Do you have proof that every one of these instances of cops behaving badly were because of orders from high up in the chain of command? Because you know, that would be rather big.

That's what I mean by calculated intent. You have to prove all of this is by design, which has clearly never been demonstrated.

This video...and all the others are anecdotal. The Alex Jones nutbags of the world would have you believe that there is someone, or a cabal of people who are fiendishly steepling their fingers and cackling maniacally at the diabolicalness of their master plan. That's nice and all, but you need proof.

Until then, it's far far far more rational to believe that every single one of these situations can be traced back to very human things like poor training, poor judgement, fragile egos, over worked, underpaid. and actual complex psychological issues all of which are part of the human condition.

Sure, these things need to be addressed, but it's complex and not simple to implement. If it were, they'd have done it by now.

The pundits (aka the armchair quarterbacks) don't like complex issues, they like to try to reduce everything to sound bites. It's far easier to sell the "ZOMG FASCIST STATE THEY:RE OUT TO GET YOU" message than something that actually requires critical thought and tough questions to answer. It's easier to just lazily point the finger at a scapegoat.

I can't NOT do a run-down of the subtitles. They're just too goddamn funny.

"The justified and has charged up former C_i_a_ officer
are john and tour kalo
steeple player is said that right
arbiter reiterates problems they write me anyway out with a espionage act
now that's a very very serious charge you know that before president obama
theres only been
three instances of the united states government
charging someone with the espionage act
forgiving excessive information
as they claim
this former cia officer there
and
six different tastes
that is special on it because president or bob promise to
i'd be air and friend to whistle blowers
entrance passage
there's something wrong in our government he reported he was going to
help you
doesn't look like he's albania
so whatever sag ideal while he talked about
how we want a quart of people
and how was torture
now he thought it was justified even did an interview on sixty minutes
and said
uh that he thought it worked the underplayed amount of george but we did
but do you happen to call it torture
now they look at that missy i did not like that
furthermore there was a two thousand a new york times story which invade
believe he is the source of the dam
proving at and so they well okay i got past and i jack I guess you're you
know
there was one of the toughest laws we have
and we're company get your are part of the spaces
because it's if
here's a great irony of that
if you actually do the waterboarding if you didn't torture
you got no punishment whatsoever
now present all mama claimed it was torture and ridiculous and he says he
stopped at
as ridiculous in a squabble right
is torture
but he didn't always scot-free
the president will not
look backward euler look for work
if you report the waterboarding the torture
espionage act
when I play with a look back work
all its to protect the C_i_a_'s after this thing
protect that's the bush administration
error and dick cheyney that order that torture well then of course you look
backward and in fact the new uh... looked very deep into you know us info about
charging
the defense lawyers at one time all back
our whole system is based on
an adversarial system
where somebody gets a defects
now one of the press uh.. tactics was to look at that
interrogators
and try and determine who they were so they can bring them into the court
and say eight use them as witnesses
because the guys who aren't going to have a bank
that are face execution
listen when you get an executed we should be able to call the witnesses

That's not even half the video. But I laughed my ass off.

I've seen shit like this happen on both sides of the aisle so this really isn't a slam to one party or another, but politicians in general.

Hell that's even a stretch, it's more a slam against overzealous security, IMO It's not like Hillary steepled her fingers demonically and said, "go forth my minions and rough up some hapless innocents, muhahahaha"

This persistent delusion that our "side" is always virtuous and true and the other "side" is actively plotting our demise is so fucking childish and needs to end.

punditry fail, QM

Big A, little A, bouncing B
The cats in the cupboard but it can't catch me.

