Comments on: Fiona Apple busted in Texas for possession of hashish

By: edkedz

edkedz — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 00:05:00 +0000

I actually wasn’t neccessarily saying the shoe fit perfectly here, just more “fuck Godwin’s” in general, maybe it needs to be retired.
Especially as an automatic conversation-ending go-to which is invoked as soon as things even start leaning in the direction of mentioning anything even slightly related (the comment you replied to didn’t actually say “Hitler” “Nazi” or even “Germany” but just mentioned the end of WWII…).

By: ocker3

ocker3 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 22:26:00 +0000

I was wondering why her bus driver/company chose that route, considering how many other singers/celebrities have had the same problem. It’s probably the only good crossing in that area, for them to be willing to take that chance.

By: Fred Legault

Fred Legault — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:57:00 +0000

Wow! Finding hash is next to impossible where I live. Must be nice to be famous and have access to the nice stuff.

By: wysinwyg

wysinwyg — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 15:51:00 +0000

Sounds like someone needs to shut up and hit the bong…

By: Mantissa128

Mantissa128 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 13:53:00 +0000

It’s not about controlling your habit. She was transporting it on a bus, not riding on top freebasing, for heaven’s sake.

Yay law-enforcement gimmicks.

Edit: it was a total of four grams of hash. A gram weighs as much as a paper clip. Unbelievable.

By: Dave Lloyd

Dave Lloyd — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 11:35:00 +0000

Wow! Thanks for the support guys but I’d better answer Mr Chicago.

First I’m British, not American so *the* law is no such thing – English law is quite different in this area.
Secondly I’m very aware that in the USA *the* law is also not invariant wrt location. So Texan law is not the same as Californian law. Hell, OneHorseTown law is not the same is BigCity law in the same state/county.
Finally the whole point of fascism is that you have a heavy set of laws designed to criminalise citizens for anything you don’t approve of and then you back them with ruthless enforcement by your prefects/guards/policemen/troopers typically chosen for their keenness to bully and get one up on other citizens.
Congratulations, you’ve just rebuilt Rome.

By: Hannah B

Hannah B — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 06:56:00 +0000

You’re incorrect. It’s been shown that intelligent people are more likely to abuse drugs including alcohol. Besides the general knowledge of how some of the world’s brightest authors, artists, musicians and etc tend to abuse drugs, there’s research into the field as well that provides evidence against your opinion. A simple Google search can provide you with more information, but here’s a start:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201010/why-intelligent-people-use-more-drugs

http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/15/why-kids-with-high-iq-are-more-likely-to-take-drugs/

By: marilove

marilove — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:53:00 +0000

Dude. Don’t be that guy.

Also, you do realize that the War on Drugs is it’s own kind of war and hell, right? Fatal, even! Quite often, very fatal.

By: marilove

marilove — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:52:00 +0000

WTF, man. So many claims, yet not one little ounce of evidence to back them up.
Yes, you’re self-righteous and clearly sitting high up on your privileged little perch above everyone else. YAWN.

By: marilove

marilove — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:50:00 +0000

I saw her on Tuesday and she looked as she’s always looked… I was in the 5th row, quite close. She was really great, too.

By: marilove

marilove — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:47:00 +0000

I saw her live on Tuesday in Mesa, AZ. 5th or 6th row, right in the middle.

She looked exactly as she’s never looked: Very thin, and very wiry. But she didn’t look sick or ill. She glowed! And she was ON. Totally, 100% on.

She moved and danced and jumped around the stage. She belted and growled and sang softly. At one point she told off her record label, which was hilarious. She was focused and in total control and clearly having a BLAST. It was a really great show. Her backing band was nothing short of brilliant, as well.

Whatever illicit drugs she is or isn’t taking, it clearly has not hindered her talent, ability, or enthusiasm. It was a fan-fucking-tastic show and worth every bit of the $60 I paid.

You’re making some weird judgements, assumptions, and claims about someone you’ve never even met. And by “seen” — are you talking about pictures? She’s very angular, which doesn’t always photograph well. She was gorgeous on stage!

By: marilove

marilove — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:44:00 +0000

I saw her on Tuesday, in Mesa, and she was AMAZING. As was her backing band. It was a great show. Clearly her talent has not been effected by some silly hash.

By: Gasbandit

Gasbandit — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 04:35:00 +0000

Spoken like a man who has never had to drive through kansas.

