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Reason Morning Links: Day Two of Sotomayor Hearings, Dems Lay Out Tax Plan To Fund Obamacare; Chicken Fights in the Cities
• House outlines plan to fund Obamacare. Includes an extra $1,500 tax on families making more than $500,000 per year; $9,000 on families making more than $1 million. Employers with a payroll over $400,000 who don't provide health insurance would pay a fine equal to 8 percent of wages.
• In second day of hearings, Sotomayor promises "objectivity," not to let personal experience influence her decisions.
• Obama may do away with Bush administration's color-coded terror alert system.
• Federal toxic assets program moves forward, even though the problem maybe taking care of itself.
• Urban areas see fights over raising backyard chickens.
Kyle Jordan|7.15.09 @ 8:59AM|#
Of course! The rich don't deserve the money they make simply
because they make SO MUCH of it...
:sigh:
And fix the title mang. Though, I'm sure they're cooking up plans
for the Obama Car too.
robc|7.15.09 @ 9:02AM|#
"Obama Car"
Funny* thing is, I didnt think that was a typo until I read the
bullet point.
*and by funny, I mean sad and pathetic
robc|7.15.09 @ 9:03AM|#
What is the use of having a magical latina on the court if she isnt going to use her personal experience?
|7.15.09 @ 9:05AM|#
Chicken story:
But critics of the backyard coops say chickens attract raccoons, coyotes, and other pests and that they create unsanitary conditions.
OMG! Raccoons! And coyotes! They were never any raccoons and
coyotes in town until my neighbors had chickens. Oh, wait. They
don't. And we always have had.
And the foes say the cited economic benefits are nonsense. Just building a coop can cost hundreds of dollars and raising hens is time-consuming.
And she never spends a dime on a hobby, right? "Why should people
have backyard grills? McDonalds sells hamburgers!"
"Eggs aren't even that expensive anyway. What's next? Goats? Llamas?" Her advice to hen-loving neighbors: "Get a farm."
I'd rather live next to a Llama than that yippie little rat dog
that refuses to die that I already live next to. And a neighbor
with goat might sell me some milk or cheese.
In summary:
Modest chicken coop > Redneck neighbor who has been re-shingled
his garage all summer by himself starting at 7am
|7.15.09 @ 9:06AM|#
What is the use of having a magical latina on the court if
she isnt going to use her personal experience?
The confused look on her face the first year they throw her a Cinco
de Mayo party is its own reward.
Bob|7.15.09 @ 9:16AM|#
I'm sure this "surtax" won't increase over time either. Just like the original income tax and social security payments stayed at their original rates over time.
|7.15.09 @ 9:22AM|#
"What is the use of having a magical latina on the court if she
isnt going to use her personal experience?"
To help Obama shore up his support from latinos in the 2012
election.
BlueBook|7.15.09 @ 9:23AM|#
They could replace the colored terror codes with background music cues. Lowest threat would be relaxing ambient tones, rising to pensive strings, then growling bass, staccato percussion, and finally maxing out with a deafening, discordant orchestra plus shrieking ethnic vocals.
|7.15.09 @ 9:31AM|#
Federal toxic assets program moves forward, even though the
problem maybe taking care of itself.
You wish. The other shoe has yet to drop on the "toxic assets
problem". Another wave of mortgages are going to default in the
next few months. Financial institutions are going to have to write
down their assets as much again as they have since last year. The
only thing the Federal program does is rewards bad decisions and
punishes prudent ones.
!</a></|7.15.09 @ 9:34AM|#
SF,
I'd rather live next to a Llama than that yippie little rat dog
that refuses to die that I already live next to.
I think you need Kramer and Newman to solve that problem.
|7.15.09 @ 9:38AM|#
!,
Well, even when the dog is gone, it won't keep his shrieking city
goat daughter from coming over. "Papaw? Yew doin' ALRIGHT?
PAPAW?"
|7.15.09 @ 9:38AM|#
Do away with the color-coded alert system? At last, substantive
change! In which I can believe!
