Reason Morning Links: Interrogation Tapes Found, Five Years After Katrina, 50 Dead in Iraq Bombing

• CIA finds interrogation tapes in a box sitting under a desk.
• Obama to ease travel restrictions to Cuba.
• Suicide bomber kills at least 50 in Iraq.
• USA Today surveys post-Katrina New Orleans five years later.
• Newscorp gives $1 million to Republican Governors Association.

Comments

[Johnny Longtorso]

Union Member Fired For Attempting To Unionize

Woah! LA OUTRAGED After Obama Fundraiser Shuts Down Traffic For Hours

[waffles]

The suicide bomber link sent me to the news about halting gay marriage. Is this some kind of sick joke? Or is it pastiche intended for artistic effect?

[BeltwayLurker]

It's always about the art.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Obama, the one-term president
Q: Will Barack Obama be a one-term president?

A: Yes, he might last that long.

[John]

I have been saying for about a year now that I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled a Johnson and didn't even run for re-election.

[R C Dean]

I have been saying for about a year now that I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled a Johnson

Thanks for the visual.

[sage]

Hey!

[cynical]

Funny, but that whole article is whining about Obama is failing because he's just... too... honest... for... Washington...

[cynical]

Or, rather, he doesn't listen to polls, but instead does what is right.

[Spoonman.]

"Awww, Obama's just too good of a guy to be President!"

Barf. Son of a bitch lied about taxes, he lied about the wars, he lied about the stimulus. Fuck him.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Shorter list: things Obama did NOT lie about.

[Slut Bunwalla]

-having a grandmother
-there are, indeed, those who
-being the president

...that's all I got.

[Fist of Etiquette]

USA Today surveys post-Katrina New Orleans five years later.

Still below sea level and adjacent to large bodies of water?

[robc]

Thats my general thought too.

However, the Dutch have made it work. Personally, if NO is willing to spend the money to do it right, Im okay with that, as long as it is local funding and not federal.

[John]

The Dutch don't get hurricanes.

[robc]

True, but the North Sea still has nasty storms.

[Aresen]

And the Rhine still has Germans.

[robc]

The flood walls in the Netherlands are designed at the 1 in 10000 year fail level. That might be expensive for NO, but, as I said, as long as they wanted to fund it locally, its not my problem.

[robc]

Hell, they could build a 1 in 10 year failure wall and Im okay with it as long as they are willing to deal with a failure every 10 years.

[John]

But the Dutch apparently are competent. Unlike the Corps of Engineers. If you want to give the place to the Dutch and let them fix it, I might be for it.

[robc]

See the link below, Dutch in 50s are no more competent than CoE in 00s. Okay, they have probably improved over last 50 years - in fact, Im sure they have.

[Mike M.]

We could have had a levee system there comparable to the ones the Dutch have decades ago, but a federal judge and the environmental extremists stopped it from happening.

[dbcooper]

Mike M, have you got a link? Would be much appreciated.

[dbcooper]

From the wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.....ew_Orleans

The Corps of Engineers also designed a Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane Barrier to shield the city with flood gates like those that protect the Netherlands from the North Sea. Congress provided funding and construction began in 1971, but work stopped in 1977 when a federal judge ruled, in a suit brought by the environmental group Save Our Wetlands, that the Corps' environmental impact statement was deficient. In 1985, after nearly a decade of court battles, the Corps scrapped the plan, and decided on reinforcing the city's levee system instead.[1][dead link]

[robc]

Killed about the same number in the Netherlands as Katrina killed in the US

[zoltan]

They learned from their mistake 50 years ago.

[BeltwayLurker]

The Dutch ignore their evironmentalists better than we do.

[Aresen]

Actually, there is another problem in NO: The continuous pumping out of water is actually causing the land to slowly subside over the years. So, even if they built a sufficiently high wall now, it wouldn't be high enough in a couple of hundred years.

[T]

We're Americans, we don't think that long term. Let the grandkids figure it out.

[Kolohe]

You all are forgetting that the Army Corps of Engineers isn't allowed to work with dykes the way Dutch engineers are.

