Reason Morning Links: Obama Wants More Power to Seize Companies, Home Sales Up in February, and . . . Martial Law in Schenectady?

- Fifteen of 20 AIG execs to pay back about $50 million in bonuses.

- Obama wants expanded power to seize private financial firms.

- School strip search case heads to Supreme Court. Jacob Sullum wrote on the case here.

- Jackson, Mississippi's crazy mayor is running for reelection. But one of the candidates set to run against him is even crazier.

- Mayor of Schenectady, New York considering martial law. But not because the citizens are acting up'"because the police are.

- Something else to worry about: Billion-ton globs of electromagnetic plasma ejected from the sun!

- Finally, a small bit of good news: Existing home sales up 5.1 percent last month.

Comments

[Alan Vanneman]

"Billion-ton globs of electromagnetic plasma ejected from the sun!"

Sounds like a job for Al Gore!

[Taktix?]

Something else to worry about: Billion-ton globs of electromagnetic plasma ejected from the sun!

I'm so sick of this 2012 bullshit. Keeping people scared is an easy way to keep people down...

[TofuSushi]

Billion-ton globs of electromagnetic plasma ejected from the sun!

See what happens when you don't respect Mother Earth?

[TofuSushi]

Glad the right person is taking charge of these evil corporations. That power should not be weilded by just anybody.

[Nick]

See what happens when you don't respect Mother Earth?

What did we ever do to the sun? Bonehead.

[Cabeza De Vaca]

"Billion-ton globs of electromagnetic plasma ejected from the sun!"

We need to launch a pre-emptive strike on the sun. The sun can't mess with us were American's.

[Episiarch]

Billion-ton globs of electromagnetic plasma ejected from the sun!

The sun ejaculates? Who knew?

[Nick]

The fact that school is still trying to defend itself for strip searching a 13 year old for potentially carrying (gasp) IBUFUCKINGPROFEN baffles me. They still don't think they did anything wrong? Teachers and school administrators are getting to be as bad as cops in their arrogance and stupidity.

[Taktix?]

We need to launch a pre-emptive strike on the sun. The sun can't mess with us were American's.

So, the sun is an evildoer now? And this whole time, I thought sunburns were my fault...

[SugarFree]

The sun ejaculates? Who knew?

Of course it does. How did you think Neptune got tilted? Maybe you should have paid attention in science class...

[SugarFree]

Taktix?,

The sun has nuclear fusion technology. It could kill us all if we don't make a preemptive strike.

[Rhayader]

Haha sweet, I went to Union College in Schenectady. The police department has been extremely corrupt for decades.

I remember a year or so ago there was a city cop who was caught stealing crack from the evidence room for personal use and sale on the street.

[Mr. Chartreuse]

Our best chance to win is to attack at night 😛

[Mo]

The school district does not contest that Ms. Redding had no disciplinary record, but says that is irrelevant.

"Her assertion should not be misread to infer that she never broke school rules," the district said of Ms. Redding in a brief, "only that she was never caught."

So now a clean record makes you suspicious because it means you are especially wily and are good at escaping detection.

[I was doing fine until I logge]

Keeping people scared is an easy way to keep people down

Someone wants to keep me down? Oh no!

Help! Help!

[ktc2]

I think it's a safe bet the SCOTUS will, as usual, vote against liberty.

[Episiarch]

How did you think Neptune got tilted?

But what about Uranus?

They still don't think they did anything wrong?

It has nothing to do with that. They are merely doing their very best to avoid getting in trouble for doing something so patently egregious. If that requires ridiculous arguments and reasoning, so be it.

[Rhayader]

Ah yeah here it is:

http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/2007/031607EvidenceScandal.html

20 year veteran and proud Drug Warrior. Oh and a crack user and dealer too.

Good old Schenectady.

[crimethink]

Oh noes! It's electromagnetic!

Psst. You know which force is responsible for, well, every force you feel and deal every day of your life (except gravity)? Hint: I've already mentioned it in this post.

[Nick]

The Schenectady police should definitely be disbanded. They've had to call in the State Police before, IIRC. I think the residents would actually welcome martial law over the current police situation. No one trusts the police in Schenectady, including the people who would normally side with government.

[robc]

Home sales down 5% from last Feb. Median price down 15% from last Feb.

The seasonally adjusted Feb up 5% from seasonally adjusted Jan is a good thing, but it is still way down year-over-year.

Personally, my market (price wise) bottomed out about 2 years ago (its drifted down a bit since but nothing compared to national numbers). Proving, once again, that like politics, all housing markets are local.

[Baracko Chavez]

"Obama wants expanded power to seize private financial firms."

And all you bozos want to focus on is solar-jism.

[TofuSushi]

What did we ever do to the sun? Bonehead.

We are doing the same thing the dinosaurs did. Moran.

