Science

Reason Morning Links: Honest Services, Private Islands, and a Toronto Police State

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• The House passes the DISCLOSE Act.

• The White House breaks a lobbying pledge.

• The Supreme Court narrows the definition of "honest services" fraud.

• ICANN approves a .xxx domain for online porn.

• House and Senate negotiators finish fusing their versions of the financial regulation bill.

• Toronto locks down for the G20 summit.

• Greece is looking to privatize some islands.

• Hello, self-assembling nanobots.

NEXT: Reason Writers Around Town: Katherine Mangu-Ward in WSJ on Why the Poor Are Big Business

Books Editor Jesse Walker is the author of Rebels on the Air and The United States of Paranoia.

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  1. Max

    Once again, a careful search of news sources has come up with nothing newsworthy that would in any way call libertarianism into question. The search continues.

    1. Rich

      Ouch.

      1. Rich

        Damn squirrels! 😉

        1. capitol l

          What happened here?

          1. Rich just showed off some awesome internet powers.

            1. Or Max’s post was removed and then returned. Which as of 8:51ish is what happened.

          2. Rich

            Glitch in the Matrix. Weird, huh?

            1. Rich

              Hey, is *this* Friday Funnies?

    2. Are you on “Twitters” like the president of Russia?

    3. Max has made his last post

      Max|6.24.10 @ 3:29PM|#

      Go suck ron puals dick, morons. You peeple are fucking retarded. I`m done coming to this wingnut sight. this is my last post.

      1. yojimbo

        YAY!

        1. That posting style doesn’t remind me of Edward or Morris at all, ha ha ha. I want to meet this guy in real life.

    4. WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD

      WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD
      WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD
      WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD
      WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD

  2. Rich

    All nine justices agreed that [for] public officials and corporate executives … [s]ecret deals or conflicts of interest are not a crime unless they involve a direct payoff.

    This will make many people very happy — including the lawyers arguing about the meaning of “direct payoff”.

  3. Cool on the Tensegrity nanodevices. Too bad it’ll either be outlawed or not covered by insurance.

    1. Rich

      outlawed

      ’cause, compared to grey goo, the Gulf oil spill is *nothing*.

      1. Yep. Every nano breakthrough I read about, pretty much has grey goo as the next thought.

        Eh, the benefits outweight the risks. Plus, people shouldn’t be pussies. Live dangerously!

      2. cynical

        These nanobots are made out of DNA.

        Somehow, the thought that the world could soon be covered in self-replicating, DNA-based microscopic entities isn’t all that terrifying to me.

        1. Ska

          And you call yourself cynical?!

          1. cynical

            About people, sure, but the world is pretty resilient.

        2. God

          It’s the natural order of things.

      3. Brett L

        I never really understood the grey goo scenario, I mean, if the stuff is made out of organics, you build a metal (or glass) wall. No matter how much it trys, it isn’t making organic material out of metals or silicon… not without fission.

        1. SugarFree

          The gray goo are nanomachines, not a biological contagion. They can disassemble material at an atomic level. Given enough time, it can break down anything for raw materials and energy to replicate themselves. Artificial bacteria that breed out of control, possibly consuming the entire planet.

          1. Brett L

            But they will be made of atoms, right? So if they are made out of, say O,N,H & C, mostly (pick any set of atoms you want); how will they replicate themselves if you surround them with lead or copper or iron?

            1. Hunting and gathering.

            2. I think it’s more a function of the fact that they could just deassemble the material around them but then just not use it in their replication.

            3. SugarFree

              Nanomachines–true nanomachines–would be able to break atomic bonds directly. Even the strongest wall can be torn down if you can extract its bricks one by one.

              Breaking the atomic bonds provides them huge amounts of energy at their scale. Once they have the raw atoms, they make copies of themselves.

              About the only thing that could stop them would be highly energetic radioactive materials whose neutrons would beat them to pieces or ultradense matter whose atoms were too tightly bonded for them to remove.

              But they are like bacteria. They would be able to evolve by changing the configuration of the next generation to adapt to conditions. That’s the gray goo; a mass of machine cancer that can consume and utilize anything in order to grow itself.

              1. SugarFree

                “whose neutron emissions* stupid phone

                1. You send your posts in by TEXT?

                  Dude, you must have thumbs like a Chernobyl leprechaun.

                  1. SugarFree

                    Just today. Waiting around Dr. office.

                    1. “Just today. Waiting around Dr. office.”

                      I told you to wear two rubbers…

                      (Hope things be ok with you.)

                    2. Nurse

                      That fucker needs to stop looking at my tits.

              2. anomdebus

                SF,
                That sounds perpetual motion-y.. You neglect to mention that breaking the bonds requires energy and usually it takes more energy to break than is released. Where there are exceptions to this rule usually involves catalysts that aren’t spread evenly everywhere and will therefore need to be fed to the machines.

