This story has been revised slightly to emphasize that our assertions are conjecture.

Following up on the NC governor's awesome display of fiscal responsibility, in which two twenty-four year old staffers from our awesome new Governor's election campaign were awarded cushy government jobs with inflated salaries...

Gov. Pat McCrory says a pair of 24-year-old campaign staffers landed senior-level jobs in his administration because they were the most qualified applicants, beating out older candidates.

But the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, where Matthew McKillip and Ricky Diaz got big promotions and raises after only a few weeks of government service, has been unable to provide any evidence their positions were ever advertised to other potential applicants or that other candidates were considered.

In response to a public records request from The Associated Press, the state agency indicated there were no job postings or written skill requirements for the high-paying positions awarded to the young Republicans.

McKillip, the chief policy adviser to DHHS Secretary Aldona Wos, is paid an annual salary of $87,500. Diaz makes $85,000 a year as the communications director for the massive state agency, which has about 10,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $18 billion.

The two positions are exempted from the hiring rules and procedures governing most state jobs, including that they be publicly advertised.

McKillip received a nearly 35 percent raise after only three months on the job, while Diaz got a 37 percent boost. The big raises came despite a March 8 directive the governor sent to state agencies to freeze salary increases, limit purchases and reduce travel to help cover shortfalls in state Medicaid funding.

McCrory insists McKillip and Diaz got their positions on merit, not politics.

"They got promotions," McCrory, a Republican, said in an Aug. 15 interview with WNCN-TV in Raleigh. "They were actually moved over to areas that frankly a lot of older people applied for, too. But frankly, these two young people are very well qualified and they are being paid for jobs at which that's the pay rate for that job."

A review of job descriptions for similar government positions posted online by the Office of State Personnel show McKillip and Diaz don't meet the academic or experience requirements to qualify for even entry-level positions in the areas they now oversee. Their pay also exceeds the listed maximums for the most senior listed positions.

Heckofajob, Pat.

Here's a little movie about how the US govt is destroying its chemical weapons stockpile:

Perhaps you will be surprised to learn that the experts recommend resolute military measures. Or perhaps you won't, since that is what they recommended for Iraq and are still recommending for Iran. Of course these would be controlled, "standoff" uses of force that will work just as planned and will bolster only "vetted moderate elements" of the opposition. Very much as the same experts foresaw the last time they had the stage.

Bomb Syria, Even if It Is Illegal:

But if the White House takes international law seriously — as the State Department does — it cannot try to have it both ways. It must either argue that an “illegal but legitimate” intervention is better than doing nothing, or assert that international law has changed — strategies that I call “constructive noncompliance.” In the case of Syria, I vote for the latter.

An imminent U.S. strike on Syrian government targets in response to the alleged gassing of civilians last week has the potential to draw the United States into the country’s civil war, former U.S. officials said Tuesday, warning that history doesn’t bode well for such limited retaliatory interventions.

The best historical parallels — the 1998 cruise missile strikes on targets in Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan — are rife with unintended consequences and feature little success.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- At least 71 people were killed and 201 wounded in a series of bombings and other attacks across Baghdad on Wednesday, police and medical sources said, extending the worst wave of sectarian bloodshed in Iraq for at least five years.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the attacks, which appeared coordinated, but Sunni Muslim insurgents including the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq have significantly stepped up bombings this year.

I've discovered British bacon.

If you've never had it, think of very thinly sliced boneless pork chops, cured in the same ways that US bacon is ^*. Because that's what it is. And because it's from the loin, and not the belly, it's very lean. And therefore I don't feel like I'm chopping months off my lifespan every time I eat a slice.

I can only get it at the local crunchy co-op, and it ain't cheap. But, it's good!

So-called "Canadian" bacon is pretty easy to find around here. But that's really just a chopped, formed, pressed, pre-cooked, smoked ham that's sliced like thick-cut lunch meat. Totally different.

Yay, UK!

* - as opposed to the French or Italian style cures (ex. pancetta), which sometimes taste a little funky, IMO.

Probably not available from Ikea.

Fuck no

Military action is coming: All the action and body language over the weekend suggests that the United States is preparing for some kind of military response to the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria. The question is: Just what kind of response will it be? On Saturday, President Obama met with his national security team, and he called British Prime Minister David Cameron. “The two leaders expressed their grave concern about the reported use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime… The United States and UK stand united in our opposition to the use of chemical weapons,” the White House said per a readout of the call. And on Sunday, the president spoke with French President Hollande. (These are the types of calls a president makes to both build support and inform of upcoming plans. Also of note, Secretary of State John Kerry spent the weekend briefing and speaking with a slew of Arab allies, particular the folks in the Gulf States, who could drive an Arab League decision that gives the U.S. the international legal justification it is currently looking for.) Indeed, as NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reported on “TODAY,” the United States and its allies are considering military options -- most likely, cruise missiles from Navy destroyers and submarines in the Mediterranean or U.S. fighter jets targeting Syrian airfields from where chemical attacks could be launched. “I do think action is going to occur,” Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said on “TODAY.” The question no longer seems to be “if”; rather, it’s “when,” “how,” and “how long.”

For fuck's sake, can't we just keep it in our pants this one time?

I Have a Character Issue

The Man Harrison

So, there is oversight of the NSA.

Despite the claims of many internet scholars, a (yes, secret) court reviewed what the NSA was doing, found that the NSA had overstepped its bounds, and made the NSA fix its process.

This is good news.

I'm still hoping for more oversight, and especially more public oversight or what they do. But that it gets this much is a positive sign. It is not, as critics claim, operating outside the law with no restrictions.

(yes, i realize this makes me the worst liberal ever)