Ace of Spades HQ

October 14, 2013

Minnesota Judge Dumps Anti-competitive Law As "Irrational Policy"
— Gabriel Malor

On Wednesday, Judge John Guthmann ruled in favor of plaintiffs who were challenging an onerous state law requiring funeral homes to install equipment for embalming dead bodies, even when those funeral homes do not use the equipment. The requirement stifles competition and increases prices for consumers by requiring funeral homes to spend $30,000 on unnecessary equipment, the plaintiffs in the case argued.
In striking down the embalming room requirement, Guthmann said it Â“constitutes an irrational exercise of the stateÂ’s police powerÂ” and violates the state constitution.

The state's own experts admitted at trial (how could they not?) that embalming equipment that never gets used has no role in public safety.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:00 AM | Comments (164)
Post contains 128 words, total size 1 kb.

1 I wonder what portion of the typical state's regulations are based on protection of existing businesses rather than some legitimate need for regulation?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 14, 2013 07:03 AM (/kU/5)

2 So, an attempt to kill the funeral business?

Posted by: eman at October 14, 2013 07:03 AM (AO9UG)

3 I wonder what portion of the typical state's regulations are based on protection of existing businesses rather than some legitimate need for regulation? Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 14, 2013 11:03 AM (/kU/5) 90% is my ballpark.

Posted by: HoboJerky, Hash Hunter at October 14, 2013 07:04 AM (E8IHS)

4 Trace that rule back to its origin and you will find a lobbyist, a free lunch, some booze, perhaps a hooker.

Posted by: eman at October 14, 2013 07:05 AM (AO9UG)

5 how could they not? Because most government workers are Dems who will lie like the rest of us breathe oxygen in order to protect to their own scaly hides. Kudos to this guy, then, and it's good to see a rational ruling from a judge every one in a while.

Posted by: Blacksheep at October 14, 2013 07:05 AM (bS6uW)

Probably some legislator's relatives in the embalming equipment biz.

If only we had some group of people whose job it was to investigate things and then tell the rest of us what they found...

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at October 14, 2013 07:06 AM (0HooB)

7 The funeral business is, weirdly, one of the more corrupt. Probably because it's icky and most people don't want to look into it. Also, the Left wants to make burial's ruinously expensive. Their goal is to cremate everybody. It's like with their War on Coal. Anything that raises the cost is considered a good thing.

Posted by: Flatbush Joe at October 14, 2013 07:06 AM (ZPrif)

8 Just the notion that the state is enforcing something as bizarre as enbalming gives me the willies.

Posted by: pep at October 14, 2013 07:06 AM (6TB1Z)

9
Not shockingly, most laws these days have nothing to do with keeping a civil society, most are to just control civilians.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at October 14, 2013 07:08 AM (N8z9m)

10 Common sense in the courts? Not if I can help it.

Posted by: Some liberal appeals judge somewhere at October 14, 2013 07:08 AM (0HooB)

11 I love Bob Corker's Bozo-do.

Posted by: slippery when soothsayer at October 14, 2013 07:08 AM (2/UKB)

12 So, an attempt to kill the funeral business?

Posted by: eman at October 14, 2013 11:03 AM (AO9UG)

Heh, that's a good one.

Posted by: Mikey NTH - Buy one Infuriation and get two Junior Snits for Free! at October 14, 2013 07:09 AM (hLRSq)

13 Maybe this regulation explains all those extra embalming tools you find in those crypts around Skyrim.

Posted by: Serious Cat at October 14, 2013 07:10 AM (UypUQ)

14 Will be overturned on appeal.

It's a tax.

/s/
The Piss-Yellow Coward, John Roberts.

Posted by: RoyalOil at October 14, 2013 07:11 AM (VjL9S)

Posted by: Serious Cat at October 14, 2013 11:10 AM (UypUQ)

Ancient Nord bureaucracy? Well that explains a lot right there.

Posted by: Mikey NTH - Buy one Infuriation and get two Junior Snits for Free! at October 14, 2013 07:11 AM (hLRSq)

16 Are obama and the Democrats gonna suddenly become Jehovah's Witnesses on Oct 17th? Answer: Yes. Just like how the J'sW's have been constantly pushing forward the date of the Rapture since the 1800's, obama and his media will push forward the date of Doom and Default as Oct 17 comes and goes without catastrophe.

Posted by: slippery when soothsayer at October 14, 2013 07:14 AM (2/UKB)

17 1 I wonder what portion of the typical state's regulations are based on protection of existing businesses rather than some legitimate need for regulation?
7 The funeral business is, weirdly, one of the more corrupt. Probably because it's icky and most people don't want to look into it.
======
The funeral business lobby is the only lobby more powerful than lawyers.

Think about it: nearly all legislatures are lawyers but it's the funeral parlors that always have a better place in line when the the money is to be paid.

Posted by: RoyalOil at October 14, 2013 07:14 AM (VjL9S)

18 I don't think that I want to know the details of this...

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 07:15 AM (aDwsi)

19 14 Will be overturned on appeal.

It's a tax.

/s/
The Piss-Yellow Coward, John Roberts.

Posted by: RoyalOil at October 14, 2013 11:11 AM (VjL9S)

Nah. They lack standing.

Posted by: buzzion at October 14, 2013 07:15 AM (LI48c)

20 As long as one of his facilities is capable of performing the service, who cares if his other locations are just distribution centers? I think he'd be better off if he expanded his business model to include cat food manufacturing.

Posted by: Fritz at October 14, 2013 07:15 AM (UzPAd)

21 The funeral business lobby is the only lobby more powerful than lawyers.

AmishDude has been strangely quiet about them. Is he in league with Big Casket?