[Slut Bunwalla]

They're just not flexible enough. And their fingers aren't as nimble.

[Anonymous]

+0

[DG]

Is that a bad idea?

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Tip to NO residents: move to where the land is actually above sea level and not subject to massive, violent storms coming in off the water.

[Atanarjuat]

I have a friend who lives in New Orleans and have met some people from there...they don't live by the same logic the rest of us do.

[Brett L]

Yeah. Your mistake is using the word 'logic' to apply to their decision making.

[dave b.]

Let's just abandon one of the largest ports in the U.S. while we're at it. Not everyone is cut out to move to generic cities with 10 million strip malls and 1940's-era liquor laws.

[Brett L]

I didn't say I don't love them. Just that they use anything remotely related to systematic thinking. And I'm previously on record saying that La. has the best liquor laws in the South and probably the nation.

[robc]

There are many points above sea level in the area. Like a big chunk of New Orleans now.

[The Gobbler]

Regardless, the cuisine is world class.

[dbcooper]

This brings to mind the following question: Was Treme the most boring high production value TV series in recent history?

[Scotticus Finch]

Yes, but it only held the title until Rubicon premiered recently on AMC.

[dbcooper]

Rubicon has been very slooooooooow in developing, but it picks up a lot in eps 3 and 4. Could be worth the effort. Treme just got more pointless and insular as it continued.

[Brett L]

It must have been more than half way thru ep. 3. I tried to watch and gave it up. Also, their little tense movement for string quartet music makes me want to break the fingers of random cellists.

[?]

It is painfully obvious that concealing gay marriage news behind a link to a story about a suicide bomber is a racist attempt to put the gay on Muslims.

[Warty]

Iraq is a nice place
Blinded by Fear

[Warty]

Son of a bitch. Well, at least one of my links isn't a dupe.

[Warty]

46. Nirvana is on the classic oldies station.

I like this one from my year: 33. Coors Beer has always been sold east of the Mississippi, eliminating the need for Burt Reynolds to outrun the authorities in the Smokey and the Bandit films.

[John]

1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.

WTF?

[Joe M]

They don't teach that useless garbage anymore, and thank goodness for that.

[John]

Being able to write is useless garbage? Do you plan to fill out forms and sign your name or write a letter with your IPOD?

[Joe M]

They still teach printed block letters, which is all you need. Cursive is illegible nonsense from a bygone era.

[John]

No it is not. Good like writing more than your name printing. We really are raising a generation of animals.

[Joe M]

LMAO! Now that's funny.

[The Gobbler]

X
________________

The Gobbler

[R C Dean]

Cursive is useful when you are writing with a fountain pen, where picking up and putting down the pen causes skips and blots.

Markers and ball-points? Not so much.

There's a reason why architects and engineers don't (well, didn't; its all computers now) use cursive on drawings - its not as legible. I abandonded cursive when my brother (the architect) pointed out that his classes required block printing.

[Brett L]

Print works just as well for that. What you DON'T need to do anymore is write something that must be legible to others in a manner that will reflect your professionalism in a reasonable amount of time using pen and ink. That's what cursive was for.

Of course, if legibility is your overriding concern, you do like architects, engineers, and draftsmen and use block print letters.

[John]

"What you DON'T need to do anymore is write something that must be legible to others in a manner that will reflect your professionalism in a reasonable amount of time using pen and ink."

I think you do. Ever write a note or comment on a written document? Further, do you really plan to spend your entire life writing personal letters and notes by typing them?

[Scotticus Finch]

do you really plan to spend your entire life writing personal letters and notes by typing them?

Only until speech-recognition programs are perfected.

[robc]

Cursive in a margin or on a blueprint? Yeah, not gonna happen.

The only time I use cursive is on checks and signing contracts.

[Law Student]

Get with the future. I was never taught to write cursive.

[Joe M]

Printed letters are easier to read, and yes, these days, the very few times people actually even send snail mail letters, they're printed from a computer anyway. Or you may get a note in a birthday card or some such, but people just write block letters. Cursive is just annoying hassle.

