 9: He don’t need no stinkin’ logic!

Ever want to spit in the face of reason and good sense? Glenn does this on a daily basis. He’s been quoted as saying, “The most used phrase in my administration if I were to be President would be ‘What the hell you mean we’re out of missiles?’” On another occasion he said, “Timothy McVeigh was a coward. Violence is the stupid way out. It’ll discredit any real legitimate movement.”

Take that, brainiacs! Glenn is able to inspire us all to say what we feel, not what we mean.

Number 8: He doesn’t need weed to concoct a good conspiracy theory…

In the olden days, conspiracy theories were reserved for reefer-toking burnouts who were set to discredit scientific facts and oppressive government organizations. Glenn has brought radical suspicion to the rest of us, turning the most jovial conservative into a seething, paranoid extremist. He can transform public leaders into nazis, communists, fascists or any other kind of unpleasant party you can think of. Even…gasp…a socialist! Move over McCarthy, there’s a new psycho in town.

Glenn has even spearheaded the popular new party game, “Six Degrees of Oligarchy”.

Number 7: Who doesn’t love chipmunks?

Glenn vaguely resembles this petite, striped member of the rodentia family. Chipmunks are loveable little creatures that scurry about, collecting nuts and seeds to stuff inside their cheeks. So what’s Glenn’s excuse? What has he been storing up there? Is it razors or pushpins, to easily bring tears on command? Frogs, to help croak out his distinctive Kermit voice? Nuts, because sometimes he feels like a nut?

Number 6:  He’s been through butt surgery “gone awry”

Glenn’s deep feelings go all the way where the sun don’t shine. Back in 2007, when Glenn hated the American health care system, he had “eye-opening”, “melt your brain”, “phenomenally bad” hemorrhoid surgery that led him to the brink of suicide. Glenn fully recovered from the ordeal, despite becoming the butt of many jokes thereafter.

Sadly, surgeons were unable to remove the bug that clearly still resides there.

Number 5: He went to church for sex

Some people start going to church to make themselves a better person or to live a life serving God. Glenn found religion because his second wife, Tania, refused to have premarital sex, and wouldn’t marry unless the two adopted a faith. So Glenn did what any red-blooded male would do, and that is to race to the car in search of God, leaving a trail of dust à la Speedy Gonzales. The two proceeded to go on a “church tour” in search of the perfect religion, ultimately deciding on Mormonism.

One has to wonder, however, if Tania wasn’t trying to pull off some colossal bluff when she asked Glenn to find religion before getting in bed with her.

Number 4: He is undaunted by fearsome foes like Whoopi Goldberg

When appearing on The View in early 2009, Glenn was reluctant to address a complicated conflict between him and the ladies regarding an interlude on an Amtrak train. He responded to Barbara Walter’s melodious inquiry, “Why are you nervous?” with the assured, confident reply, “Have you looked the way looking-whoop-Whoopie’s looking at me?”

What’s even better is he had absolutely no response to Whoopie’s assertion that Glenn is a “lying sack of dog mess”.

Number 3: He has perfected the bittersweet “Pre-Cry Gasp”

Glenn’s been mocked for his frequent crying spells, but people don’t realize that it takes a certain talent to achieve the consummate Pre-Cry Gasp and subsequent Breath Hold. These steps that sound a lot like challenging wrestling moves are no laughing matter. If performed incorrectly, Glenn could suffer an aneurysm from holding his breath too long, or worse – even more brain damage.

Consider each successful tantrum a victorious walk along a thin, dangerous line.

Number 2:  Glenn might have been the second shooter in the JFK assassination

In homage to our friend Glenn, let us explore the possibility of his involvement in the JFK assassination.

The alleged second shooter was purported to have shot JFK from a grassy knoll. The letters G and K of “grassy knoll” correspond with the first and last letters of the name “Glenn Beck”. The U.S. Government affirms that Lee Harvey Oswald was the one and only shooter. Glenn’s middle name? Lee. Glenn was born in Washington State. What was the capital of the country in which JFK was murdered? Washington, DC.
The shooting occurred on November 22, 1963. Glenn Beck was born less than three months after, on February 10, 1964. Coincidence? Hardly.

Draw your own conclusions, America.

Number 1: He tried to go back in time

In the 80’s, Glenn was arrested for speeding in his DeLorean. He would have been more successful at getting a “re-do” on his life if he hadn’t left one of the gull-wings of his car wide open. Great way to get in an accident, terrible way to retreat in time to convince your mother she had a headache the night you were conceived.

Don’t ever change, Glenn Beck. You are truly and thankfully one of a kind.

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