Reason Morning Links: A Rare Reason to Like Joe Lieberman, a Novel Approach to Assaulting a Politician, and Another $447 Billion in Public Spending

- Joe Lieberman rejects the compromise health care bill.

- The Senate passes a $447 billion spending package.

- Abu Dhabi bails out Dubai.

- A souvenir-throwing assailant bloodies Silvio Berlusconi's face.

- Another band of pathetic would-be jihadis gets nowhere.

- The social acceptance of gays advances in Houston and at the East London Aquarium.

- Move over, Fred Garvin: A Nevada brothel prepares to hire its first male prostitute.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

I like Joe Lieberman for the sole reason he vexes congressional Democrats. But make no mistake, he will eventually vote to pass a terrible, terrible healthcare bill.

[MNG]

He's having a delightful time fucking with the Dems, and with being the swing vote (ask Justice Kennedy how heady this can be). It's understandable to some degree.

[John]

I would imagine he is enjoying fucking with the Democratic left especially. It is funny. Lieberman on domestic issues was always a striaght line liberal. Ten years ago, there would be no doubt that he would have voted for it.

The KOS campaign against him was some serious short sided thinking. Even if they had beat him in 06, it wouldn't have changed a damn thing about the war. But it sure as hell gave Lieberman an excuse to screw with them.

[Isaac Bartram]

I seem to recall that before he got the veep nod in 2000 and had to tow the doctrinaire Democrat lion, Lieberman actually had gone outside the fold by endorsing education vouchers and some kind of Social Security reform involving partial or complete privatization.

I'm not sure where he stood on Universal Health Care but I assumed that since it's been a fairly central plank of Democratic Party platforms since Wilson I'd've thought he'd be for it.

So I tend to think it is not so much the idea of Universal Health Care he's agin, it's either this particular bill and/or the current Democratic leadership.

[John]

I remember him having a very high vote rating among liberal groups that track that sort of thing.

[Isaac Bartram]

I do too.

But, IIANM, he was the same type of democrat as Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. He wanted a welfare state that was not financed with deficit spending. And while he was willing to raise taxes somewhat he knew there were limits.

The Democrats who have run the House and Senate for the last forty years or so don't seem to have met a tax increase or deficit that they wouldn't vote for.

[Rich]

He's warming up by voting to pass the spending package.

[SugarFree]

Please stop molesting the Earth. You make it very uncomfortable when you touch it that way.

[MNG]

"Your children have touched me and I'm pretty sure I've touched them too."

[Fist of Etiquette]

If asked in court to point on a globe where the bad men touched the Earth, I'm not sure I could do it. I don't recognize any of the land masses in that picture.

[T]

Well, duh, silly. You're expecting a representation of the actual shape, which is sexist. They're drawn to represent the opportunity for women each land mass has, like this map.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hey ladies, I gots your pangaea right here.

[JW]

Galactus is a tri-racial triumverate?

[Fist of Etiquette]

And a Marvel fanboy enters the fray.

[DWCarkuff]

Tell me this, is Joe Lieberman not, exactly, that same, smug, kiss ass kid you knew in high school who became President of the Student Council and was chosen to give speeches at student events and whom you wanted to punch in the face? To me he is the very essence of a sinister and souless bureaucrat.

[FrBunny]

Tell me this, is Joe Lieberman not, exactly, that same, smug, kiss ass kid you knew in high school who became President of the Student Council and was chosen to give speeches at student events and whom you wanted to punch in the face the dad from ALF?

[Attorney]

LOLZ!

[Rich]

An attorney representing the Alexandria, Va., mosque ... determined from conversations with the FBI that ... online activity played a role in luring them abroad.

Your point being what, exactly?

[MNG]

Unless the "online activity" was from law enforcement and it put the idea in their head (which might be entrapment) I too can't see why this would matter as any defense.

[Abdul]

Online activity lured me abroad too.

I was very disappointed to go all the way to Bangkok only to find that "Aimee" had an adam's apple.

[Just Saying...]

"Online activity" is this decade's "jazz and liquor".

[brotherben]

It sure makes it easier to "run with the wrong crowd."

[Rich]

Uh, oh.

[James Ard]

I suspect the jihadists that knocked down the Twin Towers would have been labeled pathetic too, before the attack. Was Hasan not pathetic too? That doesn't mean that they can't do any damage.

[MNG]

Hey, technologically astute, are there radio clocks or something with alarms where the volume can be varied? I've about had it with my kids alarms waking me up from across the house, but they have to get up. Any advice?

[Ska]

My radio clock has an alarm radio volume setting. It's a sony alarm/radio/ipod deck, so I'm sure there are other models out there with the same feature.

