The Boss is 60 today -- Happy Birthday, Bruce...

neill,

I just picked up a slew, yes, a slew of Springsteen albums, yes albums, for fifty cents each. I was overjoyed. (I also picked up a early US issue of Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road [not for fifty cents each].)

So, yeah, happy birthday Bruce. He was the first artist I ever saw live. I went with my Mom, and some guy spilled his beer on me. Good times.

Anywho...a ban on flavored cigarettes? What? Either make them all illegal or lay off. What's next? Vanilla vodka? Cherry Coke?

Those things are both bad for me, but they are legal. On what grounds can they justify this?

I'm all for them trying to get young people not to smoke, but this is a ridiculous way to go about it.

The whipping up of anti-government hatred, that many here predicted would lead to violence, has apparently claimed a(nother - REM Philly cops etc.) victim:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jbzG_BlkG2Hfc818EPRRn1bBlP6gD9AT92400

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AP source: Census worker hanged with 'fed' on body

By DEVLIN BARRETT and JEFFREY McMURRAY (AP) - 31 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating the hanging death of a U.S. Census worker near a Kentucky cemetery, and a law enforcement official told The Associated Press the word 'fed" was scrawled on the dead man's chest.

The body of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker and occasional teacher, was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky. The Census has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay County, where the body was found, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether the death was a killing or a suicide, and if a killing, whether the motive was related to his government job or to anti-government sentiment.

Investigators have said little about the case. The law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and requested anonymity, said Wednesday the man was found hanging from a tree and the word "fed" was written on the dead man's chest. The official did not say what type of instrument was used to write the word.
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Uh, suicide? - I doubt it. This is creepy to me, since I scored high on the Census Bureau test and may well be hired soon.

Eric Cantor, "No one in this country, given who we are, should ever be sitting without an option to go be addressed."

'without an option to go be addressed.'

To go be talked to like he's an idiot?

I think this country is getting stupider by the minute.

Isn't Clay County, Kentucky a hotbed of backwoods crookedness?

Yes, Clay County, Kentucky, hotbed of backwoods crookedness,

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7001

Beck and Dobbs are creepy (the latter disappoints since he was an OK enough economic populist in times past), but do remember that the 14th Ammendment says:
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside....
It isn't just "born ... in the USA" (sorry Bruce, and happy 60th!) It says, "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," which implies IMHO that if someone slipped across the border and had a child here, that child does not perforce become "a citizen" - because the mother is not under proper jurisdiction, but an interloper. (Note, that extra clauses wouldn't be added unless they qualified a previous statement. That is a basic principle of exegesis.) We don't have to support illegal immigrants to be progressives. Only their basic human rights, not to be citizens etc.

The Fed is just talking its book. Remember that this is a group that did not see the collapse coming in the first place. We are in a classic dead cat bounce right now. All indicators suggest that a second dip is coming sometime next year.

This from today's TPM is disappointing. Despite Pelosi's moves to regain the public option, others in the WH circle are trying to use the "trigger" again, to squish out with Snowe and "bipartisanship" etc:

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/white-house-trying-to-pave-the-way-for-triggers-with-outside-groups.php

This is something we need to agitate against. We can't let "them" always be the squeakers getting the grease.

OT? Why don't they put the SEC on the ACORN oversite; they missed Madoff so would probably give ACORN a green light to continue. They (SEC)obviously trained the military contractor auditors so Halliburton, et al, could keep funding Congress and electrocuting their own. Praise the LORD! And pass the ammunition...:-)

I think the Biden approach would represent a dramatic change for the better in our approach. That's a pretty big story and it's a shame it's buried with Bunningalia.

while urging the world to welcome President Obama, referring to him as 'our son.'"

Typically bad coverage by the NYT, which doesn't bother to explain that by "our", Qaddafi was referring to Africans.

The 14th Amendment,

'and subject to the jurisdiction thereof' is to reference people may not be in the United States at the moment or who may reside in an unincorporated territory, not people who may not be here legally.

