Reason Morning Links: Five Flavors of Disaster, Two Flavors of Politician

– A car bombing fails in Times Square.

– Floods hit Tennessee and northern Mississippi.

– A leaking pipe disrupts Boston's supply of drinking water.

– The Gulf oil spill is now the size of Puerto Rico.

– Cyberdisasters: Don't believe the hype.

– Former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith gets a new gig as a deputy mayor of New York.

– The New Age politics of Ronald Reagan.

Comments

[Johnny Longtorso]

Exactly who ‘makes enough money’ in Obama’s eyes?

The trillion-dollar fraud
Why is the Fed so opposed to being audited, and what does it have to hide?

[Johnny Longtorso]

And this gem from L. Neil Smith:
…Go back and look over that list of things that you’re expected to give your loyalty to and even sacrifice your life for. Over the centuries, they’ve learned to make it all sound wonderful and noble. However when you begin to see these institutions as nothing more than bunches of individuals, each with no more rights in the natural world than you have (and no extra, or bonus rights miraculously obtained by claiming to be something other than what they are, nothing more than a bunch of individuals), they start to look like tribes of cannibals or vampires, eagerly anticipating the tasty sacrifice of another deluded victim.

And when you suddenly notice that, of all these institutions?community, race, school, fraternity, military, corporation, union, party, government, nation, family, lodge, church?more than half are treasured by conservatives, their dirty little secret is exposed by the hot, bright light of the truth: your rights, provided they exist at all, come in a distant second to the needs and wants of these aggregations.

Conservatives?Republicans?are socialists.

True, they may desire to hold you down atop the stone altar and cut your still-beating heart out with an obsidian knife for a set of entirely different reasons?national security, Judaeo-Christian traditions, “common” decency?than the liberals or “progressives” or Democrats do, but to you, the important part is cutting your heart out with an obsidian knife, not whatever excuse they may offer for doing it.

This is why, no matter which political party happens to be in power, ordinary people?whose thinking and hard work maintain this civilization each and every day?never seem to get an even break with regard to their individual liberty or holding onto the fruits of their labor. It’s why the late philosopher Robert LeFevre referred to Democrats and Republicans as “Socialist Party A” and “Socialist Party B”….

[.]

I thought sermons were for Sundays.

[robc]

Having allegiance to an organization doesnt make you a socialist. Socialism involves ownership of means of production. I will agree with the “Republicans are socialists” part, but not for the reasons you state.

[Fluffy]

Perhaps Smith should have used the word “collectivist”, but in many ways it’s not relevant.

As Hitler realized, if the organization or the group or the race or the state owns you, it doesn’t really matter who owns the means of production.

[robc]

But voluntarily joining an organization doesnt mean the org/group/rate/state owns you. Which is the general problem with “state”. And it applies to religion when it is also the state.

[Fluffy]

That is very true.

I think Smith would say that in the case of the voluntary associations, we have to raise the consciousness of the “willing victims” because they’re deluding themselves into thinking that they’re sacrificing for something “bigger than they are”, when really they’re sacrificing for the benefit of other individuals who have cynically manipulated them into doing so.

I’m a little cautious about such an argument, because I don’t believe that arguments claiming that others have “false consciousness” are ultimately valid. But if he wants to put that argument out there, I don’t have a problem with him doing so.

[robc]

But if he wants to put that argument out there, I don’t have a problem with him doing so.

I do, because it is (mostly) bullshit. People make value decisions all the time. His argument reminds me of my least favorite bit from Atlas Shrugged – where Rand attempts to change the definition of sacrifice in a way that people dont make sacrifices. Its BS. Her argument is right, but her manipulation of language to make the argument is completely wrong.

Think about chess, a sacrifice in chess is when, for example, you give up a pawn in order to get position. In other words, you value position more than the pawn. Hence, you “sacrifice” something of value in order to gain something of greater value later on. Rand says this isnt a sacrifice. She is wrong.

[x,y]

I’m not convinced. While you’re technically correct, your argument is similar to those who say poor people pay taxes. Surely they do, but those who receive subsidies/credits in excess of those payment are not net taxpayers.

The question is: Is is really a sacrifice if your expected benefit is greater than what you “sacrificed”?

[robc]

The question is: Is is really a sacrifice if your expected benefit is greater than what you “sacrificed”?

Yes. This is what Rand didnt understand either. She (rightly) criticized those who thought a sacrifice should be done without self-interest. But, those who made a sacrifice because they valued something else more (hence received extra benefit) WERE making a sacrifice. The mother who doesnt eat so her children will survive IS making a sacrifice, even though she is getting back something she values more (the life of her children). The guys who charged up Omaha beach made a sacrifice (their lives), even though they got back something they considered more valuable (a world free of nazi rule). At least I hope they valued it more.

[Fluffy]

Actually, I think that the answer to your Obama Beach point is contained in the opening scene in Patton.

I would not charge Obama Beach to die to free the world of Nazism. I would charge Obama Beach to kill to free the world of Nazism.

You may think that Rand was planning language games, but what she was really doing was making explicit the fact that because some “sacrifices” are actually not sacrifices at all [feeding your kids instead of yourself; saving money today to invest it in the future; etc.] people are able to use rhetorical trickery to dupe people into making real sacrifices where they receive nothing in return. “If you think ‘sacrificing’ for your children’s future is moral, then it should also be moral to sacrifice for the good of the collective and for people you have never met. Right?”

