Reason Morning Links: Obama's Poll Numbers Dive, Brown Gives Dems Final Vote for Finance Bill, NAACP To Condemn Tea Parties

• Obama approval rating hits lowest level yet.
• BP installs new containment cap to stop oil leak.
• NAACP expected to condemn Tea Party movement as "racist" today.
• Sens. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) expected to give Dems the votes they need to pass financial reform bill.
• White House announces new strategy to curb new HIV infections.
• Growing resentment toward airport full-body scanners.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

NAACP expected to condemn Tea Party movment as "racist" today.

The Tea Party ain't the one with "colored" in its name.

[Jordan Elliot]

+1

I wonder what would happen if something genuinely racist were somehow aired on national television? I'm torn between thinking that people's heads would actually explode, or it would not be called on it because so many people have falsely accused so many others of racism.

I would love to see many Tea Party members in turn call the NAACP racist if only to add to the comedy/stupidity.

[John]

http://www.powerlineblog.com/a.....026742.php

Here is your racist rant. And this guy is the one that Eric Holder got out of jail.

Remember, Obama could do nothing about the porn case here in Washington because that was a continuing case. But he sure as hell could drop the voter intimidation case against the Black Panthers. That was different.

[Pip]

"But he sure as hell could drop the voter intimidation case against the Black Panthers."

Which the US won by default judgement.

Eric Holder IS a racist. And so is Obama.

[-]

The last year the NAACP was relevant was:

a) 2008
b) 1964
c) 1948
d) Racist!

[Gilbert Martin]

"NAACP expected to condemn Tea Party movment as "racist" today."

The Tea Party folks should say "right back at ya" and condemn the NAACP as being racist.

[Suki]

George Steinbrenner reported dead at 6:30 AM from massive heart attack, George Costanza named Yankees general manager.

[Mike M.]

Remember the days when we were told that Obama was the "post-racial" president who was going to help usher in a new era of racial reconciliation and bridge the divides between different people?

Boy, did that go out the window or what? Instead, he's turned out to be as divisive and polarizing as anyone who has ever held the office in our history.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Of course, colored isn't even the most inappropriate word in the NAACP's name. It's more of an association for the stagnation of black people, at best. The case for regression could credibly be made.

[Solanum]

Welcome to Clay County, KY - The fattest county in the U.S.

The national obesity rate for adults is 24 percent; in Manchester and surrounding Clay County, it's been estimated to be as high as 52 percent.

[Jordan Elliot]

Is this your doing, Sugarfree?

[SugarFree]

Only hang out in Manchester because it makes me look thin by comparison.

[robc]

I think (not 100% sure) I can safely say I have never been in Manchester.

...looks at map...yep, dont see why I would have gone thru there.

Ive known some Clay countians. We could build a wall between Manchester and London ... maybe one of those nifty underground ones that will let us know when someone escapes.

[Jordan Elliot]

Please. You know you're trolling for a fat girl to have a by-weight-3-way.

[Comic Book Guy]

Most . . . disappointing . . . three-way . . . EVER.

[Pip]

The national obesity rate for adults is 24 percent; in Manchester and surrounding Clay County, it's been estimated to be as high as 52 percent deliberately inflated.

http://mises.org/books/TRTS/

[Pip]

"Obama approval rating hits lowest level yet"

Lame duck in sixteen weeks!

[Brett L]

This is what happens when one's solution to finding oneself in a hole is "keep digging".

[Barack Obama]

Let me be clear.

I'm not saying it will be easy, and I'm not saying it will happen quickly, but with hard work and dedication eventually we will dig through to China.

[Mongo]

Unless polls go into the 80%+/- level, the only polling that matters is on election day.

[2010 Voter]

The incumbents will find that polling appalling.

[sspiker]

I hate to be picky, but the WaPo poll has his approval at a surprisingly high 50%-47%. It's the voter's "confidence" in Obama "to make the right decisions for the future of the country" that's at a new low.

[Fatty Bolger]

Maybe they "approve" of having a black President, but don't think he's doing a very good job? I can sympathize with that.

[TallDave]

1) It's a poll of adults. The more you approve of Obama, the less likely you are to vote, so polls go Adults > RV > LV when it comes to his approval. We should pray this tendency increases.

http://www.realclearpolitics.c.....-1044.html

2) They may be reweighting; they don't appear to give that data. Some of these polls have re-weighted Dems to 15-point advantages. So it's possible 40 percent or less of those polled actually approved.

[Fatty Bolger]

OK, but sspiker and I were commenting on the disparity between voter confidence in Obama and his overall approval level, in the same poll.

[TallDave]

Sure, I was just addressing the "surprising" adjective there. 50% is about right for a poll of adults, but it might seem high if you're used to seeing LVs or averages.