Everyone at my office job writes printed letters, not cursive.

[John]

And no one in my office can except me can add a fraction or do long division. No kidding. I find the whole thing appalling. And I have never had great hand writing.

[Warty]

They barely taught me how to do long division in school, but I can at least do it. I find it hard to fathom that someone with a college degree can't add fractions, though. We deserve to be conquered by China and used for mine labor.

[John]

I work with people with JDs and PHDs who can't do it. And I feel that way to sometimes.

[Joe M]

What I find appalling is people with poor grammar, spelling, and punctuation. 😛

[MNG]

"I work with people with JDs and PHDs who can't do it. And I feel that way to sometimes."

Can they spell "too?"

[Joe M]

High five!

[Withheld]

Since no one will read this, and I need to get it off my chest. Is John dyslexic? I think he might be.

[Warty]

Wait, there was ever a time when JDs could divide? I thought they always just rounded up to the next hour.

[The Firm]

Not a good idea.

[Ska]

Keeping time in tenths is easy enough to add.

[The Gobbler]

Just figure out the common denominator and there you have it.

[MNG]

Mine labor? I'm hoping for this gig:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINE.....index.html

[Brett L]

Stupid common denominators.

[Spoonman.]

Yeah, I don't use cursive either - I type everything, generally, and print is easier to read.

I can, however, add fractions and do long division.

[Rhywun]

So if kids don't have to bear the "burden" of learning how to write anymore, why is their printing so terrible too?

All of this makes me intend to write ONLY in cursive from now on. And when practicable, in that impossible-to-read olde German style I taught myself years ago.

[John]

I am with you.

[zoltan]

You old ass fools with soon die it with your stupid cursive too.

[Rhywun]

Apparently they stopped teaching "composition", too.

[Ted S.]

Do you really mean S?tterlin?

I have relatively few problems with Fraktur (although I don't understand why so many people insist on using Fraktur variants when they get themselves tattooed), but S?tterlin is just nasty.

[Rhywun]

I sure do mean S?tterlin. Hey it ain't pretty but it has the benefit of being completely illegible to anyone who isn't German and at least middle-aged.

[John]

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/62044940/

Stripper Says Degree Profitable for Goldman Not Worth It

[Atanarjuat]

I can't believe she wouldn't get hired by a video game company if she applied in person.

[John]

Me either. Just go around in person walking into the offices handing out her resume.

[Stripper Barbie]

Applying for jobs is hard!

[kilroy]

She should get one of those unemployed lawyers from the posting last week and sue the pants off them.

What?

[Pip]

US breast cancer drug decision 'marks start of death panels'...

America's health watchdog is considering revoking its approval of the drug Avastin for use on women with advanced breast cancer, leading to accusations that it will mark the start of 'death panel' drug rationing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/hea.....anels.html

[Mike M.]

Why does the U.S. government hate women and their breasts so much?

Seriously, the Susan G. Komen foundation ought to raise hell. Why I am donating money to the pink ribbons if a death panel is just going to tell the poor ladies to go die?

[Brett L]

Why can't they just use your donations to buy the drugs for needy women?

[Mike M.]

How are they going to buy the drug if it isn't approved? They'd be in violation of another stupid federal law.

[Brett L]

Sorry. I thought this was about Medicare not approving the drug. Misread on my part.

[Joe]

The FDA panel is recommending rescinding the approval for use of Avastin in metastatic breast cancer. It would still have approval for metastatic colon and lung cancer.

Avastin could still be used off-label for breast cancer--any FDA-approved drug can legally be used for any indication. But without FDA approval for breast cancer most insurance companies would refuse to cover its use for that and drug companies couldn't legally market it for that use.

[affenkopf]

* CIA finds interrogation tapes in a box sitting under a desk. Funny
* Obama to ease travel restrictions to Cuba. Good
* Suicide bomber kills at least 50 in Iraq. Bad
* USA Today surveys post-Katrina New Orleans five years later. Don't care.
* Newscorp gives $1 million to Republican Governors Association. It's their money.

