Reason Morning Links: Egyptian Pigs, Global Censors, and Rossum's Universal Robots

- Jack Kemp is dead.

- Violence increases in Iraq.

- We move one step closer to new federal controls on health care.

- Farmers fight back against the Egyptian government's porkocide program.

- Freedom House's annual report on freedom of the press is out, and it's the first ever to show media liberties declining in every region of the world. The study also demotes Israel, Italy, and Hong Kong from "free" to "partly free" status.

- Resilience vs. sustainability.

- Are "failed states" really an innate security threat?

- Note: All of the above stories are beside the point, because the robot rebellion is beginning. We all know how this ends:

Comments

[Mango Punch]

What looks like an awesome and very libertarian movie: The Boat That Rocked

[High Every Body]

Violence increases in Iraq.

[Obama fan voice]
Unpossible! They really love us, ever since January or November or so. I don't have to click through to see the falseness on its surface.
[/Obama fan voice]

[J sub D]

Iraq bloodshed rises as US allies defect
Obama's withdrawal pledge is at risk as militias paid by the US begin to rejoin the insurgency

Y'know, I ain't no friggin' genius when it comes to diplomacy and international political developments.

Yet somehow when reading claims that we are "winning" the debacle in Iraq, this skeptical, cynical, uneducated dumbass has repeatedly cautioned something along the lines of "When a stable functioning democracy exists six months after U.S. troops presently propping up the government leave, tell me then that we've won".

Red teamers - you're pretty sure by now you'll not get to crow, aren't you?

I've also cutioned the Obama fanboys that I don't think he'll be willing to take the political heat that will come from admitting that this whole thing has failed and the withdrawal of U.S. troops will be delayed indefinitely.

Blue teamers - The Chosen Ones's 16 months for a withdrawal has already turned into 19. Do you still think that timeline will hold?

That's NO U.S. troops performing combat actions in Iraq after August of 2010. I will not accept an "anti-terror operations" exception since that's what we've been claiming to do for 5 years now.

Short version - Fuck! I knew this goddam shit would happen.

[J sub D]

Are "failed states" really an innate security threat?

In the Middle East, South Asia, Africa and South America? No.

Mexico? You betcha!

[BlueBook]

Meh, that robot mauling actually happened back in '07 and was basically a new twist on the old "man runs over self with truck" story.

The new Terminator: Salvation trailers do look promising though. Some of the battle scenes almost look like they were lifted right out of Red Dawn, with the Ruskies digitally replaced by Stan Winston machines.

[High Every Body]

J sub D,

Oh, stop trying to make Obama look bad with all that failure talk. 😉

[robc]

woo hoo! Binary solo!!!

[robc]

Ron Paul would have already had us out of Iraq.

Suck it Obama voters.

[robc]

Mexico? You betcha!

also Canada.

Isnt a failed Mexico (or Canada) and expansion opportunity?

[Hugh Akston]

Isnt a failed Mexico (or Canada) and expansion opportunity?

You know what Rahm said, never pass up a good crisis.

[Warren]

Jack Kemp is dead.

Effectively neutered by putting him in charge of HUD. Kemp was as libertarian as the GOP gets. His was an important voice in the Republican Party before it went neo-commie.

[High Every Body]

Jack Kemp is dead.

I wonder who Joe Biden is quoting here? He frequently forgets to credit the few things he says that make sense.

Kemp, Economic Revolutionary [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

I thought this was good and right, from Joe Lieberman yesterday: "There was no one who could make capitalism more relevant to the poorest people on their way up, or freedom more real to people throughout the world fighting for it."

[High Every Body]

Crap! Wrong Joe!

Feeling ashamed and sulking off.

[R C Dean]

Red teamers - you're pretty sure by now you'll not get to crow, aren't you?

Things started going south right after Obama took over, and that's Bush's fault? I don't get it.

Really, Blue team - the whole "its Bush's fault" thing has played out. You can only throw somebody under the bus so many times.

[High Every Body]

RCD,

You mean it is not Reagan's fault any more, or Nixon's? I am so behind the times.

[J sub D]

Things started going south right after Obama took over, and that's Bush's fault?

Maybe you read different papers than I do. This thing has been a fuck story from the gitgo.

