Reason Morning Links: Pols Spend Trillions, Police Behave Badly, and Andy Richter Saves the Universe

Jesse Walker | April 3, 2009

• The House approves the president's $3.6 trillion budget.

• Mark Sanford gives in and accepts South Carolina's cut of the stimulus package.

• Rod Blagojevich is indicted. With Ted Stevens un-indicted, Alaska Republicans demand a do-over election. And in New York's latest election, we have...a tie.

• How police at the G20 protests "wilfully criminalised and alienated 4,000 innocent people."

• The truth about online sexual predators.

• A "social experiment" with UFOs. (Update: Hoaxsters to face charges.)

• Spain's underground economy blooms.

• The rise of hyperlocal news sites.

• Finally, in honor of Andy Richter's pending return to talk-show sidekickdom, here's one of my favorite bits from his tenure on the Conan O'Brien show. The first half of the clip is entertaining but typical late-night fare. And then, about five minutes in, things take a left turn:

What the hell, it's Friday -- watch this one too:

Comments

Suki|4.3.09 @ 7:28AM|#

The truth about online sexual predators.

Really good article! The first half anyway (have to go to work, will look at the rest later).

Not sure if it is related or not, but about 15 years ago, maybe a bit more, I had to take my age off of my AOL profile to reduce the barrage of IMs from "older" people (mostly saying they were older men).

A guy friend started his porn collection by making a female sn and profile with a comment on the type of porn he liked. His mailbox would be full every day. Turns out he was not the only person with that idea. Have heard the same thing from lots of other people too.

Abdul|4.3.09 @ 7:52AM|#

How police at the G20 protests "wilfully criminalised and alienated 4,000 innocent people."

Whenever I see malovent anarchists hiding behind the merely moronic protesters with their "Abolish currency!" signs so that they can smash windows, I wish the Queen would send in the Gurkha troops. Once the Kukris come out, I bet everyone takes out their nose rings and does their homework.

jtuf|4.3.09 @ 8:52AM|#

I wish some entrepenuer would make adult internet cafes for erotic chatting. They would link to a chat site that can only be accessed from the adult cafes. That way the owner would check ID's at the door and you would know that no minors are getting on the site.

ed|4.3.09 @ 8:56AM|#

malevolent anarchists hiding behind the merely moronic protesters with their "Abolish currency!" signs so that they can smash windows

I found it amusing that for every one anarchist smashing a window there were 100 observers hoisting up their digital cameras to record the momentous event. It was a virtual forest of raised arms, each hand holding a miniature glowing screen. Then the race to be the first to upload his precious imagery to YouTube. Narcissism trumps anarchy. A fitting irony.

jtuf|4.3.09 @ 8:57AM|#

Shame on any police and protestors that attacked others. My sympathies for peaceful police and peaceful protestors caught in the fight.

|4.3.09 @ 9:04AM|#

I wish some entrepenuer would make adult internet cafes for erotic chatting.

Good luck finding a guy to mop at night.

JP|4.3.09 @ 9:14AM|#

Loved the UFO story. I hope the hoaxers don't get in trouble for disturbing the peace or littering or something like that.

How many times do UFO "experts" have to be fooled before people will stop relying on them? I guess the will to believe is just too strong.

High Every Body|4.3.09 @ 9:25AM|#

Ha! The UFO experiment itself was a hoax! And they tried to head off criticism by making fun of people who call it a hoax in advance.

robc|4.3.09 @ 9:37AM|#

off topic but just saw this on CNN's crawl:

Episcopal minister defrocked after becoming a muslim.

Um, how is that even remotely news? Thats a Duh moment if I ever heard one. Is there something to this story, I assume there is some controversy somewhere over this, but I dont see how. Im not willing to tell episcopalians what rules they should have but it seems to me that being a christian would be minimum requirements for being a minister. Crazy, huh?

|4.3.09 @ 9:38AM|#

Good luck finding a guy to mop at night.