                1. SugarFree

                  We are insanely energy inefficient and there 6 billion of us.

                  Nanomachines would be able to breakdown anything, utilizing stored chemical energy like we do in food.

                  It’s all science fiction anyway. Which is why gray goo fears are really just Ludditism at this point.

              3. Brett L

                That just doesn’t make sense. You can’t take apart gold, concrete, and trees with the same methods. Some things would respond to acids, other to organic solvents, others to inorganic solvents, others to none of the above. It just isn’t likely.

                I get the premise, and it makes okay science fiction. Just when you put it to the reality test, it fails. There is always a limiting growth factor.

                1. Brett L

                  SF:

                  Yes. I was trying to make coherent statements about why it was unrealistic Ludditism.

                  1. SugarFree

                    Queen of Angels by Greg Bear is a good fictional exploration of the topic if you are interested.

                2. wylie

                  How about ultrasonic disassembly? I bet you can break plenty of inter-atomic/chemical bonds with enough pressure, applied at the right frequency. Infrared can also cause resonance responses in atomic bindings.

                  Just trying to help the plot along for anyone writing a novel about grey goo.

                  In reality, the “close them off with enough inert material” idea should work as long as your barrier was thick enough to outlast their energy reserves. I’m thinking some sort of quick-hardening foam.

                  Alternatively, if they’re made of the same materials as DNA….wouldn’t flame throwers work?

                  1. MacReady? Is that you?

                  2. Gus Portokalos:

                    They could have just bought windex

              4. Would they try to disassemble each other?

                1. wylie

                  Would they try to disassemble each other?

                  If there’s no other source of energy and materials….isn’t cannibalism the standard practice in those situations, for any organism?

          2. Metazoan

            I don’t know that artificial bacteria could ever outcompete natural bacteria and archaea, of which I read somewhere there are well over 10^30. Those groups are so diverse, metabolically and otherwise, that they would probably just find a way to eat our artificial bacteria. Some of them respire using iron, many others using some forms of arsenic. Some can even withstand intense radiation (Deinococcus radiodurans, for instance). Still others thrive best at 100C+. It is also noteworthy to observe that these organisms are master chemists, having been in charge of biogeochemical cycles for billions of years (and counting). They themselves, along with the trillions of eukaryotic cells in each of us, are in fact highly sophisticated nano-devices that are capable of modifying things on the molecular level.

            1. wylie

              Also, what Metazoan said. I especially like that you pointed out how us humans are nothing more than a massive colony of interdependent, specialized microbes.

        2. This issue was portrayed in an exceptionally easy to follow episode of Reboot.

          1. wylie

            Why does CartoonNetwork not own the rights to that show, and run it in perpetuity?

    2. Chinny Chin Chin

      I have mixed reactions to stuff like this. As a science and sci-fi geek, I’m always intrigued by advances like this.

      However, a little research shows that the Wyss Institute is funded by large grants by NSF, DOE, NIH… an alphabet soup of government agencies.

      While I congratulate the researchers on their success, I am sorry for those poor bastards who couldn’t care less and want their share of that money back.

  4. SIV

    More Dave Weigel stuff:

    Betrayed by his fellow-travelers at Journolist. Hahaha!

    1. John

      No honor among douchebags.

    2. SIV

      Threadjack from yesterday on Weigel’s own revelations.

    3. capitol l

      The third picture down, after the cassette tape, is kind of creepy. Are those ladies real?

      1. SIV

        capitol l it looks like an old northern European catalogue shot.Any significant tweaking of that image was done analogue-style back when it was originally made.

    4. John

      The Caller got instalanched and is down. Damn.

      1. SIV

        Sample:

        Former Reason contributor David Weigel on the “racist teabaggers”.

        In other posts, Weigel describes conservatives as using the media to “violently, angrily divide America.” According to Weigel, their motives include “racism” and protecting “white privilege,” and for some of the top conservatives in D.C., a nihilistic thirst for power.

        I’ve got the tab open and could post the whole text but give ’em a chance first.

        1. Astrid

          I’m sure sure he only said it because he’s hypoglycemic and his mommy didn’t get his juice box.

        2. SIV

          What a fucking tool!
          Of Matt Drudge, Weigel remarked, “It’s really a disgrace that an amoral shut-in like Drudge maintains the influence he does on the news cycle while gay-baiting, lying, and flubbing facts to this degree.”

          In April, Weigel wrote that the problem with the mainstream media is “this need to give equal/extra time to ‘real American’ views, no matter how fucking moronic, which just so happen to be the views of the conglomerates that run the media and/or buy up ads.”

          all “off the record” of course

          1. Astrid

            “It’s really a disgrace that an amoral shut-in like Drudge Weigel maintains the influence he does on the news cycle while gay-baiting, lying, and flubbing facts to this degree.”