Posted by: pep at October 14, 2013 07:16 AM (6TB1Z)

22 The judge in question is a political moderate (clerked for a Democrat but appointed to the court by T-Paw) known in MN for having a fair hand -- deciding things based on the record presented and a fair application of the doctrine.

Like most judges, he's very risk adverse, and he wouldn't strike something on rational basis if there were anything in the record to latch onto.

I haven't looked at the ruling, but just based on the judge that issued it I would be surprised if it gets overturned .

Posted by: Sayyid at October 14, 2013 07:16 AM (r28v2)

23 Holy cow! A return to common sense in Minnesota??

Posted by: Tex Lovera at October 14, 2013 07:16 AM (wtvvX)

24
Trace that rule back to its origin and you will find a lobbyist, a free lunch, some booze, perhaps a hooker.

Posted by: eman at October 14, 2013 11:05 AM (AO9UG)

Dead hooker.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 14, 2013 07:17 AM (TIIx5)

25 Next thing you'll be tellin' me that car dealers & liquor distributors have all kinds of anti-competitive laws passed for them...

Posted by: Tex Lovera at October 14, 2013 07:19 AM (wtvvX)

26 Dead hooker. Posted by: IllTemperedCur Dead whore. If the various CSI shows are to be believed, there is a surfeit of them.

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 07:20 AM (aDwsi)

27 "Big Casket". Heh...

Posted by: Tex Lovera at October 14, 2013 07:21 AM (wtvvX)

28 If there's one thing I'm pretty sure the funeral business can do, it's disappear a dead whore.

Posted by: Clownf*cker at October 14, 2013 07:21 AM (W2YA6)

29
Curiously, while there are laws against bringing people into your embalming room, there are no laws against burning rabid weasels in your crematorium.

Still, I wouldn't recommend it. Trust me on this.

Posted by: Ernie Kaltenbrunner at October 14, 2013 07:21 AM (TIIx5)

30 Next thing you'll be tellin' me that car dealers liquor distributors have all kinds of anti-competitive laws passed for them... Posted by: Tex Lovera -------------------- In NC, the only liquor stores are state-run. How much less competitive can you be?

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 07:21 AM (aDwsi)

31 Curses, foiled again! But my day will come, and soon my zombie-making devices will be in every funeral home in America! Bwahahah...bwahahaha....!

Posted by: Lincolntf at October 14, 2013 07:22 AM (ZshNr)

32 no laws against burning rabid weasels in your crematorium. ----------- Hold it..., are you saying that lawyers can be burned alive?

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 07:22 AM (aDwsi)

33 .Gov trying to force an individual purchase something not needed. Outrageous. Off to sign up for Ocare before I get fined.

Posted by: RWC at October 14, 2013 07:24 AM (LpbKr)

34 Lincoln - nasty weather last week at OBX. 40 mph wind, 13 inches of rain in three days. Roads covered. And, oh, yeah..., NPS shutdown of the Nat Sea Shore.

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 07:24 AM (aDwsi)

35 The whole funeral industry set of carve-outs and regulations need some serious daylight. From everything I've read and heard, the cronyism of that industry is the leading indicator of what our country will become.

Posted by: Clownf*cker at October 14, 2013 07:24 AM (W2YA6)

36 I think any state that requires a business to invest in unnecessary, expensive funerary equipment has their priorities ass-backward. Considering some of the nightmare funeral home scenarios that have popped up in recent years -- bodies going unburied, or being dumped in mass graves, or limbs being mixed up between corpses, or the wrong body being cremated or buried -- the funeral industry has bigger problems on its hands than lack of embalming facilities.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 07:25 AM (4df7R)

37 Holy cow! A return to common sense in Minnesota??

Posted by: Tex Lovera at October 14, 2013 11:16 AM .............A small tiny ray of light in a dark cave created by the dems. Which here is called the DFL or Democratic Farmer Labor Party. And yea, their as socialist as their names sound.

Posted by: Minnfidel at October 14, 2013 07:25 AM (S1X4V)

38
no laws against burning rabid weasels in your crematorium.
-----------

Hold it..., are you saying that lawyers can be burned alive?

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 11:22 AM (aDwsi)

Only if you dismember them and bag the pieces first.

Posted by: Ernie Kaltenbrunner at October 14, 2013 07:25 AM (TIIx5)

39 That's rough. MH. I was wondering about the shutdown effects down there. All the historic lighthouses, beaches, dunes, etc. seemed to be Federal. Sucks that McCrory doesn't do something like Walker in Wisconsin.

Posted by: Lincolntf at October 14, 2013 07:26 AM (ZshNr)

40 The state's own experts admitted at trial (how could they not?) that embalming equipment that never gets used has no role in public safety. In fact, wouldn't it make it less safe since embalming fluid is not exactly made of sunshine and unicorn dust. Leaving a bunch of that sitting around is a Bad Thing. I can't remember who it is so I am going to randomly guess it's Cato or maybe Reason that has a list of all the professions that are required to have licenses in the various states. It's insane. Well, it's insane until you think of the money that got used to buy the politicians to make sure the guild is protected. Then it makes perfect sense indeed.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Now with extra taunting. at October 14, 2013 07:26 AM (VtjlW)

41 At least 100 bodies found, N. Georgia crematorium http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-100927/More-bodies-crematorium.html

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 07:27 AM (aDwsi)

42 Like soldiers in a winters night
With a vow to defend.

No retreat baby no surrender....!!

Posted by: Harry Reid at October 14, 2013 07:27 AM (nELVU)

43 eman, lets hope not a dead hooker...