[Spartacus]

I have found that going in there and letting a loud raspy fart go, right in their face, works pretty well. But I only had a boy, can't say for sure whether it would work on girls.

[Ska]

Alarm management via crop dusting. Multipurpose and effective. Impressive.

Stay classy Spartacus.

[Slut Bunwalla]

CHEMTRAILS!!

[robc]

I know this isnt what you were asking, but there is apparently an alarm clock with 4 puzzle pieces that shoot into the air when the alarm goes off and you cant turn it off until you have tracked them down and rebuilt the puzzle. Personally, would be easier to go for the gun and shoot the fucker.

[T]

Try this instead.

[Nipplemancer]

no, you break out the firearms for the alarm clock robot that races around the room until you catch it and turn it off.

[brotherben]

Sit down with the kiddies and explain the problem. Then explain this solution. If they don't turn off the alarm an get up within 3 minutes, you will throw a glass of ice-water on them. Follow through on the punishment. It will only take once or twice and you will not be bothered by the alarm. It also works with kids that like to shower till all the hot water is gone.

[T]

I have to admit, I love the parenting tips I get here. I should start compiling them for later use.

[wylie]

You have to format them like a real parenting book, and get it printed in hardcover.

Then, once you have kids, you leave that book lying around. Once they see what you've been reading for advice, they'll keep in line nicely.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Pure genius all the way through.

[Nephilium]

A better item then ice water... leave a container of ball bearings in the freezer. Dump those on the kids, the distinct advantage is that the frozen ball bearings will roll underneath their backs if they don't get up.

Nephilium

[Pro Libertate]

If it's because they let them buzz on for an extended time, get them an old-fashioned alarm clock. That bell will wake the dead. Oh, be sure you don't live on top of any old burial grounds before you use it.

If it's because you can hear it, period, I recommend that you disconnect the buzzer, extend the length of the wires that once went to buzzer, and connect the wires to the child. When the alarm is triggered, the child will be shocked into an awakened state.*

* Consult your electrician.

[T]

Tasers can be bought by civilians, you know.

[Pro Libertate]

Tasers require the adult to be awake.

[Fist of Etiquette]

[Nevada Brothel Owners Association lobbyist George] Flint said he feared the idea of male prostitutes serving male clients could spur a legislative backlash. He said he works to make the brothel industry socially acceptable to both libertarians and conservatives.

You damned libertarians, always forcing your way into other people's bedrooms and getting in the way of commerce.
---
I guess libertarians (with a little l) encompasses anything other than conservatives? Or are southern Democratic legislators automatically on board with prostitution and excluded from consideration?

[MNG]

Sen. Ensign is intrigued by the idea, if perhaps not the specific application. Sen. Vitter has offered out-of-state support. Larry Craig could not be reached for comment, as he was on a fact finding mission to Nevada.

[brotherben]

re: the Craig bit

+1

[James Ard]

MNG, Daughter's alarm beeped for an hour and a half this morning. Usually we don't hear it because we run a fan at night. Unfortunately, this morning the fan is drying some flooded carpet out in the shop. Oh, and thanks for the blessing on the Whole Foods post.

[MNG]

James
Good point, I usually run a fan but stopped about two weeks ago. Maybe I just started hearing it b/c of this...

[Rich]

[Nevada Brothel Owners Association lobbyist George] Flint said he feared the idea of male prostitutes serving male clients could spur a legislative backlash

-- a BOA constrictor, as it were.

[James Ard]

Just don't tell me you stopped running the fan to save the planet.

[Inigo carmine]

MNG,
you might want to have her do what I do: instead of the alarm being loud, just make her want to get up more. I set my alarm to the radio and tuned it in between stations. It's a god-awful static noise that makes me jump out of bed immediately even after 5-6 years.

[brotherben]

This is an open thread right? Christians in North Carolina cite constitution against athiest.

[brotherben]

here

[peachy]

Quoted without comment : "One foe, H.K. Edgerton, is threatening to file a lawsuit in state court against the city to challenge Bothwell's appointment. 'My father was a Baptist minister. I'm a Christian man. I have problems with people who don't believe in God,' said Edgerton, a former local NAACP president and founder of Southern Heritage 411, an organization that promotes the interests of black southerners."

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Linked to without comment. OK, I lied. Here's a comment: sometimes The South doesn't really do itself any favors stereotype-wise.

[Warty]

Every thread here is an open thread. Behold.

[Citizen Nothing]

You are a strange dude, Warty.

[Warty]

We all have our scripts, CN.

[brotherben]

I figured you for a gerbil person. Hmmm. Learn something new everyday.

[Grandpa Whithers]

WTF???