            Weigel really needs to stop projecting his self-loathing on Drudge.

            1. Rachel Maddow

              I think he’s cute!

              1. Astrid

                I didn’t realize you liked them butch.

          2. John

            In those passages Weigel strikes me as the dorky kid who was finally allowed to hang around with the “cool kids” and tried a bit too hard. Those things read like what you or I would write if we were trolling.

            I get the feeling from those that Weigel is the journalistic equivalent of the protagonist and that old Off Spring song “Pretty Fly for a White Guy”. And that he even got on the people at journolists’ nerves. And that is why they have been leaked.

          3. SIV

            Here’s the front page of the Daily Caller.

            Fuck I only have the first page open.

            1. John

              You are doing God’s work SIV. And in some of America’s toughest neighborhoods.

    5. Ragin Cajun

      My question is: who sold him out? Is someone trying to get rid of him that is on that list?

    6. You overloaded their interweb.

      1. Ragin Cajun

        I’d like to think that SIV has more power than Glenn Reynolds…

        1. SIV

          I’d reckon the Drudge link hit it hardest.

          1. SIV

            I got some of page three.Still a “database error” on the rest of it.
            Weigel shilled for Obamacare.

            In the e-mails, Weigel appeared particularly invested in the President’s health care law, expressing undisguised scorn for moderate Democrats who seemed fearful about voting for it.

            Rep. Daniel Lipinski, a pro-life Democrat from Illinois who expressed reservations about the abortion provisions in the legislation was, according to Weigel, a “monster” because he represents “a deeply safe seat” and could afford to vote for it.

            Before he left Congress in a cloud, then-Rep. Eric Massa rocked Washington by claiming that backroom deals were polluting the health care bill. Weigel seemed to have little patience for Massa’s inconvenient allegations. “Well, so much for the health care push leading the news cycle,” Weigel wrote. “Does anyone else think this guy’s turning out to be a political suicide bomber?”

            After Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate seat, threatening to kill the health care legislation by his presence, Weigel stressed how important it was for reporters to highlight what a terrible candidate his opponent Martha Coakley had been.

            “I think pointing out Coakley’s awfulness is vital, because it’s 1) true and 2) unreasonable panic about it is doing more damage to the Democrats,” Weigel wrote.

            But despite the perils of the modern media cycle, the health care bill survived, and for once, all was right in Weigel’s world.

            “Tangentially related: Betsy McCaughey showed up at Grover Norquist’s conservative meeting today, massive spiral-bound health care bill in hand, and shook with rage as she promised that the ‘war’ was not over.”

            “I’m still smiling.”

            1. Ragin Cajun

              Doesn’t someone have to be at least somewhat libertarian to work for Reason? I’m confused.

              1. Mike M.

                Clearly he lied and misrepresented himself and duped them. It happens.

                Hopefully everyone gets it now.

              2. smz

                it doesn’t seem that way. esp given their attacks on the most libertarian-leaning politicians (who, as successful politicans, need to get elected and thus cannot be Libertarian).

            2. Esoteric

              Right wing “memes” begin in “WND/FreeRepublic/talk radio swamps,” Weigel wrote, referring to conservative websites World Net Daily and Free Republic. Sometimes, they spread like a virus into liberal sites, a fact that clearly upsets Weigel.

              After Sarah Palin claimed Obama’s health care legislation included “death panels” that would ration health care, for instance, the Huffington Post reported that many Americans believed the claim was true. Weigel suggested that reporting on the subject might be counter-productive to liberal policy aims. The Huffington Post, Weigel pointed out, ran “a picture of Sarah Palin, linking to a poll that suggests 45 percent of Americans believe her death panel lie. But as long as the top liberal-leaning news site talks about it every single hour of every day, I’m sure that number will go down.”

              “Let’s move the fuck on already,” Weigel wrote.

              Weigel seems to harbor special contempt for a type of conservative he calls a ratfucker, a favorite phrase of his.

              In a thread with the subject line, “ACORN Ratf*cker arrested,” Journolisters discussed how James O’Keefe, whose undercover reporting showed officials from activist group ACORN willing to help a fake prostitution ring skirt the law, had been arrested in another, failed operation at Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) office.

              Weigel’s response: “HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.”

              “Deep breath.”

              “HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHA.”

              “He’s either going to get a radio talk show or start a prison ministry. That’s was successful conservative ratfuckers do for their second acts,” Weigel wrote, likely alluding to Nixon aide Charles Colson who converted to Christianity after a stint in prison for obstruction of justice and founded Prison Fellowship.

