Reason Morning Links: From Dallas to Kabul

• Lou Dobbs loses his base.

• Dallas Morning News section editors start reporting to the paper's sales managers.

• The Obama administration can't keep its story straight about what its deadline for withdrawal from Afghanistan means. Meanwhile, NATO promises to send 7,000 additional troops to the country (with "more to come").

• It's been a bad year for the speakers of state legislatures.

• Pentagon spyhunters agree: Blame Canada.

Comments

[Johnny Longtorso]

This is SCIENCE, bitches!! Pure objective SCIENCE!!

Homicide rates linked to trust in governement, sense of belonging, study suggests
http://esciencenews.com/articl.....y.suggests

...He concluded that people's views about the legitimacy of government and how much they identify with their fellow citizens play a major role in how often they kill each other ? much more so than the usual theories revolving around guns, poverty, drugs, race, or a permissive justice system.

"The predisposition to murder is rooted in feelings and beliefs people have toward government and their fellow citizens," said Randolph Roth, author of the book and professor of history at Ohio State.

"It is these factors, which may seem impossibly remote from murder, that hold the key to understanding why the United States is so homicidal today."...

..."As Americans, so many of us hate or distrust our government. You can see it today in the anti-government rallies in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere. It's been part of our culture since the very beginning, but especially since the Civil War, and it is one reason why we have such a high homicide rate," he said.

Roth said the results of his analysis provide some warnings for the future. Data from early this year suggests the homicide rate in the United States fell during the first half of this year, which makes sense as the nation rallied around a new president who promised to help unite the country.

But events of recent months suggest the tide may be turning, and that we may soon return to the divisive, polarized politics that the candidates of both major parties tried to transcend in the recent presidential election, he said....

[Tin Chef]

What's your point?

[Rich]

one of the best predictors of increases and declines in America's homicide rate in the past was the percentage of new counties named for national heroes

I see a simple (and fun!) solution to our homicide problem ...

[T]

Can we name a county after Nathan Bedford Forrest?

[brotherben]

from a wiki article:

Forrest County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is part of the Hattiesburg, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2000, the population was 72,604. It is named in honor of Confederate General Nathan B. Forrest.

[Solitudinarian]

Spent more years than I care to remember there. It is aptly named.

[brotherben]

It has been my experience that all of mississippi could wear his name.

[SugarFree]

Already is one.

[SugarFree]

OK, fine, BB. You want play? Let's go!

In 1952 the Bobbs-Merrill Company published "Bedford Forrest: Boy on Horseback" by Aileen Wells Parks as part of their Childhood of Famous Americans series, designed to show that Americans children knew from history had once been boys and girls, like themselves.

[brotherben]

Make sure your insulin is right before throwing down the gauntlet there slowpoke. Unless of course the You want play? was a different type of offer ; }

[SugarFree]

I will break you.

[brotherben]

You say that like it's a bad thing.

[Pee Diddly Squat]

Love Obama - or DIE!

[Xeones]

Per Mr. Longtorso's link, i don't think my growing hatred and mistrust of government makes me any more likely to kill, but i am increasingly willing to tar and feather some motherfuckers.

Did it ever occur to Professor Roth that perhaps the causal linkage runs the other way? That, as homicide and other crime rates rise (for whatever reason), people lose faith in government's ability to protect them? Or, even better, that correlation is not causation, even when you have a political axe to grind?

[Rich]

"I think that the president and we have been clear that July 2011 is the beginning of a process of drawing down in Afghanistan"

"I would believe that we would be able to start the transition as planned in 2011"

Oh, come on, people -- you can weasel-word better than that!

[TP]

Lou Dobbs loses his base.

That's a damn shame.

[GoNavy]

Lou Dobbs loses his base

He had a base? Who is Lou Dobbs?

[Nick]

I have never wanted disaster to strike any human until I discovered the true nature of politicians.

[Spoonman]

It is complete bullshit that the DMN tries to avoid ads that look like news. At least when I lived there up until three years ago, there was at least one in A every day.

