EckerNet.Com

Enjoyable if free-time-less weekend.  So you get linky love to sift through…Enjoy.

For those of you who haven\’t been following the absolutely criminal behavior of the Gang Strike Task Force, you need to immediately.  The level of corruption and abuse of power has officially reached third world levels.  You can start filling the gaps of you knowledge here. Un. Fucking. Real.  Ramsey County Sheriff Fletcher and Commander Ryan and their cronies belong in jail.  Not just fired, jail.  It must be demonstrated that the rules exist for everyone, not just those of us without a badge to hide behind.

When it comes to foiled crimes this is the Holy Grail Trifecta.  1) Criminal foiled and victims unharmed  2) Victim shoots one robber dead  3) Last dying act of one robber is to shoot the other robber, who is now being charged with felony murder.  It. Does. NOT. Get. Better.

Another Health Care \”myth\” confirmed….ObamaCare WOULD cover illegal immigrants.

Democrats begin to question the competence of Obama.  I was wondering how long it would take.  Although to be fair, I\’m not sure I\’d call it competence so much as inexperience.  This is generally why we like our Presidents to have done something first….even if that something is the do-nothing field of politics.

Wow this is a storyline I kinda stopped following when it got ridiculous.  But Obama\’s administration is STILL heavily understaffed.  If he were hiring people quickly, you could understand the high number of boneheaded picks he\’s made.  On the other hand, if he were being careful about staffing you could understand the lack of staff.  In Obama\’s case he\’s done neither, and ended up in the territory of understaffed and dumbassed picks.  Maybe incompetence IS a good label.

It might even become that Obama would prefer the label of incompetence, because another label being used by liberals towards Obama is Fascist.

The Obama administration is quickly becoming known for it\’s incompetence (see above), arrogance and hypocrisy.  In this case I\’m talking about hypocrisy.

Some pundits are starting to claim that the death of health care reform would mean the end of Democratic dominance of Congress.  I wouldn\’t go that far.  Even now there are 228 House Seats that are either safe or heavily favored towards Democrats, and only 160 that are safe or heavily favored for Republicans.  The rest (46) either lean one way or another or are toss-ups.  But I\’d love to be wrong

On the other hand….even Harry Reid is in trouble in the polls….

Past performance is a great predictor of future performance.  In health care, Maine already has a system that\’s pretty similar to what\’s being proposed….and quite frankly it sucks.

Profiles in courage….Klobuchar has a town hall via the phone, where most people were called AFTER the Town Hall was over.  Meanwhile, Bachmann actually has the courage to meet with her constituents.

Speaking of Town Halls, this speech by a Marine is pretty much the nuclear option

Just what Twitter needed….27 Former Playmates who Twitter…..the girls of the internet, I\’d go online with them any day!!

Executive for an animal anti-cruelty activist group leaves her dog in a hot car until the predictable, yet tragic, result happens.  But you can\’t call her a hypocrite, because damn it she cares more than you do!

HYPOCRISY ALERT : Earlier this year Congress went apeshit when they found out financial firms were giving retention bonuses to employees.  Now Congress is doing the same thing with it\’s employees.  I\’d argue the financial sector deserves them more than Congress.  At least the financial sector has contributed something to society and will again.

12 Most Annoying Types of Facebookers…..turns out I\’m a lurker.

So liberals, Rasmussen polls are worthless huh?  They why are even Gallup polls now starting to reflect the same thing Rasmussen polls are?

Might have a lot to do with the fact that the public isn\’t buying the spin from the White House about it\’s health care plan.

I really hate to put this in here so close to his death, but if true, this make Ted Kennedy a Class A Asshole….he liked to joke about Chappaquiddick?

Those of us in Minnesota remember very well the fiasco that was the Wellstone Memorial service.  Rather than pay tribute to a long time Senator and leader of their party, the local Democratic Party chose to turn his memorial service into a campaign rally, complete with insulting of Republicans and conservatives.  Minnesotans were rightly revolted by this blatant display of partisanship at an extremely inappropriate time.  It was made clear that the Democrats had their priorities severely out of wack and the voters punished them for it mere weeks later.

It was a hard learning experience for Democrats and one that no doubt was taken into account nationwide, or at least one would think so.  So yesterday when I heard the Senator Ted Kennedy had died, I posted it on Facebook since it had literally just been announced.  One of my friends left a comment:

Can\’t wait for another \”Wellstone Memorial\” service!!

At the time I completely wrote it off as a rather cynical thought and paid it no further attention.  Turns out this cynic was probably foretelling the future instead.