I like "Obama car." I vote to keep it.
|7.15.09 @ 9:42AM|#
♪Don't you wanna ride in my
Obama car?
We can take the long way home
Through Central Park♪
Hugh Akston |7.15.09 @ 9:46AM|#
Without a sleek, customized Obama Car, how do you all expect Him
to prowl the streets of the nation by night, fight crime* and
bringing HOPE to the beleaguered citizens of America?
*Crime here refers to real crimes, like income inequality,
inadequate access to health insurance, and racial imbalance in
higher education.
Hank|7.15.09 @ 9:46AM|#
INGAPORE (Reuters) - A dramatic warming of the planet 55 million
years ago cannot be solely explained by a surge in carbon dioxide
levels, a study shows, highlighting gaps in scientists'
understanding of impacts from rapid climate change.
During an event called the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum,
global temperatures rose between 5 and 9 degrees Celsius within
several thousand years. The world at that time was already warmer
than now with no surface ice.
"We now believe that the CO2 did not cause all the warming, that
there were additional factors," said Richard Zeebe, an
oceanographer with the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-41050320090715
Xeones|7.15.09 @ 9:49AM|#
Sweet'n'Low, you did NOT just bust out some old Fountains of
Wayne.
Now i gotta dig that album up and listen to it.
Hank|7.15.09 @ 9:49AM|#
Upcoming Military Robot Could Feed on Dead Bodies:
It could be a combination of 19th-century mechanics, 21st-century
technology - and a 20th-century horror movie.
A Maryland company under contract to the Pentagon is working on a
steam-powered robot that would fuel itself by gobbling up whatever
organic material it can find - grass, wood, old furniture, even
dead bodies.
Robotic Technology Inc.'s Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot -
that's right, "EATR" - "can find, ingest, and extract energy from
biomass in the environment (and other organically-based energy
sources), as well as use conventional and alternative fuels (such
as gasoline, heavy fuel, kerosene, diesel, propane, coal, cooking
oil, and solar) when suitable," reads the company's Web site.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,532492,00.html?test=latestnews
Xeones|7.15.09 @ 9:51AM|#
Upcoming Military Robot Could Feed on Dead Bodies
Fortunately, shortly after creation its operating system will be
infected by Anonymity Guy, and it will subsist entirely on
shit.
|7.15.09 @ 9:52AM|#
We're building robot zombies? Am I alone in considering this a monumentally poor decision?
Xeones|7.15.09 @ 9:58AM|#
Dig up? That first album should never be far
away.
Nine moves in five years will do terrible things to a man's
once-organized cd collection.
|7.15.09 @ 10:00AM|#
The chicken story is absolutely perfect. Every argument against
is a big "what if". What if they build a coop and let it
deteriorate? Is it any different than any other kind of shed? What
if they get loose? Dogs, cats, giant snakes and other animals don't
get loose all the time? Somebody's dog might not like having
chickens next door! Yet somebody's dog also doesn't like the cat
next door, the squirrels in the tree, etc.
I'd rather have a chicken coop next door than that Terri
Frohnmayer. At least chicken shit is useful.
Truth be told, I should be thankful. Real estate tools like Terri
Frohnmayer are what puts real estate people one rung below lawyers
as shittiest people on earth. Thanks Terri!!
|7.15.09 @ 10:01AM|#
I solved that with ever-increasing capacity iPods. Two months of
ripping CDs while watching TV and the CDs are safely stored
away.
I wish I could feed dead bodies to my iPod.
|7.15.09 @ 10:07AM|#
Employers with a payroll over $400,000 who don't provide
health insurance would pay a fine equal to 8 percent of
wages.
A payroll of $400,000 is a pretty small business. You could easily
bust that cap with 8 employees. And insuring a small group can be
hella expensive.
That 8% fine would be $32,000, or about what it would cost to
employ someone at you would pay $13.00 an hour. So guess what small
employers will do to raise the money to pay the fine?
Nothing reduces unemployment like increasing the cost of employing
people.
Hank|7.15.09 @ 10:07AM|#
White House turns up heat on Arizona senator
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is firing back at Sen.