              Republicans? “Ratfucking [Obama] on every bill.” Palin? Tried to “ratfuck” a moderate Republican in a contentious primary in New York. Limbaugh? Used “ratfucking tactics” in urging Republican activists to vote for Hillary Clinton in open primaries after Obama had all but beat her for the Democratic nomination.

              Reached by phone late Thursday and asked about the e-mails, Weigel responded, “my reporting, I think, stands for itself.”

        2. Maybe Maobama turned off their interweb and is using SIV as a convenient distraction?

    7. Mike M.

      Hopefully, Reason will finally stop linking to and giving props to this fucking dickhead.

      I mean, as far as I know it’s not as though he has ever once returned the favor when he was working for Soros, or in his new gig as a professional concern troll for the Washington Post.

      1. John

        Professional concern troll. That is a good way to put it. How can someone who hates a particular political ideology be hired to cover it and speak for it?

        1. So, can I get a quick rundown of WTF is going on here? Did Weigel go all nucking futs in the open or something? Or has his dimwittery simply caught up with him en masse?

          1. SIV

            Someone at Journolist betrayed him and leaked his emails to a right wing website. Makes Weigel look like the partisan liberal hack and thin-skinned weasel he is

            1. Thanks.

        2. The Gobbler

          Plus he’s a god damned racist.

          1. ?

            Weigels wobble but they won’t fall down.

            1. wylie

              *applause*

            2. Esoteric

              Oh, bra-VO.

              1. Ouch. I can defend Weigel’s musical tastes and preference in stepping stones, but that is all.

      2. Actually...

        He’s linked reason posts pretty often, but rarely for a main blog post. He usually relegates those to his “Last Call” post of 4-5 links for the day.

    8. Tulpa

      1. Herrs Welch and Gillespie before him have explicitly stated, on multiple occasions, that Reason does not have an ideological purity test as a condition for employment. I would imagine that writing for an opinion magazine run by the Reason Foundation would be hell on earth for a non-libertarian, as you’re obviously supposed to cover topics that they want to cover and push the viewpoints they want to push.

      2. I don’t think Weigel was that bad while he was here. Even during his time at the Post, he seems to have been fairly even-handed until that Congressman videotaping/assault incident. What are you expecting from the gorram Washington Post?

  5. ?

    What happened here?

    Someone else must have made a Mohammed joke or an “Idiot Proves Useless, Gets Tooled” link to the latest leaked glimpse at Weigel’s cretinous insanity.
    [refreshes]

    Oh. Invisible Max. Neat idea.

  6. What everyone will look like in Libertopia. Meet Billy the Human Billboard (click on my name for the link).

  7. Rand Paul “moneyblast” Monday. If grassroots pull in a lot through small donations it’ll be a nice news cycle in addition to the cash. Donate! http://www.randpaul2010.com

    1. The Gobbler

      Why do you support a Republican? It makes no sense.

  8. John

    There was an odd moment during the debate when Supervisor Peggy West stood up and seemed to be confused about her geography. “If this was Texas, which is a state that is directly on the border with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this saying that they had a major issue with undocumented people flooding their borders, I would have to look twice at this. But this is a state that is a ways removed from the border,” West said during debate?

    http://hotair.com/archives/201…..der-state/

    I guess geography is not big in the “reality based community”.

    1. John

      The person was speaking of the Arizona immigration law.

      1. Peggy West

        Dear Sir, I know where a hole in the ground is. My ass? Could use a little help here.

      2. But she is from the north! How can she be wrong about anything?

    2. Hank Johnson

      Seemed OK to me.

    3. Peggy West

      Fifteen minutes of fame, biotches!

    4. Astrid

      It’s only the 6th largest state, I can see how she had trouble finding it on a map.

      1. BakedPenguin

        “There’s a New Mexico? What happened to the old one?”

        1. It is the latest terrorist hangout for the ones who don’t like Detroit or Buffalo.

    5. Man, you can’t make this stuff up.

      Should this be included in the NY Times series of stories about people too incompetent to know they’re incompetent?

      After all, if I had any doubt about a fact of geography, I just wouldn’t make reference to it. But she doesn’t know, and apparently doesn’t know she doesn’t know. Ouch.

      1. Brett L

        Anyone could confuse Arizona with Iowa… All those stupid square states in flyover country are full of racist, redneck teabaggers and look alike.

      2. John

        Geography shit. We are not talking about the Sea of Azov here. We are talking about Arizona. How the hell can you be so ignorant that you don’t know how to find Arizona on a map? It is just mind boggling.

        1. Girls are good at geography. I think they mistakenly believe it’s related to geometry, and MATH IS HARD.

          3/4 of the girls I knew in college thought Canada was a state.

