Reason Morning Links: Poverty, Pancakes, and Prayer

• Poverty is way up.
• So are foreclosures.
• Officials fear violence in Saturday's Afghan election.
• Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announce their own Washington rallies.
• The Senate passes a package of loan guarantees and tax breaks for small businesses.
• The acid attack in Washington state was a hoax.
• So is Joaquin Phoenix's hip hop career.
• The Tea Party movement arrives in Australia.
• IHOP vs. IHOP.

Comments

[Joe M]

Good morning Reason!

[Joe M]

The Senate on Thursday passed legislation that aims to increase lending to small businesses and provide them with $12 billion in targeted tax breaks.

I HATE that phrase. It signifies a very crude form of behavior modification.

[JoshINHB]

Political graft for cronies would be much more accurate.

[d'Bluenose of my mind's eye]

I HATE that phrase. It signifies a very crudeblatant form of behavior modificationcorruption.

FTFY.

[Gomer Pyle]

Officials fear violence in Saturday's Afghan election.

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

[John]

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-.....gresswoman

"I'm terribly sorry that it ever happened," Pidrman said before his sentencing Thursday morning, according to the Tribune. "I very often watch the recycled news shows on MSNBC," at the time at which he made the call, he said."

How long before we demand MSNBC stop abetting and encouraging political violence?

[Attorney]

The Tribune reported that when agents questioned Pidrman in April following his arrest, he expressed frustration over threats made against Democrats and said he probably thought, "Let me scare one of those righties."

[Attorney]

Interactive painting of Obama trampling the Constitution, plus a lot of other stuff to mouse over.

[Jesse Walker]

It's a miracle! FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT CAN WALK!

[Attorney]

That's his resurrection body, of course.

[alan]

Not a miracle, stem cells! Does Edwards now about this? And, really, where the Hell does anyone who voted Edwards find the gall to criticize Palin's dumb ass?

[The Angry Optimist]

Why are Reagan and Jackson on the "good" side?

[JoshINHB]

Why are Cleveland and McKinley on the bad side?

[The Angry Optimist]

Nixon and Johnson should be applauding before Clinton. Was there anything particularly constitutionally egregious about Clinton that I am somehow forgetting?

[JoshINHB]

And I'd expect Wilson to be patting Barack on the back.

[The Angry Optimist]

Wilson would never touch "a Negro".

[JoshINHB]

How bout a mulatto?

[Yonemoto]

I don't think there's a good or a bad side, and the scroll text does admit his horrible treatment of indians. All in all, actually a much better piece than the god in america drivel - although I would have liked to see FDR also stepping on the constitution - he's way worse than BHO has been or will likely be.

[Barack Obama]

Let me be clear.

The only reason I am trampling the Constitution is, I did not see it was there. Had I realized its presence, rest assured I would have thrown it into a trash can.

[Ragin Cajun]

Ronald Reagan was responsible for $2,857 trillion in debt? Holy cow!

[The Angry Optimist]

Ha! The gentlemen, despite his conservative sensibilities, does certainly buy into the Imperial Presidency concept without a second thought, does he not?

[The Angry Optimist]

*gentleman

[Tulpa]

You might have heard of this thing called interest.

[robc]

If Bush/Clinton/Buch/Obama didnt pay it off, the interest is on them.

[Rich]

"I'm here today because of Jesus Christ," [the woman who burned her own face with acid and blamed it on an imaginary black woman] said at the time, adding that the strength of her faith would allow her to move forward.

Now, *that* is how to convert people to your religion.

[waffles]

Did you know that George Washington once held an opponents wife's hand in a jar of acid...at a party?

[The Ghost of Timothy Leary]

Me, too!

[Brett L]

He'll save the children, but not the British children.

[The Angry Optimist]

He threw a knife into Heaven
And could kill with a stare

[Yonemoto]

50 feet tall and made of radiation.

[Wade]

She could have at least waited until she scammed Oprah before she came clean.

[SugarFree]

They had figured out she did it from materials found in her apartment.