[Fluffy]

Sorry, Omaha Beach. Yikes.

[robc]

Im not charging up Obama beach.

I do agree with you/Patton though. But still, the chance to die there was high, I dont normally put myself in high risk situations like that unless Im getting something really good back.

I get Rand’s point, but it was too much redefining language to me. When I read it the first time, my first thought was, “for a Russian she doesnt know much about chess”.

[x,y]

robc, I think we’ll have to agree to disagree then, because IMO you’re not sacrificing (in toto) if you expect to get back more than you give up. You may give up something, and get back something else, but I’m looking at the situation as a whole.

[robc]

Looking at dictionary definitions, Im pretty sure Im right.

[x,y]

Hoho, nice one dick. Like I said, “technically” correct. But now not only are you substantively wrong, you’re also a cunt. Congrats, cunt.

[x,y]

I will also add that “looking at dictionary definitions” GM CEO Ed Whitacre is also right. The “loan” was paid in full, ahead of schedule, and with interest. So congrats, you’re just like Ed “also a cunt” Whitacre.

[SugarFree]

There’s no really good word. Collectivism doesn’t have to imply redistributionism, and redistributionism is not a real fire-breathing word like “socialist” is.

[Warty]

How about “fucking thieves”?

[SugarFree]

You can never call anything by an accurate name. It’s too upsetting to the parasite class.

[ed]

Socialists are collectivists.

[SugarFree]

Yes, but not all collectivists are socialist. Racism is a fine example of virulent collectivism, yet it doesn’t imply socialist or redistributionist tendencies.

[robc]

“…we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

collectivist? Yes.
socialist? No.

[Warty]

Voluntarily.

[Lethal Injection]

I, for one, welcome our obsidian knife wielding overlords.

[Johnny Rotten]

I am an Anarchist!

[prolefeed]

Thanks for the link. Well worth reading in its entirety. I think Mr. Smith nailed it, especially with this observation that I deduced on my own:

“I believe it was Ludwig von Mises who pointed out that socialism is a misguided attempt to apply what happens in the family to society at large, an attempt that usually ends in privation and violence.”

[SugarFree]

A little Monday morning funny.

[MNG]

“The Gulf oil spill is now the size of Puerto Rico.”

Spill, baby spill!

[MNG]

ARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARF

[MNG]

Mommy, can we have oil spills off our coastline too? Please?!

[John]

I know. What a waste. It is a good thing gas comes from the gas pump and not oil wells.

[SugarFree]

Don’t feed the trolls, people. Just walk away from bad faith posts.

It is an unqualified good for you to not assist him in violating his own principles.

[MNG]

Mommy, why doesn’t the Free Market clean up that oil spill?

[John]

But I thought the federal government was going to work perfectly now that the right people are in charge. Obama got right on this thing. Somehow I think if a Republican were in charge, you would have a different set of talking points. Why does Obama hate fisherman?

[-]

John, just say no to trolls.

[CaptainSmartass]

Yes, because the government sure is doing a bang up job.

[Seward]

It is actually; BP is preparing a bunch of caps for the site.

Witness this little gem from the Obama administration – talk about the height of bullshit:

Mindful of the political damage suffered by President George W. Bush for a slow response after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the same region, Obama defended his administration’s actions, saying it had been preparing for the worst from “day one” even as it had “hoped for the best.”

If they were preparing for the worst then why are they depending BP to have these caps built? Why aren’t there a storehouse of these built by the government at oil company expense? Probably because the Obama administration doesn’t have clue one about how offshore oil drilling works – its risks, etc.

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

Obama’s “heckuva job Brownie” moment. Nothing to see here…

[J sub D]

Fellow commenters, please forgive me as I respond to the woefully ignorant troll.

BP is on the hook for the entire costs of cleaning this fucking mess up. Both the Chosen One and BP have confirmed this. But you knew that, right?

What neither is talking about is compensating businesses, government entities and individuals for economic damages. Shrimpeers, resort owners, county lifeguards who will be laid of because beaches are closed, and tax revenues not collected because of the downturn in business activity will not be compensated by BP.

Here’s why.

Under the law that established the reserve, called the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, the operators of the offshore rig face no more than $75 million in liability for the damages that might be claimed by individuals, companies or the government, although they are responsible for the cost of containing and cleaning up the spill.

That’s right, we’ve socialized the oil industries liability for ecomomic damage caused by this egregious fuckup.

In exchange for the limits on liability, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 imposed a tax on oil companies, currently 8 cents for every barrel they produce in this country or import.

The final bill for economic damages (minus $75 million) will be payed for by every oil consumer in the United States, including the socialist leaning MNG and the libertarian asshole J sub D.

Just think, if only we had socialized the cleanup costs as well, BP would be walking away with only its reputation damaged. As it is, there only paying half price for the damage they should be held responsible for.

[John]

I don’t think that is that bad of a system. Everyone who uses oil benefits from off shore drilling. Most oil companies would go bankrupt if they had to pay the consequential damages. I don’t see a problem with oil users paying a tax to fund whatever consequential damages occur due to drilling. If you leave it to the company, the damages might never get paid.