[Pro Libertate]

The sun is punishing us because too few of us worship it. The sun is a jealous sun.

[Pro Libertate]

The dinosaurs did Erin Moran? I find that unlikely.

[Warren]

Dang. This morning's list reads like the signs of the apocalypse. blah blah blah doomcakes.

[SugarFree]

"Thou shalt have no extra-solar luminous body before me."

[one-track mind]

IT IS midnight on 22 September 2012 and the skies above Manhattan are filled with a flickering curtain of colourful light. Few New Yorkers have seen the aurora this far south but their fascination is short-lived. Within a few seconds, electric bulbs mass confidence in the benevolent power of the State will dim and flicker, then become unusually bright for a fleeting moment. Then all the lights in the state go out.

Election Day will be two months earlier?

[Xeones]

Pro Lib, it's because the Aztecs got wiped out and no one's been feeding the Sun God with human sacrifices for the last several centuries. You'd be pissed too.

[SugarFree]

Would you rather live in Gaza or on the surface of the sun?

[TofuSushi]

The dinosaurs did Erin Moran? I find that unlikely.

Is she still cute?

[Taktix?]

But, Judge Hawkins concluded, "I do not think it was unreasonable for school officials, acting in good faith, to conduct the search in an effort to obviate a potential threat to the health and safety of their students."

Yes, exactly. These damn kids, sitting in class all hopped up on ibuprofen. Oh, the humanity!

[T]

blah blah blah doomcakes

We will be getting side items with our doomcakes this morning?

[TofuSushi]

SugarFree,

MNG convinced me that the surface of the sun would be better than living next door to Zionist Nazi Jews.

[SugarFree]

We will be getting side items with our doomcakes this morning?

Disaster ham, Harsh browns, Armageddon-juice, and one trip to the "Ah, Jesus fuck I'm burning!" omelet station.

[Warren]

Since the beginning of time man has yearned to destroy the sun.
C. Montgomery Burns

[TofuSushi]

SugarFree,

Hash brownies? I will bring my friends!

[SugarFree]

These damn kids, sitting in class all hopped up on ibuprofen.

"This is your brain on NSAIDs."

[SugarFree]

"With my sun-blocker in place and the town aghast, I was free to wallow in my corpulence."

[crimethink]

The school district does not contest that Ms. Redding had no disciplinary record, but says that is irrelevant.

"Her assertion should not be misread to infer that she never broke school rules," the district said of Ms. Redding in a brief, "only that she was never caught."

Welcome to Amerika. Looks like the Soviets won, Wolverines notwithstanding.

[domoarrigato]

I hear the AIG bonus-giver-backers are resigning after they give the money back. Shrug...

[crimethink]

We should also remind everyone that the strip search being conducted by female school workers should not be misread to infer that the male principal was not also watching, only that he was not visible.

[crimethink]

IT IS midnight on 22 September 2012 ... A year later and millions of Americans are dead and the nation's infrastructure lies in tatters. The World Bank declares America a developing nation.

With Hopey McChange in the White House, I don't think it will be much past 2011 when that comes to pass.

[Taktix?]

How did you think Neptune got tilted?

Neptune would totally join a coalition of the willing against the evildoer sun...

[Taktix?]

"Her assertion should not be misread to infer that she never broke school rules," the district said of Ms. Redding in a brief, "only that she was never caught."

Welcome to Amerika. Looks like the Soviets won, Wolverines notwithstanding.

But in Soviet Russia, students strip search you!

[sfb]

And soon the congress will vote to make Darth Barak emperor of the United States of America just before voting to disband.

[domoarrigato]

We should also remind everyone that the strip search being conducted by female school workers should not be misread to infer that the male principal was not also watching, only that he was not visible.

He' a grower, not a shower.

[Pro Libertate]

The sun also resents our use of sunscreen and the Van Allen Belt. It is further offended by the approach of the solar probes, STEREO A and STEREO B.

[SugarFree]

The sun also resents the on-going popularity of Coldplay.

[phlogiston]

Over the last few decades, western civilisations have busily sown the seeds of their own destruction. Our modern way of life, with its reliance on technology, has unwittingly exposed us to an extraordinary danger: plasma balls spewed from the surface of the sun could wipe out our power grids, with catastrophic consequences.

Ugh. Paragraphs like that are one of the reasons I let my New Scientist subscription expire. Anyone have recommendations for a good science magazine that doesn't focus on scaring the reader, and reports on interesting developments in science instead?

[hyperventillating hack]

. . . monkeys could fly out of my ass, with catastrophic consequences.

[Shadow of the Past]

plasma balls spewed from the surface

I think they're going for a sexual metaphor here. You do know that semen is 90% plasma, right?