[Fluffy]

I bet she was doing this because she hated her own face.

If it wasn't for the unjust distribution of facial beauty, this woman would not have been driven to her desperate act.

I think we need the federal government to do something to correct the unfair and unjust distribution of facial beauty.

[SugarFree]

I wonder if she read Hartley's Facial Justice.

[waffles]

"Never forget -- 'Reason' is just one letter away from 'Treason.'

[Pro Libertate]

And one scrambling of letters away from:

Senora
A Senor
A Snore
Earn So
Near So
Sane Or
Era Nos
Era Son
Are Nos
Are Son
Ear Nos
Ear Son
Sear No
Sear On
Sera No
Sera On
Ares No
Ares On
Eras No
Eras On
Ears No
Ears On
Sea Nor
An Rose
An Roes
An Sore
An Ores
Oar Ens
Soar En
Oars En
A Ens Or
A Re Nos
A Re Son
A Res No
A Res On
An Re So
As En Or
As Re No
As Re On

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

Pro-Lib: caffeine or meth
Pick one of the above.

[R C Dean]

I vote for intertubes anagram engine.

[Rich]

Pro-Lib: caffeine or meth

A Perfectible Inform Ho
A Beech Perform Tinfoil
A Breech Piffle Monitor
A Recombine Philter Off
A Cenobite Riffle Morph
...

[Pro Libertate]

Naturally. I am, after all, a busy man.

[qubit]

Always remember: you can't spell sophomore without homo.

[The Angry Optimist]

Slate Convinces me to be happy about O'Donnell.

Tuesday's defeat of Delaware Rep. Mike Castle, in his Republican primary Senate race against Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell, spells doom for campaign finance bills in the next Congress. And the defeat of Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, who lost to Rand Paul in Kentucky's Republican Senate primary in May, could jeopardize the chance for a desperately needed federal fix for how we run our elections.

[John]

No kidding. Does O'Donnell have any bad points? Castle is a first class piece of shit. If the National Republican Party is so angry about O'Donnell, they should have thought of that before they put such a waste of oxygen up to run against her.

Just what we need, another Senator who lifetime politician, voted for TARP, supports Cap and Theft and wants campaign finance reform.

Fuck you Karl Rove.

[libertymike]

Both of you nailed it.

[Fluffy]

Actually, yesterday Glenn Greenwald took John's side in the eternal "Does Palin suck and does O'Donnell suck?" debate.

Not that he likes either one of them or anything, he just agrees with John that class image plays the dominant role in Villager outrage against them.

http://www.salon.com/news/opin.....index.html

[John]

He makes a good point about the bullshit of O"Donnell's financial problems. Fuck you Karl Rove, not everybody was born wealthy or had everything handed to them. Unless you can show me she is a thief, I don't see how her having financial problems at various times in her life is relevant.

Just like Palin, O'Donnell's enemies are doing her a tremendous favor. First, the Republican National Party shits all over her confirming to all of her supporters that they did the right thing voting against Castle. Then Harry Reid calls Coons his little "pet". Reid is one of the most unpopular figures in America. The one chance O'Donnell has is to portray Coons as a tool of Reid and Pelosi who will mindlessly vote with them. So day one of the campaign Reid confirms this. What a fucking moron.

[Charlie Rangel]

"Unless you can show me she is a thief, I don't see how her having financial problems at various times in her life is relevant."

I wholly concur.

[R C Dean]

In this economy, a candidate who has struggled financially has a real potential advantage over the usual silver-spoon/insider trading crowd we generally see as candidates.

[MNG]

So mark you as a fan of Obama's story about how he couldn't rent a car at the DNC convention due to his financial woes?

[John]

It would except that he mysteriously went from that to being a multi millionaire in just a few years.

[MNG]

A Horatio Alger success story?

[John]

You are truly the least self aware person on earth. Below you claim not to be a partisan hack. Here you claim that there is nothing tawdry about Obama's rags to riches story in the Chicago political machine. Why? Because Obama is a Democrat, you will never criticize a Democrat ever. It is funny. You never seem to show up on the Rangle threads. He is truly indefensible. And it is against some kind of prime directive for you to say anything against a Democrat.

