This is rich.
Shawn Nee already has a pending lawsuit against the LA sheriff’s department, and now has photographic and video proof of their continued blatant disregard for the law.
This will not stop until more police are found personally liable. If a badged bully or two loses their house, maybe they’d get the message that they are not a law unto themselves.
Via The Agitator.
Wilco.
Wired goes to Tijuana. You know, for the wrasslin’.
SO much better than American pro wrasslin’.
The House oversight committee has noticed the insane amount of money the TSA is wasting, and they are not happy.
Techdirt:
One of the theories that was floated a few years ago when there was that big rush to rollout the nudie scanners, was that much of it was being driven by fear mongering from former government officials, like Michael Chertoff, who had economic relationships with the makers of the equipment. This report doesn’t confirm any of that, but it sure seems to fit that narrative pretty perfectly. Fear monger away, have the TSA buy a ton of questionable equipment it doesn’t actually need, and then have much of that equipment just sit in a warehouse. All on the taxpayers’ dime.
Oh, and, it turns out the DHS knows the porno-cancer-scanners don’t work for shit.
Dear network equipment manufacturers: do not hardcode administrative passwords into your gear.
They’re back, for all your giant puppet needs. This time, they’re even the subject of an In Focus at the Atlantic.
Yet another tale of a giant corporation behaving like a jackass: Booze giant Diageo extorts award out from under rightful winner.
More at Financial Times and the Telegraph.
Diageo, if you’re not familiar, is a Brit multinational and the world’s largest producer of distilled spirits, as well as a giant in beer and wine. Here’s a helpful list of their brands, in the event that you, like Heathen Central, wish to avoid them in the future:
I think all I’d miss is the occasional Guinness and, sometimes, Lagavulin (though I prefer another malt).
The Log Cabin Republicans have issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s comments on gay marriage:
That the president has chosen today, when LGBT Americans are mourning the passage of Amendment One, to finally speak up for marriage equality is offensive and callous,” said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director. “Log Cabin Republicans appreciate that President Obama has finally come in line with leaders like Vice President Dick Cheney on this issue, but LGBT Americans are right to be angry that this calculated announcement comes too late to be of any use to the people of North Carolina, or any of the other states that have addressed this issue on his watch. This administration has manipulated LGBT families for political gain as much as anybody, and after his campaign’s ridiculous contortions to deny support for marriage equality this week he does not deserve praise for an announcement that comes a day late and a dollar short.
Right.
…but how did they miss the fact that this video includes what amounts to a riff on “incarcerated person playing blues behind bars”?
Just about everyone gets this wrong, including the joint that cuts my hair, so let me break this down for you.
Unless you ask me explicitly for my okay, you do not have permission to add me to your email marketing list. I’ve given you a phone number and an email solely for the purpose of communicating with me about meaningful things, and that does not include advertising. Email was bad enough; but you absolutely do not have my permission to send me a text message advertising your new text-message reminder service.
A great rule of thumb is this: If you need to communicate with me, specifically, about something connected to my business relationship with you — if, for example, you need to reschedule an appointment — then by all means contact me.
On the other hand, if you’re using an automated bulk service to send the message? It’s mostly likely garbage. Don’t waste our time.
(Confidential to the entire bulk mail industry: You realize that, every time someone does this, more and more folks block email from companies like ConstantContact and DemandForce at the server level, rendering your offering less effective, right?)
I somehow missed his epic takedown of PETA on the Daily Show back in February. Language occasionally NSFW.
On NPR just now, during some sound bite of a European reacting to the election results, I was momentarily confused about the complaints in re: “immigrants” because the speaker’s accent rendered it much closer to “Amy Grants.”
I generally parse complaints about the former as simple xenophobia at best and overt racism at worst; it is, however, entirely unclear to me how I should parse hatred of late-80s contemporary Christian pop artists.
Rob notes: Originals here.
Two bits:
Last night, I took a 14 hour flight to Sydney, Australia from LA, embarking on PE’s 80th tour in 25 years. I just landed to 65 texts with the news. Adam and the Boys put us on out first tour 25 years and 79 tours ago. They were essential to our beginning, middle and today. Adam especially was unbelievable in our support from then ’til now, even allowing me to induct them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I consider myself a strong man and my father says be prepared to lose many in your post-50 path of life. Still, I’m a bit teary-eyed leaving this plane.
It bears noting that, when Public Enemy and the Beasties first toured together, PE was the opening act.