External control are you gonna let them get you?
Do you wanna be a prisoner in the boundaries they set you?
You say you want to ba yourself, by christ do you think they'll let you?
They're out to get

Hello, hello, hello, this is the Lord God, can you hear?
Hellfire and damnation's what I've got for you down there
On earth I have ambassadors, archbishop, vicar, pope
We'll blind you with morality, you'd best abandon any hope,
We're telling you you'd better pray cos you were born in sin
Right from the start we'll build a cell and then we'll lock you in
We sit in holy judgement condemning those that stray
We offer our forgiveness, but first we'll make you pay

Hello, hello, hello, now here's a massage from your queen
As figurehead of the status quo I set the social scene
I'm most concerned about my people, I want to give them peace
So I'm making sure they stay in line with my army and police
My prisons and my mental homes have ever open doors
For those amongst my subjects who dare to ask for more
Unruliness and disrespect are things I can't allow
So I'll see the peasants grovel if they refuse to bow

Palaces for kings and queens, mansions for the rich
Protection for the wealthy, defence of privilege
They've learnt the ropes through history, engaged in civil war
Fighting for the ruling classes in their battle against the poor
Round every other corner stands 1984
Guardian of the future, they will implement the law
He's there as a grim reminder that no matter what you do
Big brothers system's always there with his beady eyes on you
From God to local police, in home and street and school
They've got your name and number while you've just got their rule
We've got to look for methods to undermine those powers
It's time to change the tables. The future must be ours

Be exactly who you want to be, do what you want to do
I am he and she is she but you're the only you
No one else has got your eyes to see the things you see
It's up to you to change your life and my life's up to me
The problems that you suffer from are problems that you make
The shit we have to climb through is the shit we choose to take
If you don't like the life you live, change it now it's yours
Nothing has effects if you don't recognise the cause
If the programme's not the one you want, get up, turn off the set
It's only you that can decide what life you're gonna get
If you don't like religion they say be the antichrist
They say if your tired of politics you can be an anarchist
But no one ever changed the church by pulling down a steeple
Systems aren't made of bricks they're mostly made of people
And you'll never change the system by bombing number ten
You may send them into hiding, but they'll be back again
If you don't like the rules they make, refuse to play their game
If you don't want to be a number, don't give them your name
Be exactly who you want to be, do what you want to do
I am he and she is she but you're they only you
No one else has got your eyes to see the things you see
It's up to you to change your life and my life's up to me

Ugh, even though most would see this as harmless fun I can't help but feel sorry for this cat

Hopefully karma will prevail and the owner will get attacked by bees at some stage [evil steeple hands]

Pope : *steeples fingers* Eeeeeeexcellent. Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.

Well, this will get the word out.

I can just see it, every fire hydrant a steeple.

He definitely needs to keep the makeup. It is makeup, right?

Eek. Terrible HJ advice! If a girl did half of that stuff to me I would look at her like she was crazy. I'll tell you right now, ain't no guy sitting at home whacking off with the church-and-steeple.

If you want to give a good HJ,
1. Use your mouth
2. Attend to the balls

This is the church and this is the steeple, open the door and there's all the people an enormous black cock.

>> ^dgandhi:
My take is that no democracy should allow the banning of specific religious symbols, banning all religiously themed towers(steeples,minarets,christmas trees > 5m), sure, only Muslim ones, not good.
We have fallen too far into the belief that democracy = right, which is plainly false. Sometimes, even often, democracy is wrong, that's why we have constitutional democracies, to protect minorities, and limit the destructive force of mob rule. It clearly didn't work here.


Couldn't have said it better.

On the one hand, we all talk about how stupid people in the world are...

On the other hand, we place so much faith in "the people."

>> ^dgandhi:
My take is that no democracy should allow the banning of specific religious symbols, banning all religiously themed towers(steeples,minarets,christmas trees > 5m), sure, only Muslim ones, not good.
We have fallen too far into the belief that democracy = right, which is plainly false. Sometimes, even often, democracy is wrong, that's why we have constitutional democracies, to protect minorities, and limit the destructive force of mob rule. It clearly didn't work here.


This is something I have conflicting opinions about. In principle, I think people should be able to live exactly as they please - racists shouldn't be forced to live with people they don't want to live with, for example. Unrestricted democracy is great, provided you also have complete freedom of association. Unfortunately the reality for most of us is that you're born into a society so large that you can't possibly expect to agree with everyone even on the most fundamental of principles. And you can't expect to fix that by moving elsewhere, either, since pretty much all societies are too large to allow for a large degree of individual autonomy. You don't get to choose the people you share a society with, which is, in my opinion, the real problem.