[J sib D]

No, John. This is another example of privatizing profits and socializing losses.

BP is only on the hook for ~50% of the damage their engineering, maintenace and operational fuckups just caused. We could double the spill tax and socialize all of the costs. Do you think that would make oil companies more or less responsible.

My money’s on the latter but I’ve no doubt some fucking elected idiot in DC will propose it.

[John]

I see your point. But I think we do need a backup for when the company goes belly up. Maybe you keep the tax and only use the fund when the company’s funds are no longer available. Also, even though BP is ducking out on a lot of the costs, this is still a nightmare for them. Other companies still have motivation to avoid BP’s fate. Taking more money from BP is as much about justice as it is deterrence.

[J sib D]

I can buy that. If the assetes of the company (or companies, BP probably didn’t desing that fucking useless shutoff system that turned out to be nothing but a piece of underwater scupure)responsible are completely liquidated and that’s not enough to pay for the damage, the end users pay.

[proud libitard]

dude, were you drunk when you wrote that? Or maybe I’m drunk…Either way, I’m not sure what you said! 🙂

[proud libitard]

because nested comments are so fucked up, I need to state that this was a reply to J “sib” D…

[Brett L]

You know BP wasn’t operating the rig at the time, nor had their lease taken effect, right?

[MNG]

This is another example of privatizing profits and socializing losses.

+1

[cynical]

“Everyone who uses oil benefits from off shore drilling.”

Then everyone who uses oil should pay for the costs associated with those benefits (ie, spills) in the form of higher prices — including higher prices all the time for insurance premiums or savings to deal the massive hit that the company would take when a spill inevitably occurs.

[Marc]

MNG has skewed very Morris lately.

Didn’t he used to be reasonably intelligent? Or have I finally pierced the veil that was always there?

[Jordan Elliot]

I think some of these, and some of the recent ones may have FauxNGs.

Then again, posts that I consider to be made by the “real” MNG have really left me scratching my head at times compared to some of his other, regular posts.

[Marc]

Thanks for the sanity check.

[MNG]

I’m glad BP is on the hook but I’d rather see these things prevented. This is why I think regulation to at times be superior to simply leaving it to tort.

[John]

I agree that some regs are necessary. But even with perfect regs, accidents still happen.

[MNG]

Sure, I don’t expect they never will. I just think that the fact of such accidents, as you admit, should give one pause when their cherished coastline is being considered for this type of thing.

[CaptainSmartass]

Are you missing the part where regulation caused this mess in the first place because the company is immune to many of the results of the accident?

[Fluffy]

Actually, MNG, that’s what it’s doing.

BP will pay the costs of the cleanup.

BP fucked up, so they will pay.

Where’s the problem?

Unless you think that no one should ever be allowed to do anything that might ever result in someone being harmed, even if they’re willing to pay the costs of that harm later – in which case, I hope that means you never leave your home. Because we wouldn’t want to be hypocrites, now would we?

[John]

BP may end up in bankruptcy over this. They will pay billions. And that is the cost of doing business.

[T]

More litigation to follow, actually. Right now, BP is desperately trying to fix this. Once the immediate problem is solved, the fun really starts. Who’s at fault? BP? Transocean? Cameron? some other supplier? BP is going to pay through the nose one this one, sure, but they’ll survive. I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict Transocean ends up bankrupt over it.

[John]

It will be a fun law suit. I am curious how they blew the well out. My guess is they mixed the concrete to go down the hole wrong and it wasn’t thick enough to hold back the pressure. That would be transocean’s fault. But who didn’t install a remote control shutoff valve? That might be BP’s fault.

[T]

I don’t think cement was an issue because they were still drilling. Primary cementing comes after drilling, usually. Not knowing the sequence for this well, I’d hesitate to state that definitively, but I’d put that well down the list of things I would check for.

The explosion on board the drill rig is what started the whole mess. Transocean is probably going to be found at fault for that one, unless they can point a specific requirement or procedure BP imposed that was a proximate cause for the ka-boom.

The “remote control shutoff” is what we call the BOP stack. Cameron built that for BP, and it don’t work. The word I hear is they’ve been trying to actuate it like mad with ROVs and everything else they can think of. If I were Cameron, I’d push off as much of that as I possibly could onto Transocean as well. I’d play the whole “it worked before you blew up the platform” bit and see where it got me. But Cameron needs to have all their QC paperwork and testing docs straight or BP is going to nail them to wall along with Transocean.

I work in the industry, so this is all anybody is talking about right now. BP is basically throwing money at a couple of firms that might be able to fix it.

[EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy]

I’m sitting here trying to fathom the requirements for the BOP stack. That’s gotta be a wicked tough piece of engineering *and* I can’t see how you can do a “as in operation” test.

[John]

If they were still drilling, why is there oil? You put the cement in after you hit oil to keep the well from blowing out. My guess would be that they didn’t put the right mix of cement in and natural gas (which is usually in an oil deposit) blew up from the pipe, ignited and caused the fire on the rig.

[T]

BOPs are a wicked piece of engineering and they do functional tests on them. I don’t know the details, as I passed up the job working on them to come to my present job, but I know it’s done. The big stacks are the size of a small house with more control lines and fittings than you would believe on them.