[Darkeyes]

I presume that--for understandable but illogical reasons--Obama's approval in the African-American community is ~100%. If you compare him to a "normal" (white) Democrat President, that probably adds something like 4-8 percentage points to his approval rating. (AAs may mostly vote for Democrats but it doesn't mean that they all approve of them.)

Thus, you can think Obama's approval rating as being a little lower. The votes of the African-American community were never in play when it came to the first African-American president.

[Enough About Palin]

- 3/5

[prolefeed]

More like 90% to 95% approval ratings. My former supervisor was a Rush Limbaugh listening black ultra-conservative.

[John]

http://www.detnews.com/article.....selytizing

It is now illegal to proselytize Muslims in Detroit. So much for that whole 1st Amendment thingy.

[John]

Negeen Mayel, 18, of California; Nabeel Qureshi, 29, of Virginia; Paul Rezkalla, 18 of New York, and David Wood, 34, also of New York, face fines of up to $500 each and up to 93 days in jail. Dearborn authorities said the four "chose to escalate their behavior, which appeared well-orchestrated and deliberate" as they handed out religious literature and talking with people at the festival.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article.....z0tZIFd4AI

In Obama's America you can be arrested and face months in jail for handing out pamphlets and talking to people.

[Steve Chaos]

But I thought that was the essence of "community organizing?"

[Just Dropping By]

Go fuck yourself up the ass with this "Obama's America" shit, John. The story you link to says the arrests were made by local police under state law.

[John]

So it is okay if the states do it? And DOJ has no interest in state governments depriving their citizens of federally guaranteed rights?

I would tell you to go fuck yourself in the ass Dan, but you would probably enjoy it.

[TallDave]

Yeah, I'm sure Eric Holder will be taking time off his busy schedule of suing Arizona for enacting exactly the same law the feds already have on the books to defend the religios freedom of Christians.

[Skid Marx]

I find it amazing that the AG would be of a mindset that a state has no right to protect its border.

[PapayaSF]

If the border was being crossed by white people likely to vote Republican I suspect he'd have a different opinion.

[Mongo]

Here last week, a religious nut was allowed by the courts to pass out anti-gay lit at a Gay Pride fest in a city park after vigorous resistance by civic & community leaders. The court said that if you want to ban the Dominionist, you gotta have the fest on private property.

[John]

Exactly. Don't use public property for a festival and then whine when people you don't like show up.

[Mongo]

The local media was, unsurprisingly, slanted against the preacher.

[Enough About Palin]

So you're in Minneapolis? Me too. The preacher is an asshole.

[zoltan]

I wouldn't mind the media being slanted against the preacher himself, as in accusing him of being the dick he so obviously is. The problem is when the media supports the silencing of free speech, which is horrific and all too common.

[Enough About Palin]

Oh I agree with you, but he's still an asshole.

[Scooby]

If they were asked to leave because they were violating festival rules (the rules of a private organization who had leased the space), then they were trespassing, and that is what they should have been charged with, not disturbing the peace.

Cops were wrong here. The evangelists were wronger.

[John]

It is not clear that they were trespassing. The article says "Festival rules require religious groups to distribute information at paid booths or outside the event."
but then doesn't say where these guys were.

If they were trespassing, then yes you are right, they were wrong. But if they were trespassing, why were they not charged for that? What is this disorderly conduct charge? That tells me they were not trespassing. Disorderly conduct can be hard to prove. It is a judgment call. But trespassing is easy. You were either there or you were not.

[Scooby]

It turned into disorderly conduct when they told the cops to bugger off and started bitching about their rights, which didn't really apply.

Of course, in any case, it isn't "now illegal to proselytize Muslims in Detroit", and the 1st amendment isn't any worse off then it has been (not that the SCOTUS has left it in good shape).

[John]

There rights may have applied if they were outside the festival. I want to know where they were. If they were outside and not actually on festival grounds, or had not been asked by the owners to leave, they had every right to tell the cops to bugger off. And the first amendment is in worse shape.

[Fatty Bolger]

They were on public streets that were used for the festival. A judge last year ruled that for the three days of the festival, those public streets were considered a part of the festival grounds and that the 1st amendment would not apply.

[John]

That ruling is bullshit. Public streets are just that public. Fuck that judge and the festival. If they want to have a festival where they can say who can and cannot show up, have it on private property. That ruling is outrageous.

[Fluffy]

Right.

The rules governing the use of public space have to be set up to be absolutely and rigidly in compliance with the limits of state power laid out in the Constitution.

If that means you can't have the festival you want, fuck you and your fucking festival.

There is a tendency in American governance for some state actor to decide they want to use state property for some purpose that is better suited to private property. And then rather than concede that they achieve that purpose in exactly the way they want on state property, they get some quisling judge to say, "Time place and manner!" and they just go ahead and treat state property like private property.