They may have been initially perceived as a joke or novelty act based on the frat-rock antics of “Fight for Your Right,” and if you tuned out or never paid any attention to real hip-hop, you might be forgiven for not realizing just how deeply important the Beasties were to the development of an entire genre of music.
This disgusts me.
If you, as we at Heathen Central, are baffled by how the band LMFAO — they of “Sexy and I Know It” — got a record contract, well, wonder no more:
LMFAO is an American electro pop duo consisting of rappers, singer-songwriters, producers, dancers and DJs Redfoo (Stefan Kendal Gordy, born September 3, 1975, age 37) and his nephew SkyBlu (Skyler Austen Gordy, born August 23, 1986, age 25).The group formed in 2006 in Los Angeles, California. Redfoo’s father, music mogul Berry Gordy, is SkyBlu’s grandfather.
In the event you are too lazy to click: the elder Mr Gordy is the founder of Motown Records.
If you somehow missed Neil Gaiman interviewing Stephen King, well, it’s now on Gaiman’s own site, free of the Times’ paywall. Enjoy. Not terribly long, and very worth your while.
BoingBoing points us to a bunch of early photos of the Beasties by Glen E. Friedman.
Eight years ago, on Letterman:
It was bad news when Adam “MCA” Yauch was absent at their Hall of Fame induction last month. I’m afraid it’s worse news today. MCA died today at 47 after a three year battle with cancer.
Go watch this for old time’s sake.
I’m very happy that PBS is running the second series BBC’s Sherlock on TV; that’s completely awesome.
What makes zero freaking sense, though, is that they’re running it opposite HBO’s Game of Thrones. Really? You don’t think there’s some overlap there? You couldn’t pick another night?
Sunday’s already chockablock with actual quality TV, as Mad Men follows GOT. Why not stake out another night, for God’s sake?
Whatever. It matters a little less because all three shows are post-network, and run several times per week, making conflicts much less annoying — especially if you’re a Tivo user. We’ll pick up Sherlock on the 1AM showing. But it still seems like a stupid decision by PBS.
Notre Dame starting QB Tommy Rees was at a house party last night, as college kids are wont to do. It was loud, as such affairs frequently are, so the police showed up to shut it down.
This would ordinarily not be a big deal, except that 19-year-old Rees, in an apparent bid to dodge the possible minor-in-possession ticket, jumped the fence to escape. South Bend police, seeing a runner, gave chase and caught him quickly, whereupon Rees upped the ante and kicked one of the cops. Fight the power, Tommy!
Mr Rees was then peppersprayed and arrested, and is being held on preliminary felony charges: resisting law enforcement, felony battery to law enforcement, the aforementioned MIP, and PI as the cherry on top. Linebacker Carlo Calabrese was also arrested, on charges of disorderly conduct most likely due to threatening a police officer (“My people are going to get you,” said mighty Calabrese) when he realized the intended to arrest Rees even after being informed that he was, like, a football star.
ESPN has basically the same story.
What Amanda Palmer has just done with her Kickstarter campaign should make you very, very nervous.
She sought $100,000 in a 30 day campaign. With 29 days to go, she has raised (at this writing) $368,711 from 6,615 backers.
That sound? It’s the balls of a thousand greedy exploitative middlemen shrinking into their abdomens.
The NYTimes is finally covering the fact that the FBI’s terror busts are mostly bullshit, since they’re generally disrupting plots they made up themselves as a means to entrap people with no actual terrorist ties.
The United States has been narrowly saved from lethal terrorist plots in recent years – or so it has seemed. A would-be suicide bomber was intercepted on his way to the Capitol; a scheme to bomb synagogues and shoot Stinger missiles at military aircraft was developed by men in Newburgh, N.Y.; and a fanciful idea to fly explosive-laden model planes into the Pentagon and the Capitol was hatched in Massachusetts.
But all these dramas were facilitated by the F.B.I., whose undercover agents and informers posed as terrorists offering a dummy missile, fake C-4 explosives, a disarmed suicide vest and rudimentary training. Suspects naïvely played their parts until they were arrested.
These are publicity stunts for the FBI, and do not make us safer.
Sure, most of it is accurately described as adorable dog guards bicycle, but stay with it for the payoff at the end for maximum awwww-ism.
And, as Scalzi notes, it’s not the first of May without Jonathan Coulton.
Lyrics, it should be noted, NSFW.