The usual sequence of operations is drill, case, cement, perf, tubing, produce. There’s oil because the hole goes right into or through the formation. The top of the well at the ocean floor is probably cemented in at mudline with the liner hanger, et al., but you have to drill before you do primary cementing. Got to be a hole for you to put the casing and cement into, right?

[prolefeed]

It will be a fun law suit.

Use oxymorons a lot?

[MNG]

The problem is harm to the ocean and it’s denizens. That matters to a lot of people. It can’t all be remedied.

[Fluffy]

Right, and if you leave the house today and get in a car accident and kill someone, that can never be remedied, either. All you can do is attempt to compensate people for their economic losses.

But that doesn’t mean you don’t leave the house. Right?

[Mike M.]

MNG can never get into a car accident, because he gets around by rickshaw.

[Enough About Palin]

What a fucking slaver.

[SugarFree]

Ohio Runaway Mom

Tehan said she couldn’t be who she wanted to in her “normal” life and “a divorce wasn’t as simple for me as it sounds ? wasn’t even an option” due to her spiritual beliefs.

But faking your own abduction and abandoning your husband and infant to disappear with another man is apparently perfectly consistent with her spiritual beliefs? Wha?

[John]

I guess she figured that it would be easier on her husband and child thinking she was dead than thinking she had abandoned them. Amazing.

[Fluffy]

I wonder whom she hated more, her husband or her baby.

[John]

Good question. At least she didn’t try to kill them, which has been known to happen in these situations.

[SugarFree]

They haven’t said anything about the cops and the husband. They pretty much assuming any missing wife has been murdered and dumped by the husband (not that they are irrational in assuming that.) I wonder how much shit they gave him.

[John]

I bet they grilled the poor guy.

[Fluffy]

You left out the most interesting news of the weekend, which was that Conan O’Brien is really, really bitter.

His wife seemed really nice though.

[John]

Why is he bitter? Over the Tonight Show thing? Goes to show you no amount of success is ever enough. That guy made millions and could retire to a mansion and golf game for the rest of his life. But he is still bitter.

[.]

$30 million sure buys a lot of bitterness.

[.]

Not that Jay Leno isn’t an A-hole.

[Slut Bunwalla]

Maybe if Conan had done a better job and gotten better ratings, he could have kept the show.

I’m a little tired of how many people personally hate Leno now and act as though Leno’s a big bully who purposely stole the show from Conan and forced NBC to fire Conan. Because I really doubt that’s how it happened. I’m sure the large majority of that whole situation was all the doing of various NBC execs with Leno and Conan not having a whole lot of say in what ultimately happened. It’s all about ratings and advertising dollars, not who’s the funniest.

But I guess Conan’s found his niche wallowing in internet pity, and he’s got a new show coming soon on TBS or something, so more power to him or whatever.

[Fluffy]

I think people are mad at Leno because a big part of Conan’s ratings problems arose from Leno’s nuking of NBC’s 10 PM ratings 5 nights a week.

So Leno helped destroy NBC’s news and late night line up, and his punishment for that failure is that he gets the Tonight Show back. It annoys people.

[Fluffy]

Maybe I’m being unfair. Because he SAYS he’s totally fine and not bitter. But when someone says, “You know, I’m totally fine and not bitter” in a voice of eternal weariness and hurt, you start to think that maybe they aren’t being 100% honest.

But then again, it might have just been that creepy giant vein that bulges around his right eye that through me off. It makes him look like he’s two seconds from a total nervous collapse essentially at all times.

[Fluffy]

Sorry, “threw” me off. That’s pretty embarrassing.

[.]

Maybe you should get your own throbbing vein checked out.
Tick…tick…tick…

[Fluffy]

Actually, the catharsis I get from calling people cunts on the internet all day keeps my personal stress level down.

I have low blood pressure and a very even disposition IRL.

I know I must seem like I am about to shoot up a McDonald’s but nothing could be farther from the truth. As long as I stick to my two rules – “Always curse out people online who annoy you” and “Always curse out people on the highway who annoy you” it’s really pretty easy to be fat and happy the rest of the time.

[Warty]

Catharsis is a myth, you cunt. Being angry just makes you angrier.

[Fluffy]

You just keep trying that Serenity Now stuff then.

Me, I figure that if I have to fart and I fart, then I don’t have to fart anymore. The same goes for telling people that they are cunts.

[Warty]

You misunderstand, my esteemed cunty colleague. I love being angry, and so should you.

[SugarFree]

I don’t have the energy for angry at this point. I’m just snide.

[Jordan Elliot]

Where do moments of nearly overwhelming hatred and rage fit on this scale? I’d like to know where I stand.

[Warty]

If you don’t have them for most of the day, try eating more meat.

[Citizen Nothing]

This

[Citizen Nothing]

I hate fucking threaded comments.

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

While I do have my moments of incomprehensible rage, 90% of the time I go with bemusement.

[John]

I bet he is bitter. But it just goes to show that anyone can be bitter. I would gladly take his wealth and a nice wife. Who the hell needs the Tonight Show? It is Johnny Carson’s show anyway. Everyone who follows just seems like an interloper.

[Mo]

Because he wants to be the best at what he does and doesn’t take failure lightly. That attitude is why he has millions of dollars and you don’t.