Episiarch is out of work right now.

|4.3.09 @ 9:49AM|#

Episiarch is out of work right now.

I hadn't heard that the recession had already reached the elderly gay furry porn industry. Tough times all around.

|4.3.09 @ 9:51AM|#

I sure hope I don't miss Senator Begich's resignation press conference. He's going to do it, right?

|4.3.09 @ 9:54AM|#

HoneyBunny,

The industry's being devastated. It's sad to think of them under an overpass, huddled together for warmth in their wet and torn costumes, perhaps only a small hand-sanitizer fire to throw a wan light on their mascara-streaked faces.

|4.3.09 @ 9:57AM|#

• Mark Sanford gives in and accepts South Carolina's cut of the stimulus package.

*stifles yawn*

J sub D | February 23, 2009, 4:15pm | #

Gov. Butch Otter is one of at least half a dozen Republican state executives who have said they may reject some, even all, of the money their states would get under a stimulus package ...

Ain't.

Gonna.

Happen.

That is all.

T|4.3.09 @ 9:58AM|#

My sympathies for peaceful police

Your have sympathy for furious purple dragons and bandersnatches as well, don't you?

robc|4.3.09 @ 10:03AM|#

T,

The bandersnatchi cant help it, they were genetically engineered to be that way.

|4.3.09 @ 10:08AM|#

• The truth about online sexual predators.

*unstifled yawn*

Don't get me wrong, it would be a blessing if the public realized that almost no minors are getting raped (either statutorily or violently) from online contacts.

Extrapolating from a nationwide survey of law enforcement agencies, the authors estimate that 2006 saw 615 arrests of online child predators in cases involving actual minors as victims (up 21 percent from 2000), and 3,100 arrests in cases where the "child" was actually an undercover law enforcement officer (a whopping 381 percent increase over 2000).

Wow! Many men will acquiesce when a hot 14 - 15 year old throws themselves sexually at them. Who knew?

|4.3.09 @ 10:11AM|#

It's sad to think of them under an overpass, huddled together for warmth in their wet and torn costumes, perhaps only a small hand-sanitizer fire to throw a wan light on their mascara-streaked faces.

Sad? That was practically the one-sheet for their last film.

|4.3.09 @ 10:12AM|#

• A "social experiment" with UFOs.

UFO believers are just troofers in training.

|4.3.09 @ 10:20AM|#

• The rise of hyperlocal news sites.

It's because Ann Arbor Chronicle is coming up on its six-month anniversary, it's meeting financial targets, and Morgan and husband/business partner Dave Askins are able to pay household bills out of revenue from the site. "When I was a business reporter, I used to laugh at firms that marked each anniversary," said Morgan, who acts as publisher. "Now I know how they feel."

Ann Arbor News to close in July

There is a lesson here somewhere? Where's Waldo the news that folks can't easily find with a google?

Abdul|4.3.09 @ 10:22AM|#

My sympathies for peaceful police

Your have sympathy for furious purple dragons and bandersnatches as well, don't you?

These were English police. They're only armed with stale crumpets, so they actually are mostly peaceful.

|4.3.09 @ 10:31AM|#

J sub D,

There is a lesson here somewhere? Where's Waldo the news that folks can't easily find with a google?

We have a tabloid monthly that just covers "the news" in my neighborhood, maybe 10,000 people total. It's free, ad-supported, devoid of anything even resembling real news (gardening tips, decorating tips, occasional local history, outfits and hats) and it is going strong. For the time being, I think micro-newspapers will do well because people like reading about themselves and their neighbors on newsprint. It's boutique news, nothing but the society pages.

Maybe the lesson is that the real news should be left to the fast-twitch on-line fans and the newspaper should scale back to Sunday-only and just be sudoku, crosswords and food porn.

|4.3.09 @ 10:45AM|#

decorating tips

Those bastards better have a license or someone could get hurt!

|4.3.09 @ 10:56AM|#

This is Kentucky. We live on the edge.