          1. Brett L

            Well, to be fair, they have probably been misled about how long 8″ actually is since puberty. You can see how distorted physical space could become.

            1. Jokey McBoogerballs

              A very good point.

              That’s probably also why they aren’t very good at math word problems involving time.

              “So if a train leaves Boston and travels at 100 miles per hour, and another train leaves Chicago and travels at 86 miles per hour, how long does it take them to meet?”

              Girl: “You pulled out when you said you would, right?”

            2. She is from the north, where girls never have sex before marriage college, as opposed to all of us from Trailer Parkistan!

              1. Make that Trailer Parklandia.

          2. Struck down by Joe’s Law yet again!

            1. 3/4 of the girls I knew in college thought Canada was a state.

              Ha ha, no way.

              1. Brett L

                He could have been an education major.

      3. Obama

        I didn’t do so well in Kentucky because they are close to Arkansas, Hillary’s home territory.

        What, they border Illinois? Since when?

        Can’t worry about that, been through fifty seven states got one more to go!

  9. John

    “Toronto locks down for the G20 summit.”

    If Western Countries are too weak to stand up to the traveling trash that protest these things, why don’t they just have them in China or Singapore every year?

    1. BakedPenguin

      As someone else (sorry, I can’t remember who) suggested, why not have teleconferences? The G20 is another massive government jerk-off waste of money as it is, they could at least save the millions they spend crushing dissent keeping order.

      1. John

        A teleconference makes a ton of sense. But, these things are nothing but big money junkets for these clown’s staffs. They would never do a teleconference. But, I guarantee you that some authoritarian state like China could give them all bread and circuses they liked.

      2. dbcooper

        Way too “on the record.”

    2. AlmightyJB

      Traveling Trash. You mean the communist that call themselves anarchist because they think it sounds cool even though they obviously don’t know what it means to be an anarchist.

  10. John

    http://www.realclearpolitics.c…..ected.html

    At least he is honest about the one party authoritarian state he wants to set up.

    1. Hank Johnson

      Did you notice how I worked “miscreants” into my speech?

      1. NeonCat

        Oh Congressman, my Congressman, you’re starting to make me hope Vernon Jones beats your ass in the primaries (not that VJ would do any better, I’d guess).

        I wonder what it would be like to have a Representative who was truly (heck, even mostly) representative of my views. Granted, most people here probably have wondered the same thing?

        1. wylie

          Granted, most people here probably have wondered the same thing?

          My imagination isn’t that skilled.

    2. These idiots are really starting to get out of hand. Both sides are bad, but dear Gog, some of the shit the dems have been saying lately dives headlong in to complete insanity.

      1. Brett L

        I think this is just a factor of being in power. In 2004, this is what the R’s sounded like.

        1. I agree. Though, it kind of seems like with each go round they get worse and worse.

          1. wylie

            Cyclical Attitude Reinforcement.

  11. John

    “Jamie Hinton, the volunteer fire chief of tiny Magnolia Springs, Ala., has a plan to use a blockade of barges to stop the Gulf oil spill from entering the Magnolia River. For a time, he went ahead with the plan, even though it might have landed him in jail.”

    http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/S…..s=facebook

    1. The Chain of Command

      Hinton, when the dust settles you’re still going down.

      1. cynical

        Hinon, do you know what the chain of command is? It’s the chain I go get and beat you with ’til ya understand who’s in ruttin’ command here.

        1. Tulpa

          Did he just go crazy and fall down?

  12. John

    “It’s a great moment. I’m proud to have been here,” said a teary-eyed Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee led the effort in the Senate. “No one will know until this is actually in place how it works.”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..75_pf.html

    Another bill we have to pass to find out what is in it. In a just world, Dodd would be in prison. Instead, he is getting one last score before he drifts off into a career stealing in the private sector.

    1. “No one will know until this is actually in place how it works.”

      …..

      So let me ask the Reasonoids, is there a way we can actually hold these criminals accountable for they shit they pull in office anymore?

      1. Rich

        Well, they all “accept responsibility” already.

        Seriously, aside from spreading info in the blogosphere to precipitate ~impeachments, I’m not sure what can be done. I’ve suggested meta-laws requiring that objective timely measurement of the results of legislation be tied to continuance in office, pensions, etc. — good luck with *that* sort of stuff. 8-(

        1. CoyoteBlue

          Wouldn’t a violent revolution be easier?

          1. John

            If we get Card Check, amnesty, cap and theft and DISCLOSE during a mad duck congress, there might be a revolution.

            1. wylie

              So 2 to go till the bullets start flying?

              On the upside, is there any other way we’re going to get the troops home besides a violent revolution?

            2. Tulpa

              mad duck congress

              I believe the term is “mad dog congress”.