I saw an interview of some billionaire on PBS a few years ago. The interviewer asked him why he kept working to make more money when he already had hundreds of millions in the bank. The guy shot back with (in essence), “That attitude is why you’ll never be a multi-millionaire, let alone a billionaire.”

[John]

I work very hard. And I want to be a success. But, I know when to walk away. And not all super successful people don’t know when to quit. Lots of them do. I will never be a billionaire because I have no interest in being one. So it doesn’t matter that I don’t have the opportunity. If I did I would quit at a few million and live a happy life.

You don’t have to be craven to be successful.

[T]

Yup. To get that rich, you have to have the classic obsessive workaholic personality. Most of those guys can no more retire and watch the world pass them by than they can flap their arms and fly to the moon.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Conan expressed some emotion at how he was publicly treated but realizes nobody who gets a $30 million check to walk has been ‘oppressed’. Seems reasonable to me.

[John]

Also, he he loves what he is doing, there is nothing to prevent him from doing it. The Tonight Show is just one venue. There are others.

[Mo]

But The Tonight Show is the premier venue. Do you think Tim Tebow will be thrilled if he washes out of the NFL and ends up playing for NFL Europe or the CFL?

[John]

Disappointed yes. But bitter is a different level. If Tebow made millions in the CFL and had fun playing, he has no right to be bitter. That is a great life. And he ought to appreciate it.

[Ghost of Schr?dinger's cat]

nobody makes millions in the CFL.

[John]

Disappointed yes. But bitter is a different level. If Tebow made millions in the CFL and had fun playing, he has no right to be bitter. That is a great life. And he ought to appreciate it.

[Jack Parr]

That’s what I said!

[Steve Allen]

Has been!

[Carl Levin]

none of the prognosticators of [cyber] disaster presents any evidence to sustain their claims

What?! And give the terrorists even more tools?! That would be shitty.

[Lethal Injection]

Go ahead and laugh at fly-over country, but at least they have it together:

20 most stressed, least stressed counties

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/201…..s_map_list

[EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy]

Heh.

I’m currently living in one of the ones on the “least” list.

But I wouldn’t just ascribe the aplomb with which they’ve ridden out the downturn to mid-western sensibilities. There are also the small matters of a large land-grant university and a large military base both bringing in tax dollars from other places…

In a similar vein I’ll note that NoVA is doing fine: there’s Arlington County county on the “Doing fine!” list, too, and they sure as hell don’t have safe and staid county values ’round there.

[Mo]

I was 10 blocks from the Times Square car bomb when it happened. However, the thunderstorm last night and this morning caused far more disruption to my life than the car bomb did. I take this as a sign that we are rolling the terrorists.

[John]

It is harder to build a bomb than you think. We have whacked a lot of their bomb makers in Iraq and Afghanistan. They clearly are hurting for good people.

[Kolohe]

There are multiple IED strikes every day in Afghanistan, with at least one and often more Afghan or Coalition soldier killed or seriously injured.

[John]

That doesn’t leave many bomb makers to send abroad. That is my point.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Mommy, can we have oil spills off our coastline too? Please?!

If the world was run by vegetarian women instead of flesh eating men, this sort of thing wouldn’t be happening.

[MNG]

Don’t forget the castrati. We have as much to offer the world as any woman.

[MNG]

This one is faux

[MNG]

So is this one.

[MNG]

So is this one.

[MING]

How can you tell?

[MNG]

I am Dan T.
.
.
.
What’s that?
.
.
.
Sorry wrong thread.

[capitol l]

In other news researchers at No Shit Sherlock University have found that obese children are more likely to be the targets of bullies.

Wow, it really makes you think.

How about the New York bomber guy, fucking amateur hour over there. He just had regular bags of fertilizer in the car, you can’t blow up a city with miracle grow, dummy. If other would be terrorists are operating at the same intellectual capacity as this guy we have nothing to worry about. Hope they find this slimeball though.

[Warty]

If you can judge a country by the quality of its enemies, then we’re fucked.

[SugarFree]

What worries me is the current “person of interest” is reportedly white. MSM ready to blame Tea Party in 3… 2…

[John]

Sure he is not a convert? Al Quada is always looking for Westerners.

[Zeb]

I am still hoping for none of the above. Lone crazy person is so much better.

[Slut Bunwalla]

Are you sure? “Lone crazy person” always gets tagged by the media as “right wing zealot” regardless of his/her political beliefs.

[Warty]

Even when he’s 24 ahead?

[dbcooper]

Excellent my Dear Warty.

[Warty]

Take that with a grain of salt, since Ay-rabs are whiter than Sicilians.

[SugarFree]

They don’t know yet. From the grainy camera shots from down the street is hard to tell.

[Jordan Elliot]

Mid to late 40’s, white, and balding is what I’m reading.

Supposedly some guy in Pennsylvania has video of him fleeing.

I’m trying my best to not be cynical but this is just oh so damn convenient for certain people.

[Fluffy]

I was not in NYC this weekend. I have proof.

[John]

Mid 40s balding white guy sounds like some douche leftist to me. It could go either way. He could be some anti globalization nut, could be an Islamic convert, could be some Bircher, or maybe some fired employee from Viacom. Who knows.