[TofuSushi]

Ugh. Paragraphs like that are one of the reasons I let my New Scientist subscription expire. Anyone have recommendations for a good science magazine that doesn't focus on scaring the reader, and reports on interesting developments in science instead?

http://www.wsws.org

[Reinmoose]

*stands up and applauds Brian Stratton*

[franz kafka]

How I learned to appreciate the strip search and love sun-kissed pupil's bare skin.
The School principal

[crimethink]

And it's not like we have Wesley Crusher available to reverse the polarity of the tractor beam and push the CMA away to save us at the last second. If only life were like Star Trek!

I'm happy we won't be "treated" to the sight of Bev Crusher unzipping her top in a vain attempt to seduce Jean-Luc, though.

[R C Dean]

I hear the AIG bonus-giver-backers are resigning after they give the money back. Shrug...

Obviously, what AIG needs to wind down an insanely huge and complex portfolio of derivatives is a bunch of new faces who aren't familiar with it.

[Reinmoose]

Welcome to Amerika. Looks like the Soviets won, Wolverines notwithstanding.

AVENGE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[annoying dweeb]

The time is ripe for a FIRE SALE!

[phlogiston]

We'll have to mount an expedition and... set the controls for the heart of the sun.

[SugarFree]

PEE IN THE RADIATORRRRRRRRRRRRR

I'll never understand what possessed me to take a girl named Dawn to see Red Dawn on a first date.

[Tobias Funke]

The time is ripe for a FIRE SALE!

"Oh, my God! We're having a fire ? sale! Oh, the burning, it burns me! Evacuate all of the school children! This isn't a fever! Ama ? I can't even see where the knob is ? zing grace!"

[Rhayader]

stands up and applauds Brian Stratton

Yeah at least he is being frank about the problems in the department. Of course he has been mayor for 6 years now, and that department has been irrevocably corrupt for decades now. He played the cover-up game along with everyone else until it was impossible to do so.

But yeah, better late than never.

[Rhayader]

@Tobias: "Do you want to give that another try?"

"....No."

[Tobias Funke]

I made the fire too real for them

[guy in the back row]

Mayor of Schenectady, New York considering martial law. But not because the citizens are acting up-because the police are.

I went to SUNY Albany with some guys from Castleton, NY, a little town outside of Albany. They spent their highschool weekends calling in trespassing complaints on themselves to the Castleton police and would lead the cops on merry chases through the woods at night.

The next year when these guys all went off to college the town closed the police force and had the state police patrol the town, because with the huge drop in crime the police weren't busy enough to have a full time force.

[Reinmoose]

Rhayader -
I may be misremembering this, but isn't Stratton responsible for the period of time during which they got Schenectady's credit rating up?

[P Brooks]

"We have a very aggressive theory about our jurisdiction, but we don't have a theory that gets us to London," Mr. Cuomo said.

For now, anyway.

I wonder if Governor Paterson has formed a task force to investigate Cuomo's extortion and protection racket.

Just kidding...

[hagbard]

If the solar flares don't get you, the Yellowstone super volcano will. Or maybe birdflu. Time to look for another planet.

[Pro Libertate]

Now that Pluto isn't a planet, I claim it.

[P Brooks]

I got insurance from AIG against the Yellowstone Caldera eruption, so nothing can happen to me.

[Rhayader]

@Reinmoose: Could be, I'm not sure.

@guy in the back row: Awesome. Also a good illustration of why law enforcement groups always support the drug war. With no useless "crime" fighting going on, there are fewer jobs.

[Reinmoose]

He also was responsible for 2 straight years of tax cuts - IN NY State!!!

[TofuSushi]

Now that Pluto isn't a planet, I claim it.

Plutocratic Impearilist!

[Rhayader]

@Reinmoose: Yeah, in one of the most tax-happy counties in the country.

I know what you mean though. Still, we should be wary of giving him too much credit for addressing the police department debacle. He did the politician's jig for half a decade before facing the facts.

[Taktix?]

Now that Pluto isn't a planet, I claim it.

Murray: I've created a band investment portfolio...

[crimethink]

I believe Pluto is going to belong to Clyde Tombaugh, as he will become the first human to reach it in a few years. His ashes are inside NASA's New Horizons probe.

[SugarFree]

Pro Libertate,

If you want to pay to have the Wormfaces run off of Pluto, you're more than welcome to it.

[SugarFree]

To The Tombaugh Station

Obscur'd!

[domoarrigato]

I'll never understand what possessed me to take a girl named Dawn to see Red Dawn on a first date.

Just as long as you didn't pick her up from the reservation, SugarFree...

[Johnny Nowhere]

Now that Pluto isn't a planet, I claim it.

have you got a flag?

[SugarFree]

Domo,

No, she was whiter than C. Thomas Howell. We never had a second date and she was really hateful toward me from that point on. She was really tall, like 6' in 9th grade tall and blond. I've blocked out the rest, except I'm pretty sure I was wearing parachute pants.

