Reason Morning Links: Revolution in Iran, War in Yemen, Eunuch Rights in Pakistan

- As a bold wave of protests hits Iran, the regime's police kill several demonstrators, including the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.

- Joe Lieberman suggests that Yemen could be "tomorrow's war." The New York Times suggests the war has already started.

- American casualties in Afghanistan were twice as high in 2009 than in 2008.

- Get ready to watch the public option do its live-again/dead-again routine one more time.

- Pakistan recognizes a third gender.

Comments

[Bob #2]

If Pakistan has 300,000 eunuchs, why don't they have any good castrati singers?

[wylie]

Due to the high demand of guys to do that death-wail they do.

"lalalalalalalalala! die infidels!"

[Kyle Jordan]

"Get ready to watch the public option do its live-again/dead-again routine one more time."

Would somebody shoot this thing in the fucking head already!?

Or do we bow down and let it eat our brains? (Brenda honey, it's only me!)

[Xeones]

I see Pakistan continues to neglect the fourth gender, but since said gender consists entirely of Warty i'm not sure it's really that big of a deal.

[Kyle Jordan]

So that's where tentacle sex came from...

[P Brooks]

Iraq was yesterday's war. Afghanistan is today's war. If we don't act preemptively, Yemen will be tomorrow's war.

War without end, Amen.

[John Tagliaferro]

American casualties in Afghanistan were twice as high in 2009 than in 2008.

Casualties inherited from the Bush administration I presume.

[P Brooks]

The Senate's Christmas Eve achievement brought the nation closer than it's been for generations to a new order in health insurance, one that would eventually require nearly all Americans to get coverage, help many pay for it and restrict onerous insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing sickness.

No slant here.

And- goddammit!- if you make it mandatory for everyone, and prohibit risk-based pricing, it's not actually "insurance" anymore. It's a "buyers' club" for medical services.

[A E Sculapius]

"It's a "buyers' club" for medical services." I like it.

[Totally not a Whore]

You're somebody, P Brooks!

Over at Hit & Run, reliable commenter P Brooks sums up Obamacare quite well...

[Nick]

From the (delayed) Brickbats:

A District of Columbia truancy officer stopped several students who attend a private Catholic school and asked why they weren't in school. They explained that classes weren't in session that day. She didn't believe them, so they offered to call their parents and let one of them talk to her. That wasn't good enough. She forced them into a van and drove them home. The parents weren't happy about that, especially after they found the van didn't have enough seatbelts for all the children.

Holy shit, where do we start? 1) Shouldn't a truant officer (I didn't even know they still existed) know when all schools in their area are in session?
2) Isn't this false arrest or kidnapping or something?
3) Shouldn't a truant officer abide by the seat belt laws?
4) If a kid is in private school, why is the government responsible for making sure they are in school? (rhetorical, but still, wtf?)

[John Tagliaferro]

1) Yes
2) Not sure
3) Yes
4) Agree

75% pass

[Sr. Hossanna in the highest]

I took care of the truancy officer.?

[Debbie Dolittle]

Isnt it about time the US start minding its own business?

RT
http://www.Ultimate-Privacy.net

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Anonymity bot's (bot is a portmanteau of 'bon mot' in this instance) folksy wisdom is so good.

[Rich]

If we don't act preemptively, Yemen will be tomorrow's war.

And if we do act preemptively, Yemen will be one of today's wars.

[Ska]

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

[Dello]

Never BOMB tomorrow what you can bomb today...

[Johnny Longtorso]

I'm watching the immigration episode of "Bullshit" on Amazon. Gillespie appears without The Jacket. Was this taped pre-jacket, or was this a jacketless experiment gone horribly wrong?

[Pro Libertate]

Pre-jacket? There was never such a time.

[Johnny Longtorso]

The Jacket (*) is eternal?

(*) I move we adopt the phrase "The Jacket" when discussing it, like ancient Hebrews refusing to actually say the name of God for religious reasons.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Sorry, now I'm just thinking about Keira Knightley and Adrien Brody. Mostly Keira Knightley.

[John Tagliaferro]

I second the motion.

[Johnny Longtorso]

The all black ensemble almost hid the little pot belly, tho. 🙂

[EJM]

? Joe Lieberman suggests that Yemen could be "tomorrow's war." The New York Times suggests the war has already started.

(Insert inevitable ReliefWeb and AlertNet mentions.)

[P Brooks]

You're somebody, P Brooks!

Yikes.

Will there be

ummm

goupies?

[The Art-P.O.G.]

I'm. So. Envious.

[Dello]

SIGN MY BOOBS!