Pot-shots

>>>Local cops sued over taser death. Four Washtenaw county Sheriff's deputies who were assisting in a Livingston and Washtenaw Narcotics Enforcement Team dope bust tased a guy and it apparently killed him. We'll see how that plays out in court.

>>> Rush Limbaugh has lost seven advertisers from his radio program since  last week over his  comments about contraception. Free speech has a price sometimes.

>>> Zombie Apocalypse course being taught at MSU? No, not really. But that sexed-up course title for a class about group dynamics in times of crisis during and following natural disasters and social upheavals is being promoted by a market savvy MSU social work professor. Smart. This will no doubt get picked up by the news media for inclusion in articles and blog posts about silly course offerings at public universities but it really isn't. Just some clever marketing. I wonder how many goofs sign up for this course drop it when they figure this out?

>>> The proles & peasants need to just STFU and work, pay, and obey their betters. Cornell professors conclude ordinary people are too stupid for democracy to work very well. The dumb proles need experts like, say, Cornell professors to decide important issues about society and government.

>>>Government Is Not Civilization, It Is Slavery by J.G. Vibes
"If we attempt to examine government from an outsider’s perspective, we would see a world where people are grouped into two different categories, those in government and those not. At face value, we can see that these two groups of people have completely different standards and expectations, even though they are the same species and have the same basic needs. Looking closer, we can see that these different standards and laws are not neutral, they are very much benefiting those in government at the expense of those who are not. The most important discrepancy to mention here is the fact that those in government have a license to kill anyone who happens to disobey them." [read it all here]

Pot-shots

>>>The Ann Arbor Chronicle's Mary Morgan tells us what it is like to live a car-less lifestyle in this town. She does own a Honda Ruckus scooter though. I've often contemplated getting rid my mini-van and getting a scooter too. Kinda impractical if you have kids, dogs, and such though.

>>>I'll bet the problems in Syria right now would be resolving themselves a whole lot differently than they are now if the people there were armed. If they were better armed the rebels wishing to overthrow the Assad family dictatorship would still be taking the brunt of higher casualties and the suffering would still be horrendous, but successful uprisings tend to go that way, at first anyhow. Eventually though, if the resistance is competent and the people are dedicated, the rebels usually win. Bottom line: My druthers would be for America to stick with having an armed civilian population even with the associated carnage that this sometimes entails.

>>>Quicken Loans the Detroit-based national mortgage company has pulled its advertizing from Rush Limbaugh's radio program over his remarks calling a woman a slut because she wants other people to pay for her birth control prescriptions. Sheesh. Given his own history (three divorces and Rx drug abuse) Rush really isn't in any position to be calling other people out on their moral failings in my opinion. I don't want to pay for other people's meds either but that's a matter of politics not a moral judgement on their sex lives.

>>>You can conscript, kidnap, draft, enslave, or otherwise make unwilling blokes join your armed struggle group, but how do you make them serve? Well it depends. This academic working paper I happened on to at the Social Science Research Network website explores this issue. Sadly the author's affiliation and bio were not provided although I note that he has a McGill University email address listed. - "Can You Home Again? Desertion And Control of Hometowns in Civil Wars" by Theodore D. McLauchlin

>>>Ex-Michigander Ted Nugent endorsed ex-Michigander Mitt Romney in the Michigan primary election it seems. Sheesh. Nugent and Romney both moved on to greener pastures a while ago and so their Michigan bona fides are a little weak these days. More than a little actually.