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 14, 2013 07:28 AM (uj8Oa)

So a judge struck down an onerous law in which the government was forcing individuals/businesses to purchase something they did not need and did not want that cost an exorbitant amount of money.

Gosh, that sounds super familiar, though the thing I'm remembering had a different ending.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 07:29 AM (4df7R)

45 That's rough. MH. I was wondering about the shutdown effects down there. All the historic lighthouses, beaches, dunes, etc. seemed to be Federal. Sucks that McCrory doesn't do something like Walker in Wisconsin. Posted by: Lincolntf ------------------------- The natives are restless. It has, of course, disrupted relationships between the NPS and the locals. Fishermen were generally ignoring the closed signs, and hiking over the dunes to fish. On the sound side, people were just parking on the road, and carrying their kite-boarding gear, kyaks, etc. to the sound. I think the Park Service just gave up on barrycades, and cabled access roads.

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 07:31 AM (aDwsi)

@7......the Left wants to make burial's ruinously expensive. Their goal is to cremate everybody.

Hmmm......

.....and we're still not allowed to call them Nazis......

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, TX at October 14, 2013 07:31 AM (PZ6/M)

47 If only we had some group of people whose job it was to investigate things and then tell the rest of us what they found... Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at October 14, 2013 11:06 AM (0HooB) Like the Sun . . . . *wantonly crosses HQ meme streams*
Drat it all to heck. I spelled wantonly wontonly initially and now I truly want wontons.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Now with extra taunting. at October 14, 2013 07:31 AM (VtjlW)

This is discrimination straight up. I demand equal rights under the law!!

Posted by: Necrophiliac at October 14, 2013 07:32 AM (m2CN7)

49 This is discrimination straight up. I demand equal rights under the law!! Posted by: Necrophiliac --------------------- Coming soon... "Necro-normal"

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 07:33 AM (aDwsi)

50 "Necro-normal" Just a matter of time.

Posted by: Orlandocon ette at October 14, 2013 07:34 AM (SldZ2)

51 Looks like the Alaska snow crab fleet is still stuck at dock. Seafood prices, fishermen, and America's Deadliest Catch hardest hit.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2022013844_crabshutdownxml.html

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 14, 2013 07:34 AM (uj8Oa)

52 There is no industry in America that is in bed more with the regulators than the embalming industry. It is a racket.

Posted by: Vic at October 14, 2013 07:34 AM (zZbNF)

53 Glad they're ignoring them the best they can.

Posted by: Lincolntf at October 14, 2013 07:35 AM (ZshNr)

54 So, an attempt to kill the funeral business? Posted by: eman at October 14, 2013 11:03 AM (AO9UG) Under Obamacare, funeral homes will be getting more work, so really, these embalming regulations will be paid for!

Posted by: Obamacare shill at October 14, 2013 07:36 AM (Vk2pI)

55 This is discrimination straight up. I demand equal rights under the law!! Posted by: Necrophiliac --------------------- Coming soon... "Necro-normal" Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 11:33 AM (aDwsi) A little mood music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9w0Q48yH0I

Posted by: Alice's Cooper at October 14, 2013 07:37 AM (Vk2pI)

56 Would it be irrational to have funeral homes in MN dig a few extra holes during the winter before the perma-frost sets in or is it okay to stack'em like cord wood?

Posted by: Fritz at October 14, 2013 07:37 AM (UzPAd)

"Under this new legislation, if you like your undertaker, you can keep your undertaker."

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at October 14, 2013 07:38 AM (N/Sup)

58 Amateurs! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKqsqxM_U90

Posted by: Plots R Us at October 14, 2013 07:38 AM (Vk2pI)

59 I went to high school with a guy whose goal in life was to be a mortician. Before the ewwww creepy comments, his family owned a chain of funeral homes and he was smart enough to know a good thing when he saw it.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Now with extra taunting. at October 14, 2013 07:39 AM (VtjlW)

60 So has Harry Reid risen from his coffin to address this pressing matter about embalming machines on the Senate floor?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 14, 2013 07:42 AM (uj8Oa)

The problem is, that the default Government position is to regulate, and then you must go to court to get rid of a regulation...

Posted by: Romeo13 at October 14, 2013 07:42 AM (lZBBB)

62 This is discrimination straight up. I demand equal rights under the law!!

Posted by: Necrophiliac
---------------------

Coming soon... "Necro-normal"

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 11:33 AM (aDwsi)

Reminds me of that story a few years ago in which a young woman was killed in a crash and a trio of losers saw a picture with her obituary and decided to go dig her up to have sex with her corpse. There was no law against necrophilia, so they got charged with damage to property for the damage caused to her tomb, but there was a big legal hullabaloo about how there was no law saying what they'd done to her corpse was illegal.

NBC - Wisconsin: http://tinyurl.com/khg6vfr

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 07:43 AM (4df7R)

63 Death is a great business. Obamacare will only help.

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn at October 14, 2013 07:43 AM (EGPJQ)

64 Reminds me of that story a few years ago in which a young woman was killed in a crash and a trio of losers saw a picture with her obituary and decided to go dig her up to have sex with her corpse. There was no law against necrophilia, so they got charged with damage to property for the damage caused to her tomb, but there was a big legal hullabaloo about how there was no law saying what they'd done to her corpse was illegal.

NBC - Wisconsin: http://tinyurl.com/khg6vfr

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea at October 14, 2013 11:43 AM (4df7R)

No law against mutilation/desecration of a corpse?