[Fluffy]

Sorry, that should read "can't achieve..." Of course.

Doesn't make too much sense without the negative.

[John]

And the cops of course have confiscated the video that would settle the issue.

[Fluffy]

Gotta side with John here.

And I also have to say that basically every last disorderly conduct statute that exists anywhere in the union is unconstitutional. They've all got to go.

[Rich]

The behavior of these individuals drew and incited a large crowd to a point where they were in violation of city ordinances

If these individuals had been *popular* would they have been arrested?

[Fluffy]

Right.

The "incitement" here is that the crowd wanted to kill people for attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity.

Period. End of sentence.

You could similarly argue that all interracial couples should be arrested for disorderly conduct and incitement if they stand in a racist neighborhood and profess their affection for each other.

It's nice how the douchebags who wrote the newspaper article decided not to cover that little detail: that the conduct was angering the crowd because the people in the crowd thought they had the right to resist apostasy with violence.

[PapayaSF]

Yes, and this is a good example of politically correct bias: if an angry crowd of Christians had threatened a few Muslims and had them arrested, the sympathy wouldn't be with the crowd.

[John]

Question, if the Obama is supposed to be such a great orator (so good that according to MNG future generations will be reading his speeches like they were Cicero), why can't he seem to convince anyone of anything? Has there been a single issue he has been able to move the polls on despite giving a national speech nearly every week? All he has been able to do is muscle stuff down the country's throat by the sheer force of his majority in Congress.

[Pip]

"why can't he seem to convince anyone of anything?"

What do you mean? He convinced Stupak that he wasn't a liar.

[James Ard]

Obama could tell the funniest joke in the universe and I don't think I'd crack a smile.

[Ragin Cajun]

Of course not. You'd be dead.

[Citizen Nothing]

I love that bit.

[sage]

Obama approval rating hits lowest level yet.

He's not done.

[Pip]

+1

[WTF]

It did say "yet."

[Hank]

If the cap works, it will be entertaining enough to watch the Obama administration clamoring to take credit for it. I heard the Prez sent Al Gore down to the bottom of the ocean with a snorkle, a leather thong, an oyster knife, and some dolphin friends of his and he capped the well with his own poop. It's also widley rumored that Rahm is the actual sniper that took out them pirates.

[Aquaman]

I don't like your tone on the topic of undersea heroism, Hank.

[Black Vulcan]

Keep it to yourself, Whitefish.

[The Wonder Twins]

Hey, can we help? We have a monkey!

[Zan]

Form of.....Wonder Woman's bath water!

Oh baby.

[alittlesense]

Al Gore in a leather thong? Ewwwwww....
I bet it was the fright factor that curdled the oil and stopped up the well.

[John]

http://dailycaller.com/2010/07.....hes-angry/

Congress critters are apparently dangerous when cornered.

[Astrid]

I was disappointed by that video, at no point did he turn green.

[John]

The police confiscated the video of him bursting out of his clothes and tossing cars on people.

[Bart Simpson]

Thank goodness his pants stayed on...

[Don't squeeze the Charmin]

NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!

[JW]

"NAACP expected to condemn Tea Party movment as "racist" go full retard today."

[John]

Full retard has been the default position for about 30 years now. It is really sad because it was once a great organization.

[JW]

That was ridiculous retard. This is Ludicrous Retard.

[Brett L]

"Spaceball one's gone plaid."

[Jordan Elliot]

Racist...

(Yes it's played out. Yes, I still think it's funny.)

[Skid Marx]

NAACP:

National Association for the Apartheidation of Colored People

[Ragin Cajun]

Is the NAACP going to also condemn Dan Gilbert for attempted slavery?

[Skid Marx]

LeBron James says, "LeBron be a good n***** from now on, Massa Dan. I promise nots to run away no more, Massa Dan. No more, no more."

[SugarFree]

"It's sort of funny that the Australians, one of the most macho and borderline gay cultures on earth, have a female Prime Minister."

[Ragin Cajun]

I just knew The Road Warrior was a documentary.

[ClubMedSux]

What about Warrior of the Lost World?

[Brett L]

I love the Amis clan, crazy as they are.

[John]

http://images.businessweek.com.....ears/2.htm

50 ugliest cars of the past 50 years.

[Mike Laursen]

Thought for a minute there they weren't going to get to the Aztec.

[prolefeed]

Some of these cars are truly hideous, but others have a funky charm: the Scion IQ, the Chrysler PT Cruiser, the Nissan Cube.

I owned a Pinto, and its awful handling made the styling look OK by comparison. It's sole virtue was that it was dirt cheap at a time when I had no money.