[Brett L]

Cheney could pass if he’s been feeding on the blood of poor babies for a couple weeks.

[TrickyVic]

“””Mid 40s balding white guy sounds like some douche leftist to me.””

Was that a troll post?

[Zeb]

Didn’t you hear? They found the genetic link between baldness and leftist politics.

[John]

Not at all. When I think of older white guys, I think of aging hippie wanna bes. I guess it is because I live on the East Coast. But, most of the balding middle aged white guys I know are big Leftists.

[John]

And if you bothered to read the whole post, you would know I said it could mean anything.

[TrickyVic]

I did read the whole post. So nice of you to assume incorrectly. I thought the idiocy of the one line outshined everything else.

“””When I think of older white guys, I think of aging hippie wanna bes. I guess it is because I live on the East Coast””

Lot of projection there.

[John]

What do you think of? Angry vets? Hank Hill?

[TrickyVic]

I’m thinking it’s too early and not enough information to start thinking.

[TrickyVic]

“”Hank Hill?””

There was propane tanks, and it is the last season of his show.

[Solanum]

Let’s don’t convict Hank just quite yet. This sounds more like something Dale Gribble would do.

[TrickyVic]

Hummm, Gribble would try to throw the investigation off course. Using propane tanks to put Hank under suspicion does sound like a Gribble move.

But then Bill might do that so Hank goes to jail and Peggy will be all his.

[Catotarian]

The middle east and central asia are full of white muslim guys

[Fluffy]

Those are just Russian spies pretending to be Kazakhs or some shit

[T]

Hmm. You’ve got it, Fluffy. Putin wants us to eliminate the Chechens, so he sent a KGB agent over here to give us an excuse.

I like it. I’m going to go propagate this idea. Back in a bit.

[SugarFree]

The newest word is that is was cans of gasoline and three big propane tanks. The tanks were closed and the gas wouldn’t have burned hot even to breach the tanks and his firework starter didn’t ignite the gas.

He had all the right ingredients to make a car bomb, fortunately he was too stupid to put it together right.

[short, fat bastard]

Public education was 12 years of constant looking over my shoulder.

[Fluffy]

The good news about the obese bullying study is that, well, at least the obese kids deserve it.

It would be much worse if the obese kids weren’t around, because then kids who don’t deserve bullying might receive more.

[short, fat bastard]

At least I didn’t wear glasses. That would have completed the trifecta of bully bait.

[Jordan Elliot]

East solution to it.

Be meaner than they are.

You don’t get bullied much after you, as a first grader beat the shit out of the two fourth graders picking on you for being fat and wearing glasses.

Well, at least that worked for me.

[SugarFree]

In a few years, only the thin kids will be bullied. Life will be hell for both of them.

[Jordan Elliot]

Well done.

[Distinguished Gentleman]

CSmonitor (author of the cyberdisaster article) is an unexpectedly good news/editorial site. They even have mises.org contribute to the economics section.

[Warty]

Don’t feel left out, women. You can have your soul crushed with oppressive guilt too!

[Fluffy]

So let me get this straight: this church group takes two women who are obsessed with porn and masturbation and has them hang out with each other and “keep tabs” on each other?

Hmmmmmmm…

I see a lot of potential in this “Accountability Partner” program.

[SugarFree]

“Tabbing” is a good euphemism for female masturbation.

[JW]

The founder of Launch 501c3 is Craig Gross, a youth pastor who in 2002 helped start a Web site called XXX Church, one of the first ministries for pornography users.

Is that what you call ‘bate and switch?

I can see a lot of angry customers.

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

Accountabilibuddies.

[Fluffy]

+1

[Catotarian]

She became interested in pornography at age 10 after finding a magazine in her brother’s bathroom. After that, she said, “I wasn’t able to get enough of it.” ….

…They finished by popping the balloons and hugging.

I think there’s a fetish for that

[T]

And a website. Google is your friend.

But only if you turn SafeSearch off.

[mr simple]

Ms. Renaud, who is taking a DVD course in sexual addiction counseling from the American Association of Christian Counselors

So you don’t even have to complete the DVD course to be qualified to counsel. That’s some course. I can only imagine what it’s like:

Now hold her tight against your bosom and gently stroke her hair. In a soft whisper tell her not to fear, that everything will be ok now.

[Chris]

“Totalitarian regimes justify their existence by means of a philosophy of political monism, according to which the state is God on earth, unification under the heel of the divine state is salvation, and all means to such unification, however intrinsically wicked, are right and may be used without scruple. This political monism leads in practice to excessive privilege and power for the few and oppression for the many, to discontent at home and war abroad.”

Aldous Huxley

[P Brooks]

they start to look like tribes of cannibals or vampires

But they’re well-meaning vampires.

Right?

[capitol l]

This:
For the graduation ceremony, Ms. Renaud passed out balloons and asked the group to write down the things they were giving up. Out came the bad stuff: Porn, Masturbation, Lustful Thinking, Cutting, Feeling Useless, Dad’s Bad Choices, Self-Gratification, Self-Mutilation, Unhealthy Thoughts.

They finished by popping the balloons and hugging. Ms. Renaud allowed that the culture’s forces were against them.

And this:
Recently, she said, she watched “Titanic,” including the nude scene, without a relapse.