[Atanarjuat]

* Obama to ease travel restrictions to Cuba. Good

I'll give credit where credit is due. Obama did the right thing on this and also on cancelling the Constellation program.

[MNG]

"Newscorp gives $1 million to Republican Governors Association."

Doesn't this media entity know that the media supports Democrats?

[John]

Newscorp is Foxnews dumbass. From the way you talk I am surprised the Governors are not giving them money.

[MNG]

Foxnews isn't a major media entity?

[John]

Yeah the one news organization that isn't totally skewed left. And thus hated by liberals everywhere. No one outside of the voices in your head ever claimed Fox News was liberal. But those voices claim a lot of stuff don't they?

[MNG]

But you said the media was for the Democrats. Newscorps is one of the largest media entities. Therefore Newscorp is for the Democrats, right?

Unless one of those premises are bullshit generalizations. Maybe one that you've pedaled here?

[Warty]

Do you work with JDs who can spell "peddled"?

[Joe M]

High five!

[R C Dean]

But you said the media was for the Democrats. Newscorps is one of the largest media entities. Therefore Newscorp is for the Democrats, right?

You might want to look into the concept of "the exception that proves the rule."

[MNG]

Like Sinclair Broadcasting Group? Or Media General? And other "exceptions?"

[hmm]

Zell and Tribune tend to lean right as well. That said I think the original 3 have always been more left than right.

[hmm]

Don't forget the real big guys like Ted and Jeff. You know the crazy one and the one that sucks administration cock without even being asked to.

[John]

Who claims Fox News is liberal?

[MNG]

Try that syllogism again John. Maybe a running start this time?

[John]

If every media company but one is for the Democrats, then it is a pretty fair statement to say the media is slanted left.

You are not so much stupid as just a prick.

[Warty]

John, I don't know why you continually argue with him when you know he's being a slippery little bad-faith prick. Whatever's fun for you, I guess.

[TrickyVic]

Main Entry: 1 main?stream
Pronunciation: \?m?n-?str?m\
Function: noun
Date: 1599
: a prevailing current or direction of activity or influence

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mainstream

Is Fox News a prevailing direction of influence? According to their ratings, they are.

Some people have hijacked the term in the name of appealling to personal attack and to make

[TrickyVic]

Scratch the "and to make"

[MNG]

Did you even see the 10:23 post? Sheesh.

[MNG]

ARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARFARF!!!!!!

Fuck off, cunt.

[MNG]

Sand in your vagina?

[_]

If MNG = Sand and Vagina = My asshole, then yes.

[hmm]

I'd say the difference is Murdoch has never hidden the fact he leans conservative. He's personally never claimed to be impartial politically as a person.

[zoltan]

He's also one ugly son of a bitch. So is pretty much everyone in print journalism. Good god, I will never work for a newspaper, I'll go fucking blind.

[John]

http://blog.mises.org/13572/se.....rail-cars/

The fruits of malinvestment.

[Spoonman.]

Nice link.

[Almanian]

How about we normalize relations with Cuba? I wanna go buy a bunch of those well-preserved c1950's cars they have. Plus, they love the tourists, and I bet an influx of 'murcans on holiday would speed their entrance into the 20th century (and, eventually, the 21st).

[Almanian]

Oh, plus, of course, then we'd have access to their EXCELLENT health care.

Is "excellent health care" to nations as "world-class symphony" is to cities? I think it is...

[MNG]

Cuba is a repressive regime, anyone fond of it is indeed a dumbass or inhuman. I'm sure their health care is terrible compared to what I get, but I have to wonder how it stacks up compared to other contries in the region.

[Almanian]

But, but...Che! Normalize relations, and I bet the place assumes a place among civilized nations (if that's not an oxymoron) in a decade or less.

Plus - the Cuban chicks are HAWT...

[stuartl]

The low caloric intake keeps them thin.