    2. I am beginning to suspect that if a giant Guatemalan sinkhole would open up under Capitol Hill swallowing everything, I’m not too sure I’d be very broken up about it.

      1. Astrid

        I’d miss a few of the buildings.

        1. John

          Me to. We need a nerve gas attack. The buildings are beautiful. And the people in them are unworthy. Save the buildings and the history. Lose the people.

          1. #

            ” Save the buildings and the history. Lose the people.”

            wasnt there on old school start trek episode on that?

            1. John

              Yeah. The two planet had computer simulated wars and if your number came up in the simulation, you had to show up and get killed.

          2. The Gobbler

            Nutron bomb them from outer space. It’s the only way to be certain.

            1. wylie

              “I kept saying the 2nd amendment allows me to have neutron bombs, but Nooooooo, I was the nutjob, so fuck y’all.”

              1. T

                +1

          3. cynical

            Move the capital of the U.S. to Detroit, then nuke it. Problem solved.

            1. Tulpa

              That would also clear the way for DC statehood.

      2. Brett L

        There’s probably some decent art.

      3. Pro Libertate

        The Apollo 11 capsule is there. Also the original Constitution and Bill of Rights.

        Make the people leave.

        1. John

          Those things are in the Smithsonian and the National Archives, which are a good mile from the Capitol Building itself. You could always have the sink hole just take the Capitol building during a State of the Union Address. That would solve the problem and we could build a new Capitol. It would suck, but small price to pay.

          1. JW

            John–Small quibble…the Air and Space is located between 4th and 7th street and the Archives is off of 7th Street and backs to Penn Ave. Both are just a few hundred yards from the Capitol and in fact, some of the closest buildings to it.

            1. John

              Yeah. I guess it is not a mile. But still enough room for the sink hole to miss it.

          2. No new capitol.

            Make ’em hold their meetings in the gymnasium of some closed-down school somewhere.

            Letting them meet in big, impressive buildings just feeds their ego problem.

            1. John

              Make them hold it in the tidal basin. Each Congress critter can share a paddle boat with a back benching staffer.

              1. wylie

                Boats? You’re too generous.

                1. Evil Libertarian

                  I’d let them have paddle boats. Would give em a few cinderblocks to haul around in the boat as well.

  13. Teary-Eyed Nancy Pelosi

    “No one will know until this is actually in place how it works.”

    Well said, Chris.

  14. John 2 Electric Boogaloo

    Skilling wins again muahahahaha

  15. J sub D

    The White House breaks a lobbying pledge.

    In other breaking news, water is wet and the sun rose in the east this morning. Details at eleven.

    I expect Andrew McLaughlin will get a stern talking to about using his own computer and private e-mail account when discussing dispewnsing favors to campaign contributors in the future.

    Hope! Change! and Pete Townsend.

    1. Ska

      Better than Roger “Old Lesbian” Daltrey.

  16. P Brooks

    “No one will know until this is actually in place how it works.”

    Any elected official who says this should be stabbed in the eye with an icepick. And the guy who does it should get a million dollars from the Treasury, tax free.

  17. J sub D

    Greece is looking to privatize some islands.

    Good for Greece.

    I’ve been proposing for years that Detroit start selling off its parks, particularly Belle Isle to pluc a persistant revolving $300 million shortfall.

    When > 50% of the population in a dying city has departed it would seem selling off a mere 30% of the city parks to developers or industry is a no brainer.

    1. Brett L

      At least we’ll know where to find the next crop of Bond villians. Mmmm, Bond girls on Greek islands. Just what the franchise needs.

      1. wylie

        Change I can believe in.

    2. John

      I went to a performance of portions of the Tempest a few weeks ago. And that was my first thought. Greece is broke. I wonder if they would sell one of their island. Living on an enchanted Greek Island sounds pretty good. Just call me Prospero.

      1. BakedPenguin

        The only problem is, what kind of property taxes are they going to hit you with, and will they rise along with government spending?

        If you could just buy the island straight out, with no further taxes or encumbrances, that would be incredible.

        1. John

          That is what I was thinking of. Set up a protectorate sort of like Monaco.

        2. Pro Libertate

          I think John was thinking sovereign island nation.

          1. Pro Libertate

            See? I was right!

            1. JW

              Hmmm, Mediterranean climate, sea air, Greek chicks, fresh seafood…Libertopia anyone?

              Let’s start a collection.

              1. Maverick

                I’ve spent a lot of time on various Greek islands, so I’m going to fix this for you: Greek half-naked Scandinavian chicks.

                1. John

                  That sounds like a selling point to me.

                  1. JW

                    Of course, we’d have to have very lax immigration laws for certain oppressed peoples.