“Let’s win one for Teddy” became the new health care reform rallying cry Wednesday, as Democrats hoped an emotional outpouring over Sen. Ted Kennedy’s death would give reform efforts a badly needed boost.

“I’m sure this is going to come down to cloture votes,” said a health care source. “That is one place where his ghost, so to speak, in the chamber could have enormous impact.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday, “Ted Kennedy’s dream of quality health care for all Americans will be made real this year.”

Democratic Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California echoed Pelosi. “He did not spend his whole career trying to pass a bill that would tweak health care. Sen. Kennedy wanted universal health care, and certainly progressives want universal health care. We need to have a good robust public plan,” she said.

You got to be kidding me.  His body isn\’t even cold, much less in the ground and you want to use him for political purposes?  Certain things are bigger than something as petty as politics, life&death certainly rank high on that list.  Get your priorities straight Democrats.  You should be ashamed of yourself.

Porkulus, it\’s an amazing thing.  Seldom has mankind created an entity that could spend money as fast as they\’ve managed with Porkulus.  In fact, with Porkulus, Obama has managed to increase our deficit and national debt by amounts that other Presidents took decades to accomplish.

And seldom has a program had the criteria for it\’s success change as often and as fast as Porkulus.  First according to Obama, Porkulus was supposed to provide an immediate stimulus to our economy.  Then when that predictably failed to happen it was supposed to stimulate in the long term.  Then when that also failed, it wasn\’t meant to stimulate at all, merely stabilize.  Well as it turns out that isn\’t the case either.

The US banking system will lose some 1,000 institutions over the next two years, said John Kanas, whose private equity firm bought BankUnited of Florida in May.

It seems only a matter of time before the success criteria changes yet again for Porkulus.  Only problem is I\’m not sure how much farther you can lower that bar without digging.  What\’s the new criteria….simply that the money got spent??  A cynic would argue that that was the one and only purpose all along.

Without a doubt Heller vs DC was a pivotal case for the Second Amendment.  Really for the first time the Supreme Court confirmed that the Second Amendment was an individual right rather than a collective right.  Which permanently put an end to that silly \”militia = National Guard\” argument.  But as important as Heller was, it was also somewhat limited, in that it primarily applied to Federal laws.  Unlike every other right in the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment has never been \”incorporated\” against the states via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

In fact on the issue of incorporation, there is a circuit split, with the ninth deciding in favor of incorporation and the second and seventh deciding against.  Incorporation essentially states that the restrictions on actions of the federal government, also apply to state and local governments.  Technically while DC cannot ban guns, the state of  Minnesota could, since DC is under federal law, while Minnesota is it\’s own state.  Incorporation would place the same restrictions on all the states.

Incorporation is the next step in the battle for the Second Amendment, as arguably just as critical, if not more, than Heller.  And we may get to see it decided in this next term of the Supreme Court.  There are three separate cases essentially regarding the same issue currently on the Supreme Court docket.   National Rifle Association v. Chicago and McDonald v. Chicago both challenge the Seventh Circuit Courts decision that incorporation does not apply against the states for the Second Amendment.  Maloney v. Rice challenges the same decision by the Second Circuit Court.

Interesting factor is that Sotomayor has already ruled on the Maloney vs Rice case, when she was part of the Second Circuit court so she would be required to withdraw from the case.  However, the same requirement does not hold for the other two cases, which makes the selection of which cases to consider an important decision for Chief Justice Roberts.  Although, since Sotomayor replaces Souter, who was part of the dissenting opinion on Heller, it\’s unlikely her addition to the court will make much of a difference.

Whether incorporation is likely is up for extreme debate.  On one hand, in the most recent case, Heller, they stated that the Second Amendment represented a pre-existing individual right to possess and carry firearms, a right not dependent upon the Constitution.  On the other hand, there are a long string of court cases, Miller v. Texas (1894); Presser v. Illinois (1886); United States v. Cruikshank (1875), that argued against incorporation.  However, in all of those cases different standards for incorporation were applied and the court makeup, while much different from 1894, is essentially the same as it was for Heller.

There also exists the potential for the Supreme Court to offer an opinion on what exactly defines a reasonable gun control regulation, an issue that Heller barely touched, which has made the battle over DC\’s gun control laws drag on to this day.

Lately the NRA has been rather inept in the promotion of their cause.  Let\’s hope that they\’ve simply been keeping their powder dry for this absolutely critical battle in the courts.  Our Second Amendment rights may very well depend on it.