[Aresen]

Unfortunately, Cuban health care is geared to serving the nomenklatura and the medical tourists.

For the ordinary Cuban, it sucks. (Medical tourists are often approached by desperate Cubans outside of their hospitals for any leftover medication they might have.

[Aresen]

TBS: Easing the travel restrictions is a good thing. Better would be to scrap the whole damned embargo, but easing the restrictions is a step in the right direction. So I will give Obama credit for that.

[The Gobbler]

I get that in downtown Minneapolis a lot.

[Joe]

Are there a lot of Canadians going to Cuba for medical care?

[Aresen]

A few, but that is an issue with wait lists rather than cost.

Those who have money and don't want to wait, go to the US.

[R C Dean]

CIA finds interrogation tapes in a box sitting under a desk.

What a clown show.

[John]

Shut it down. Seriously. IT is a giant waste of money that never produces anything of value.

[Warty]

On Lew Rockwell's site the other day, there was a video of Bill Buckley interviewing Ron Paul back in 1988. It amused me that Buckley could not wrap his head around Ron Paul being against the CIA.

[John]

The CIA failures of 9-11 should have ended any illusions of their competence. Them and the NSA were literally listening to Bin Ladin's phone calls. But they never passe the information on. How do you think they knew it was Al Quada that was responsible so quickly? Huh?

But hey, lets blame the INS and pretend the whole thing never happened. Assholes. And if you ever want to be drawn into rage talk to a real CIA guy sometime. And lay out their list of known public failures. They will all tell you how "you just don't know". Like they have access to some secret squirrel information that no one else has that shows how great they are or that the failures you list really were not failures. It is just infuriating.

[PapayaSF]

Don't forget about the legal "wall" that separated the CIA and the FBI. "Passing on information" was problematic. (And the wall was strengthened by orders from Jamie Gorelick, who actually served on the 9/11 Commission, despite the obvious conflict of interest.)

[John]

Yeah Gorelick is amazing. That bitch did that, worked for Fannie and Freddie and was Duke's attorney giving them advice during the Lacross team mess. And she still goes merrily on. Seriously, I can't think of another person in the last 50 years in this country who has done more real damage than she has. And she has never suffered one bit for the damage she has done.

[TrickyVic]

""Shut it down. Seriously. IT is a giant waste of money that never produces anything of value.""

Is that an admission that those in Gitmo captured by the CIA are likey to be innocent?

[mr simple]

It's always in the last place you look.

[TrickyVic]

""CIA finds interrogation tapes in a box sitting under a desk.

What a clown show.""

Why? because they didn't hide the box better, or failed to destroy it in the first place?

[MP]

According to the LA Times, the SS Trust Fund is solvent because all that's required is a tax hike on the rich who spent it.

That has to be the dumbest argument regarding solvency I've ever heard.

[Spoonman.]

And, hey, if you count the government paying interest to itself, it's totally solvent! Yeah, and Enron had a valid business model.

[Isaac Bartram]

I don't know which I find more disquieting.

The fact that someone is so clueless as to believe (or perhapse he's just medacious) the twaddle that jerk wrote or that a major big city daily newspaper printed it.

[Mr. Al-Rashid]

"I cannot imagine that Muslims want a mosque on this particular site, because it will be turned into an arena for promoters of hatred, and a symbol of those who committed the crime. At the same time, there are no practicing Muslims in the district who need a place of worship, because it is indeed a commercial district....The last thing Muslims want today is to build just a religious center out of defiance to the others, or a symbolic mosque that people visit as a museum next to a cemetery....[T]he battle against the 11 September terrorists is a Muslim battle...and this battle still is ablaze in more than 20 Muslim countries. Some Muslims will consider that building a mosque on this site immortalizes and commemorates what was done by the terrorists who committed their crime in the name of Islam. I do not think that the majority of Muslims want to build a symbol or a worship place that tomorrow might become a place about which the terrorists and their Muslim followers boast, and which will become a shrine for Islam haters whose aim is to turn the public opinion against Islam."

http://www.aawsat.com/english/.....p;id=21980

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