My take is that no democracy should allow the banning of specific religious symbols, banning all religiously themed towers(steeples,minarets,christmas trees > 5m), sure, only Muslim ones, not good.

We have fallen too far into the belief that democracy = right, which is plainly false. Sometimes, even often, democracy is wrong, that's why we have constitutional democracies, to protect minorities, and limit the destructive force of mob rule. It clearly didn't work here.

might've been easier just to attach a couple thousand helium balloons to the steeple.

[wind noises]

If I could sample the wind, I would loop it

And let my life poem flow over its sacred beats.

Using Kilimanjaro as my djembe I would drum rainbows out of the moonlight and use them as hooks in between verses; verses of little girls spinning ropes in opposite directions, waiting for an opening to jump in.

As the world turns, double dutch, I jump, double time over oceans and back; the water waves and I wave back.

Rippling echoes of "sunshii-ii-iine" - folks get ground in the "sunshii-ii-iine."

But the lightning flaaash three times and its time for the chorus which includes corn bread, candy yams, and all that good stuff, which black folks on Saturn are made of.

As we approach the second verse the roots of trees are plucked from bass lines, which resonate and shake the earth -- devastating everything that's not built in harmony in it.

The second verse is a journey through the ruins of ruined souls; that valued all that was nothing, and nothing of the all-knowing ever flowing wind - which is the undercurrent of this current blowing, the funky drummer from here to eternity.

But even as ruined souls backspin, the wind mills forward and rocks steady 'till the sun hits the fader and the chorus kicks in; then the moon yells "Go!" and we all backspin -- ZULU! As the moonlight shines true blue silvery indigo light my spirit takes flight - because the moonlight is my indigo; indigo ON, to the break of dawn, I rock rock steady steady 'till the early morn, word is bond I'm talking about seeing your nature in nature innate in your nature - New York states of mind did not create ya.

Not until you listen to Rakim on a rocky mountain top have you heard hip-hop.

Extract the urban element that created it and let an open wide countryside let us illustrate it.

Riding in a freight train listening to Coltrane and my reality went insane and I think I saw Jesus; he was playing hop-scotch with Betty Carter who was cursing him out in a scat-like-gibberish for not saying "Butterfingers."

And like the grains of sand, like the seeds of time, the pains of Man, the frames of mind which built these frames which is the structure of my urban superstructure. The trains and planes can corrupt and obstruct your train of thought so that you forget how to walk through the woods which ain't good, 'cause if you never walked through the trees listening to 'Nobody Beats The Biz' you ain't never heard hip-hop.. and you don't stop, and you don't stop, and you don't...

STOP lettin' cities define you, confine you to that which is cement and brick.

We are not a hard peoples, our domes have been crowned with the likes of steeples. That which is our being soars with the eagles, and the Jonathon Livingston seagulls - Yes - I got wings, you got wings, we all got to got wings!

So let's widen the circumference of our nest, and escape this urban incubator -

You see, the wind plays the world like an instrument; blows through trees like flutes but trees don't grow in cement. And as heartbeats bring percussion, fallen trees bring repercussions; cities play upon our souls like broken drums, we drum the essence of creation from city slums - but city slums mute our drums and our drums become humdrum, 'cause city slums have never been where our drums are from - just the place where our daughters and sons become, off-beat heartbeats, slaves to city streets, where hearts get broken and heart beats stop - broken heart beats become break beats for niggas to rhyme on top, but they rhyme about... NOTHIN'.

You don't got nothin' to rhyme about 'cause you've never seen the moon, your styles can't be universal if you're not in tune, with the... [wind noises]

Mormons believe that the body is a temple, which is why they're not allowed to drink alcohol, consume caffeine, "hot drinks", tobacco, etc. (although junk food, and pretty much any legal drug is ok).

Why then, I wonder, is it such a horrible thing to see it? They've got no problem erecting those huge god-awful temples all over the place, so their membership can go there to get married (for $$$$$) and buy their way into heaven.

Can't someone put a sweatshirt on those fucking things? Their massively engorged steeples cause impure stirrings in my loins.