Posted by: buzzion at October 14, 2013 07:44 AM (LI48c)

65 In ND they used to postpone burial until the earth was not frozen. They put the bodies in a freezer until then. Ironic. All my childhood my mother got hired to sing at funerals and weddings. She has some weird stories.

Posted by: thunderb at October 14, 2013 07:45 AM (zOTsN)

66 Reminds me of that story a few years ago in which a young woman was killed in a crash and a trio of losers saw a picture with her obituary and decided to go dig her up to have sex with her corpse.

Man, I should have thought of that.

Posted by: Dude with his wang in a toaster at October 14, 2013 07:46 AM (6TB1Z)

In ND they used to postpone burial until the earth was not frozen. They put the bodies in a freezer until then. Ironic.

That used to happen a lot in cold climates. Same happened here in New England. I admit I don't know what they do now, since I doubt they jackhammer through the permafrost when digging a grave.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 07:47 AM (4df7R)

68 Corrupt business-government links:

Tow Trucks
Banks
Garbage Collection
Recycling
Parking
Taxis
----------------

Posted by: Jean at October 14, 2013 07:47 AM (yWwuU)

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 14, 2013 11:34 AM (uj8Oa)

Give a Man a Fish, and he will eat for a day.... Teach a man to fish, and we can then regulate when and where he can fish...

Posted by: The New Progresive Parable at October 14, 2013 07:48 AM (lZBBB)

70 Garbage collection in NJ means mafia

Posted by: thunderb at October 14, 2013 07:48 AM (zOTsN)

Reminds me of that story a few years ago in which a young woman was
killed in a crash and a trio of losers saw a picture with her obituary
and decided to go dig her up to have sex with her corpse.

Isn't this the entire plot line for Walking Dead Season 5?

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn at October 14, 2013 07:48 AM (EGPJQ)

72 No law against mutilation/desecration of a corpse?

Posted by: buzzion at October 14, 2013 11:44 AM (LI48c)

Apparently not. Damage to property and attempted theft were the charges that stuck; attempted third degree sexual assault was the one that got the go-round in WI courts, because how can you sexually assault a corpse? I don't know how they didn't have some kind of "deliberate desecration of a corpse" law already on the books.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 07:50 AM (4df7R)

73 @69

Here in DC, there is a new service that doesn't call itself a taxi, but is one in effect. It's a bit more expensive than licensed taxis, but is still eating their lunch, because who knew, folks like a cab that shows up on time, is new, comfortable and clean, and has a driver that speaks English and knows where he's going. Naturally, the government is trying to put them out of business.

Posted by: pep at October 14, 2013 07:50 AM (6TB1Z)

74 Isn't this the entire plot line for Walking Dead Season 5?

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn at October 14, 2013 11:48 AM (EGPJQ)

Zombie Origin story?

Posted by: Romeo13 at October 14, 2013 07:51 AM (lZBBB)

All my childhood my mother got hired to sing at funerals and weddings. She has some weird stories.

Did she give two for one specials?

Posted by: tofer732 at October 14, 2013 07:51 AM (z3MpN)

76 Apparently not. Damage to property and attempted theft were the charges that stuck; attempted third degree sexual assault was the one that got the go-round in WI courts, because how can you sexually assault a corpse? I don't know how they didn't have some kind of "deliberate desecration of a corpse" law already on the books.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea at October 14, 2013 11:50 AM (4df7R)

Although, i should say, it DOES make sense to me that, when writing laws, it wouldnt' be the first thought of most legislatures to ban "having sex with or otherwise desecrating a corpse," because most of us are sane and that would not even enter our minds.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 07:51 AM (4df7R)

77 Did she give two for one specials? Posted by: tofer732 at October 14, 2013 11:51 AM (z3MpN) Funerals? Weddings? well at least the songs remained the same.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet Palin/Bolton 2016 at October 14, 2013 07:52 AM (XIxXP)

78 All my childhood my mother got hired to sing at funerals and weddings.

If she sang at cremations, she'd be a torch singer. {ba-dum-bump}

Posted by: pep at October 14, 2013 07:52 AM (6TB1Z)

79 My Grandpa died during a horrible ice/snow storm. Grandma insisted that we have the graveside portion of the service any way. Everyone begged her to skip it, but, she was adamant. So we all went slip sliding from the church in one little Oklahoma town to the cemetery in another. The funeral folks hauled Grandpa's casket to the unopened grave, we had a brief service, they hauled his casket back to the hearse and we all left. One if the most bizarre experiences of my life.

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes C'est Magnifique at October 14, 2013 07:52 AM (VtSLf)

Isn't this the entire plot line for Walking Dead Season 5?

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn at October 14, 2013 11:48 AM (EGPJQ)

Aren't we only on Season 4?

Speaking of which, I hope my DVR recorded last night's eppy.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 07:52 AM (4df7R)

81 >>> 66 In ND they used to postpone burial until the earth was not frozen. They put the bodies in a freezer until then. No one is going to be sleeping on the porch until April. Just sayin'

Posted by: fluffy at October 14, 2013 07:53 AM (z9HTb)

82 No. But I know all the services hymns. I like the Navy hymn the best. Its like poetry. I was the only kid I knew who knew the musical scales in Italian. She was once asked to sing "Torn Between Two Lovers", by Jennifer Warren, at a wedding. Hmmmmm

Posted by: thunderb at October 14, 2013 07:54 AM (zOTsN)

83 Tow Trucks Banks Garbage Collection Recycling Parking Taxis ---------------- Posted by: Jean ----------------------------- Airports.

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 07:54 AM (aDwsi)

84 >>> That used to happen a lot in cold climates. Same happened here in New England. I admit I don't know what they do now They have winter mausoleums. The one in Stark, NH is easy to find.

