Are you aware that police departments uniformly issue hollowpoint ammunition, in order to prevent overpenetration? Why do you seem to want civilians to be less safe?

Actually, you're wrong. Pepper spray is primarily a compliance tool, not a defensive tool. LEO policy across the country uniformly places it below physical force.

In context, the protesters were legally in the wrong. It's pretty clear-cut: the officers were walking away with an individual under arrest, and the protesters were blocking the path. Pike ordered them to leave, they did not. He informed them that if they did not leave, they would be sprayed with OC and removed. They stayed. He sprayed them until disoriented, and removed them.

Pepper spray (OC) is below physical force per policy at every police department I've seen.

The leader's name is "JT Ready", and he's a media whore. They'll show up at any event in the Phoenix area that gets media coverage - but they are there.

A quick Google:
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/10/unreal-neo-nazis-patrol-occupy-phonix-with-ar-15s-media-silent/
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=229899

Well, that's just ignorant, then.

I write SQL most of the day, and in my opinion, it's more difficult to do well than traditional programming. If I'm writing a webapp somewhere, I only have to keep the individual logic i'm working on in my head - with SQL, I may have to know how a single dataset is processed over a half dozen steps to get the result I want.

Surely writing SQL qualifies as coding.

Great comment.

I can say with authority that my local tea party had not received any outside funding as of March of this year, when I left the group.

I can also point out that there has never been a violent crime committed with a gun during a tea party event, despite their obvious and apparent presence.

The first local tea party I attended - and helped organize - was in December 2007. It was a fundraiser for Ron Paul's campaign, and the one in Boston got the majority of the press: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2007/12/ron_pauls_tea_p.html

Before you go off on me for being a "Paulbot", I'm not a huge fan of Ron Paul. I'm an extreme libertarian - a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. My goal is to move the GOP towards libertarianism at the local level. That's neither here nor there, though - you asked for a link about the tea party prior to Obama's election, and I have provided it.

Locally, we started protesting regularly and calling them "tea parties" after TARP was passed. That was a month prior to the elections, and it was entirely because of the bailouts. Our group at the time was probably 60% GOP, 20% Democrat, and 20% minor parties - Constitution, Libertarian, etc.

I don't recall armed people at Tea Party events. It may have have happened, but I don't recall a specific instance. I know *I* was at a tea party, and I was armed, but it was concealed and there's no way you could have known about that, is there? :)

As for OWS... You *do* realize there are Neo-Nazis with "assault weapons" in Phoenix with OWS right now, right?

I wouldn't want to live in your village, but I'd love to buy your products.

I would be wholly in favor of the legislation you speak of, and I can assure you, the GOP is not.

"Look at what capitalism has done to China."

Did I seriously just read that?

I'm okay with that, though.

Love the sig. Trurth, even if you disagree with the nation for which he was patriotic.