Just passing this along…

Representative Michele Bachmann will hold a town hall meeting on health care reform this Thursday in Lake Elmo. Although she has been an ardent opponent to the proposed federal government takeover of the health care system, you should still try to attend this meeting. ObamaCare proponents will be out in force to try to make their case to Rep. Bachmann. Recent town hall meetings have had union organizers busing in hundreds of union workers to back President Obama\’s and Speaker Pelosi\’s agenda.

As a constituent in the 6th District, we urge you to attend this important meeting and show support for Bachmann\’s opposition to ObamaCare.

Date: Thursday, August 27th
Time: 2:45 – 4:00 PM (doors open at 1:45)
Location: Oak-Land Junior High School
820 Manning Avenue North, Lake Elmo (click here for map)

Please bring a camera so you can document what is said in the meeting. We would appreciate it if you would drop us an email after the meeting to let us know what happens.

If you are unable to attend the meeting, please send a message to your elected officials and let them know what you think needs to be done about health care.

RESOURCES

* Read the bill for yourself (HR 3200): http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.111hr3200
* Questions you may want answers to: http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Portal … stions.pdf
* Major issues with the health care bill: http://www.liberty.edu/media/9980/attac … 072909.pdf
* Minnesota Majority\’s Position on Health Care: http://www.minnesotamajority.org/TheIss … fault.aspx
* Print and distribute copies of our ObamaCare flyer: http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Portal … eFlyer.pdf

Of course the problem here is that it\’s taking place at a time when many people that would be opposed to this (employed) and would be paying for this (employed) are…..well, working.

Oh well show up if you can.

If there really is a just and loving God, Mary Jo Kopechne just got issued a ball gag, a blowtorch, a pair of pliers, and a day pass to Hell.

– Marko

Senator Ted Kennedy just passed away after losing his fight with brain cancer.  Nobody ever wants to see a fellow human being pass away, and despite extreme political differences, it\’s not the time to air those or make snarky insults at the recently deceased.  In fact I\’ve always been moderately proud of the fact that the political right tends to bite it\’s lip at times like this unlike our leftist brethren.

So I\’ll simply send my sympathies to his family and withhold any snarky comments.

Mary Jo Kopechne on the other hand is welcome to air any grievances she may have here.

I\’ve been busy and I really need to get some sleep so you click on each of these and then pretend I said something intelligent about them.

Twenty questions to ask at your next Town  Hall.

A perfect example of priorities.  The federal government doesn\’t have enough money left to enforce our border, despite their constitutional duty to do so.  But they have plenty of money to provide universal health care, something they don\’t have the constitutional authority to do.

A perfect example of what happens to a medical field when you remove the profit.  It drys up and goes away.

Heh, New York auto dealers just pulled out of the Cash for Clunkers program since it\’s a giant clusterfuck.  Someone explain to me again why we should trust the feds to run health care if they can\’t even run a car promotion?

Wow….just wow.  Republicans are now more trusted than Democrats on health care.  In fact, Republicans now lead on eight of ten issues.  Sounds like the Democrats mandate is over.

Obama has a habit of claiming support where there is none.  For Porkulus, he claimed Caterpillar was going to start hiring again because of Porkulus.  Turns out no, they\’d still lay people off.  Now he claims AARP is supporting ObamaCare? No, they aren\’t.

Another example of how this whole health care thing could backfire on us.  If you take all the profit out of the health care industry, eventually the money and investement goes elsewhere, and we lose the ability to respond quickly to real epidemics, instead of this stupid swine flu crap.

A gel condom that turns into a solid….it\’s pretty cool that science has the spare time for stuff like this.

Touchable holograms are becoming a reality….just imagine what that could do for the porn industry!  I mean I\’m sure it has other applications too….probably, maybe.

That \”Obama is Hitler\” protester?? Well he\’s a Democrat plant.  Oh and that doctor that stood up and said they supported ObamaCare?? Not only was it a Democrat plant, but they aren\’t even a doctor.  Yet it\’s Republicans who are staging and orchestrating these events?

Irony Alert!  Democrat who is against requiring voter ID to vote, is now requiring ID in order to attend their Town Hall event.  I thought that disenfranchised people?

When Bush was President we had people protesting the war every week outside my work place.  Ever since Obama got elected they\’ve stopped.  As it turns out it\’s a trend.  Basically war is okay as long as a Democrat is running it.

If states are looking for ways to save money to balance their budgets they might want to start with removing services for all illegal immigrants.  Arizona did and is saving money hand over fist.  For just one community college district they are saving over $8 million

A rather well worded response for those those health care reform proponents who claim that the government rationing health care is okay because we already do it in the private industry.