[Pro Libertate]

I also claim Charon.

[J sub D]

Baracko Chavez | March 24, 2009, 9:17am | #

"Obama wants expanded power to seize private financial firms."

And all you bozos want to focus on is solar-jism.

That Chavez would love this were my thoughts as well. WTF happened to bankruptcy?

[P Brooks]

There just isn't enough public shaming or ostracism in bankruptcy court.

[Rahm \"Hokum, Hokum\" Emanuel]

Silly Detroiter!

A failing financial firm is a terrible thing to waste. Opportunities for mass social engineering don't come along every day, do they?

[Adam]

They should have immediately machine-gunned that 13 year old girl. You just can't be too careful when it comes to the drugs AND children.

[mitch]

The New York State attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, said on Monday that he had persuaded nine of the top 10 bonus recipients at the American International Group to give the money back, as the Senate retreated on plans to tax such bonuses.

Why is the State Attorney general involved in this at all; are these "bonus recipients" accused of any crime?

"If the person returns the money, I don't think there's a public interest in releasing the names," Mr. Cuomo said in a conference call with reporters.

So, you persuaded them by threatening to hand their names over to a mob?

[mark]

And all you bozos want to focus on is solar-jism

If the President has the power to seize banks, why not insurers like AIG and other entities? If they had nationalized AIG in the first place we wouldn't be having any discussion about bonuses or transparency issues.

Also note that any seizures have to be approved by 2/3 of Fed boards. So while I don't like having the Fed at all, it is the de facto treasurer of the entire financial system, and the measures sought by the President reflect that fact.

Finally I feel more confident that this crisis will pass. (Not confident in the Federal Reserve Note but still, I feel better)

[crimethink]

After the antics of Cuomo and Spitzer and their predecessors in the NYSAG office, one wonders why anyone is still trading within their jurisdiction. Seriously, how much do NYS/NYC kleptocrats have to do before they kill the goose with the golden eggs?

[Nick]

They should have immediately machine-gunned that 13 year old girl. You just can't be too careful when it comes to the drugs AND children.

Yeah, all the drug warriors that cry that we have to stop drugs to "Save the Children" can shut the fuck up and realize that the drug war exists to "Save" the pharmaceutical companies from competition.

[Pro Libertate]

I'd like the power to seize control of Congress on occasion.

[T]

I'd like the power to seize control of Congress on occasion.

Only if you promise to disband it and dispose of the assets in an orderly fashion, PL.

[T]

no close tags for me, thanks

[The Medic]

"Billion-ton globs of electromagnetic plasma ejected from the sun!"

Sounds like a job for Al Gore!

or the Ghost Busters!

[Ska]

I'll never understand what possessed me to take a girl named Dawn to see Red Dawn on a first date.

Patrick Swayze? You fag.

[SugarFree]

Patrick Swayze? You fag.

Says the guy who cries when Baby no longer has to be in the corner.

[Ska]

So referencing Dirty Dancing is supposed to redeem you somehow?

[SugarFree]

Being culturally literate and crying or a chick flick are two different things, Weepy Smurf.

[P Brooks]

If Goldman Sachs decides to abandon New York for Liechtenstein, Governor Paterson can say, "I never saw that coming."

[Stormy Dragon]

If that requires ridiculous arguments and reasoning, so be it.

If the law is against you, pound the facts.
If the facts are against you, pound the law.
If both are against you, pound the table.

[Gilbert Martin]

"If Goldman Sachs decides to abandon New York for Liechtenstein, Governor Paterson can say, "I never saw that coming.""

It would be so funny if virtually every financial and investment firm in New York got together and coordinated a mass exodus to the lowest tax state in the union.

The immediate crash of NY state and NY city tax revenues would cause the state to implode - and Bloomberg's head to explode.

LOL

[TrickyVic]

"""I'll never understand what possessed me to take a girl named Dawn to see Red Dawn on a first date."""

Was there a second?

[Nate]

The article on the Savannah Redding case contains this gem:

"Do we really want to encourage cases," Professor Arum asked, "where students and parents are seeking monetary damages against educators in such school-specific matters where reasonable people can disagree about what is appropriate under the circumstances?"

Reasonable people cannot fucking disagree on whether or not it is appropriate for a pointy-haired middle-school bureaucrat to strip-search a 13-year-old girl on the suspicion that she ... wait for it ... might have the equivalent of four over-the-counter headache relief pills!

Where the fuck do these people come from?! How can we make them stop?

[Laurel Kornfeld]

Pluto IS a planet. Please do not blindly accept the controversial demotion by four percent of the International Astronomical Union, most of whom are not planetary scientists. Their demotion of Pluto was immediately opposed by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto.