Reason Morning Links: Mysterious Raids, a Secret Treaty, and a Glimpse Inside the Health Care Bill

- Terrorists kill dozens in the Moscow Metro.

- The White House makes 15 recess appointments.

- The feds carry out weekend raids in the midwest; the arrestees apparently include members of Hutaree, a Christian paramilitary group.

- The votes in Iraq are counted, and the fellow who finished second doesn't want to concede.

- The health care bill includes $250 million for abstinence education.

- Thanks to a leak, you can download a draft of the secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

Comments

[Johnny Longtorso]

Bigger danger of healthcare bill: the arrogance of Congress

Democrats threaten companies hit hard by health care bill

[Rich]

Thanks, JL. I especially enjoyed the second link.

[Waxman requests] (1) any analyses related to the projected impact of health care reform on AT&T; and (2) any documents, including e-mail messages, sent to or prepared or reviewed by senior company officials related to the projected impact of health care reform on AT&T. We also request an explanation of the accounting methods used by AT&T since 2003 to estimate the financial impact on your company of the 28 percent subsidy for retiree drug coverage and its deductibility or nondeductibility, including the accounting methods used in preparing the cost impact statement

Careful what you ask for. The taxpayer just might like to see a "transparent" comparison with analogous gov't documents.

[Pro Libertate]

This is the new socialism. Comply or get abused.

[Curtis]

This is bullshit.

[cynical]

Sounds more like Italian fascist economics to me. Private companies can still exist, but they have to facilitate national objectives. Nothing new about it.

[Isaac Bartram]

Sounds like the New Deal to me.

Oh, wait, that's right, whole pieces of the New Deal were lifted from Mussolini. Many members of FDR's Brain Trust (he even stole that idea from Al Smith) were huge admirers of Mussolini until 1935 after which fascist sympathies were no longer considered respectable.

So you're right, after all.

[Pro Libertate]

This time, they'll call it "The New Zeal."

[BakedPenguin]

The left had a very intense infatuation with Mussolini, which really only died after he aligned with Hitler. Just ask Ezra Pound or Cole Porter.

[Isaac Bartram]

Actually it was invading Ethiopia that turned off Il Duce's American fans.

Apparently breaking heads to make the trains run on time is one thing, invading defenceless countries is another.

[cynical]

Hmmm... it occurs to me (for those who feel we should be seeing more MISSION ACCOMPLISHED parodies right now) that Obama's like Bush in another major way -- a lot of people speculated that Bush wanted to take down Saddam to show he could succeed where his father failed. How much of Obamacare is the Prez trying to make himself look more successful than Clinton at pushing healthcare legislation through?

And, of course, there were the deceptive and underhanded methods used to achieve it. And it will probably turn out to be an expensive quagmire, in terms of wealth and lives. I guess we're at the "farce" stage, damn you Marx.

[Kyle Jordan Prime]

With the exception of the Moscow story, these morning links aren't as soul crushing as they have been for a while.

Be wary then I warn thee Reason reader. Balko is bound to drop some especially vile story I'm guessing.

[Abdul]

Easy for you to say. You aren't in a Christian Milita Group. My Knights of Columbus meeting got raided and the seized the bingo globe.

[Kolohe]

As long as they left the keg, you'll be alright.

[Suki]

"The feds carry out weekend raids in the midwest; the arrestees apparently include members of Hutaree, a Christian paramilitary group."

Those angry white southern Christian males are everywhere now!

[sage]

Fucking teabaggers are going to make the Christian Paramilitary look bad.

[Suki]

I think the warrant mentioned possession of a Holy Hand Grenade without a license.

[WTF]

"One, two, five..."

[Chris]

"Three, sir."

[Cabeza de Vaca]

You must not have read the copyright link then, because that was pretty soul crushing.

[Kyle Jordan Prime]

Reading it now. And so far, you're right.

[Lost_In_Translation]

You stay classy Iraq

[Mike M.]

The guy is just imitating Al Gore.

[WTF]

George Ponce, 18, who works at a pizzeria next door to a home raided in Hammond, Ind., said he and a few co-workers stepped outside for a break Saturday night and saw a swarm of law enforcement.

"I heard a yell, 'Get back inside!' and saw a squad member pointing a rifle at us," Ponce said.

Sounds like pretty irresponsible use of a firearm by a federal agent. Seems to me you don't point a rifle at some kid who's just standing around outside the pizza joint having a smoke. Seems to me you don't point a rifle at any person that is not presenting an immediate threat to you. The fact that the guy yelled "get back inside" at them indicates he knew they were just bystanders who posed no threat. So why the need to point a rifle at them?

[Suki]

Were they more likely to be outside because of some stupid government rule banning smoking inside or for some other reason? Just sayin'.

[sage]

Because they're cops and they can do anything the fuck they want. What the article didn't say was that after the raid the cops went into the pizza joint and seized the cash register for their safety.

[Xeones]

Balko is bound to drop some especially vile story I'm guessing.

Probably right around lunchtime or shortly thereafter, when our defenses are low.

[Suki]

Jesse posted this one. Radley is still building his gut-punching power for later.

[Nick]

I think they work in tandem. Jesse eases us into a false sense of security and then BAM! Balko for the nut kick.

[Kyle Jordan Prime]

Jesse's the roofie to Balko's date rape.

[Dr. Freud]

Interesting choice of analogy.

[SugarFree]

analogy

Interesting word choice.

Describe--in single words--only the good things that come into your mind about... your mother.

[Pro Libertate]

Dude, that's not Freud. That's Kampff or Jon Voight. I forget which.

[db]

My mother? Let me tell you about my mother.

[Curtis]

Cake

[Upgrayyed]

Ma plus newer. Manewer.

[Kyle Jordan Prime]

In my case that would the best time. I'll be asleep and won't read it until I'm at work tonight.

Posting the really fucked up stories first thing in the morning kind of screws the whole day.

[Xeones]

Seems to me you don't point a rifle at some kid who's just standing around outside the pizza joint having a smoke.

That's why you'd never make it as a federal agent.

[J sub D]

That's why you'd never make it as a federal agent.

Improved it for ya.

[hmm]

Chechnya is in for a rough summer. I'm amazed more weren't hurt or killed, Moscow's subway at rush hour is wall to wall people.

[Cabeza de Vaca]

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the "terrorists" responsible for the Moscow subway attacks Monday "will be destroyed."

Yeah, definitely not a good time to be a Chechen.

[BakedPenguin]

I'm wondering about Sochi in 2014. Unless the Chechens are exterminated en masse, there will probably be something happening there.

[hmm]

1990's flash back. It's just a matter of time before one of these raids goes wrong. Again.

[sage]

A Christian Paramilitary Group.

"You didn't thank Jesus before eating that oatmeal! Drop and give me fifty!"

[Rich]

Now *that* is a well regulated militia.

[Cabeza de Vaca]

From Hutaree's website:

"Preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive."

Guys if Jesus is real. He probably doesn't need your help.

[Kyle Jordan Prime]

"Guys if Jesus is real. He probably doesn't need your help."

Exactly.

[Jesus]

Hey, that cross doesn't nail itself, you know.

[Cabeza de Vaca]

"The votes in Iraq are counted, and the fellow who finished second doesn't want to concede."

But John McCain told me that Iraq was a successful democracy now.
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....20916.html

[Apologies to Harry Chapin]

He'd grown up just like me,
My boy was just like me ....

[CaptainSmartass]

Well, the guy who finished second in the US in 2000 didn't want to concede, either. So seems like Iraq is a successful democracy.

[Rich]

"To spend a quarter-billion dollars on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that have already been proven to fail is reckless and irresponsible," said James Wagoner of the Washington group Advocates for Youth.

OK.

"When on top of that you add the fact that this puts the health and lives of young people at risk, this becomes outrageous."

Huh?

[Atanarjuat]

I didn't read the article or anything, but he's probably saying that not teaching about condoms statistically raises the incidence of STDs, thereby harming the younguns.

[SugarFree]

Hutaree rhymes with Huckabee. Coincidence? They'd like you to think so.

[Ragin Cajun]

Maybe this band of his is just a cover. Pay careful attention to his "guitar case".

[Curtis]

Huckabee's band "The Little Rockers" Suck gay ass.

[BakedPenguin]

Much as I hate to admit it, though, Hackabee himself is not a terrible bassist.

[Caspar]

Yeah, for a lounge act maybe.