Next time, skip El Paso (it’s a hole, anyway, a gravel pit between a mountain pass), and go through Albuquerque instead. Take 40 east to Amarillo, then 287 down to Dallas. Much nicer drive, and no towns famous for busting drug-addled celebrities.

By: stuck411

stuck411 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:34:00 +0000

The real question here is, “What would Walt & Jesse do?” Once that’s figured out all of the pieces will fall into place.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:03:00 +0000

Your country isn’t setting a very good example for forwards thinking this week. I can’t believe that Julia Gillard is the leader of your less assholish party.

By: bzishi

bzishi — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:02:00 +0000

Laws should have some basis in ethics instead of a blind belief in the “rule of law”. Citing the German and Italian laws against Jews and other undesirables is a valid way to make this point. Shutting this comment down with a Godwin’s Law reference misses the point. Yes, the German and Italian laws were monstrous examples of unjust laws and a comparison with trivial examples is absurd. However, the War on Drugs is not a trivial example since millions of lives have been damaged due to its unjust policies. It is not at the same order of magnitude as the Nuremberg Laws, but the War on Drugs can never be considered trivial.

By: C W

C W — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 02:36:00 +0000

“Longer answer: I feel like someone with a computer and keyboard could accomplish the task if they actually cared.”

If you don’t know, you could just cop to it. We’re all friends here.

By: C W

C W — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 02:34:00 +0000

Yeah! Let’s cheer on arresting people for consensual crimes like some sort of creep!

By: ChicagoD

ChicagoD — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 02:17:00 +0000

Sometimes the shoe would fucking fit, but an arrest for possession of hash has dick all to do with the Holocaust. It’s called perspective, and very very very little fits in the comparison with the Nazis.

By: teapot

teapot — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 01:22:00 +0000

It’s simple: Don’t go to a backwards place like Texas.

@Anti : Word. Pretty shameful crap coming out of her and her government lately. Don’t look at me though… I’m the guy ‘wasting’ my vote on the non-major parties (but I’m sure you knew that already).

By: Bob Webb

Bob Webb — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 00:43:00 +0000

It’s the constitution-free zone! http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/fact-sheet-us-constitution-free-zone

By: Marc Montoya

Marc Montoya — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 23:42:00 +0000

shoulda waited till she got in Austin. the stuff is pretty good here and probably less likely tainted by smuggling human-exploters.

By: edkedz

edkedz — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 23:41:00 +0000

In a way, the whole Godwin’s thing is bullshit, and it’s kind of funny the way everyone has just come to blindly accept that its invocation can be used to just end the discussion, whether or not any comparison to fascism/Nazism/Hitler/whatever might in fact have actually been valid.
Sometimes the shoe just fucking fits.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 22:44:00 +0000

It remains the best example of why law without ethics is a terrifically bad idea.

By: bzishi

bzishi — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 22:08:00 +0000

It appears that it was a US Border Patrol interior checkpoint. I don’t think that this type of search is voluntary, especially when a drug dog makes a signal.

But you are correct that you should never voluntarily consent to a search and you should always ask if you are being detained.

Edit: I did a little research and found this in Wikipedia

The United States Supreme Court ruled that Border Patrol agents may stop a vehicle at fixed checkpoints for brief questioning of its occupants even if there is no reason to believe that the particular vehicle contains illegal aliens.[4] The Court further held that Border Patrol agents “have wide discretion” to refer motorists selectively to a secondary inspection area for additional brief questioning.

The constitutional threshold for searching a vehicle … must be supported by either consent or probable cause

So when the dogs signaled at the first checkpoint, the border patrol had the ability to perform a non-voluntary search since drug dogs are still considered probable cause.

By: octochicken

octochicken — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:44:00 +0000

Yes, I have seen her. I’m not sure what it is about your statement that you think I don’t understand.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:44:00 +0000

They would almost certainly improve my driving. I drive like I just robbed a 7-Eleven.

By: ChicagoD

ChicagoD — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:43:00 +0000

Hey, we have a Godwin winner!

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:29:00 +0000

”Secondary rule; if you can’t go a few days without a “hit”, you are an addict. ”

LOL. That’s just so cute. Did you get that lingo from the Chick tract that your youth pastor handed out. Or maybe Officer Friendly?

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:28:00 +0000

Does this rule apply to women driving in Saudi Arabia? Or being gay in Uganda? “The law is the law” kind of went out the window in the aftermath of WWII.