[Mike Laursen]

Pinto was my first car, too, when I had no money to speak of.

[WTF]

A Congressman lies and says he was called "nigger" while walking through protesters. None of the many videos from the event show it happening, and Breitbart offers $100K for proof that the word was said, with no takers. This should be a huge scandal, yet at the Washington Post... crickets. On the other hand, the NAACP using the same fake event to "condemn" the tea party movement gets a two page article.

[DanD]

Didn't the WaPo assign multiple reporters to investigate the racism allegations? Funny that we haven't heard anything back from them yet.

[O.J. Simpson]

They could hire me to help!

[zoltan]

Maybe that's because they assigned Weigel.

[WTF]

Hey! Stop using my screen name.

[Skid Marx]

BOMBSHELL: Media Mogul Mort Zuckerman Admits He Wrote One Of Obama's Speeches...

http://www.realclearpolitics.c.....eches.html

[John]

I saw that. Why is that a bombshell? Did anyone think the Zero wrote his own speeches?

[Skid Marx]

Because Zuckerman is a media mogul. Imagine the Media uproar if it Rush Limbaugh had written one of George Bush's speeches.

[Jordan Elliot]

Good call.

[Max]

A wealthy jew in the mix--red meat for the losers in the Tea Party.

[John]

Yeah, because no one on the left ever accused Jews of being fifth columnists or equated zionism with racism, dipshit. You are a fucking socialist. That is nothing but anti- Semiticism for dishonest people.

[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.

[Max]

A wealthy Jew in the mix--red meat for the losers in the Tea Party.

[The Libertarian Guy]

Max, just a few posts up, you were going on about racism... and, as if on cue, here you are bitching about Jews.

Hypocrisy much?

[libertymike]

Bitching about jews is not racism. Just as bitching about mexicans is not racism. Last I checked, jew and mexican are not races.

[The Libertarian Guy]

No, but pointless harping about Jews can be bigoted... and Max is a bigot in soooo many ways.

[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.

[John]

George Steinbrenner has died.

[Phil Smith]

I hear that they're going to bury him at New Yankee Stadium. The Taj Mahal will be the world's 2nd most expensive mausoleum at that point.

[Don't squeeze the Charmin]

Why not? They buried Jimmy Hoffa in Giants stadium, didn't they?

[nch]

They were going to bury him at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre but decided they didn't want the risk of him coming back in three days.

[libertymike]

I wonder if Steinbrenner is going to the same place as Bob Sheppard?

[Ska]

I'm going to miss hearing Sheppard a lot more than I'll miss hearing about Steinbrenner.

[libertymike]

"Now batting, number zero, David Wiegal, left out, zero."

[TrickyVic]

+1

[Max]

I can see how many of the tea party folks might resent successful blacks. African Americans still make up a large underclass in American society, but African Americans like Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey, and Barack Obama have gone to the top of their respective fileds despite the handicaps. Loser whites need some explanation for their failures in the face of these highly successful blacks. Slogans like "We want our country back" reflect a sense of betrayal. What they really mean is "We want these uppity blacks to get back down where they don't make us feel likle such losers." It's kind of pathertic really.

[John]

Yeah Max, people are pissed off about things because Tiger Woods won the Masters a few times. And they hate Oprah and her success so much they watch her show by the millions.

If there is anything pathetic, it people like you whose ideas haven't changed since the 1970s and who can't accept that every policy you have ever supported has been a failure and blame your unpopularity on projected racism of your opponents.

[The Libertarian Guy]

Oh, Maaaaxx...

http://www.amazon.com/You-Have.....0743270134

You Have the Power: How to Take Back Our Country and Restore Democracy in America [Hardcover]
Howard Dean
Howard Dean (Author)
? Visit Amazon's Howard Dean Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
(Author), Judith Warner (Contributor)

Now... you were saying something about the phrase "take back the country"?

[Max]

The phrase can mean different things in different contexts. For the angry white losers in the Tea Party it clearly means "Restore white dominance."

[Citizen Nothing]

This is precious.

[The Libertarian Guy]

So... it's okay when a white guy says we need to take back America, as long as he's a Democrat.

Got it. Thanks, Max.

[Fatty Bolger]

Sure. For instance, "Max" in this context means "ignorant douchebag."

[TallDave]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!

[Subsidize Me!]

Replace "tea party folks" and "loser whites" with NAACP.

FTFY

[Subsidize Me!]

Replace "tea party folks" and "loser whites" with NAACP.

FTFY

[Fatty Bolger]

You're pathertic.

[Michael Ejercito]

I can see how many of the tea party folks might resent successful blacks. African Americans still make up a large underclass in American society, but African Americans like Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey, and Barack Obama have gone to the top of their respective fileds despite the handicaps. Loser whites need some explanation for their failures in the face of these highly successful blacks. Slogans like "We want our country back" reflect a sense of betrayal. What they really mean is "We want these uppity blacks to get back down where they don't make us feel likle such losers." It's kind of pathertic really.

