kimmy

So you have to be a veteran police officer to have an opinion as to whether Officer Encinia needlessly escalated the situation? How about the opinions of experienced police officers who feel Encinia needlessly escalated the situation? Unless you're a police officer, in which case it's a reality. This seems to be a growing trend in your messages. Criticizing the way the policeman acted in this video is not an attack on all police, any more than ridiculing Donald Trump is an attack on all Americans. You want every police misconduct post to start off with the disclaimer that most policemen are probably good at their job? Should we also start off every terrorism thread with the disclaimer that most Muslims are not terrorists? Is this level of political correctness really necessary here? Sounds like the opinion of an arm-chair expert. So... it's ok to talk about ways for the police to improve ... just not when somebody died? Is that what you're saying? -k

This is pretty tough. I won't be sure of my answer until after I grow up. As with Bubber, a lot of the music I listened to a lot when I was younger isn't that important to me any more. Of the music I used to listen to that I still do, my list would be closer to Shady's than to everybody else's. G'n'f'n'R - Use Your Illusion (honorable mention Appetite for Destruction) Metallica - Master of Puppets (honorable mention Ride The Lightning) Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast (honorable mention Powerslave) Faith No More - Angel Dust (honorable mention The Real Thing) Sisters of Mercy - Flood -k

Imagining for a moment that air were a scarce commodity we had to bid for, people would purchase it regardless the price, and would be willing to borrow heavily to obtain it. Shelter is likewise pretty necessary (though the hobos in my city manage to survive without it.) People do have more options when it comes to shelter; the two major ones are renting, and remaining with their parents. I can't speak for other places, but here, the vacancy rate is perpetually near zero, and renting is actually more expensive than mortgage payments-- that was what pushed me to buy. But we weren't talking about reasons why housing has become so much more expensive, just the fact that it has. Sure, there's market factors at work, but those market factors have been working against people who are just entering the market for housing, and in favor of people who bought in a lot earlier. In short, no, people aren't really better off than ever. You claim that people are better off than ever and that people are only complaining because of moving goalposts, but the truth is that there's a lot of economic factors working against people who are just reaching adulthood. The cost of education, housing, stagnant wages, globalization. Increased government debt that will virtually ensure that whatever old age security and pension plans exist in the future will be a shadow of what they presently are. People need to be saving more of their own money to take care of themselves in the future, because the generous programs the boomers made for themselves won't be around in the future. Unfortunately instead of saving they're trying to pay down their debt. -k

If declining a request results in you getting cuffed and jailed for 3 days, it's not actually a request. -k

Oh. It was a polite request? She had the option to decline the request? -k

That's my view as well. There's no need for the cop to order her out of the car, and there's no need for him to order her to put out the cigarette. He made a big deal about the cigarette because he felt like being an asshole. That's it. I think basically you just need to be careful around cops for the same reason you need to be careful around pit-bulls. You have no way of telling whether he's well trained or he's a stupid vicious animal, but it's better to be safe than sorry. -k

On the average, in inflation-adjusted dollars, housing is several times more expensive than it used to be. And Tim's figures from the RBC don't dispute that, they just make the point that housing remains "affordable" because mortgage-payments are still "affordable". People can still get a home, they just need to borrow more money. Just like education. A college degree is many times more expensive than it used to be, but education is still "affordable" because students have access to bigger student loans than they used to. People can still get an education, they just need to borrow more money than they used to. Tim's premise that people are as well off as they used to be only holds true if you're willing to take on enough debt to get there. The idea that you champions of fiscal conservatism are advocating for the idea that the overall size of the debt doesn't matter if they payments are still "affordable" is quite funny to me. -k

Donald Trump is not being made fun of because he's fat, white, or right wing. He's being made fun of because of the crap he says and does. And making fun of this Tea Party idiocy does not make you "anti-American". In the famous words of Jennifer Lawrence: "Dude- get a grip." -k

I did. She has a great voice, although the song is not entirely up my alley-- a little too "country" for my tastes. -k