[Citizen Nothing]

Aha! moment: Hamster Dixie's "Home Country" is "Texas." Must be a stealth militia/secessionist site that Warty's pushing. (See, I really do, God help me, read the links.)

[Warty]

Fuck, I don't even read most of my weird links. Congratulations to you, I guess.

[Citizen Nothing]

I'm on the clock. It's all research.

[T]

When the state tourism slogan is "Texas: It's Like a Whole Other Country" there's not much stealth going on here.

[P Brooks]

Buying Citi shares, today?

Good luck, sucker Patriot!

[Mike M.]

Obama hits new approval lows in Rasmussen daily tracking poll of 45-55.

[Enyap]

Some interesting news on Martha Coakley, the women set to replace Ted Kennedy.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1453.....as-Senator

[John]

Janet Reno, Coakley, none of the fuckers responsible for the child molestation witch trials were ever held responsible.

[Warty]

John, you know some district attorneys, right? Would you say that the people who prosecute cases like that are retarded enough to believe the charges, or are they just plain evil?

[John]

A little bit of both. There is a certain mindset that develops in prosecutors' offices that says everyone charged is guilty and that it doesn't matter what means are used to protect the public and punish the guilty. Then you also had a group of social workers and activists in this area that were just straight up fanatics. I think the social workers really believed this stuff. I have met them. I have met nurses and social workers who will tell you that no child would ever lie about such a thing and that all of these stories no matter how outragous and uncollaborated were 100% true.

Put together they are a scary combination. On the one hand you have prosecutors who thinks anyone he charges is guilty and doesn't care how he goes about proving it. On the other, you have a group of activists who had gone insane and were willing to believe anything. Put that combination in a PC environment that says extremism in the defense of children is no vice and you have a very dangerous situation.

[Citizen Nothing]

A little bit of both? Oh my god. They want cake, and they'll kill you to get it.

[Nick]

The whole idea that a child would never lie about any given subject for any reason is insane. A child will say ANYTHING for one jelly bean.

[John]

Never underestimate people's ability and willingness to lie to themselves Warty. Once these things got rolling, people were never going to admit the were wrong and face the prospect of having sent an innocent person to jail. Better to lie to yourself and avoid it.

[Warty]

Remember Stanley Milgram's electroshock experiments? Prosecutors should be required to pass some test like that.

Or maybe they should just be tortured with electroshocks.

[Bergholt Stuttley Johnson]

a Novel Approach to Assaulting a Head of State

Prime Ministers aren't Heads of State. I demand you correct your US-centric headline immediately!

[Ska]

I think the bigger takeaway is that no matter how FUBAR Italian politics are, we can still learn a thing or two from their system.

[T]

I eagerly await the election to the House of an american version of Cicciolina.

[brotherben]

We have Pelosi. WTF more could you want?

[Ska]

Could you imagine Pelosi giving a speech with one tit out?

[brotherben]

Why yes. Yes I can.

[T]

Bleagh.

[TickleStick]

a single flop.

[Jesse Walker]

Prime Ministers aren't Heads of State. I demand you correct your US-centric headline immediately!

I have caved to your demand.

[PM's head, to attacker:]

I have caved to your demand.

[Bergholt Stuttley Johnson]

Woah, I feel drunk with power!

[Just Saying...]

Fred Garvin, love the reference.

[ed]

Another band of pathetic would-be jihadis gets nowhere.

It isn't easy being a terrorist. They should call it jihard.

[Duddles Tommy]

Wow, Leiberman really is dumb as the day is long! LOL

Jess
http://www.total-privacy.es.tc

[Citizen Nothing]

Some should collect anonymity-bots sayings and start a cult.

[SugarFree]

With enough anonymity-bots, how could you tell? The cult might already exist.

And it might be... right behind you!

[P Brooks]

Could you imagine Pelosi giving a speech with one tit out?

*claws frantically at eyes*

[SugarFree]

She could throw it over the front of the podium.

[A Different Bill]

Oh my gawd, I almost choked on my lunch when I read this.

Crap, I need to remember not to read this site while eating...

[Ska]

No one said it would be pretty.

[P Brooks]

Coming soon:

The AnonymityBot Guide to Successful Parenting; Non Sequiturs for Every Occasion and Circumstance

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Awesome. The perfect seasonal gift item.

[Pro Libertate]

For those of you who are not familiar with Fred Garvin: Male Prostitute, here's a clip.

[The Rhino Suite]

Lived in Italy when this video came out. I've always felt that Berlusconi could easily carry his own reality show . . . and that was before he was caught flying hookers to his pad and dry-humping meter maids.

[Rich]

La Dolce Vita, indeed.