So that explains your condition.

[#]

max truely has outdone himself this time.

It must be racism in the "tea party" that has gotten them beging an indian woman for governor in SC, a hispanic guy for senate in Florida, a hisapnic nominee for governor in both nevada and new mexico, and a black guy who beat strom thurmond's son in the SC GOP primary. Yup, those angry white people must be sending those uppidy blacks a meassge by nominating them for office.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

The thing that's pathetic is your attempt at dimestore psychology. Do yourself a favor: don't quit your day job.

[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.

[hmm]

How many non blacks sit on the NAACP board?

Ya, racist.

[Max]

How nay other morons are there in your family? It's genetics.

[Some Moron]

We moe-rons resents y'all's anti moe-ron bi-ass.

[TallDave]

Oh yeah? How many non-morons sit on the board of the NAAMP?

Your pro-moron bias is showing.

[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.

[ev]

Cracked has got a really good article up: http://www.cracked.com/article.....w-you.html

It uses lots of info that I/we discovered through Balko. Maybe this will help get the word out about how it's somehow illegal to record the fuzz.

[hmm]

I'm all for full body scanners, as long as they install them at the entrance to congress and every city hall and make the video available to the public.

[Pablo]

Good God I don't want to see what's underneath a politician's clothes. They are bad enough to look at as it is. As they say, politics is Hollywood for ugly people. I mean would you want to see Dianne Fienstein's or Henry Waxman's or Harry Reid's scan???

[Warty]

Driving away the rich: a favorite Ohio pastime.

[Timon19]

Well, if those two comments up there now are a harbinger of things to come on the comment section, then Ohio deserves to be slowly bled to death.

[Warty]

This one is received more favorably.

Voluntary purchasing of local products or from local merchants, unfortunately, cannot be coupled with mandatory purchases by municipalities or states of local products or from local merchants. Preferential treatment against big-box stores or transnational corporations violates the 14th Amendment to the Constitution -- the moment corporations gained corporate constitutional "rights" in the 19th century.

What is this incoherent fuck trying to say?

[Timon19]

Oh, dear. And the last comment is fucking hilarious in its hypocrisy.

I guess the theory of brain-drain is true in spades up here.

[Warty]

Read this 20 times and see if you get dizzy.

A better way to decrease the effects of the recent Supreme Court ruling which gives an equal right to corporations that was previously reserved for human beings is the application of our voting Presidents to office who Constitutionally have the authority to nominate to the Supreme Court those who will interpret the Constitution in a more intelligent and less politically biased manner.

[Timon19]

It only took me 3.

[North Korean]

What he is trying to say is that we are hurting ourselves by trading with others who may have a comparative advantage or better economies of scale. By instead spending more money on the same basket of goods, i.e. reducing our purchasing power, we will actually become better off because all that money stays in the local economy. Sure the ideas fly in the face of the basic tenets of economics, but look at what a smashing success buying local has been for us here in North Korea. You can't argue with results like ours.

[Ragin Cajun]

Shouldn't the symphony be enough for them? Monocled bastards.

[zoltan]

After some research, Ohio also charges "school district income tax" and "municipal income taxes" in several cities. Talk about draining. So glad I live in Texas.

[John]

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6329595&postID=1199576439347350954

Ann Altouse gives a recipe for being serious about global warming.

1. Your weight should be at the low end of normal, indicating that you are not overconsuming the products of agriculture.

2. You should not engage in vigorous physical exercise, as this will increase your caloric requirements. You may do simple weight-lifting or calisthenics to keep in shape. Check how many calories per hour are burned and choose a form of exercise that burns as few calories as possible.

3. Free time should be spent sitting or lying still without using electricity. Don't run the television or music playing device. Reading, done by sunlight is the best way to pass free time. After dark, why not have a pleasant conversation with friends or family? Word games or board games should replace sports or video games.

4. Get up at sunrise. Don't waste the natural light. Try never to turn on the electric lights in your house or workplace. Put compact fluorescent bulbs in all your light fixtures. The glow is so ugly that it will reduce the temptation to turn them on.

5. Restrict your use of transportation. Do not assume that walking or biking is less productive of carbon emissions than using a highly efficient small car. Do not go anywhere you don't have to go. When there is no food in the house to make dinner, instead of hopping in the car to go to the grocery store or a restaurant, take it as a cue to fast. As noted above, your weight should be at the low end of normal, and opportunities to reach or stay there should be greeted with a happy spirit.