Posted by: fluffy at October 14, 2013 07:55 AM (z9HTb)

85 1 I wonder what portion of the typical state's regulations are based on protection of existing businesses rather than some legitimate need for regulation?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 14, 2013 11:03 AM (/kU/5)

Plenty. See Tesla's troubles trying to sell cars outside of the dealers in certain states.

Posted by: Buck Farack, Gentleman Adventurer at October 14, 2013 07:55 AM (ylG8S)

86 So, I take it there's a large and influential embalming lobby in MN.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at October 14, 2013 07:55 AM (DmNpO)

87 So, I take it there's a large and influential embalming lobby in MN. Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at October 14, 2013 11:55 AM (DmNpO) More likely you would find a Equipment manufacturer with ties to the state senate.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet Palin/Bolton 2016 at October 14, 2013 07:57 AM (XIxXP)

88 Aren't we only on Season 4? Speaking of which, I hope my DVR recorded last night's eppy. Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea at October 14, 2013 11:52 AM (4df7R) Apparently there was an epic fight of epicness last night. I'm still kicking around doing the Mary Sue for NaNoWriMo.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Now with extra taunting. at October 14, 2013 07:57 AM (VtjlW)

89 87 So, I take it there's a large and influential embalming lobby in MN.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at October 14, 2013 11:55 AM (DmNpO)

Or there are some legislators with family that makes the equipment.

Posted by: buzzion at October 14, 2013 07:57 AM (LI48c)

Tow Trucks

Banks

Garbage Collection

Recycling

Parking

Taxis
----------------

Legend has it some of the family members on my dad's side were involved in garbage collection down in Jersey, IYKWIMAITYD.

So here's my question: if "garbage collection" is virtually a euphemism for the mob, then is "recycling" what happens when the mob goes green?

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 07:57 AM (4df7R)

91 I'm not shaving my beard til ace comes back.

Posted by: eleven at October 14, 2013 07:58 AM (KXm42)

92 Here in DC, there is a new service that doesn't call itself a taxi, but is one in effect. It's a bit more expensive than licensed taxis, but is still eating their lunch, because who knew, folks like a cab that shows up on time, is new, comfortable and clean, and has a driver that speaks English and knows where he's going. Naturally, the government is trying to put them out of business. Posted by: pep at October 14, 2013 11:50 AM (6TB1Z) If it's the one I'm thinking about I know the owner and yes, their service is great. So they must put a stop to it. (Sunny's?)

Posted by: RWC at October 14, 2013 07:58 AM (LpbKr)

93 you don't have to use the equipment but you do have to buy the equipment...thank you....the gov't

Posted by: phoenixgirl @phxazgrl at October 14, 2013 07:58 AM (8JJ6O)

94 No. But I know all the services hymns. I like the Navy hymn the best. -------------------- "Eternal Father, Strong To Save" It has been exorcised from the Methodist Hymnal, because patriarchal, military ties. As an aside, I have a copy of the official 1943 Army/Navy Service Hymnal.

Posted by: Ashamed Methodist at October 14, 2013 07:58 AM (aDwsi)

95 >>> I wonder what portion of the typical state's regulations are based on protection of existing businesses rather than some legitimate need for regulation? All this legislation exists to protect the consumer.

Posted by: Established business at October 14, 2013 07:58 AM (z9HTb)

96 So here's my question: if "garbage collection" is virtually a euphemism for the mob, then is "recycling" what happens when the mob goes green? Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea at October 14, 2013 11:57 AM (4df7R) Recycling is what happens when they call it green, charge more and dump it in the same hole, in another state.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet Palin/Bolton 2016 at October 14, 2013 07:59 AM (XIxXP)

97 The funeral business lobby is the only lobby more powerful than lawyers.

Think about it: nearly all legislatures are lawyers but it's the funeral parlors that always have a better place in line when the the money is to be paid.

Posted by: RoyalOil at October 14, 2013 11:14 AM (VjL9S)

Car Dealers are a close second. And booze distributors.

Posted by: Buck Farack, Gentleman Adventurer at October 14, 2013 07:59 AM (ylG8S)

98 I wonder what portion of the typical state's regulations are based on protection of existing businesses rather than some legitimate need for regulation? Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 14, 2013 11:03 AM (/kU/5) Pick up "Free to Choose" by Milton Freedman There's a whole chapter on that very thing.

Posted by: John Boehner, SuperGenius at October 14, 2013 08:00 AM (0cMkb)

99 Car Dealers are a close second. And booze distributors. Posted by: Buck Farack, Gentleman Adventurer at October 14, 2013 11:59 AM (ylG8S) Big Tobacco still powerful in NC.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet Palin/Bolton 2016 at October 14, 2013 08:00 AM (XIxXP)

100

All this legislation exists to protect the consumer.

From zombies, apparently.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at October 14, 2013 08:00 AM (0HooB)

101 If it's the one I'm thinking about I know the owner and yes, their service is great. So they must put a stop to it. (Sunny's?) Posted by: RWC at October 14, 2013 11:58 AM (LpbKr) Uber. Uber's running into the regulatory issues pretty much everywhere it tries to start up. Years ago the old firm had a client from NYC who was a taxi driver. He told us the real cost of getting his medallion. Yeah, however many people you think have a hand in that? There's more.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Now with extra taunting. at October 14, 2013 08:00 AM (VtjlW)

102 I'm not sure "desecration of a corpse" laws would pass muster in our Brave New World. How can you "desecrate" anything, if nothing is sacred? In Communist Romania, where they had big public crematoria, it was actually illegal to treat an ordinary corpse as "sacred." You had to have pretty good political connections to get a burial.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at October 14, 2013 08:00 AM (dfYL9)

103 Aw, dang it. My hash changed.

Posted by: John Boehner, SuperGenius at October 14, 2013 08:01 AM (0cMkb)

104

Apparently there was an epic fight of epicness last night.

