a hard core secessionist/libertarian/anarchist's dream come true

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7632543/A-cruise-missile-in-a-shipping-box-on-sale-to-rogue-bidders.html

Short form: a cruise missile in a box. A big box: a standard shipping container. Look on the bright side, tho -- transport problems are mostly solved. I just want to know if you can launch from a rail car or not. You probably can, but I bet the railroad doesn't work so good afterwards. I'm betting launching from a ship would be a Really Poor Plan, but who knows?

Too rich for my blood and while both Mother's Day and my birthday are coming up, I _do not_ want one of these.

Looks like the major concern is not domestic however, but small countries who don't like the US. Or who the US doesn't like. Or something like that.

Papers, Please

Clinton passed NAFTA, so I suppose it should not surprise me that Republicans are responsible for yet another egregious Make Us Carry ID All the Time Law (hey, Real ID should have been warning enough, right?).

While the Arizona law getting all the coverage has been signed into law, it does not take effect immediately -- we won't know for a while yet what the "linear line of questions", to quote an Arizona deputy appearing on the Chris Matthews show, will be that leads to asking for proof of citizenship. If you believe that deputy, the whole are-you-here-legally question won't arise unless you have already done something wrong, like fail to produce license and registration when pulled over by the police.

This is what's being used to counter that claim:

http://www.azfamily.com/news/91769419.html

A truck driver apparently born in Fresno, CA produced a CDL and a social security card, but not a birth certificate and was taken away in handcuffs. His wife had to bring his birth certificate over (and brought her own, just to be on the safe side, natch). When the news crew asked:

"A representative at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) returned 3TV’s calls after researching the incident and she said this was standard operating procedure."

I guess if you were hoping that Arizona might adopt ICE procedures to avoid detaining and transporting US citizens who don't happen to have the correct paperwork on their person, well, hope is not a plan. I do recognize that many Western democracies require citizens to carry legal identification with them all the time, and even make them register in the town they live in, heck, and even produce lists of names appropriate for babies. Apparently there are some Republicans in a screaming hurry to get to be more like that kind of place. I'm sure they'd also like to arm the police with fully automatic weapons as well.