[Freedom-Man]

I deny all the science, ALL THE SCIENCE! Look at the conspiracy between science and statism:

* government studies suggest flouride is good for our teeth, used to flouridize our water with government money and by their fiat!
* science studies suggest a "moon" orbits Earth, used to send missions to that moon with government money and by their fiat
* science studies suggest "rubbers" may prevent pregnancy, used to fund condom giveaways to kids with government money and their fiat

Countless other examples. ClimateGate has shown us the way, rather than wasting our time arguing policy decisions should reflect respect for liberty we need to just deny the science wholesale. I'm starting today by moving my family near the closest incinerator and stocking up on fatty foods. Our lives should be defined by our noble stand against this "science" based statism!

[JW]

Yawn.

Troll FAIL. Parody FAIL.

Not insightful. -5

[Freedom-Man]

So: criminological science, Bah Humbug.

Proves that shit in Siberia, Stalinist!

[TP]

Kentucky's Bunning blocks reappointment of Bernanke

http://www.miamiherald.com/new.....64480.html

I was watching this yesterday, and I caught the exchange. I was laughing my ass off. It was either that or cry my eyes out. What really caught my attention is when Bunning was asking about the "negotiations" with AIG and third parties and how AIG's swaps were paid 100%. Bernanke responded something like "we had no leverage to force negotiations between AIG and third parties".

What? No leverage? Maybe technically. But Jesus Christ Ben, you were the one handing out the fucking money. You are the one with the printing press. You literally had all the leverage in the world. Are you a fucking idiot?

RBS offered to actually take a loss, according to Bunning, and Bernanke said no.

OMFG. Somebody shoot me.

[SugarFree]

When a doddering lunatic can talk circles around Bernanke, it's time for Ben to pack up his blighted beard and go the fuck home. Especially if home is in STFU County, Siberia.

[TP]

What's even more embarrassing is that Dodd agreed with Bunning on a couple points. When Dodd and Bunning agree on anything, there's something seriously wrong. Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....r_embedded

You have to watch it, especially the end.

[Death Panelist]

So they wanted Lou Dobbs to run for president but they didn't want him to start pandering to different voting bases?

[Freedom-Man]

Bernanke's "economic science" is the same kind of hoax. The Age of the Common Man is upon them and the foolish elitists don't even know it! I've been practicing my own medecine, physical and mental, without "experts" advice for years. I'm going to learn to do my own plumbing: I don't need some elitist who thinks because he went to tech school he can tell me where my pipes should go. Doubtless he'd like to see some of my pipes be routed to the unproductives in my neighborhood. Social engineering is rife in the plumbing field, and the grant money for such plumbing provides incentives for that sort of thing. Only a fool would trust one.

[Enough About Palin]

Plumbing is pretty easy.

[Nick M.]

Yep,

1. Crap flow downhill
2. Payday is Friday
3. The boss is a jerk

[Blocked At Work]

4.Don't put your hands in your mouth

[Johnny Longtorso]

Nature editorial (remember, this is Objective Science, bitches):

Climatologists under pressure

...In the end, what the UEA e-mails really show is that scientists are human beings ? and that unrelenting opposition to their work can goad them to the limits of tolerance, and tempt them to act in ways that undermine scientific values. Yet it is precisely in such circumstances that researchers should strive to act and communicate professionally, and make their data and methods available to others, lest they provide their worst critics with ammunition. After all, the pressures the UEA e-mailers experienced may be nothing compared with what will emerge as the United States debates a climate bill next year, and denialists use every means at their disposal to undermine trust in scientists and science.

[JW]

You...you...TEA BAGGING denialist you!

[Johnny Longtorso]

Death to the Kulak Denialist Wreckers!!

[Freedom-Man]

Well said so much for "objective" scientific experts!

I'm thinking about going "off-grid" myself. Think of how the electric sciences have become bastardized into pure statisim (rural elecrification program). We're all aware of teh skullduggery involved in the study of electricity over the decades. For freedom and liberty, I deny the existence of electricy. God sends lightning down, which each person can privately use in their own home, but no man should be made to support a plan of using this for public "utilities" (as if they know what they are talking about!)

[Enough About Palin]

If getting off the grid is what it takes to get you to stop posting, I'm all for it. Good luck with that.

[Solanum]

I see HoaxBuster, aka Chony, is back with us.

[Enough About Palin]

Take back Al Gore's Oscar, 2 Academy members demand in light of Climategate:

No, it wouldn't do anything for the environment.

But two Hollywood conservatives (yes, there are some) have called upon the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to rescind the prestigious, profitable gold Oscar statuette that it gave ex-Vice President Al Gore two years ago for the environmental movie "An Inconvenient Truth."

Roger L. Simon and Lionel Chetwynd, both Academy members, are among a small, meandering pack of known political conservatives still believed to be on the loose in the liberal bastion of movie-making.

In 2007, Hollywood's Academy sanctified Gore's cinematic message of global warming with its famous statue, enriched his earnings by $100,000 per 85-minute appearance and helped elevate the Tennesseean's profile to win the Nobel Peace Prize despite losing the election battle of 2000 to a Texan and living in a large house with lots of energy-driven appliances.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.co.....rming.html

[T]

Pentagon spyhunters agree: Blame Canada.

Haven't we all learned that Canadians are not to be trusted? We forget this at peril not just to our lives and properties, but our eternal souls.

[yet another dave]

I understand they perfected a way to put listening devices in quarters without painting them red now... But Canada only does it to keep you safe from teh terrists, for the children, they don't even require a thank you oh and the Great White North is where eternal souls go to die...

[Enough About Palin]

Jeremy Engelking will appear in Douglas County court this afternoon to face a trespassing charge. But here's the kicker: The Superior man allegedly trespassed on his own property.

Engelking, 27, aimed to hunt deer Wednesday morning when he noticed a pipeline crew on his land. He hopped on his ATV and told workers they had no right to be on his property because he had received no compensation from Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. for an easement.

Engelking said workers told him he was in an unsafe place and asked him to come to an equipment staging area, where he continued to argue his case.

But just as he was turning to leave, Engelking said an officer from the Douglas County Sheriff's Department arrived on the scene and approached with a Taser drawn.

"He ordered me to 'get down on the ground now!' And he said that I was being arrested for trespassing," Engelking said.

When Engelking protested, pointing out that he was on his own property, he said Sgt. Robert Smith told him: "It doesn't matter. You're going to jail. You can tell it to a judge tomorrow."

Engelking offered no resistance, but Smith placed him in handcuffs then transported him to the Douglas County Jail. After posting a $200 bail bond, Engelking was released that afternoon. He also had to pay about another $100 to recover his impounded ATV.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.c...../id/153801

[Warren]

Lou Dobbs loses his base.
Seems he's no longer a big enough asshat for them. Seems like a moral hazard problem if Dobbs suffers for not being a lesser douche than he was. On the other hand, Yo Fuck Dobbs.

[Warren]

... suffers for not being ...

[Kevin]

So with this new surge and ramping up of the war and all, I'm expecting musicians and Hollywood types to start bravely speaking up and protesting. Any minute now. You'll see.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Hey, hey LBJ! How many kids did you kill today!?

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

Hey, hey, dirty hippy protester! Apparently one less than I should have.

;^)

[mitch]

Hey ho! Hey ho! Why oh why, BHO?
Why to Afghanistan the kids to go?

[JW]

They're waiting delivery on the new batch of giant paper-mache puppets. The last batch wasn't sufficiently righteous or indignant.

[SugarFree]

The surge is really just to provide a stimulus to the newspaper and Elmer's glue industries.

[A Different Bill]

"No, we wanted the ones with more indignation! More indignation, dammit!"

[Q]

BISMARCK, N.D. ? North Dakota's Supreme Court is considering whether the value of breast implants should be counted when a divorcing couple is splitting up their assets, a possibility that one justice said could be extended to other medical procedures.