Do want! Although I must admit, it's hard to watch the show with so much Carol. Arrrgh, she irritates the hell out of me.

But at least we have our Daryl.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 08:01 AM (4df7R)

105 Recycling is what happens when they call it green, charge more and dump it in the same hole, in another state.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet Palin/Bolton 2016 at October 14, 2013 11:59 AM (XIxXP)

Don't forget doubling the number of vehicles to collect the same amount of waste. The only thing worth recycling for the average person is aluminum. There's a reason that recycling centers will pay you for that when you bring it in.

Posted by: buzzion at October 14, 2013 08:01 AM (LI48c)

106 Or there are some legislators with family that makes the equipment. *** Whores. They are a gaggle of whores in office.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at October 14, 2013 08:01 AM (DmNpO)

107 I admit I don't know what they do now, since I doubt they jackhammer through the permafrost when digging a grave. Silly you. Due to anthropomorphic global warming the ground no longer freezes. Didn't you notice that building codes now reflect that fact and footings no longer need to be as deep as previously -- saving billions in building costs? You didn't? Me either.

Posted by: Schrödinger's cat [/i] at October 14, 2013 08:02 AM (U2UQk)

108

Also, the Left wants to make burial's ruinously expensive. Their goal is to cremate everybody.

It's like with their War on Coal. Anything that raises the cost is considered a good thing.

---

Isn't cremation a cause of global warming? and isn't burial carbon sequestration?

Posted by: Buzzsaw90 at October 14, 2013 08:02 AM (SO2Q8)

109 Judge, Obamacare is coming. We're going to need all the embalming equipment we can get.

Posted by: Minnesota Legislature at October 14, 2013 08:02 AM (FcR7P)

110

Recycling is what happens when they call it green, charge more and dump it in the same hole, in another state.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet Palin/Bolton 2016 at October 14, 2013 11:59 AM (XIxXP)

Thread winnah.

Jimmy Hoffa's Corpse: Tell me about it...

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 08:02 AM (4df7R)

111 Funny how Kermit Gosnell didn't get hassled by bureaucrats worried about public safety. I guess producing corpses needs less regulation than storing them.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at October 14, 2013 08:02 AM (hfvAj)

112 Whores. They are a gaggle of whores in office. Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at October 14, 2013 12:01 PM (DmNpO) Check the McCain Raytheon connection. They just got a billion+ dollar contracts to develope Radar for a new class of ships.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet Palin/Bolton 2016 at October 14, 2013 08:03 AM (XIxXP)

113 105 Apparently there was an epic fight of epicness last night.

Do want! Although I must admit, it's hard to watch the show with so much Carol. Arrrgh, she irritates the hell out of me.

But at least we have our Daryl.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea at October 14, 2013 12:01 PM (4df7R)

Not too much Carol last night.

Posted by: buzzion at October 14, 2013 08:03 AM (LI48c)

114 Also, the Left wants to make burial's ruinously expensive. Their goal is to cremate everybody.

It's like with their War on Coal. Anything that raises the cost is considered a good thing.
---
Isn't cremation a cause of global warming? and isn't burial carbon sequestration?

I foresee a big push toward Tibetan-style "sky burials."

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at October 14, 2013 08:03 AM (hfvAj)

115 Silly you. Due to anthropomorphic global warming the ground no longer freezes. Didn't you notice that building codes now reflect that fact and footings no longer need to be as deep as previously -- saving billions in building costs? You didn't? Me either.

Posted by: SchrÃ¶dinger's cat at October 14, 2013 12:02 PM (U2UQk)

*SNORT* Right. Tell that to our driveway.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 08:04 AM (4df7R)

116 And Nathan Fillion was on Talking Dead last night.

Posted by: buzzion at October 14, 2013 08:04 AM (LI48c)

117 Isn't cremation a cause of global warming? and isn't burial carbon sequestration?

Posted by: Buzzsaw90 at October 14, 2013 12:02 PM (SO2Q

The next big thing is dissolving corpses in acid. Yes really.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 08:04 AM (4df7R)

118 And Nathan Fillion was on Talking Dead last night. Posted by: buzzion at October 14, 2013 12:04 PM (LI48c) You mean Letterman?

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet Palin/Bolton 2016 at October 14, 2013 08:05 AM (XIxXP)

119 Not too much Carol last night.

Posted by: buzzion at October 14, 2013 12:03 PM (LI48c)

YAAAY!

*misses T-Dog*

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 08:05 AM (4df7R)

120 Another note, "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" takes on an entirely flavor when you are in the north Atlantic, a thousand miles from land, and experiencing gales. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KCiMdR1ox0

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 08:05 AM (aDwsi)

121 Cicero, or the canyon mummies of China. Stick a pallet on the side of a canyon wall with your deceased ancestor on it.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 14, 2013 08:05 AM (uj8Oa)

122 I foresee a big push toward Tibetan-style "sky burials." They probably still have the plans for the Auschwitz crematoria. Beware the offer of public showers!

Posted by: t-bird at October 14, 2013 08:05 AM (FcR7P)

123 But at least we have our Daryl. Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea at October 14, 2013 12:01 PM (4df7R) Yes, yes, we do. Speaking of, here pour tu. http://bit.ly/158F5Rp Also this http://bit.ly/18eo1YT Annnnd this http://bit.ly/1ckScOX I will say those make me want to write the jewel thief version instead.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Now with extra taunting. at October 14, 2013 08:06 AM (VtjlW)

124 Meh, I want to come back as a demon and possess the daughter of some asshole Dem politician. I hate Mondays.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at October 14, 2013 08:06 AM (Ec6wH)

125 I need to find some of those Ancient Nord bureaucrats. Can you imagine the loot they must have? Even more than a Deathlord, I'd bet.

Posted by: Empire1 at October 14, 2013 08:06 AM (BDHF1)

126

Dead hooker.

---

Word

Posted by: Pretty dead Woman at October 14, 2013 08:06 AM (SO2Q8)

127 MWR has a creeping driveway? Oh no Harry Reid is lurking obviously.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 14, 2013 08:06 AM (uj8Oa)

128 119 And Nathan Fillion was on Talking Dead last night.
Posted by: buzzion at October 14, 2013 12:04 PM (LI48c)

You mean Letterman?

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet Palin/Bolton 2016 at October 14, 2013 12:05 PM (XIxXP)

Nah. Chris Hardwick is actually a decent talkshow host.

Posted by: buzzion at October 14, 2013 08:07 AM (LI48c)

129 So is this now considered the 'dead' thread?

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at October 14, 2013 08:07 AM (N/Sup)

130 If it's the one I'm thinking about I know the owner and yes, their service is great. So they must put a stop to it. (Sunny's?)

I honestly couldn't tell you. My daughter told me about them.

Posted by: pep at October 14, 2013 08:07 AM (6TB1Z)

131

OT, but I'm sitting here at work, staring at this Powerpoint presentation I have to put together for next week, and I couldn't care less. I'm in that place in my head where I look at the news and see my country shaking apart at the seams, and then I look at this stupid frigging PPT and ask myself, "WTF am I doing? In a year no one's going to remember this frigging presentation because we're all going to be at each other's throats fighting over the scraps of our once great nation."

*headdesk*

Existential calamity does SHIT for work productivity.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 08:07 AM (4df7R)

132 Whores. They are a gaggle of whores in office.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at October 14, 2013 12:01 PM (DmNpO)

I think they are called "a blowing of whores".

Posted by: Ian Galt at October 14, 2013 08:08 AM (QdOC1)

133 MWR and AlextheChick,
http://annapuna.blogspot.com/2006/01/feeling-of-dread.html

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 14, 2013 08:08 AM (uj8Oa)

134 Whores. They are a gaggle of whores in office. Posted by: Niedermeyer's ---------------------- NDH - I'm going to bring that up on the ONT. There must be some rel creative names for a collective of whores. My best offering would be 'Congress', as in 'a Congress of Whores'

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 08:08 AM (aDwsi)

135 Isn't cremation a cause of global warming? and isn't burial carbon sequestration? There are better options.

Posted by: The Soylent Corporation at October 14, 2013 08:09 AM (FcR7P)

136

The next big thing is dissolving corpses in acid. Yes really.

---

yo, all you need is a bathtub Bitchez.

Posted by: Jesse Pinkman at October 14, 2013 08:09 AM (SO2Q8)

137

Yes, yes, we do.

Speaking of, here pour tu.

*SWOOON*

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 08:09 AM (4df7R)

138 Since this thread is meandering: Has anybody played Beyond: Two Souls? The reviews are all over the place. But it's by the same guys who did "Heavy Rain" which I liked. Anyway....opinions?

Posted by: Lights Are Going Out at October 14, 2013 08:09 AM (0cMkb)

139 Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Now with extra taunting. at October 14, 2013 12:00 PM (VtjlW) Is Uber a short term car rental? I'm sure ZipCar in DC has a few friends helping them along the way. I see those a lot, never saw an Uber though.

Posted by: RWC at October 14, 2013 08:09 AM (LpbKr)

140 *SNORT* Right. Tell that to our driveway. Yours, too? I started by buying two five gallon buckets of asphalt to repair all the cracks due to freeze/thaw damage. I've now gone through 14 buckets and I think it *might* take two more. Still helluva lot cheaper then the $7,000 some contractor wanted to resurface it.

Posted by: Schrödinger's cat [/i] at October 14, 2013 08:09 AM (U2UQk)

141 Horde of whores?

Posted by: thunderb at October 14, 2013 08:09 AM (zOTsN)

142
Aren't taxes almost always the reason? Alcohol isn't highly regulated for the good of the people after all.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at October 14, 2013 08:09 AM (N8z9m)

143 Uber. Uber's running into the regulatory issues pretty much everywhere it tries to start up.

That's it.

Posted by: pep at October 14, 2013 08:09 AM (6TB1Z)

144 A littlesanity.

Posted by: steevy at October 14, 2013 08:10 AM (9XBK2)

145 Meh, I want to come back as a demon and possess the daughter of some asshole Dem politician. I hate Mondays. Posted by: Big Fat Meanie ------------------ Would the daughter of a contributor do? Like Chandra Levy, or Monica Lewinsky?

Posted by: Mike Hammer at October 14, 2013 08:11 AM (aDwsi)

146
Not sure about the whores (although gaggle seems about right), but I like a ''Whole Corruption of Senators" as that grouping.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at October 14, 2013 08:13 AM (N8z9m)

147 You mean Letterman ba-Zing!

Posted by: slippery when soothsayer at October 14, 2013 08:14 AM (uoB45)

148 Nevermind. Looked up Uber and it is more a great cab than a car rental.

Posted by: RWC at October 14, 2013 08:14 AM (LpbKr)

149 Meh, I want to come back as a demon and possess the daughter of some asshole Dem politician. Hey! *sets down Big Mac and handful of fries* He's Republican, some of the time. * takes slurp of 32 ounce milkshake * Around re-election time, every six years. For a month or two.

Posted by: Meghan McMac [/i] at October 14, 2013 08:14 AM (U2UQk)

150 Through a cosmic snafu, Big Fat Meanie comes back as a demon as per contract. However his target is Debbie Wasser-schanuzer.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 14, 2013 08:14 AM (uj8Oa)

151 My plan for ending the shutdown: they end Zerocare and we rename the Redskins to the Native Americans.

Posted by: WalrusRex at October 14, 2013 08:16 AM (PjgvN)

152 If you wanna know why we have so many LIVs today, all you need to do is watch CNN during the day; it's a trip. All day long they have bubbleheaded anchors repeating the same talking points. They present an innacurrate, superficial newscast for the masses in 3 minute increment, buffered by 5 minutes of idiotic commercials. No wonder why Democrats are running this nation.

Posted by: slippery when soothsayer at October 14, 2013 08:18 AM (uoB45)

153 Yours, too? I started by buying two five gallon buckets of asphalt to repair all the cracks due to freeze/thaw damage. I've now gone through 14 buckets and I think it *might* take two more.

Still helluva lot cheaper then the $7,000 some contractor wanted to resurface it.

Posted by: SchrÃ¶dinger's cat at October 14, 2013 12:09 PM (U2UQk)

Yep. Same here. Because we all know the ground never freezes in New England, so there's no need to dig down a little deeper to get past that freeze line when putting down a driveway or anything.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit Chelsea [/i][/s][/u][/b] at October 14, 2013 08:21 AM (4df7R)

154 Judge Dumps Anti-competitive Law As "Irrational Policy"

Apply the same principle to abolish the Federal Reserve, and you'd undo about 90% of the economic harm that government causes.

Posted by: Phinn at October 14, 2013 08:23 AM (oFH2D)

155 Corrupt business-government links: Tow Trucks Here in Orlando we had tow truck drivers towing ppl's cars even though they were parked legally, making a fortune off it too. I heard some county workers talking about it in a pub one day, started warning ppl, wasn't long until someone had video of them doing it.

Posted by: Orlandocon ette at October 14, 2013 08:26 AM (SldZ2)

156 Check the McCain Raytheon connection. They just got a billion+ dollar contracts to develope Radar for a new class of ships. **** There is only one reason a person craves power: It's because they want to use it. Nobody craves power because, one day, it might, possibly, come in handy. Wealthy men and women leaving profitable businesses behind to pursue a job as a civil "servant"? Bullshit! There may be the honest-to-God servant here and there (See: Charles Bennett - FL) but they don't stand much of a chance at making a difference in government. Today, they will be run out on a rail. Watching the establishment attack Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin is evidence of that. I know the arguments against term limits but, frankly, I see that as the only possible solution to a lifetime of criminal enterprise that is Congress.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at October 14, 2013 08:33 AM (DmNpO)

157 Here in Orlando we had tow truck drivers towing ppl's cars even though they were parked legally, making a fortune off it too. *** I saw one of those Dateline type of shows, years ago, that showed the tow truck scam in NY. In some places, where folks parked perpendicular to a wall, they would place the 'No Parking' signs about 30' up the side of the wall.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at October 14, 2013 08:35 AM (DmNpO)

158 I know the arguments against term limits but, frankly, I see that as the only possible solution to a lifetime of criminal enterprise that is Congress. Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at October 14, 2013 12:33 PM (DmNpO) I believe in term limits. You can roll the professional staffs over, those that coach the candidates on the issues and the operational complexities of the Gov. However, it will still be the man on the ballot that makes the decisions and casts the law making votes.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet Palin/Bolton 2016 at October 14, 2013 08:41 AM (XIxXP)

159 I believe in term limits. You can roll the professional staffs over, those that coach the candidates on the issues and the operational complexities of the Gov. However, it will still be the man on the ballot that makes the decisions and casts the law making votes. *** You just made me think of something else. I think there should be a mandatory cooling-off period before a staffer or Congressman can accept a job as a lobbyist.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at October 14, 2013 08:43 AM (DmNpO)

160 I need to find some of those Ancient Nord bureaucrats. Can you imagine the loot they must have? Even more than a Deathlord, I'd bet.

Posted by: Empire1 at October 14, 2013 12:06 PM (BDHF1)

Yeah, but the paperwork is absolutely hell and the waiting room is no great shakes either....

Posted by: Mikey NTH - Buy one Infuriation and get two Junior Snits for Free! at October 14, 2013 09:42 AM (hLRSq)

161 This is the future of burial in the new USA under our democrat overlords. http://tinyurl.com/kat6c5z It is the most "green" of all burials.

Posted by: Ashley Judd's Puffy Scamper, aka MrCaniac at October 14, 2013 09:49 AM (BXLPR)

162 Mortician to dead body: "You're save now, I have Obalming equipment."

Posted by: tangonine at October 14, 2013 01:27 PM (x3YFz)

163 man I always f it up with a typo. cursus!

blody hell!

aw fk it.

Posted by: tangonine at October 14, 2013 01:28 PM (x3YFz)

164 So how long before the mandates in my healthcare coverage, that requires me to pay for birth control pills and maternity care for my wife and me (both around 60 yrs old) are dropped as anticompetitive junk? Just asking...

Posted by: Seipherd at October 14, 2013 10:11 PM (AortR)

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