[Ragin Cajun]

They do? I never knew what kind of clubs they were playing....

[Cabeza de Vaca]

Huckabee's militia headquarters gets raided yesterday. Moscow subway bombings the next. Coincidence? I think not. 🙂

[Curtis]

Try the new Obama Value Meal at McDonald's. You order anything you want and the guy behind you has to pay for it.

[Chris]

No, his kids pay for it.

[Rich]

Wrt ACTA:

copyright holders, even without the need to demonstrate any measurable harm whatsoever, can recover awards thousands of times greater than any possible damage they may have suffered

Now, about medical tort reform ...

Seriously, those links are *quite* disturbing. 8-(

[TrickyVic]

So the VC link says the President wants to enforce by executive order.

Too bad for him the Constitution clearly leaves copyright law to congress.

"To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;"

[Mike Laursen]

...the arrestees apparently include members of Hutaree, a Christian paramilitary group.

Is bad website design a Federal crime now?

[Warty]

More evidence that junk food must be banned for the children. The fat, fat, delicious children.

[Rich]

At least banned for teh ratz.

[SugarFree]

Remember how it felt to feel safe?

[Warty]

You were never safe. Steve Smith existed long before you, and he'll be alive long after he rapes you to death.

[STEVE SMITH]

STEVE SMITH HAS EXISTED FROM THE MORNING OF THE WORLD AND STEVE SMITH SHALL EXIST UNTIL THE LAST STAR FALLS FROM THE NIGHT. ALTHOUGH STEVE SMITH HAS TAKEN THE FORM OF STEVE SMITH, STEVE SMITH IS ALL SASQUATCH AS STEVE SMITH IS NO SASQUATCH AND THEREFORE STEVE SMITH IS A SASQUATCH.

[Kyle Jordan Prime]

Has Steve Smith ever raped the horses and rode off on the women?

[Solanum]

This may shed some light on how/why the dinosaurs disappeared. The S/S boundary: 65 million years ago, 90% of all life on earth was raped to extinction.

[Kyle Jordan Prime]

"...raped to extinction..."

:loud clapping:

This is an awesome line!

[Warty]

"He's a sasquatch now"

[Gramps]

Nope.

[Fluffy]

I remember how safe I felt before there WAS a Transportation Safety Administration.

I would say that my personal odds of being shot due to a confrontation with a TSA employee are vastly higher than my odds of being blown up by a terrorist.

That makes me feel very unsafe.

[Solanum]

Ask Professor Foxy:

I have been thinking lately about the dynamics of gender in sex. Would it be degrading for me as feminist to let my boyfriend give me anal sex, would I be able to receive pleasure as he would? It has been something I have been thinking about for a long while.
Thanks!

Clearly, anal sex is a tool of the patriarchy, no?

[SugarFree]

After the barrage of emails I get from Chony when I bring it up, I was hoping someone else would post that.

And Choney, for the last damn time, I am not on chatroulette!

[Kyle Jordan Prime]

At least she's giving or parroting the right advise on how to go about the first time.

Solanum,

A couple of the women I've been with have explicitly ruled out anal due to it being a way for me to "assert my dominance over them". So, possibly a tool of the patriarchy. From a certain point of view.

[Warty]

Chony emails you? And you don't post his stupid emails on your blog? You fucking monster.

[SugarFree]

I reflexively delete them. I try not too, but the horror is too great.

[Proffessor Foxxy]

would I be able to receive pleasure as he would?

How could I possibly know this?

[Just A Guy]

Well, from the comments:
I LOVE anal sex! I agree about going slowly and using fingers first but I wanted to add that being extremely horny first makes any sex better so I would wait until your feeling that way before trying it so the first time (which can be a little intimidating) is a better experience. Also, I find I like a small butt plug better than fingers so that's also an option. My husband bought a book on anal sex and I think it really helped with us so that's also an option.

That whole board is fantastic.

[Warty]

[6+] Comrade Kevin said:
The perceived power dynamics element of anal sex I think is just as confusing for a man as it is for a woman. My reservations about the practice were not so much that it was anti-feminist but that it was not masculine--and that it was somehow forsaking my masculinity in taking a submissive role designated purely for women.

[Atanarjuat]

Wow...

