The Goat Pen

the part of the calculus you're missing is that ISIS kidnaps Western journos all the time. Europeans pay the ransom. The US doesn't. ISIS wanted 133 million for Foley. Why did they ask for that large amount? My guess is that the going rate is close to that from the Euros.

The Iraqi RPGs, courtesy of Joe, are good booty. Getting wires that large from Western European nations is really the grease that keeps the wheels moving.

Why has a federal civil-rights murder investigation arisen out of the tumult in a St. Louis exurb? There is only one plausible reason: Eric Holder is guilty of racial profiling.

To be clear, we are not talking here about whether there was justification for the shooting of a young black man, 18-year-old Michael Brown, by a young white police officer, 28-year-old Darren Wilson. Was the shooting a legitimate exercise in self-defense by an officer under attack? Was it an overreaction for which Officer Wilson should suffer serious civil and criminal consequences? Such questions can only be answered by a thorough and fair investigation, the kind of due process owed to both the victim and the subject of the investigation — the kind that, as National Review’s editors point out, will be tough to mete out with political thumbs pressing on the scales.

Whatever the outcome, though, murder — including homicide caused by a policeman’s application of excessive force — is generally not a federal crime. It is a concern of state law. Only a few categories of murder are within the jurisdiction of federal investigators. In the main, they are far afield from Ferguson: the assassination of a U.S. government official, for instance, or a killing incidental to offenses that have interstate or international repercussions — racketeering, drug-trafficking, and terrorism.

Federal civil-rights laws may be invoked, but only in exceedingly rare circumstances: murders carried out because of the victim’s race, ethnicity or religion (see Section 249 of the federal penal code); or murders carried out by police (or other persons acting “under color of law”) with the specific intent to deprive a person of some federal right or privilege — usually, but not necessarily, motivated by some animus toward race or analogous personal characteristics (see Section 242).

To constitute a civil-rights crime, it is not nearly enough for a violent act to have the “racial overtones” assorted agitators and commentators choosing to frame the case in racial terms contend it does. To justify a federal investigation, the Justice Department must have a rational basis to believe it could prove these invidious and evil purposes beyond a reasonable doubt. That requires compelling evidence, not a farfetched social-justice narrative.

Remember the similarly tragic Trayvon Martin shooting, when Mr. Holder colluded with the notorious Al Sharpton in raising the specter of a federal civil-rights prosecution, pressuring state officials in Florida to file a specious murder indictment. After a jury swiftly acquitted George Zimmerman, Holder was forced to retreat. As he had to have known all along, the evidence of intent to deprive Mr. Martin of his civil rights was non-existent — even weaker than the state’s flimsy murder case.

The prosecutor in the Brown case makes things much more dubious...

he is definitely pro police - but until he steps out of line..........

That shouldn't crack me up, but...

(I have to do one this weekend after getting called out yesterday by a buddy)

eCat wrote:he is definitely pro police - but until he steps out of line..........

If he has Wilson testify at the grand jury, that'll start getting him there.

In a way, he should be removed in favor of a special prosecutor for a better chance at the appearance of due process and fairness. DAs work very closely with police. It's a small town. Police almost always get off of these types of charges. The spotlight is bright. Zealous advocacy would be understandably challenged with the sitting DA running the show.

I just wish they'd release all the information publicly prior to the grand jury. In a situation like this , both sides think the other is going to be hiding something.

Transparency (and acting on that transparent information correctly) is the only way to diffuse the tension, IMO

Not that the world didn't know, but still...

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2 ... -shattered

I don't see any downside for Putin in taking over eastern Ukraine. The West has no appetite to defend this territory except to try to publically shame Putin, but I don't see how that's a downside for him. He is only accountable to the group that surrounds him in Moscow.

Brazilian Town Run by Women Is Looking for a Few Good (Single) Men
Richard Cazeau

I'm sure many men have dreamed of an island completely populated by exotic women. Of course, fantasy is fantasy, but what if it were reality? In a certain regard, it is — in Noiva do Cordeiro, Brazil.
It's a scenic rural town in the hills outside of Belo Horizante with one big quirk, or perk, depending on whom you talk to. This Brazilian town is inhabited and governed almost entirely by women, its population consisting of more than 600 mostly single women aged 20 to 25. Sons are sent away at 18, and spouses are banned from the town except on weekends.

Now the women have made an appeal to bring more single men to the town. But there's one caveat: Men have to follow their rules. OK, that shouldn't be too hard to do. But the truth is that any incoming men have to follow all the guidelines that the women created, from town planning to farming, religion, and more.

The motivation for the way the town is set up is a direct result of its history: The town was founded in 1891 by Maria Senhorinha de Lima, who had been excommunicated as an adultress after leaving a man she had been forced to marry. Over time, she was joined by other single women and female-headed families, and the insular society came into being. In the 1940s, an evangelical pastor, Anisio Pereira, took one of the town's 16-year-old girls as his wife and founded a church there, imposing strict puritanical rules. When he died in 1995, the town's women determined that they would never again be subject to male domination, and they dismantled Pereira's church.

Resident Nelma Fernandes, 23, said, "The only men we single girls meet are either married or related to us…. We all dream of falling in love and getting married. But we like living here and don't want to have to leave the town to find a husband." If Web traffic is any indication of interested possible suitors, it appears that the town's plea worked: Its website went down because of all the visitors to the site. So, fellas looking for an opportunity like this, pack your bags — Brazilian girls are calling.

sounds win/win to me

right next door there is a town where you have a bunch of men eating chinese take out every night, watching sports and porn and not giving a damn about what they wear - and on the weekend they drive over and get some pussy from some horned up women who want to play government during the week.

Telling they did not give the website...

your pictures make it look a bit more appealing than it actually is

Either way, neither my pics nor your pics look much like my type of Brazilian. I'm seeing only a few women I would call "talent."

I'll withhold judgment until DS (ahem) weighs in...

I didn't know they could do this, and maybe they're not supposed to.

http://news.yahoo.com/doj-money-bank-am ... 07619.html

Why does it seem like there is more to the story about how money is allocated in these situations, whether it is full discretion of the DOJ, what is the totality of the list receiving the proceeds from the suit, etc. that is not written here?

I don't feel like I've learned anything substantial about what is going on with these payments except that it did give some dude a reason to say ACORN.

I swear, one day I'm going to go to a bridge club or Cracker Barrel at midday and yell "Benghazi, ACORN, ObamaCare!" and watch the people go into an apoplectic state and kill a Mexican.

Bklyn wrote:I swear, one day I'm going to go to a bridge club or Cracker Barrel at midday and yell "Benghazi, ACORN, ObamaCare!" and watch the people go into an apoplectic state and kill a Mexican.

Well, that would be okay.

What would not be okay is if all those Cracker Barrel bridge club members (in their apoplectic state) start hurling all their walkers, canes, presription meds, and oxygen tanks at YOU for yelling fire in their crowded theater. And as you are running away, they will chase you down the road in their RVs, Buicks, and Cadilacs.