[Cabeza De Vaca]

"Things started going south right after Obama took over, and that's Bush's fault?"

WTF?

[bookworm]

"Really, Blue team - the whole "its Bush's fault" thing has played out. You can only throw somebody under the bus so many times."

The war in and of itself is wrong no matter which party is running it. You can't force democracy on a country. It's something they've got to do on their own, if they're willing.

[libertarian democrat]

Ron Paul would have already had us out of Iraq.

Suck it Obama voters.

I voted Ron Paul in the primaries. I have little doubt this is true.

On the other hand, I have no doubt that McCain wouldn't have, and that is a more relevant comparison.

(I voted Barr, not Obama, however)

[kleinfan92]

I voted for naomi klein.

[robc]

I voted Barr, not Obama, however

Which is what I did, thats why I didnt tell you to suck it. If all the anti-war Obama voters had registered GOP to vote for the real anti-war candidate, McCain wouldnt have got the nomination to begin with.

Well, under that scenario, I guess we would have ended up with a Paul v Clinton primary race.

[R C Dean]

Maybe you read different papers than I do. This thing has been a fuck story from the gitgo.

You must have taken time off from reading the papers. Things were on the upswing last year.

Sure, sure, if Obama had been god-king in 2001, we probably wouldn't be in Iraq at all right now. I'm not so sure that a nuclearizing Iraq under Saddam would be better than what we have now, though.

[J sub D]

Oh jeez. Janet Jackson's boob is in the news again.

[SugarFree]

Janet Jackson's boob is in the news again.

That thing has a mind of it's own anymore, especially after it got that shield with which to protect itself.

[J sub D]

Sure, sure, if Obama had been god-king in 2001, we probably wouldn't be in Iraq at all right now. I'm not so sure that a nuclearizing Iraq under Saddam would be better than what we have now, though.

Yeah. I forgot about that press conference when the Bush administration laid out all of the evidence of Iraq's WMD programs our troops unearthed. Here's the link

[robc]

RC,

If Bush had pulled out of Iraq the day after Saddam was captured and said "We have given you a blank slate, dont fuck it up or we will kill off the next dude too", you might have been able to argue it was a success.

An uptick in 2008 doesnt make up for 5 years of suckitude.

[SugarFree]

All of Lonewacko's nightmares, in a single movie.

[J sub D]

NutraSweet
We've got to make a documentary about this.
"The Boob that wouldn't Die".

[SugarFree]

I'm thinking that it gets loose after gender reassignment surgery and recruits an army of liposuction fat-armed dog testicles to seize control of the American Southwest.

[R C Dean]

If Bush had pulled out of Iraq the day after Saddam was captured and said "We have given you a blank slate, dont fuck it up or we will kill off the next dude too", you might have been able to argue it was a success.

Not if we had to go back in again, you couldn't. And we probably would have had to do so, what with the Saddamite bitter-enders and the Iranian-backed militias being the only real contenders.

Would Iraq be nuclearizing now if we had left Saddam in charge? I think the odds are that yes, he would. The sanctions were breaking down, he had quite a bit of intellectual and material capital left from his first go-round, he had oil revenue to buy more, he had a long history of refusing to cooperate and violating non-proliferation treaties, and he had his bitterest enemies the Iranians nuclearizing.

There weren't any good options in 2001-2002. I am still far from convinced that doing nothing would have been the least worst thing we could do.

We're still in the time will tell part of this. Maybe Bush got lucky on the timing of his departure, but I think he at least left Obama an Iraq with a realistic possibility of being functional. We'll see how it turns out, but whatever happens, its Obama's now. Saying "its Bush's fault" can do nothing to improve the outcome.

[brotherben]

J sub, they did, it was called, "Chappaquiddik."

[J sub D]

I'm thinking that it gets loose after gender reassignment surgery and recruits an army of liposuction fat-armed dog testicles to seize control of the American Southwest.

With a zany Pudsy Bear for a sidekick.

[High Every Body]

With a zany Pudsy Bear for a sidekick.

If it's near lunch time it's Pudsy Bear time.

Say bye bye to SugarFree for 20 seconds . . .

[Frank Black, Third FOTC]

Come on Pilgrim, lick my battery.