T|4.3.09 @ 10:56AM|#

They're only armed with stale crumpets, so they actually are mostly peaceful.

You say that now, but wait until you're savagely assaulted by a gang of roving crannies and beaten senseless with stale crumpets. You'll change your mind about the peacefulness of stale pastries.

|4.3.09 @ 10:59AM|#

"Careful! They're ruffled!"

|4.3.09 @ 11:04AM|#

Andy and Conan together again? Awesome.

kinnath|4.3.09 @ 11:16AM|#

So is there going to be a thread on the Iowa Supreme Court declaring unanimously that the ban on gay marriage violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa constitution?

I mean, Friday is a boring day at work, we need a long and contentious thread to keep our eyes open.

|4.3.09 @ 12:00PM|#

"""Loved the UFO story. I hope the hoaxers don't get in trouble for disturbing the peace or littering or something like that."""

Good call, I heard on the radio this morning they will be charged with distrubing the peace.

"""Andy and Conan together again? Awesome."""

Andy suppose to be the announcer. I'm more bummed that Conan's current announcer is not going. That guy was crazier than Andy.

Cabeza De Vaca|4.3.09 @ 12:24PM|#

"So is there going to be a thread on the Iowa Supreme Court declaring unanimously that the ban on gay marriage violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa constitution?"

I heard this on the way to work today. It's good news for the gays that live here, but bad for me personally. I won't be able to talk to my mom for months, without listening to her compare Iowa to Sodom & Gomorrah.

|4.3.09 @ 12:58PM|#

It's good news for the gays that live here,

I'm sure they are both quite pleased.

|4.3.09 @ 1:02PM|#

Im not willing to tell episcopalians what rules they should have but it seems to me that being a christian would be minimum requirements for being a minister. Crazy, huh?

You'd think that, but then you're not an Episcopalian, are you?

Cabeza De Vaca|4.3.09 @ 1:03PM|#

R C Dean,

You'd be suprised how many gays there are in Des Moines.

ron|4.3.09 @ 1:42PM|#

i remember seeing the zeppelin thing when it aired. awesome.

|4.3.09 @ 1:51PM|#

I never saw that "Dazed and Confused" bit. That was awesome! I just saw Conan on The Actors Studio, which was plenty o' fun.

|4.3.09 @ 3:18PM|#

Richter is just criminally underrated as wonderful comic. The Ernie Kovaks of our time.

|4.3.09 @ 3:19PM|#

"as a comic"

D'oh.

|4.3.09 @ 5:07PM|#

IIRC, some CalTech students did the same "UFO"
balloon stunt back in the early 1960's. Local cops were frantically chasing after the "flying saucers". Those were the good old days.

LarryA|4.5.09 @ 1:45AM|#

Extrapolating from a nationwide survey of law enforcement agencies, the authors estimate that 2006 saw 615 arrests of online child predators in cases involving actual minors as victims (up 21 percent from 2000), and 3,100 arrests in cases where the "child" was actually an undercover law enforcement officer (a whopping 381 percent increase over 2000).

I.e. the internet is god's gift to 40-something cops.

There were about a dozen child-molestation stories on the San Antonio news last year. As I remember all but one of the perpetrators worked at a school and targeted students.

Maybe the lesson is that the real news should be left to the fast-twitch on-line fans and the newspaper should scale back to Sunday-only and just be sudoku, crosswords and food porn.

Here in Kerrville my wife is a reporter for a weekly dead tree paper. She covers city and county like wet on a frog. Society, sure. But also city council, county court, school boards, utility commissions, law enforcement, etc.

She competes with an almost-daily (six issues a week) newspaper that relies heavily on AP wire stories, so the local joke is that the weekly is the "local newspaper."

Only it's less and less of a joke as more folks switch their subscriptions and advertising.