Comedy gold right there Warty.

[Jordan Elliot]

On one hand yes. On the other hand it’s incredibly depressing the people this stupid exist.

[Warty]

If you can’t make it through Titanic without a few porn breaks, that means that you’re fucking normal.

[SugarFree]

I have never wavered in my conviction to never see that piece of crap.

[John]

Me to. Other than watching Winslet’s nude scene, I have never watched a minute of it. Never had any desire to see it.

[Solanum]

I’ve never watched it either, but watching Leo die a slow death at the end would probably be a more satisfying experience than seeing Kate’s rack.

[John]

Her pre kids rack was something to behold.

[Warty]

But was it something to hold?

[John]

Seriously, I am told two hours of it is the damn ship sinking. Who wants to watch two hours of desperate people drowning?

[SugarFree]

Depends on who they are. /evil

[Jordan Elliot]

“Depends on who they are. /evil”

I need to start posting quicker around here…

[capitol l]

Who wants to watch two hours of desperate people drowning?

Chicks, ’cause hypothermia is romantic or something.

[Johnny Longtorso]

You have to watch Titanic w/ the RiffTrax commentry track. The more people who drown, the funnier the dark humor gets.

[SugarFree]

Maybe they think that because they are better equipped to survive it.

The average Americna woman is 5’4″ and weighs 164 pounds according to the CDC and that was 8 years ago…

[Warty]

Women: Why Don’t They Lose Some Weight?

[robc]

This link was on that page.

[Jordan Elliot]

Depends on who the people are…

Otherwise I’ve watched it about as much as you have. Nude scene and the end. Plus the guy hitting the rutter is just wonderful for the sound it makes.

You ever want to piss a woman off in a new and good way? Tell her that there was more then enough room on that door for DiCaprio’s character too.

[John]

Fair enough on the right people drowning. But last I looked the movie was called Titanic, not US Congress. So I will still take a pass.

[Warty]

“They blew up Congress! HAHAHA!”

[John]

I like that idea for a movie. The entire US congress is on a junnket paid for by Exxon and Al Gore studying global warming on this huge unsinkable ship headed to the arctic. Then the ship is “accidentally” torpedoed by the Chinese. The contract to build the life boats was given by an ear mark to a disabled, gay, native American contractor in Johnstown PA who misunderstood the contract to mean “lifesavers” rather than “life rafts”. So the ship has no life boats but 400 cases of assorted flavored lifesavers. The next four hours of the movie is watching the entire Congress showly drown in freezing arctic waters, with cutaways to FEMA and the Coast Guard trying to mount a rescue effort but being prevented from doing so by the GAO who say they have no specific funding authorization to do so.

[Warty]

And as the congressmen are drowning, they all get raped by whales.

[John]

All except Barny Frank and Larry Craig whom the whales won’t touch despite their pleas otherwise.

[Jordan Elliot]

:clapping: Bravo to the above ideas!

[Almanian]

Or a Lake Tardicaca Shark

[alan]

That is almost as satisfying as the slasher movie idea I have that is just an excruciating kill off of the characters on Gray’s Anatomy.

[capitol l]

McSlaughter!

[Catotarian]

It’s kinda the exact same story as Terminator. All Cameron films are.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Go back and look over that list of things that you’re expected to give your loyalty to and even sacrifice your life for. Over the centuries, they’ve learned to make it all sound wonderful and noble.

You’re a brave man. Go and break through the lines. And remember, while you’re out there risking your life and limb through shot and shell, we’ll be in be in here thinking what a sucker you are.

[J sib D]

Heads are going to roll at BP over the multiple fuckups that led to this environmental and company disaster.

That’s a no shitter.

Regulators and inspectors at the Interior department and the EPA will also be fired for not doing the job they’ve been getting payed for.

Just kidding on that one.

[capitol l]

I would be interested in what y’all thought of the last link. It’s not surprising to me, as I think that anyone who wants to be president is a little batty in the first place.

[Warty]

Because I know the weekend metal thread wasn’t metal enough for you

[J sib D]

Cyberdisasters: Don’t believe the hype.

The Christian Science Monitor nails it once again. Proving once again that it’s a far above average media outlet.

Which brings up the question – How do people as wacky as Christian Scientists put out such a thoughtful and respected news product?

This is one of the mysteries of life that may never be satisfactorily answered.

[capitol l]

I think that the Monitor was founded by the creator of the church as an antidote to attacks by Pulitzer on the church. Also, she saw the Pulitzer approach to journalism as having a loose approach to reporting the facts.
Therefore the Monitor was to be secular, and to have a high degree of journalistic integrity.

Wacky beliefs, to be sure, but their newspaper is a respectable institution.

[Lethal Injection]

Why do blacks hate Asians?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/…..1D7H71.DTL

[Lethal Injection]

City officials, including the Police Department, say these assaults are part of a larger crime picture where gangs of kids take advantage of a vulnerable group of small stature. But Mo participated in a 2008 survey by the Police Department in which about 300 strong-arm robberies were analyzed. “In 85 percent of the physical assault crimes, the victims were Asian and the perpetrators were African American,” she said.

[John]

A conceal and carry law would take all the fun out of that.

[Warty]

More gun control will solve this.