[GOP Guy]

So mark you as a fan of Obama's story about how he couldn't rent a car at the DNC convention due to his financial woes?

If he wasn't so directly responsible for pushing so many Americans into poverty, perhaps a little sympathy for his near humble origins would be in order.

[James Ard]

Rove couldn't have imagined what he was doing to his career with his O'Donnell bashing.

[Fluffy]

Why does Rove have a career?

The whole reason there is a Tea Party is because Karl Rove is a worthless pile of fail.

[John]

I can't figure that out either. I don't think he does have a real one anymore. He just writes columns for the WSJ and talks on Fox. But after 06 and 08, there is no reason for anyone to listen to him.

[MNG]

John, weren't you a defender of Bush back when he was President?

[MNG]

Remember there is that search function here...

[John]

Yes I was. And still do. But if you look back you will find me defending Bush on Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror. I always said he was wrong about Meidcare D. I also said the Republicans in Congress were crooks. And that Bush sold out to them to get support for the war.

Fortunately Obama continued all of those policies regarding the so now unlike then you and I are on the same side. I don't really enjoy being on the same side as craven partisan pieces of shit like you. But, it is the price you pay for consistency.

[MNG]

But you were around here defending Bush all the time on those policies that Obama has continued, while now all you do is bitch about those policies that Obama has domestically aped Bush.

Is that because you are a partisan piece of shit?

[John]

There is a search function there MNG. Go search away. I never defended Medicare Part D. And I said some thoroughly awful things about Congress. And further I said all along that the Democrats taking congress wouldn't change anything in Iraq. And I was right.

And if you want to start talking about the past. Let's go back and relive your days of the Republicans "pissing on the Constitution" by threatening to end the filibuster and compare those posts to your posts when Republicans were filibustering.

If you want to look, you will find any number of posts of me saying awful things about Republicans. In contrast, you will never find a post where you say shit about Democrats unless it is followed by an "and but" and some other bullshit about how the Republicans are just as bad.

You flat out are incapable of making an unequivocal criticism of the Democrats. I have never seen you make one. If they have a D after their name, in your mind they are never that bad. You are an unthinking partisan hack. I am a partisan but I at least think about it and have one or two principles and will go after my own side over them. You have no principles and never think. You just see D and immediately defend it or equivocate if the D is indefensible, although you are not above defending the indefensible if it is associated with a Democrat.

[MNG]

Youre in your own world John. I criticize Dems all the time. In my adult life I've voted Dem for President two out of five times. I've criticized Dems from the right for their position on gun control, affirmative action and immigration, and from the left where they fall short.

On the other hand we all remember you defending Bush back when he was relevant, and now he is not you throw him under the bus. You're problem is the problem of all shills: you really think you are going to "convert" of "move" people, in this case libertarians, to support your side. I at least have enough respect for the libertarians here to not think something so condescending and arrogant.

[Yonemoto]

So... Presuming to know what John thinks is not condescending and arrogant?

[John]

It makes sense you don't think you could ever convince anyone MNG. That explains why you never make honest arguments.

And as far as all of your criticisms of Democrats where are they? Make one now or link to one you have made in the past. If you can't do that, you are just lying.

[John]

Rove still having a career tells a lot about why some people find the attacks on Palin and O'Donnell so galling. It seems that the rules don't apply to people who are in the establishment. Karl Rove runs the Republican party into near permanent minority status, yet walks into weekly WSJ column and is considered some kind of sage. Jamie Goerlich is the woman most responsible for the lapses that lead to 9-11. But she served on the 9-11 commission and went on to a multi million dollar law lobbyist career. Tim Geittner is a tax cheat but is still confirmed as head of the Treasury. Elana Keagan helped cover up Lawrence Tribe's plagiarism and left Harvard Law School in a big financial hole, but she gets appointed to the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Palin messes up one interview and she is considered unfit for public life. There really seems to be a double standard for those who are not in the establishment. And that infuriates people.