                    1. John

                      Everyone knows that beautiful women are oppressed everywhere. Being female, under 40 and looking good in a swim suit is de facto grounds for asylum.

                    2. JW

                      I mean, look at them! They can’t even afford scraps of clothing to hide their shame.

                      Only a souless devil would deny them assylum.

                    3. Sounds like paradise.

      2. &

        Portions? Shakespeare Lite?
        O crappy new world.

        1. John

          No. It was a musical performance with readings thrown in. The actors included Derrick Jacoby. It was pretty high brow. The music was all period Elizabethan. It was pretty cool. I thought the same thing you did when my wife suckered me into getting tickets (I saw “Tempest” and “Derrick Jacoby” and didn’t pay enough attention to the e-mail to notice they were not actually doing the play). But I was pleasantly surprised.

    3. Rich

      Dibs on Kauai!

      1. John

        I will take Lanau.

        1. BakedPenguin

          Crap. I get Molokai. Stuck with the lepers again.

      2. Aresen

        I want the Big Island.

        There’s nothing like having a volcano to throw troublemakers into.

  18. P Brooks

    and for some of the top conservatives in D.C., a nihilistic thirst for power.

    Dear Davey-

    That “thirst for power” is not nihilistic, and sure as fuck isn’t restricted to conservatives.

  19. Rand JoMammy

    Wow, downright scary when you think about it.

    Lou
    http://www.anon-vpn.at.tc

    1. Wow…true.

      Art

  20. Hello, self-assembling nanobots.

    LOL. I have released my seed to spread upon the earth. Tremble in fear, flesh creatures.

    Jess
    http://www.anon-vpn.at.tc

    1. Abdul

      I’m not leaving my Terminator-crushing drill press for the rest of the week.

      1. wylie

        Can i get you to bend some sheet metal for me while you’re there?

        (I think it was just a hydraulic press, no drill, but hey, if you combined the two then i’ve also got some holes that need to be drilled in that steel.)

  21. Best. Anonymity bot. Post. Ever.

    1. Indeed.

  22. R C Dean

    Shouldn’t that be:

    “No one will know until this is actually in place how whether it works.”

    1. wylie

      You cant even start guessing on “whether” if you don’t know the “how”, right?

  23. Yonemoto

    Sorry, I have to call bullshit on the self-assembling nanobots.

    The self-assembling part is just the fact that you can take the DNA and it forms into its shape by itself. This has been possible for a long time.

    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5281562

    “can be programmed to do things on demand”

    Well, yes, but have they done it yet? No. It’s just speculative. Basically, DNA is so specialized, It’s hard to get DNA to do ANYTHING besides self-assembly.

  24. Greece is looking to privatize some islands.

    Alright, all you libertopians out there. Don’t miss your chance.

    1. JW

      pssst. Look up.

      1. Oh.

  25. P Brooks

    Save the buildings and the history. Lose the people.

    This looks like a job for the neutron bomb.

    1. JW

      Can you guys does this on my day off please?

      There are some of us who work in the city and have nothing to do with feeding the machine.

      1. John

        Collateral damage. But like the Jews and Pakistanis who were warned of 9-11, a few select people will be warned of this. Don’t worry JW, your name will be on the list.

        1. But in the ultimate Reason in-joke, we will accidentally read the date wrong on the “warrant”, and set off the bomb before the warned can leave.

          Hey, if they can’t take a joke, fuck ’em.

          1. John

            You didn’t tell me the date was European style. I thought it was February 11th not November 2nd.

            1. JW

              Awwwww /zoidberg

  26. Bionic kitty

    1. It needs a helmet with a mounted laser. And a Dragon tail.

    2. BakedPenguin

      Jeebus. If this happened to a human in England, DHS would tell them to wait 3 weeks just for the procedure to cauterize the leg wounds.

      1. JW

        New York Time, 2016: If that had happened in the US, it would have been buh-bye kitty, since we’re the only nation in the industrialized world without universal vetinary care.

    3. Almanian

      That is awesome

  27. P Brooks

    Stuck with the lepers again.

    You should be used to it by now, Penguin.

    1. The Gobbler

      We’re all lepers now.

  28. WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD

    WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD
    WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD
    WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD
    WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD

    1. Bertrand Russell

      My god! It’s Weigels all the way down.

  29. WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD

    WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD
    WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD
    WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD
    WE NEED A WEIGEL THREAD

    1. &

      Try getting a life instead.

  30. P Brooks

    Doesn’t someone have to be at least somewhat libertarian to work for Reason? I’m confused.

    Moynihan

    Chapman

    Apparently not.

    1. SIV

      Go on…

      Bailey

      Howley

      Wilkinson

      Sanchez

      Go on…

  31. ?

    Toronto locks down for the G20 summit.