6. If you have free time, such as a vacation from work, spend it in your home town. Read library books, redo old jigsaw puzzles, meditate, tell stories to your children ? the list of activities is endless. Just thinking up more items to put on that list is an activity that could be on the list. Really embrace this new way of life. A deep satisfaction and mental peace can be achieved knowing that you are saving the earth.

Somehow I doubt Al Gore or Leo DiCaprio will be doing this anytime soon.

[Warty]

It's like being a monk, except you probably don't get to make beer.

[Brett L]

Beer has CO2 in it. Major eco-party foul.

[Jordan Elliot]

.........

This chick is fucked up like polio.

[John]

No she is not. She was being factitious. It was posted in response to some douschbag Washington Post article saying people need to give up air conditioning.

[Jordan Elliot]

Thank Gog. I happy to be called on not reading the link so long as she's not serious.

[BakedPenguin]

...saying people need to give up air conditioning.

The asshole who wrote that should come down to Florida now or in August. We'll see how long he goes without A/C.

[zoltan]

Air conditioning is not as bad for the environment as heating--stupid Northeasterners.

[DanD]

I wholly endorse the idea of all green zealots voluntarily staying indoors and working jigsaw puzzles by daylight.

[Enough About Palin]

"Get up at sunrise."

If I did this in the winter, I'd be late for work (sunrise Dec 22 -- 7:51 am).

[Don't squeeze the Charmin]

Somebody please pull the spike out of my head!!!

[MattJ]

I favor a modification to #2 for eco-nuts:

You can do all the vigorous exercise you want if you're doing something useful. You can lift weight if it's not a set of barbells, but rather you're at a construction site and they need bags of concrete moved. You can do all the running you want if you're on you're going somewhere you need to be, or running messages at work, etc.

Exercising just to burn off all those calories you're consuming? No.

Also, beer is a carbon sink as long as you don't drink it or let it go flat. So feel free to make all the beer you want...

[cynical]

But only if it's useful to the environment. If it's only useful to consumerist capitalism, then it isn't useful at all -- in fact, it's probably worse than doing nothing at all. Best to err on the side of stillness.

[Mike Laursen]

Shorter list for those who really care about the environment:

1. Off yourself.

[TallDave]

The National Association for the Advancement of the Communist Party doesn't like the Tea Party movement?

Shocking.

[Max]

Wow, calling the NAACP communist is old-school right-wing drivel. The new drivel says it's Muslim. Let's just say it's un-American.

[John]

You think there is something wrong with being a communist? Fuck you, you rightwing hack.

[The Libertarian Guy]

Max is a pussy.

[TallDave]

You McCarthist bastard! Communists are not only praised right and left by Tom Friedman, that Vikev fellow, an avowed Commie, writes regularly for the NYT (in between standup acts).

Why, a third of American feel "socialist" describes Obama, and we all now how wonderful he is.

[Enough About Palin]

It's actually 55%

[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.

[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.

[Every Passenger in the World]

Passengers can refuse screening by the machines and receive a pat-down search by a security officer, ... the TSA says.

I respectfully request the pat-down.

[Tim]

Every time his approval hits a new low we get flooded with racism stories. It must focus group well.

[John]

Eventually that dog is going to die of exhaustion and not hunt anymore.

[Tim]

Only a racist would say such a thing.

[TallDave]

Every time his approval hits a new low we get flooded with racism stories.

Duh, that's because when Obama becomes less popular, the only reason is increased racism.

[Fatty Bolger]

I guess the people who used to approve of him and changed their minds didn't realize he was black until very recently.

[Enough About Palin]

Well he does have good hair.

[Mike M.]

Obama attempts to unilaterally ban offshore drilling a THIRD time after having been slapped down by judges twice already.

[Warty]

"Don't you know who I am? HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!"

[Kool]

Warty,

I was thinking of you the other day when I wiped the dust off this CD...

I'm sure he was singing about some dirty Republican, but really

appropriate now..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq8i2i2ZRHA

[Kool]

Who put "Submit" and "Preview" so close together?

I blame threaded comments.

[Warty]

Dave might have been a Democrat, but I think he was always more anti-politician than anything. And apparently a FEMA conspiracy theorist.

[Ragin Cajun]

Mr Obama's inactivity...is a steady application to the task of neutralizing and thwarting economy wherever there are signs of life.

[Rich]

"It is a better bill than it was when this whole process started," Mr. Brown said. "While it isn't perfect, I expect to support the bill when it comes up for a vote."

IOW, good enough for government work.

That Scott Brown has turned out to be quite the game-changer, huh?

[libertymike]

Brown is a big government freak. Look, he has been in the public sector for quite a long time. Anybody who thought this guy represented a breath of fresh air just did not know that inhaling bovine flatulence is not the only air which is fresh.