54% says no health care reform is better than pissing the piece of shit Congress is debating.

Well shit…DNA evidence can now be fabricated.

Apparently having cured cancer and all other mysteries, science has determined that if there was a real zombie outbreak we\’re all totally screwed.

Oh good, Obama is abandoning facts and logic to sell healthcare, and instead relying on emotional pleas.  Because emotions is a good basis for public policy.

How those death panels would work.

Now cities are passing curfews for adults??  Did I miss a news story?? When did China annex New Jersey?  Don\’t get me wrong, I don\’t want it back, I\’m just curious when they took it over.

Greenpeace leader admits they totally lied about the arctic ice levels

Uh what?! Obama is subsidizing Brazil drilling oil of it\’s coasts?? Why are we subsidizing something in another country that he won\’t even let us do here.

It\’s always amusing when Obama provides some of the best arguments against ObamaCare.  This is what happens when he talks without TOTUS

In these times it\’s best to be very diligent when spending money.  For example, with a hotel room you\’ll want to pay attention not just to the cost but what amenities you\’re getting.  For example, does your hotel have it\’s own missile defense system?

FINALLY, Twitter is paying off…..here are 27 Playboy Playmates who twitter

Haven\’t done an internet meme for awhile and it seems like a harmless and brainless activity to do today.  Which is nice because I can\’t brain today, I have the dumb.

Got this one from Mitch, bold means \”Mission Accomplished\”.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula – Some sort of field trip when in grade school
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said ‘I love you’ and meant it
09. Hugged a tree – Sarcastically yeah, but I suppose that still counts
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea – Yeah it was very interesting.
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights – It never fails to be a fascinating sight
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables – I don\’t like it but I do on occasion.
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper – For some reason people find it amusing to make me take care of kids
21. Taken a trip on a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Got drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking – Not suprising that it involved copious amounts of alcohol
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day – Sure, for Talk Like A Pirate Day.
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer – Always had at least one computer with multiple drives for the last ten years.
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was s**tfaced – Oh yeah, been on both sides of that setup.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales – You don\’t realize how big they are until you seen them in the wild
45. Stolen a sign – Pretty sure it\’s still sitting in my parents basement somewhere.
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing – Wasn\’t very tall but it was enough to scare/excite the hell outta me.
49. Midnight walk on the beach – Although it was broad daylight at the time because the beach was located in Alaska and it was summer.
50. Gone sky diving – Someday!
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken for longer than when you were in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving – That\’s one thing I\’d love to do more often.  But I only allow myself so many expensive hobbies.
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken – So far so good.
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight – Oh yeah.  Good times were had.
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days – While sick last summer I went over a month eating once every week or so…and by eat I mean a solitary bowl of watery soup.
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest – No but I would have.  Just ask my friends.  I\’ve had some pretty killer Halloween costumes.  Ostrich jockey and Britney Spears were probably my favorites.
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo – Never….not ever.
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark – Would love to try it sometime.
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house – I think it\’s called a house, sometimes I think it\’s probably better labeled \”never ending opportunity for improvement\”
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship – Great fun.  I highly recommend.
94. Spoken more than one language fluently – I\’m using fluently very loosely.  Enough to converse with my grandmother, and haven\’t spoken it since.
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Live in a foreign country, even for a brief time
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery – Baring some disfiguring injury/accident I have no interest
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived – And I wouldn\’t have if not for the aid of a friend
105. Wrote articles for a large publication – For one of IEEE\’s publications
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth – Somewhere in Minnesota is a bull named Kevin
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone – Fractures yes, broken no
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced – Don\’t intend to ever
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol – Well duh
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery – Not sure the definition of \”major\” but it was major for me.  Enough that the surgeon delayed the surgery because my heart rate was too high to begin.
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours – Yeah, last summer when I was sick, most of the time I slept more than 40 hours in the course of 48 hours.
123. Visited non-US foreign countries – We haven\’t annexed Canada yet have we??
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days – Longest one was a week.  I\’m looking to eventually improve on that.
126. Eaten kangaroo meat – Interesting, I\’ll give it a try
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school – For my Masters
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach – Petted????
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating – Every year
137. Skipped all your school reunions – Never attended one….I might attend my 20 year high school but skipped the 5 and 10.
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts – Wish I had time to keep up with the technology
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone’s life

Try it out!