[R C Dean]

Somebody's girlfriend has a strap-on, and isn't afraid to use it.

[R C Dean]

That whole board is fantastic.

If by "fantastic" you mean "has little relationship to reality", I would have to agree.

[dbcooper]

Christian paramilitary group, and apparently fans of Sisters of Mercy ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apmn9xMxiZ4

[wackyjack]

Looks like they need some more training. I mean, there was a cameraman right next to them, and they didn't even notice.

We all know that Joos are better at camouflage than cameramen.

[SugarFree]

Wouldn't "Detonation Boulevard" have been more appropriate?

I got the fuel for the transformation
I'm a naked flame
On Detonation Boulevard...
Bang Bang

Why don't Christian paramilitary militia members know more about British Darkwave bands?

[Kyle Roberts]

I would think Dominion/Mother Russia would have been a better choice...

Has anyone else seen some of what they are being charged with? Sedition. From the Detroit News article:
"The seditious conspiracy charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years..."

So, now it's acceptable to charge people who take the book of Revelation a bit too seriously with violating the Smith Act?

I am also a bit confused by the classification of shaped charges as WMD's in the indictment. If that's the definition then I got attacked with WMD's on a daily basis when I was in Iraq.

[P Brooks]

[Waxman requests] , et c.

Was this a subpoena? If not, I would tell Waxman, very publicly and specifically, to go pound sand up his ass.

That's why I don't run a large multinational corporation.

[Curtis]

If a company like AT&T failed to make a legally mandated restatement of its financial position while continuing to participate in the capital markets, it would be investigated and the responsible management officials would likely find themselves prosecuted while the SEC, concurrently, went after the company and its officials in civil enforcement suits. There are prosecutors and investigators who would salivate at the prospect of doing such a career-making case. If we are now under a system where disclosure gets you a public whipping and other threats by the Powers That Be while nondisclosure promises the ruinous expenses of defending against criminal investigations and civil enforcement, this is no longer anything but a thugocracy.

[Byron]

I agree. I see no upside to this for the companies involved.

[Upgrayyed]

I would tell him to go fuck himself with Nancy's dick. But that's just me.

[Warty]

Have a song, metal fans. I know you're the silent majority.

[T]

Nixon was a huge Sabbath fan. I mean, if Paranoid wasn't tailor made for his administration, what was?

[P Brooks]

I have been thinking lately about the dynamics of gender in sex.

Good for you.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The votes in Iraq are counted, and the fellow who finished second doesn't want to concede.

It was the elderly Jews in Southern Iraq. Those butterfly ballots will get you every time.

[TrickyVic]

They are trying to figure out if a hanging or dimpled chad counts.

[Saddam H.]

A hanging counts. Believe me.

[MacGhil]

It's Official - America Now Enforces Capital Controls

It couldn't have happened to a nicer country. On March 18, with very little pomp and circumstance, president Obama passed the most recent stimulus act, the $17.5 billion Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (H.R. 2487), brilliantly goalseeked by the administration's millionaire cronies to abbreviate as HIRE. As it was merely the latest in an endless stream of acts destined to expand the government payroll to infinity, nobody cared about it, or actually read it. Because if anyone had read it, the act would have been known as the Capital Controls Act
[...]
Congratulations bankrupt America - you are now one step closer to a thoroughly non-free market.

[P Brooks]

My reservations about the practice were not so much that it was anti-feminist but that it was not masculine--and that it was somehow forsaking my masculinity in taking a submissive role designated purely for women.

Psst- I think yer doin' it wrong.

[alan]

He certainly is. Cover the shaft and tip of the strap on dildo with a pair of your ladies silk panties and tie it down before you insert for that nice tickle and hurt sensation.

[alan]

Btw, pendants and poindexters, I saw the error there on the first read through, but I really, really prefer the word 'ladies'; 'lady's' connotes something like a 'listen lady!' argumentative stance with a woman. 'Ladies' though implies a multitude of lasses in a Benny Hillish type gathering.

Should have been a Reason morning link some weeks back, if so I missed it, feminist in Britain protested a commemorative stamp honoring Benny Hill so those jelly spined weenies nixed it. Benny Hill! Who brought joy to millions is taboo?
Allah wrapped in a ham sandwich, that is fucked up.