[prolefeed]

He's about as good as you might expect a Republican elected in Massachusetts or Maine to be, which is to say, disappointing but not quite as bad as the alternatives.

[Brett L]

He doesn't always tow the lion?

[Warty]

Have something long and hard to appreciate.

[Jordan Elliot]

Excellent choice! I was listening to "Harvest" when I got home a while ago.

Great minds think a like. And so do we.

[Tim]

You know what might help? Hire more census workers...

[Some dude]

Speaking of HIV, has reason ever done a follow-up to these articles, or does reason still think the link between HIV and AIDS is an open question?

[Spoonman.]

My father maintained throughout the early 90s that AIDS is caused by the combination of "blood, shit, and semen". Of course, in the early 90s my wife was a little girl, so for her it was calmed down to "well if you have blood and shit, don't add anything else, just in case."

[Some dude]

I'll assume from reason's silence that its official position is still that the cause of AIDS is an open question.

[Enough About Palin]

Stoopid up the butt much?

[Pablo]

It's an interesting question, but not one that most people here would probably spend a lot of time researching (which would be necessary to have a good working knowledge of the subject), unless they or someone close to them had HIV. As a commenter in the original story noted, it is not an epidemic, nor is it a short term crisis. My understanding is that (with very rare exceptions) you just don't get HIV unless you share needles, or get fucked without a rubber.

[Post-Coital Rat]

While not outright stating that HIV causes AIDS, Ron Bailey's article from 2006 appears to agree with the consensus: http://reason.com/archives/2006/08/14/aids-at-25

And how reasonable of you to allow Reason an hour and 15 minutes to respond to some random question in the blog comments. I'm sure that they were quaking with fear that you caught them, and they're too frightened to respond.

[Chris Mallory]

Don't know if this has been posted, but here is a dirty hippie being arrested by a fascist cop for assaulting him with .....bubbles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGMTm3QRwEc

[Tim]

Stinky Port-O-Let causes panic

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.....d-for-odor

[John]

Suffer These Crimes in Oakland? Don't Call the Cops
Dozens of layoffs effective at midnight, barring last minute deal
By LORI PREUITT and KRIS SANCHEZ
Updated 7:22 AM PDT, Tue, Jul 13, 2010

Print Share Buzz up!
12diggsdigg

Oakland's police chief is making some dire claims about what his force will and will not respond to if planned layoffs happen tonight at midnight.

Chief Anthony Batts listed exactly 44 situations that his officers no longer respond to and they include grand theft, burglary, vehicle collision, identity theft and vandalism. He says if you live and Oakland and one of the above happens to you, you need to let police know on-line.

Here's a partial list:

* burglary
* theft
* embezzlement
* grand theft
* grand theft:dog
* identity theft
* false information to peace officer
* required to register as sex or arson offender
* dump waste or offensive matter
* discard appliance with lock
* loud music
* possess forged notes
* pass fictitious check
* obtain money by false voucher
* fraudulent use of access cards
* stolen license plate
* embezzlement by an employee (over $ 400)
* extortion
* attempted extortion
* false personification of other
* injure telephone/ power line
* interfere with power line
* unauthorized cable tv connection
* vandalism
* administer/expose poison to another's

[John]

Suffer These Crimes in Oakland? Don't Call the Cops

Oakland's police chief is making some dire claims about what his force will and will not respond to if planned layoffs happen tonight at midnight.

Chief Anthony Batts listed exactly 44 situations that his officers no longer respond to and they include grand theft, burglary, vehicle collision, identity theft and vandalism. He says if you live and Oakland and one of the above happens to you, you need to let police know on-line.

Here's a partial list:

* burglary
* theft
* embezzlement
* grand theft
* grand theft:dog
* identity theft
* false information to peace officer
* required to register as sex or arson offender
* dump waste or offensive matter
* discard appliance with lock
* loud music
* possess forged notes
* pass fictitious check
* obtain money by false voucher
* fraudulent use of access cards
* stolen license plate
* embezzlement by an employee (over $ 400)
* extortion
* attempted extortion
* false personification of other
* injure telephone/ power line
* interfere with power line
* unauthorized cable tv connection
* vandalism
* administer/expose poison to another's

To protect and to serve. If you won't pay us our extortion money, we won't give you any protection. Gotta love cops.

[John]

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news.....66509.html

Oakland cops staging a work slowdown over budget cuts. Gotta love cops.

[Warty]

I love cops. "You won't give me a raise? Fine. I'll let your fucking city burn down."

[wylie]

"Nice city you gots here, be a shame if anythings were to happens to its."

[BakedPenguin]

Oakland cops staging a work slowdown over budget cuts

Oh my, Oakland cops are having a work slowdown? They're gonna cut down on already subdued black men they murder this year?