    “Janssen has safety concerns and doesn’t expect many customers, so she plans to close her shop from Thursday through Sunday. That means a potential loss of up to $15,000, or 15 per cent of monthly sales.”

    Clearly, BP is responsible for her losses.

    1. wylie

      Because closed shops NEVER get looted/vandalized.

      Genius.

    2. Almanian

      I blame Bush

  32. alan

    Don’t see a Balko ball kick today, so here you go:

    http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/60261.html

    ‘Don’t Taze My Granny!’
    Posted by William Grigg on June 25, 2010 08:03 AM

    Lonnie Tinsley of El Reno, Oklahoma made a nearly fatal mistake last December 22 when he went to check on his grandma, Lona Vernon.

    Concerned that Lona hadn’t taken her medications, Lonnie called 911 in the expectation that an emergency medical technician would be dispatched to the apartment to evaluate the bedridden 86-year-old woman.

    Instead, that call for help was answered by nearly a dozen armed tax-feeders employed by the El Reno Police Department.

    Understandably alarmed ? and probably more than a little disgusted ? by the presence of uninvited armed strangers in her home, Lona ordered them to leave. This directive, issued by a fragile female octogenarian confined to a hospital-style bed and tethered to an oxygen tank, was interpreted as “aggressive” behavior by Officer Thomas Duran, who ordered one of his associates : “Taser her!”

    “Don’t taze my granny!” exclaimed Tinsley. According to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Tinsley’s “obstructive” behavior prompted the police to threaten him with their tasers. He was then was assaulted, removed from the room, thrown to the floor, handcuffed, and detained in a police car. At this point, the heroes in blue turned their attention to Lona.

    The tactical situation was daunting; at this point, the police had only a 10-1 advantage over a subject who ? according to Duran’s official report ? had taken an “aggressive posture” in her hospital bed. The sacred imperative of “officer safety” dictated that the subject be thoroughly softened up in order to minimize resistance.

    Accordingly, one of the officers approached Lona and “stepped on her oxygen hose until she began to suffer oxygen deprivation,” narrates the complaint, based on Lona’s account. One of the officers then shot her with a taser, but the connection wasn’t solid. A second fired his taser, “striking her to the left of the midline of her upper chest, and applied high voltage, causing burns to her chest, extreme pain,” and unconsciousness. Lona was then handcuffed with sufficient ruthlessness to tear the soft flesh of her forearms, causing her to bleed.

    After her wounds were treated at a local hospital, Lona was confined for six days in the psychiatric ward at the insistence of her deranged assailants from the El Reno Police Department.

    It has long been established that the worst thing to do in an emergency is to call the police. In this case, Lonnie Tinsley didn’t call the police, yet they barged in anyway and quite nearly “helped” his grandma to death.

    1. Almanian

      Alan….you bastard. I had made it a whole week….

      *bending at waist and sobbing in groinal agony*

      1. alan

        Promised my girlfriend I would not commit evil for an entire week, but that ended 10 am this morning. It felt good, really good.

    2. Byron

      the police had only a 10-1 advantage over a subject who…had taken an “aggressive posture” in her hospital bed.

      Priceless.

    3. What the FUCK. I work in the city where this happened. Jesus Christ.

  33. Dennis Green

    Weigel is who we thought he was.

    1. Al Greene

      Huh?

      1. Esoteric

        Quietly brilliant, on multiple levels.

  34. Anonymous

    So it’s finally happened… The domain that no one wants, has finally been approved after over a decade of trying… Sheesh… Considering it’s popularity, I have to wonder who kept pushing the damn thing.

  35. Mike M.

    It’s being reported in Politico and a couple of other places that former staff writer for Reason and George Soros’ Center for Independent Media has “resigned” from his gig as a professional concern troll for the Washington Post.

    Game over, eh Weigel? Looks like you’ve learned the hard way the cardinal rule of the Internet: e-mails are only private property as long as the recipient wants them to be.

  36. alan

    Weigel: Please Matt, please Nick, can I have my old job back?

    Welch: I’m sorry but I can still smell oak in the air from that bridge you burnt.

    Gillespie: Tough break, kid.

    1. Tulpa

      Getting Weigal piss out of a leather jacket is pretty tough.

  37. Byron

    Fuck Weigel with the horse he rode in on!

  38. Hacha Cha

    Fuck free speech zones, I hope none of the porn sites use .xxx and that it gets used up by non-porn sites.

  39. Bob Smith

    I hope Dodd’s (or was it Frank’s?) squeeze of private equity firms got negotiated out. Nearly 75% of my potential investors would no longer qualify as accredited investors if this bill passes with that provision. It would destroy the private equity markets, which is probably the point (throw Wall Street a bone as compensation for this regulation).

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