The 14th Amendment concludes, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.,

which is to say that everyone within the jurisdiction of the US, whether citizen or not, has an equal protection and privilege under the law and that citizenship does not trump these equal rights of a non-citizen.

OK cld, by "equal protection of the laws" is meant that for example, the murderer of a tourist from France is charged with "murder" etc. just as if he murdered a US citizen. I don't see though how your argument holds, since first A14 says "in the United States" and then "and subject" rather than "or subject" [some other way]. Also, "and subject" may mean more than "within" jurisdiction. I don't think it means that "citizenship" must derive automatically from being born inside US borders. But I would defer to the consensus of the best Constitutional experts on what that should mean. Anyone know?

If all those fat, white, aging Tea Baggers hate socialism so much, why won't they vote out Medicare or at least, on principle, stop using it?

And, why isn't WaPo etc. covering the Gale Norton scandal (or are they)? BTW ACORN is suing the people who taped them, since it's a felony in some States to record w/o permission. Just desserts, even as I don't approve of the ACORN antics (who does, but that's beside the point of principle.)

Neil B ♪,

but if a tourist from France is murdered and the accused is charged exactly as if he had murdered a US citizen that necessarily presupposes the Frenchman had an identical relation to legal protection.

But you're right, I over shot that first part, and I stand corrected.

The accurate description is probably that "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" is to emphasize that those people who were born or naturalized in the US are therefore necessarily subject to the jurisdiction of the US, since it was written to prevent state legislatures from creating discriminatory legislation against freed slaves.

But it builds the same way to the last bit where anyone within US jurisdiction has to be seen as having an equal protection under the law, citizenship notwithstanding.

How many non-white faces appear during an average 24 hours on Fox News and how many white faces during the same 24 hours?

Shouldn't Fox's ratio be the same proportion as the general population of America? If not, here's evidence of Fox's defacto racism.

I don't watch broadcast TV, cable or satellite and almost never watch Fox on the internet. Neither should you if you value your intellect.

Biofuels research expands food supply in San Diego.

Who'd have expected that?

HATING THE GOOD OLD 14TH

So what Glen and the Republicans are saying is that not only are they not content with returning America to the business conditions that existed at the turn of the 20th century (oligarchies, no labor laws, no federal reserve, no FDA, no national parks etc etc etc) but NOW they want to return us to the days before the Good Old 14th ... ergo PRE-CIVIL WAR.

Remember, if Beck seems even slightly normal, Rush will look positively saintly.

Time to smash these Beck, Rush and Crew down so far even the John Birchers will be afraid to associate with them.

So just what was so compelling about Clinton's higher ed remarks? Change the delivery system??!! Just a code for online education. The minute that one of Washington's elite brags that their kid got his/her degree at Phoenix or online, that's when the culture will have shifted.

What Bill and his entrepreneurial friends are looking for is a model that doesn't require seat time and which doesn't require students actually working. I can't really defend the current system that much since it is rife with bloat and inefficiencies (and little enough learning!) but please don't suggest to me that this little blurb is somehow some deep thought by the former Pres about higher ed.

Up to their chins in self-reliance

If all those fat, white, aging Tea Baggers hate socialism so much, why won't they vote out Medicare or at least, on principle, stop using it?

Now now...
I think they will.

But some of them just got flooded out of their homes in Iowa and Georgia and are too busy screaming for Federal help money...

[Insert a clip from The Office of Jim staring into the camera here.]

So the reThugs are targeting Amendments 2, 10 and now, 14. Are there any others under attack, attacks that all hinge on the interpretation of a comma, a word, or a phrase?

The Republicans were so happy with the job of nation building that they did in Iraq that they want to continue their good work here.

Cld, just for clarity to anyone who needs it, I actually meant just what you said about the Frenchman, but: "don't see how your argument holds" meant the rest of it (about being born here, immigrants etc.) I think the writers and amenders of COTUS didn't clarify many things, such as what "natural born citizen" should mean for the Presidency (heh), nor just what the 14th meant about just the case we're discussing, the baby born inside the USA to non-citizens. So really, how many here really think e.g. a tourist's baby born here should be "an American citizen"? Why? It's absurd.

