Reason Morning Links: The Bailout's Big Winners, the Bill for a Health Care Bill, and Fiji's Fight Against Freemasonry

Jesse Walker | July 17, 2009

• Health care reformers get a dose of fiscal realism from the Congressional Budget Office.

• JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are doing quite well with your money.

• A terrorist attack in Jakarta kills at least nine and wounds at least 50.

• Stimulus funds give a financial boost to charter schools.

• They're locking up Freemasons in Fiji. For sorcery.

Comments

Mike in PA|7.17.09 @ 9:03AM|#

I get it. The Freemasons hate The Village People. Can't hardly blame them; but I'd pay to watch the battle.

|7.17.09 @ 9:18AM|#

They're locking up Freemasons in Fiji.

Will no one help the widow's son?

Mad Max|7.17.09 @ 9:22AM|#

Confound it, SugarFree, stop blabbing the secrets of the Craft to outsiders.

|7.17.09 @ 9:26AM|#

A terrorist attack in Jakarta kills at least nine and wounds at least 50.

Meh. I'll wager that in the last year Indonesia has suffered both ferry and bus accidents with higher casualty totals. It's a pinprick, a mosquito bite that is best ignored. We give these pissy ass small time punk terrorists far too much coverage.

|7.17.09 @ 9:40AM|#

Aw, c'mon Max. We've got an All-Seeing Eye on the dollar bill. Shouldn't Americans know more about the secret society that gave birth to their nation?

It's bad enough that theocons can't even understand what it means that many of the Founding Fathers were deists. (At least Catholics are well-versed in the intricacies of the various heresies.)

We could have a Rainbow Girls sing-a-long later...

kilroy|7.17.09 @ 9:55AM|#

I wonder if any enterprising villagers took advantage of the empty Mason hall while they were locked up.

Bob: Let's film a porno in a spooky, occult looking setting!

Jane: That would cost a fortune in setup and props.

Bob: Wait. I have a great idea....

hmm|7.17.09 @ 9:56AM|#

Goldman Sachs defines regulatory capture. We might need a new phrase for their actions, government capture maybe?

|7.17.09 @ 9:56AM|#

JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are doing quite well with your money.

Glad to see the Right People are in charge and sticking up for the little guy.

Xeones|7.17.09 @ 10:08AM|#

...and sticking up for the little guy.

Fixed for accuracy.

|7.17.09 @ 10:10AM|#

I'll admit I'm totally enamored with the Freemasons. I want in!

Being a Kentucky Colonel just isn't satisfying my need to belong anymore.

pistoffnick|7.17.09 @ 10:12AM|#

"You wouldn't let me join, would you, you blackballing bastards. Well I wouldn't become a Freemason now if you went down on your lousy stinking knees and begged me."

|7.17.09 @ 10:19AM|#

♪Who controls the British Crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?
We do, we do.
Who keeps Atlantis off the maps?
Who keeps the Martians under wraps?
We do, we do.
Who holds back the electric car?
Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star?
We do, we do.
Who robs cave fish of their sight?
Who rigs every Oscar night?
We do, we do! ♪

|7.17.09 @ 10:21AM|#

You know, I'd like to be a Mason. World domination, wealth, access to the Mason's Moonbase. . .yeah, sounds good.

|7.17.09 @ 10:24AM|#

Homer: Hey...have you ever noticed that the Crossing the Desert is a lot like the Unblinking Eye. And it's exactly like the Wreck of the Hesperus.

Number One: And now, the final ordeal: the Paddling of the Swollen Ass...With Paddles.

Citizen Nothing|7.17.09 @ 10:27AM|#

Speaking of super-secret organizations: The Buffalo Bills will never win a Super Bowl while I'm alive.

|7.17.09 @ 10:27AM|#

The Tennessee legislature recently passed a bill expanding charter schools after U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan personally lobbied Democrats who had been blocking it. And the Rhode Island legislature reversed a plan to eliminate funding for new charters after Mr. Duncan warned such a move could hurt the state's chances for grant money.