"Do we have any lines to be drawn? Is dental work a marital asset? Is a hip replacement a marital asset?" Justice Daniel Crothers asked attorney Christina Sambor during Supreme Court arguments on Thursday.

Sambor represents Erik Isaacson, of Mandan, who is appealing South Central District Judge Robert Wefald's decision to exclude the value of his former wife Traci's breast implants and Lasik vision improvement surgery from a list of their assets and debts.

Sambor said the expense should be included in instances when a medical expense is "clearly cosmetic, elective, (and) non-necessary." Insurance companies often make those judgments in deciding what to cover, she said.

"Cosmetic surgery is a reality, and people engage in it frequently. It is an area where a significant amount of money can be spent," Sambor said. "If the court (declines) to consider that on the whole, I think that could be equally problematic."

On their list, the Isaacsons provided separate estimates of the worth of an assortment of their property, including vehicles, a lawnmower and snowblower, furniture, computers and a large-screen television. Wefald used the list to decide how the couple's assets should be divided.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_1.....ost_viewed

[IllegalMexican]

Lou Dobbs loses his base.

All your base are belong to us, esse.

[SugarFree]

And, mysteriously, HoaxBuster/Freedom-Man disappears about the same time of the morning MNG always does.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

I hope it's not MNG. I believe those are the kinds of breakdowns joe used to have before...you know...he went away...

[Johnny Longtorso]

Awwww.... you believe Mom and Dad's story about Joe running away to play in the fields instead of being put down, Old Yeller style.

[BakedPenguin]

I've been thinking that one of our new wonder trolls might be joe in disguise.

[brotherben]

I believe that the beloved joe was much too proud of his own thoughts to post them under a fictitious name.

[SugarFree]

joe used to sockpuppet, but usually under his own email address.

I don't actually think any of them are joe, because three or four of used to be able to reduce joe to slinging insults, and occasionally threats. You can't do that with Chony. Chony is just a bad faith piece of shit that should be liquefied and feed to diseased pigs.

[Solanum]

TAO and yourself were masters of getting joe to completely lose his mind.

This was one of my favorite joe meltdowns of all time:

joe|9.3.08 @ 12:13PM|#

Actually, SugarFree, I won statewide medals when I captained my debate team. But had somebody spoken to me like you did, I would have punched him in the mouth and walked out of the room.

Hiding behind the internet, you don't have to worry about the first part, pussy, but I can still blow you off as beneath my notice.

[Pappy Smear]

God I miss unthreaded comments.

[prolefeed]

Said the guy choosing to respond via threaded comments.

[SugarFree]

That was a good day.

[JW]

Nah. These trolls make me miss joe.

Or is that just part of his cunning plan....

[BakedPenguin]

Good points, both.

[P Brooks]

Pentagon spyhunters agree: Blame Canada.

Well, duh.

[P Brooks]

we may soon return to the divisive, polarized politics that the candidates of both major parties tried to transcend in the recent presidential election, he said....

In other "scientific breakthrough news": people see what they are looking for.

[Aresen]

Pentagon spyhunters agree: Blame Canada.

And just wait till you find out what's in the loonies (the dollar coin). (heh heh heh) -Snidley Aresen Whiplash

[Blocked At Work]

Abortion-clinic We do sacred work:

Northland Family Planning Centers of Michigan are advertising their services with newly created videos which calls abortion "sacred work."

Sacred? Sacred is defined as "entitled to veneration or religious respect by association with divinity or divine things; holy."

The video is part of a series of videos highlighting their abortion services and states, "We believe in the goodness of our work." The spokesperson points to a sign hanging in the abortion clinic that says "We do sacred work that honors women and the circle of life and death. When you come here bring only love."

The clinic says that abortion while being a "normal experience" and sadly that is true as there have been over 45 million abortions since its legalization as the video points out. But the spokesperson goes further and says that abortion is also "a sign of strength courage and responsibility to thoughtfully consider whether or not to bring new life into the world."

http://www.creativeminorityrep.....-work.html

[Mike M.]

Obama under 50% approval and at 50% disapproval for first time among all adults in CNN/Opinion research poll.