Jon Kyl for calling for an end to economic stimulus spending, and
they're aiming for where it hurts the most - at home in
Arizona.
The White House on Tuesday released letters from four cabinet
secretaries to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, citing Kyl's
comments and outlining transportation, housing, Indian education
and other projects in his home state they said would be eliminated
if the senator has his way.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090714/D99EGOPO0.html
|7.15.09 @ 10:12AM|#
Hit & Run needs to post something specifically on the zombie robot so that we can waste a whole thread on that topic.
Xeones|7.15.09 @ 10:16AM|#
Two months of ripping CDs while watching TV and the CDs are
safely stored away.
It's all fun and games until you drop an external hard drive with
60+ Gb of music on it and have to start over with the ripping.
Xeones|7.15.09 @ 10:16AM|#
Hit & Run needs to post something specifically on the
zombie robot so that we can waste a whole thread on that
topic.
Agreed. 400+ comments, easy.
Steven Hill|7.15.09 @ 10:21AM|#
"The White House on Tuesday released letters from four cabinet
secretaries to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, citing Kyl's
comments and outlining transportation, housing, Indian education
and other projects in his home state they said would be eliminated
if the senator has his way"
Did the Whitehouse also threaten to start killing the animals in
Arizona's zoos if they don't get what they want?
skynet\'s friendly suggestion|7.15.09 @ 10:22AM|#
"We're building robot zombies? "
this is even scarier that the robot apes!
now if we can only build terminator ape zombie robots...
|7.15.09 @ 10:23AM|#
I hear a second.
Radley,
Please post the robot zombie story provided by
Hank above for our commenting pleasure. Or make the intern do
it.
Thank you,
The Hit & Run Commenting Team
Steven Hall|7.15.09 @ 10:24AM|#
NH man swipes debit card for smokes, charged 23 quadrillion
dollars (plus $15 overdraft fee)
http://www.startribune.com/nation/50842607.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUZ
Jozef|7.15.09 @ 10:45AM|#
And the foes say the cited economic benefits are nonsense.
Just building a coop can cost hundreds of dollars and raising hens
is time-consuming.
Unemployment in Georgia has passed 10%. That's a lot of people who
have the time to raise hens and make some extra cash selling eggs
or chicken meat.
(In my personal experience with raising hens, it's relatively cheap
and requires very little time for the owner. For personal
consumption, the rate of return if very high.)
|7.15.09 @ 11:25AM|#
a steam-powered robot that would fuel itself by gobbling up
whatever organic material it can find - grass, wood, old furniture,
even dead bodies.
You know what else is organic and may be in the path of a robot
zombie? Actual live humans. This is brilliant. Can we aim them at
Congress and then blast the shit out of them after the meal?
|7.15.09 @ 11:31AM|#
From the Brickbats:
Caitlin Robinson's mother died from skin cancer, and her family
says she's at risk for the disease. But officials at Robinson's
Worcester, England, school have banned the girl from using sunblock
when she goes outside. They say other students may be allergic to
the lotion.
I wonder if this school also prohibits peanuts, nuts, strawberries,
wheat, dairy products, or anything else that anyone anywhere might
be allergic to. Fucking UK.
Hank|7.15.09 @ 11:37AM|#
Is 30 Rock a Muppet Show Rip-off?
http://bloglynch.blogspot.com/2009/06/30-rock-is-rip-off-of-muppet-show.html
|7.15.09 @ 11:41AM|#
Caitlin Robinson's mother died from skin cancer, and her
family says she's at risk for the disease. But officials at
Robinson's Worcester, England, school have banned the girl from
using sunblock when she goes outside. They say other students may
be allergic to the lotion.
The battle of the Nannies, I see.
I can't imagine that her exposure to the sun in England (England!)
during recess is going to affect her propensity for skin cancer
later in life, at all. Her parents are being ridiculous.
And, of course, so is the school.
Yet another example of how extreme risk aversion inevitably piles
up into one giant steaming pile of self-contradictory idiocy.