[TrickyVic]

Presidents have the wrong idea about the recess appointments. A President can only make a recess appointment if the vacancy occured during the recess.

"The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session."

[Curtis]

A Libertarian Passover Sermon:

As we approach Passover in 2010, many people are unemployed. But in a free society, government does not create jobs.

Pharoah created jobs for us. Moses led us away from those jobs. Even though those jobs helped to complete public infrastructure. Even though they were green jobs, where we used our muscles and our backs instead of fossil fuels.

Moses could have been part of the ruling class in Egypt. He chose freedom instead. Those of us who followed Moses also chose freedom. Freedom brings risks. But we preferred the risks of freedom to the security of bondage.

Do not confuse government with G-d. Government cannot miraculously provide us with manna--or health care. When we look at government, we should not see G-d. We should see Pharoah. Government-worship is Pharoah-worship.

Passover is known as the festival of freedom. To live in the Jerusalem of a free society, we have to leave the Egypt of the reach of government.

- Arnold Kling

Arnold Kling received his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980. He was an economist on the staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1980-1986. He was a senior economist at Freddie Mac from 1986-1994. In 1994, he started Homefair.com, one of the first commercial sites on the World Wide Web. (Homefair was sold in 1999 to Homestore.com.) Kling is an adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute and a member of the Financial Markets Working Group at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He teaches statistics and economics at the Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville, Maryland.

[Invisible Finger]

Ever notice when a Democrat is in the White House we get these FBI raids on groups with guns that haven't killed anybody?

And when a Republican is in the White House we get raids on peaceful drug users (mostly mj)?

[The Gobbler]

Thank god Obama stopped the MJ raids.

Dipshit.

[Invisible Finger]

Learn how to read, asshole. I never said he stopped anything.

[Robert]

But the gun raids on "right wing extremists" started under Reagan and GHW Bush.

[Invisible Finger]

Learn how to read, asshole. I never said he stopped anything.

[ABUSE]

truth,,,,obama people have no idea of the extent to which they have to be gulled in order to be led."
"The size of the lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed, for the vast masses of the nation are in the depths of their hearts more easily deceived than they are consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they themselves often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell a big one."
"All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those towards whom it is directed will understand it. Therefore, the intellectual level of the propaganda must be lower the larger the number of people who are to be influenced by it."
"Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise."pelosi don't see much future for the Americans ... it's a decayed country. And they have their racial problem, and the problem of social inequalities ...obama feelings against Americanism are feelings of hatred and deep repugnance ... everything about the behaviour of American society reveals that it's half Judaised, and the other half negrified. How can one expect a State like that to hold TOGTHER.They include the angry left wing bloggers who spread vicious lies and half-truths about their political adversaries... Those lies are then repeated by the duplicitous left wing media outlets who "discuss" the nonsense on air as if it has merit? The media's justification is apparently "because it's out there", truth be damned. STOP THIS COMMUNIST OBAMA ,GOD HELP US ALL .THE COMMANDER ((GOD OPEN YOUR EYES)) stop the communist obama & pelosi.((open you eyes)) ,the commander

[ABUSE]

truth,,,,obama people have no idea of the extent to which they have to be gulled in order to be led."
"The size of the lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed, for the vast masses of the nation are in the depths of their hearts more easily deceived than they are consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they themselves often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell a big one."
"All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those towards whom it is directed will understand it. Therefore, the intellectual level of the propaganda must be lower the larger the number of people who are to be influenced by it."
"Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise."pelosi don't see much future for the Americans ... it's a decayed country. And they have their racial problem, and the problem of social inequalities ...obama feelings against Americanism are feelings of hatred and deep repugnance ... everything about the behaviour of American society reveals that it's half Judaised, and the other half negrified. How can one expect a State like that to hold TOGTHER.They include the angry left wing bloggers who spread vicious lies and half-truths about their political adversaries... Those lies are then repeated by the duplicitous left wing media outlets who "discuss" the nonsense on air as if it has merit? The media's justification is apparently "because it's out there", truth be damned. STOP THIS COMMUNIST OBAMA ,GOD HELP US ALL .THE COMMANDER ((GOD OPEN YOUR EYES)) stop the communist obama & pelosi.((open you eyes)) ,the commander