Although I'd go much further than charters,* I'm going to give credit where it's due. Arne Duncan is telling the NEA and the AFT to sit down and shut up. This is a good thing coming out of the Obama administration.

* Vouchers! Public funding of privately provided education.

PantsFan|7.17.09 @ 10:33AM|#

Citizen Nothing | July 17, 2009, 10:27am | #

Speaking of super-secret organizations: The Buffalo Toronto Bills will never win a Super Bowl while I'm alive.

ftfy.

Citizen Nothing|7.17.09 @ 10:35AM|#

PF - Buffalo Argonauts?

PantsFan|7.17.09 @ 10:41AM|#

I doubt they'll swap franchises. The CFL tried US expansion back in the mid 90s. When Baltimore won the Grey Cup, Canadians frowned on the idea.

Tricky Prickears |7.17.09 @ 10:59AM|#

Fiji, isn't that where they shrink heads?

Seward|7.17.09 @ 11:14AM|#

Pro Libertate,

You might even get to go to Bohemian Grove and pea on trees. ;)

Seward|7.17.09 @ 11:15AM|#

Er, pee.

JB|7.17.09 @ 11:16AM|#

So when do I get my check from Goldman Sachs?

Fuckers.

Michael Ejercito|7.17.09 @ 11:20AM|#

I'll wager that in the last year Indonesia has suffered both ferry and bus accidents with higher casualty totals. It's a pinprick, a mosquito bite that is best ignored. We give these pissy ass small time punk terrorists far too much coverage.

So we should have ignored Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney? After all, they only robbed and murdered one gay man.

So we should have ignored Vinson Filyaw? After all, he only kidnapped and raped one virgin girl.

|7.17.09 @ 11:29AM|#

I'll wager that in the last year Indonesia has suffered both ferry and bus accidents with higher casualty totals. It's a pinprick, a mosquito bite that is best ignored. We give these pissy ass small time punk terrorists far too much coverage.

So we should have ignored Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney? After all, they only robbed and murdered one gay man.

So we should have ignored Vinson Filyaw? After all, he only kidnapped and raped one virgin girl.

If you mean "should there have been far less press coverage and policy (Indonesian terrorism) and legislation (Matthew Shepard's murder)responses?"

Hell yes. Don't you?

T|7.17.09 @ 11:35AM|#

Hell yes. Don't you?

Nah. These things prove our current laws aren't tough enough! We need more laws, because a law in a book somewhere prevents all evil from occurring, anywhere! We must be proactive and change our policies to appease the demons and then they won't curse us again!

Magical thinking: the scourge of humanity.

phalkor|7.17.09 @ 12:36PM|#

T, you're wrong! Magical thinking is what will save humanity, just as long as the right people are doing the thinking. Fortunately, that time has come and a new golden age will be upon us.

T|7.17.09 @ 12:44PM|#

Fortunately, that time has come and a new golden age will be upon us.

All praise the Obamanation

Cabeza de Vaca|7.17.09 @ 2:11PM|#

"Will no one help the widow's son?"

According to legend these were the last words Jospeh Smith Jr. said. As he fell to his death out the prison window.

Mike Laursen|7.17.09 @ 3:53PM|#

Confound it, SugarFree, stop blabbing the secrets of the Craft to outsiders.

It's OK. He's just blabbing the secrets of the outer circle that serves as the front for the inner circle that serves as the front for the inner circle ... it's inner circles all the way down.

Art-P.O.G.|7.17.09 @ 4:43PM|#

The Freemasons hate The Village People.

No matter how homoerotic they are, "YMCA" and "In the Navy" are catchy as hell.

On the other hand, The Freemasons are cool, too. They're way more exclusive than the Burger King Kids' Club!

Syd Henderson|7.17.09 @ 5:25PM|#

• They're locking up Freemasons in Fiji. For sorcery.

At last, someone caught them!

|7.18.09 @ 12:10AM|#

nice post..
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