Invisible Finger|7.15.09 @ 11:48AM|#
It's all fun and games until you drop an external hard drive
with 60+ Gb of music on it and have to start over with the
ripping.
Having trouble with the concept of backups?
|7.15.09 @ 11:53AM|#
I can't imagine that her exposure to the sun in England
(England!) during recess is going to affect her propensity for skin
cancer later in life, at all. Her parents are being
ridiculous
I wouldn't say that.
I see dermos all the time telling people to wear sunblock even for
short walks/strolls. The last one I saw on TV says she puts it on
every morning before walking to the train she takes to work. They
also tell me that a white T-shirt is the equivalent of SPF-4 and
doesn't protect against the sun's rays. And with a family history
of skin cancer, I wouldn't say that the family is
over-reacting.
But the risk aversion of the parents/child isn't really relevant at
all. What if she just wanted to put a lotion on (after all sunblock
is really just lotion with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. -- in
fact that family can order zinc oxide and titanium dioxide off the
internet and add it any body lotion and it would work.) or perfume
or deoderant or any number of things someone MIGHT be allergic
to?
|7.15.09 @ 12:32PM|#
FrBunny | July 15, 2009, 10:28am | #
I'm betting slow... can't do over 20mph on biofuels
WTF? That's either the lamest spoof ever or the strangest
intertubes coincidence I've ever seen.
|7.15.09 @ 12:51PM|#
What would a wise latina do about the problem of Monkey Brained Flesh Eating Zombie Robots?
skynet|7.15.09 @ 1:15PM|#
Planet of the Monkey Brained Flesh Eating Zombie Robots!
(can we blame this on Obama or would that be racist?)
2012|7.15.09 @ 1:19PM|#
wait wait..lemme try this!
what do Obamacare, backyard chickens, color-coded terror alert
systems, wise latinas, fed toxic assets and Monkey Brained Flesh
Eating Zombie Robots have in common?
|7.15.09 @ 1:35PM|#
Planet of the Monkey Brained Flesh Eating Zombie
Robots!
The robots would make much better decisions about who to kill and
eat if they had the brains of wise latinas instead of the brains of
monkeys.
!</a></|7.15.09 @ 1:36PM|#
Hit & Run needs to post something specifically on the
zombie robot so that we can waste a whole thread on that
topic.
Looks like we are already wasting this thread on it.
Tits & Ass|7.15.09 @ 1:37PM|#
"what do Obamacare, backyard chickens, color-coded terror alert
systems, wise latinas, fed toxic assets and Monkey Brained Flesh
Eating Zombie Robots have in common"
The letter "a"
|7.15.09 @ 2:09PM|#
Is this where we throw in random stories? Cause this is a good
one from the Orlando Sentinel:
MIAMI - U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is calling for tens of thousands of
pythons believed to be in the Everglades to be hunted and
killed.
Nelson sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday,
asking for permission to have deputized agents and volunteers kill
as many of the snakes as possible in an organized hunt.
The senator's request comes after a 2-year-old central Florida girl
was strangled by an unlicensed pet python in her home.
alan|7.15.09 @ 2:13PM|#
I caught the high light real of the second day of hearings. Any one Schumer? He was speaking to Sotomayor in such a condescending baby talk voice I thought he was going to break out into singing, 'The wheels on the bus go round and round.'
jason|7.15.09 @ 2:18PM|#
what do Obamacare, backyard chickens, color-coded terror alert
systems, wise latinas, fed toxic assets and Monkey Brained Flesh
Eating Zombie Robots have in common?
-----
there's gotta be a blockbuster script in there somewhere... or at
least a tarantino & rodriguez one
!</a></|7.15.09 @ 2:42PM|#
PL,
Suki,
That's what I was trying to avoid.
Actualy, this is John. I will say hello for you when I hear back
from her.
Mike Laursen|7.15.09 @ 3:06PM|#
Federal toxic assets program moves forward, even though the
problem maybe taking care of itself.
The one thing they can't stand in Washington, D.C. is the thought
that some problem might take care of itself.
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