The reason babies born in the US are generally (not always) US citizens, is to solve the situation of children without a home country - like those to immigrant parents in Europe. We're the land of possibility and empathy, as a general intent.

Still, babies born to diplomats, visitors on visas, are generally not US citizens.

And as I always point out: Being 'undocumented' is a transitory situation - they lost your papers, you applied again, you're between semesters at school or jobs on your work visa or overstayed a visa or any of millions of other things. Becoming an illegal immigrant after naturalizing fifty years ago but you jaywalked this week is just ridiculous.

Ugh.

And that lynching of the census worker... Horrible.

Oh, well, sorry. Maybe I had too many Fritos for dinner.

I'm simply too used to seeing Constitutional questions through a prism of arguing with gun nuts.

There is a lot of resistance to trying to amend the Constitution because there are so many bumps you have to get over, but I don't see why that should be an impediment to trying.

Things like 'anyone born in the US is automatically a citizen' may have had some efficacy in the past, when we needed more population to defend our unusually large territory, but are obviously of little use now.

I think there are a lot of subjects that could stand some clarification through amendment, but most of them are things that cause reflexive freak-outs among the soft-headed, like gun ownership and the legal position of religions.

But I think, because they are so fundamental, it is wrong not to try because it places the whole body of issues of who we are and what we're doing here on one plate.

Where have all the good leftist speakers gone?

Markos Moulitsas just described very calmly how Eric Cantor was wrong in the Town Hall (I'd say like horrifyingly wrong) because the truth is

"Our system is broken"...

Why not say hundreds die every day because they don't have insurance and don't get the care the need?

Why not say we are all prisoners of the Un-regulated for profit Insurance Companies who treat us like commodities and

why not keep pointing out how Americans have the right to get angry but the anger (as Obama indicated on Letterman) is displaced and should be directed at the Insurance Companies and Big Pharma?

He's a nice and bright fellow, that Mr. Moulitsas, but he was so soft-spoken tonight on Olbermann-- and said it all so meekly --with a smile..the feeling was he was discussing the weather or something..

Come on folks!

We need fire in the belly and we need it NOW!

We're just not going to get anywhere with bright liberals who don't know how to shout out the god honest truth in plain and simple and horrifying ways..

There is no need to have warning devices on the new nearly silent electric cars. Extreme long lasting tires are hard and make quite a noise rolling down a road. They can be heard a mile away on quiet country roads. Sell new electric vehicles with noisy, long lasting, tires already installed: problem solved.

Extreme long lasting tires are hard and make quite a noise rolling down a road. They can be heard a mile away on quiet country roads. Sell new electric vehicles with noisy, long lasting, tires already installed: problem solved. -- anonymous, @20:51

And, would you buy such a loud car, knowing that you'd have to put up with that noise *all the time*? Because I, sure as sure, would not.

I still remember when my "uncle from the village" finally managed to save enough money and build strong enough "connections" to be able to replace all the wheels on his horse cart. The old ones had iron bands on wood, the new ones were wider and had rubber tires, giving a smooth and *quiet* ride. The bliss! He would take anyone who was willing for rides in the cart just to enjoy being able to have a conversation with his passengers without having to yell.

Where have all the good leftist speakers gone?

Why not say hundreds die every day because they don't
have insurance and don't get the care the need?

Actually why not say 1 dies every 12 minutes? But your question is a good one. I asked the same thing 3-4 years ago. Keith Olbermann is probably our best. But he got tamped down a while back. Liberals don't like screeds. Must be in the genes.

As far as speaking powerfully off the cuff, there aren't any. And that is a sad and damn thing. A good-looking person with some liberal fire in her/his belly would be a welcome force...

Where have all the good leftist speakers gone? Markos Moulitsas

Markos has never been a Leftie. He's a Republican entrepreneur who 1) saw an opportunity to capitalize on the lack of web portals for progs, and, 2) veered Dem when GWB invaded Iraq.

