Florida man cites ‘Bush doctrine’ after pre-emptive killing of neighbors at Labor Day cookout.

WTF.

Some dirty fucking hippie once said this:

We veterans can only look with amazement on the fact that this country has been unable to see there is absolutely no difference between ground troops and a helicopter crew, and yet people have accepted a differentiation fed them by the administration. No ground troops are in Laos, so it is all right to kill Laotians by remote control. But believe me the helicopter crews fill the same body bags and they wreak the same kind of damage on the Vietnamese and Laotian countryside as anybody else and the President is talking about allowing this to go on for many years to come. One can only ask if we will really be satisfied only when the troops march into Hanoi.

I wonder what became of that guy? Probably living on a mountain somewhere in New Hampshire, growing pot and spaghetti squash.

When the predicate of an 'if' seems likely, it's no longer much of an 'if'; it's more like a 'when'.

Secretary of State John Kerry told a panel of senators that he couldn’t absolutely rule out the use of U.S. combat troops in Syria if groups hostile to the United States seized any of Syria’s chemical weapons.

Lawmakers' concerns that America would be drawn into a broader conflict – already evident among many members of the Senate – deepened when Kerry speculated openly at a hearing Tuesday about the circumstances under which the U.S. might deploy combat troops in Syria.

Yay.

Ram On The Lam

Escalation Rhetoric, in Six Simple Steps

The Pixies have a new 4-song EP, of all-new songs.

Is it interesting that new material shows up as soon as Kim Deal leaves? I think so. Wonder what the story there is...

Obama asked Congress to do its job?

This is sure to be an amusing week or so while they figure out what that is.

Who appointed the US to be the enforcer of 'international norms' ?

Nobody ?

Then what the fuck are Obama and Kerry doing ?

Referring directly to the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, [Kerry] said: “Fatigue does not absolve us of our responsibility. Just longing for peace does not necessarily bring it about.”

What do you mean "our" responsibility? Who put that on us?

President Barack Obama said he had not made a decision on military action, but echoed Kerry in saying any U.S. action would be limited. The United States has an obligation "as a leader in the world" to hold foreign nations to account when they use prohibited weapons, the president said.

No, we do not have any such obligation. There's an organization called the "United Nations" that was set up to handle these kinds of things (and to stop one country from imposing itself on other countries, ahem). Maybe these two should zip up to NY and pay it a visit.

North Carolina landowners would be forced to sell the natural gas under their homes and farms – whether they want to or not – under a fracking recommendation approved Wednesday that’s expected to be enacted by the state legislature this fall.

The proposal by a state study group endorses a rarely used 1945 law that’s never been tried here on the kind of scale that would be required for shale gas exploration, or fracking. Thousands of property owners could potentially be affected in the state’s gas-rich midsection in Lee, Moore and Chatham counties.

Chatham Co. That's me.

This could complicate our plan to GTFO.

Thanks a lot, NC.

However, the state legislature is not bound by the recommendations and will be able to set its own standards, using other states as guides or relying on its own collective judgment. Arkansas requires just 1 percent of a drilling unit to be leased before neighbors are forced to participate, while Virginia requires 25 percent.

1 Percent? So one jackass can fuck all his neighbors ? I can't wait to see what the economic geniuses in the NC legislature come up with...

The National is making a Dead tribute record?