[JoshINHB]

Their so angry because the national rep establishment is a collection of douche bags just like castle and crist and they finally realize that we want all of their scalps.

[NoVAHockey]

I'm not sure they understand that yet. I think they think this will blow over. I think the fallout will hit them if these o'donnell types win and don't want to play nice with the leadership.

[John]

And don't forget the shitbags who ran against Rand Paul and Sharon Angle. If it had been up to the National Republican Party, they would retake the Congress with creatures that are just as bad or worse than what we have now. It is just amazing that they thought they could get away with running those people.

[republik]

"I was in my twenties and very excited and passionate about my newfound faith. But I can assure you, my faith has matured and when I go to Washington, D.C. it'll be the Constitution on which I base all of my decisions, not my personal beliefs," she explained Thursday to cheers.
Sounds like a good starting point to me.

[.]

Yes! We need more like her since she also strongly believes its a sin to lie. Which committee should she be on?

[MP]

You don't get it. It's not who we need. It's who we most certainly don't need. And we don't need a big government GOP whose primary concern is getting re-elected.

[Fluffy]

It's kind of funny that I could write the same first five paragraphs of that article almost word for word, but I'd use the headline "Fuck You Mike Castle!"

[JoshINHB]

O'Donnell is clearly unelectable.

She's not Hairy Reed's "pet" and that's what voters clearly want in a senator this year.

[Joe M]

The first comment on that article, by David Henkhaus, does an awesome job of explaining why the very victories of those outsider candidates proves that "election reform" is complete bullshit.

[Pro Libertate]

Speaking of Joaquin Phoenix, I just ran across a video short about the time he was rescued after a car accident by Werner Herzog. I posted it over at Urkobold.

Sometimes I really love reality.

[John]

I watched a documentary called Burden of Dreams a while back. It is about the making of Fitzcarraldo. The making of that movie makes the making of Apocalypse Now look like a 30 day back lot B movie. Herzog is absolutely nuts.

[Pro Libertate]

You have to be to survive directing Kinski.

[Jesse Walker]

Burden of Dreams makes Fitzcarraldo look like an autobiography.

[dbcooper]

"Ecstatic truth"?

[dbcooper]

Burden of Dreams is pretty awesome. Love that rant about the "yungle." 🙂

Mein liebster Feind is pretty good too. Kinski on his "Jesus Christ" tour telling the humble christian fellow that Jesus would've had him horse whipped. Rather amusing.

[Pro Libertate]

My Best Fiend--always wanted to see that.

They say that Herzog held a pistol on Kinski on at least one occasion during the filming of Aguirre: The Wrath of God.

Herzog is great fun. I ran across an interview a while back where he mentioned getting shot during another interview. His comment on being shot? "It was not a significant bullet."

[Chinny Chin Chin]

"Incident at Loch Ness" is brilliant. A surprisingly realistic look at the sordid world of documentary film making.

[Pro Libertate]

It was not a significant mythological creature.

[Johnny Longtorso]

The Case for a 'Repeal Amendment'

DeMint on GOP: 'I don't want the majority back if we don't believe anything'

[Rich]

I nominate yesterday's "Who You Calling Touchy?" post & comments as a classic. Second?

[Brett L]

Second.

[AAW]

** muttons under his breath **

Fuck a sheep. Time to go fuck a sheep.

[Little Bo Peep]

I have pictures. Horrible, horrible pictures.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Stunner: Congresswoman wheedles lobbyist for money; Update: Holmes Norton confirms

OneUnited Bank received special treatment beyond what was disclosed

[Johnny Longtorso]

As always, when I'm filtered:

David Weigel

1. Who are you voting for in November? I've got the luxury of a guilt-free, zero-impact vote in the District of Columbia, which I would cast for Bob Barr if he was on the ballot. Since he's not, I'm voting for Barack Obama, the only remaining candidate whom I trust not to run the country (further) into the ground with stupid and erratic decisions,...