[Solanum]

“We are pitted against each other,” Wah [a Berkeley-based documentary filmmaker] said.

Hmm… I can’t imagine what he’s trying to get at.

[John]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new…..a-sin.html

the sorry state of affairs in the UK.

[Warty]

Now here’s your chance to say, “They wouldn’t dare do that to a Muslim street preacher.”

[John]

No. It is not that they wouldn’t. They don’t. Imams routinely say crazy things over there and are never held accountable, not that they should be. But the rules are hardly evenly applied.

[Warty]

Wasn’t there a court case a while ago about the UK trying to deport a radical imam? I seem to remember that he had an eyepatch, so maybe they just don’t like pirates.

[John]

He was wanted in the US for support for terrorism. That guy was 25 shades of crazy. He was calling for the violent overthrow of the British Government. Contrast that with saying that homosexuality is a sin. That tells you all you need to know about the standard.

[Warty]

Oh, I know. That was my point. As stupid as we are, the limeys are 10 times stupider.

[John]

They have totally lost their minds.

[capitol l]

From the article: homosexual police community support officer.

Is that a real job title or is it a “police community support officer” who happens to be gay?

[SugarFree]

It’s the UK. Nothing would surprise me at this point.

[JW]

It’s a position with The Village People.

[Almanian]

THE STIMULUS IS WORKING!

I have visitors from the federal gummint at my facility today to do a presser on the economy. It will undoubtedly take the angle of “see, the stimulus is WORKING, because we’re ADDING JOBS here!” And here we thought it was cause we were all smart about bidness and stuff…

My job requires that I be nice to them, helpful even. But I despise these people and voted for none of them. You cannot imagine the cognitive dissonance this is creating this morning.

Therefore, I ask you all to please pray for my sanity, Reasonoids. Even you athiests – I’ll take all the help I can get. I appreciate it, and hope I can return the favour one day.

PS In other news, I’ve never watched “Titanic”, fuck Conan O’Brien, and…fuck congress, the President, and the FTC. Again.

[Warty]

See, this is why metal music was invented. Try it, you’ll feel better/worse.

[JW]

Make an anonymous “tip” to security about a bomb possibly being hidden in one of their cars.

You’ll feel much better.

[Ragin Cajun]

You could always volunteer to fetch some coffee for them. Lots of cream, lots of sugar…

[Almanian]

Thanks to you all – I am on my way to meet the statist goons….drunk and listening to metal!! Fuck yeah!!

OK, just kidding, but great ideas all.

[TrickyVic]

None of that terrorism crap would happen with these guys around.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/ho…..thief.html

[Lethal Injection]

Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have added a Montecito-area property to their real estate holdings, reports the Montecito Journal.

The couple spent $8,875,000 on an ocean-view villa on 1.5 acres with a swimming pool, spa and fountains, a real estate source familiar with the deal confirms. The Italian-style house has six fireplaces, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms.

http://www.latimes.com/feature…..3538.story

[Goletean]

There goes the neighborhood.

[EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy]

People should understand that Montecito is a beautiful old village outside of Santa Barbara. It’s situated in a spot where the coastal range comes even closer to the beach then is typically along that stretch of coast. Consequently the ground everywhere slopes ferociously down the the sea, but the residents none-the-less found room for a polo ground.

The also have the world’s largest orchid nursery, which is pretty nifty to look around.

[P Brooks]

homosexual police community support officer.

“We, as members of the homosexual police community, have an unique need for specialised support. A vitally important part of this is to ensure no heterosexual police officers attempt to masquerade as homosexuals, in order to improperly avail themselves of the special benefits reserved for our community.”

[alan]

Wow.
That is like the opposite of the Fire Island riots.

[capitol l]

Some sad news for you freaks.

[JW]

He who reads People magazine is calling *us* freaks.

[capitol l]

?

[alan]

Any curiosity at all about what would cause a rig to explode, and not just burst if too much pressure comes through and then catch on fire? Natural gas? Human error? Environmentalist Suicide bombers? North Korean subs? What’s the deal? It seems odd that except for one fringe report suggesting North Koreans, I have come across absolutely nothing on the cause of this disaster.

[Almanian]

I blame Bush

[Kolohe]

Natural gas? Human error?

This combo. It’s pretty much the cause of all oil rig fires, marine and terrestial.

[T]

Kolohe nails it. I have never seen a rig accident where somebody didn’t do something stupid. You don’t get to make a lot of mistakes when you’re working with high pressure and flammable fluids.

[Lethal Injection]

Where thew fuck is John Wayne when you need him?

[P Brooks]

Any curiosity at all about what would cause a rig to explode, and not just burst if too much pressure comes through and then catch on fire?

Cowboy Capitalism.

Duh.

[louboutin]

What’s the deal? It seems odd that except for one fringe report suggesting North Koreans, I have come across absolutely nothing on the cause of this disaster.

[louboutin shoes]

and not just burst if too much pressure comes through and then catch on fire?

[louboutin]

It seems odd that except for one fringe report suggesting North Koreans, I have come across absolutely nothing on the cause of this disaster.

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about what would cause a rig to explode, and not just burst if too much pressure comes through and then catch on fire? Natural gas? Human error? Environmentalist Suicide bombers? North Korean subs? What’s the deal? It

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