I was hearing on the radio this afternoon that they justified this gift by saying they had a surplus... but the surplus isn't real. They conjured a fake "on-paper" type surplus by looting money out of the contingency fund and EI. And even at that the surplus was already shrinking because of falling revenue due to oil prices and negative growth. And now they're giving away their fake, not-real surplus in what's got to be the most brazen, shameless vote-buying exercise since Ralph Klein's petro-bux giveaway of about 12 years ago. I thought these guys were supposed to be "fiscally responsible". Blowing 3 billion dollars on a stunt is pretty much the opposite of "fiscally responsible". -k

They figured she was some random person just wandering around with take-out containers? Anyway, clearly Ms Neugebauer yelling at the kid was *not* their first clue that their child was causing annoyance. If somebody comes over and throws to-go containers at you, you should be able to figure out that they're mad at you regardless of whether she's the owner or not. And Mrs Carson says her child was "fussing" but nobody seemed to be too angry. Is she of the opinion that unless people are visibly angry at her she's not disrupting anybody? -k

I did some reading about them. It turns out that Tedeschi Trucks is not, in fact, a brand of vehicle, or even a dealership. The band is named after Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. They met in 2001, when the "Susan Tedeschi Band" and the "Derek Trucks Band" were playing at the same festival. They married shortly afterward, but kept their bands separate. Finally, in 2010, they decided to merge their bands... I am imagining this is the married musicians equivalent of getting a joint bank account. They named their newly merged band ... (wait for it) ... "the Derek Trucks And Susan Tedeschi Band". I imagine they shortened the name after numerous unsuccessful attempts to fit "the Derek Trucks And Susan Tedeschi Band" on t-shirts and CD covers. Interesting about Derek Trucks: in addition to his own Trucks Band related endeavors, he also played with later incarnations of the Allman Brothers Band for many years. Which seems fitting, because Derek's uncle was a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. This song has been covered countless times in genres from rock to country to reggae, but the original recording is by far my favorite. Midnight Rider, featuring Uncle Butch Trucks on drums. -k

Yeah, instead of 5 or 10 year mortgages, we now have 25 year mortgages. No doubt the Royal Bank is enthusiastic about promoting payment size, rather than total price, as the measure of what people can afford. They were no doubt very disappointed when the government put an end to 35 year mortgages. They'd probably love it if the government brought those things back. Who was supposed to provide investors with information about what was actually inside CDOs and MBSs? Standard & Poors, Fitch, Moody's... the "independent" ratings agencies who were supposed to scrutinize them. Except S&P et al were in the pockets of the banks. They don't get paid by investors... they get paid by the banks, and have proven themselves to be afraid to bite the hand that feeds. Great system. -k

Wow! That's a name I haven't heard in a long time! -k

According to Mrs Carson herself, Ms Neugebauer came over to the table earlier and confronted the parents: While not exactly a sterling example of friendly customer service, Mrs Carson herself says that they had already been confronted once about their child's behavior, and in her own words "we didn't take it seriously." -k

Are you sure that's true? It seems like by some measures-- the cost of a home vs income, the cost of an education vs income, debt load, amount of free time... we're actually moving backwards. The economy is growing, the amount of wealth is increasing, sure... but who's actually any richer? Why should people care about growth when only a select few are benefiting from growth? -k

"Fire On The Mountain" is basically what's going on in my town right now. It's also a song about life in a gold rush town. A few years ago I went on an amazing trip to Barkerville ghost town heritage site. I loved it, and this song always reminds me of that wonderful place. -k

What a Presidential response -k

More like Rafael Hussein Fidel bin Cruzin', amirite? -k

We had a contentious thread a while back on a related subject. (in hindsight, it was contentious mostly because American Whatsername was involved...) There are some parents who are just completely inconsiderate to the people around them. -k

errr.... if you're caught driving 50kn/h over the speed limit, aren't you by definition guilty? -k

GxD help us all. -k