That he's spending most of his time now on his other financial ventures should tell you all you need to know.

There is no need to have warning devices on the new nearly silent electric cars.

Agreed. Peds just need to retrain themselves to, uh, look before they cross the street.

I'm sorry exlibra, I forgot to mention all of the SUVs, macho pickups and motorcycles around here are quite noisy, and no electric car with hard tires could ever be as loud as any of the above. It would likely be about as loud as a 4 or 6 cylinder import for instance, a Toyota or Mazda.

"The next speech went less well"

I couldn't read the transcript, but I wouldn't count on anything written by the NYT or Washington Post to be honest when the target is Muslim.

"So just what was so compelling about Clinton's higher ed remarks?"

This site sucks up to Democrats. Wants them to win (as do I), so is often just selling something.

Are you smarter than a Glenn Beck?

If you or anyone you know has ever completed a college course (just one) you're better and smarter than Glenn Beck. He just talks like he has brains, but it's all an illusion.

Joe Lieberman, yeah that Joe Lieberman, got Glenn into Yale, but he dropped out and didn't complete the course.

That's according to Steve's link to Slate magazine. Excellent reading!

Joe Lieberman, yeah that Joe Lieberman, got Glenn into Yale, but he dropped out and didn't complete the course.

More disturbing is that Yale offered a course entitled "Early Christology".

Murdoch's social terrorism network draws blood

Census Worker Hanged: Found With "Fed" On Body

Investigators have said little about the case. The law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and requested anonymity, said Wednesday the man was found hanging from a tree and the word "fed" was written on the dead man's chest. The official did not say what type of instrument was used to write the word.

oh yeah, Steve King is gettin his crazy mojo back. Bachmann may have pulled ahead, but King is starting his comeback.

yea, it looked like Quaddafi said some loosey-goosey stuff, but it didn't look to me that everything he said was just wrong, about military "interventions" the UN, and more. And by the way, it seems clear enough that Libya did not do Pan Am 103, but rather Iran in retaliation for the shooting down of one of their civilian airliners. by the U.S. Navy.

shoebeacon, I think the accusation was that Libya did the bombing with Iran paying the bill. Of course, all those Ayrabs look alike so how could you be expected to tell the difference?

Hard tires huh? What are those like? Does anybody sell them today? How much more distance/wear do you get out of them and today's standard tires? Whats the likely cost of them?

So, we could have a car running on CO2-fed algae with a hybrid engine, energy-saving braking and hard tires and we have most or all of the technology now. Interesting.

I still favor the turbo-charged bio-diesel hybrid engine for now. We have 'gas' stations where it can be served up and it's even more available NOW.

But, the world is a changin'.

More disturbing is that Yale offered a course entitled "Early Christology".

Yale has a School of Divinity. It's an entirely appropriate course for Yale to be offering in that context.

Hezbullah, actually, not Libya.

High mileage tires are manufactured with a harder rubber compound but are noisy. Quiet tires are softer, smoother riding, may hold the road better but only last for about half as many miles. Didn't your tire dealer tell you that?

Speaking of UN addresses, I loved the irony of Bibi's reference to the Iranians regarding their extremist views, when he stated that the Iranian views are a "mockery of the charter of the United Nations." I love it !

'surgical strikes' so proudly claimed by Netanyahu in his UN defense of Israel's actions against a civilian population included the killing of 300 children. Fact.

It has been substantiated that Israel killed over 300 unarmed children/ young people plus over 100 of their mothers.

They were killed in order to terrorize the civilian population. They were targeted as an integral part of the 'surgical strikes' so proudly claimed by Netanyahu in his UN defense of Israel's actions against a civilian population.
It is clear that these killings were no collateral damage. It is clear that these children and mothers were not responsible for the actions of a few militants who had fired rockets into Israel. It is clear that this was an atrocity and it is clear those Israeli commanders who authorized such war crimes must be brought before the ICC.
Gaza is not Afghanistan and the US has never targeted women and children or any unarmed civilians. To do so is a WAR CRIME