[dbcooper]

Although the Oakland PD has long tradition of being "tough", Mehserle was a transit (BART) cop.

[Enough About Palin]

WASHINGTON - Twin Cities prosecutors are investigating hundreds of cases of suspected voter fraud flagged by Minnesota Majority, a conservative group that claims large numbers of ineligible felons were allowed to vote in the 2008 elections.

http://www.startribune.com/pol.....7UiacyKUUr

[John]

That is what got them their 60th vote and put a real clown as opposed to a fake one into the Senate.

[West Texas Boy]

OF COURSE that shit was crooked. It's exactly what would have happened with Bush v Gore had the state government been allowed to proceed and keep changing the rules of the game until they got to the result they liked. But, being a national election, the Supremes claimed jurisdiction and ended that nonsense on 14th Amendment grounds.

But this was a state election and the Minnesota state government had ultimate authrority and wanted Coleman out and they did what they needed to do to make it happen. And it's nothing but the business of the people of Minnesota.

Same thing happened in Washington in the governor's race a couple years ago, too, for that matter.

(Yes, I know that the linked article isn't necessarily about the recount, but it's all part of the same process in my eyes.)

And, FWIW, Coleman fucked the recount up big time by playing nice early and letting Franken set the rules. Coleman should have been screaming from day one.

[Mike M.]

The democratic party machine has been blatantly stealing elections in this country for decades, and I continue to wonder just how long this can go on for.

When even the judiciary has become so corrupt that they aid and abet this, I say that we are no longer truly either a democracy or a republic.

[Fact Check]

The WaPo article addresses a stat other than Obama's "approval" rating, which WaPo had at 50 percent. (Not its "lowest level", and not a "nosedive.") So taken at face value, Mr. Balko's lead, "Obama approval rating hits lowest level yet" is incorrect. A look at the poll's raw data makes this clear.

[Warty]

Ow, my brain

The idea that new universes can be created inside black holes and that our own may have originated in this way has been the raw fodder of science fiction for many years. But a proper scientific derivation of the notion has never emerged.

Today Poplawski provides such a derivation. He says the idea that black holes are the cosmic mothers of new universes is a natural consequence of a simple new assumption about the nature of spacetime.

[Dagny T.]

"Such an expansion is not visible for observers outside the black hole, for whom the horizon's formation and all subsequent processes occur after infinite time,"

After infinite time. How freaking cool is that? I could listen to smart people talk about this stuff all day, and even if I only understand a fraction of it, it still makes me tingly in my special place.

[Timon19]

How YOU doin'?

[R C Dean]

You know, that could easily be an article about the national debt.

[R C Dean]

The idea that new universes economies can be created inside black holes government programs and that our own may have originated in this way has been the raw fodder of science fiction left-wing politics for many years. But a proper scientific derivation of the notion has never emerged.

Today Poplawski provides such a derivation. He says the idea that black holes are deficit spending is the cosmic mothers of new universes economies is a natural consequence of a simple new assumption about the nature of spacetime reality.

[Fluffy]

Here's the funny thing to me about that black hole theory.

If our universe is inside a black hole in another universe, and if all the stuff in our universe arose from the infinite-energy-density but not-quite-a-singularity inside that black hole, then more matter and energy from that other universe should be falling into our universe across the event horizon of that other black hole even now.

But wouldn't that violate the laws of thermodynamics? Because energy and matter would in fact be being created, all the time. It would fall into that other black hole and become part of our universe. Right?

[Ska]

De-fense! De-fense!

Oh, you were saying something?

[JEP]

You have to define your system.

If the system is our universe inside the black hole, then the energy being added would be considered work done on our system. But the total amount of energy within the "universe", meaning whatever you define as the "system" and "not the system", is still conserved.

If the system includes the the universe outside the black hole, then all that energy is just being moved around within the system and everything is still conserved.

[prolefeed]

Shorter rebuttal: "created" =/= "falling into"

[Timon19]

That wasn't mind-hurting - the two comments immediately after were. Man.

[Warty]

ArXiv comments are the Youtube of the physics community.

[P Brooks]

Help me!

A Waterford mother will spend at least nine years in prison for having sex with the 14-year-old son she gave up for adoption when he was a few days old. hier

It's creepy. It's wrong. I get that.

But NINE to THIRTY YEARS in prison?

Was there force, or coercion involved?

[prolefeed]

The legal theory is that a 14 year old is too young to meaningfully consent to sex, thus coercion was involved.

Of course, Hawaii recently had an age of sexual consent of 14, so there's some ambiguity, unlike, say, with a 4 year old.

[fresno dan]

I can't help it - connecting the dots - - full body scanners and Stagliano - would the scanner pick up a storm squirter, who was packing a liquid explosive (and I use "explosive" advisedly)?