[Johnny Longtorso]

I love how the comment spam filter flags any mention of a specific bank on a blog where politics and finance are discussed.

[SugarFree]

Lonewacko Bank and Trust?

[Joe M]

Bank of America
Chase
Wells Fargo
Citi
Wachovia

[hmm]

I think the filter is set to random mode. Just denying a post here and there to keep the comment section on its toes.

[qubit]

They're coming for your gold!

Congressmen Weiner and Waxman Set Gold Hearing

Just as the government is trying to prevent people from investing in anything other than T-Bills by raising taxes on taxable interest and dividends to confiscatory levels, it's also trying to prevent you from parking your wealth in assets, like gold, that compete with the paper dollars issued by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury. A press release from Rep. Anthony Weiner, Democrat of New York, not yet (as of this instant) posted on Mr. Weiner's Web site, announces that a September 23 hearing of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection (a subcommittee of Rep. Henry Waxman's Commerce Committee) will focus on "legislation that would regulate gold-selling companies.

http://seekingalpha.com/articl.....ld-hearing

[Every Gold Bug in the U.S.]

... from my gold, dead hands!

[Fluffy]

The complaint here seems to be that the companies are buying "scrap" gold for consumers, and then turning around and melting that gold and selling it for more than they paid for it.

In other words, Weiner and Waxman are cunts who think that these gold companies should be the ONLY PEOPLE IN AMERICA not allowed to buy stuff and then try to sell it for more than they bought it for.

[John]

Gold is way high because people are panicking over the future of the dollar and US Treasuries. But Weiner and Waxman are a large part of the reason why people are panicking, they don't really want to talk about that. So instead, lets go after the hoarders and speculators.

[Brett L]

How can you not believe in divine retribution when you watch these sorts of completely idiotic hubristic implosions? Nemesis is coming, and she is pissed.

[Tulpa]

I seriously doubt it's anything that sinister. They're not trying to shut down coin shops that buy and sell gold.

It seems more like the typical nanny state interventionism that we see every day from these folks.

[robc]

Typical nanny state interventionism IS that sinister.

The fact that you are used to it is part of what makes it so sinister.

[DG]

A brutal beat down of Pauly Krugnuts.

[hmm]

That response highlights quite well the difference between an economist turned political hack and an economist.

Rajan was talking Financial disaster at least 3-4 years before it happened, just like he said it would. While Krugnuts was touting for the exact opposite. So I'm not surprised Krugnuts tried to criticize Rajan's book.

The only thing that would make that response better is if he referred to Krugnuts as Pauly Krugnuts.

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

"Poverty is way up."

Just curious, am I the only one who remembers that fudging the poverty figures upwards was one of BHO's first acts after inauguration?

Place that in the "guess I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue" column.

[sage]

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announce their own Washington rallies.

That should be a huge explosion of retard. Is there a name for the "dittoheads" of the left?

[SugarFree]

Is there a name for the "dittoheads" of the left?

Tonys.

[Brett L]

Hipsters of the world unite! (Ironically)

[Yonemoto]

Nah, they won't come. They all have halloween plans. It's going to be a boatload of self-important mastubatory DCite 20- and 30-somethings. Thank god I left the city. Pacific time does make it harder to keep up with the reason blog, though.

[JoshINHB]

Ass wipes.

[Pip]

Choanies.

[Tulpa]

Seriously bad move on both their parts. What happens if/when their rallies are a tenth the size of Beck's?

[John]

and what are they going to do at these rallies? If they are lefty rallies, they will just look like shills for Obama. If they try to make them a joke, they will look lame. I really can't see how they can win.

[Mike M.]

Get this: in the White House, "global warming" is out and "global climate disruption" is in.

[Daze]

On the day the acid attack first hit the news, Jane Velez-Mitchell on CNN went on a SHOCKING OUTRAGE rant about how battery acid can be purchased over the internet. If it hadn't been a hoax, battery acid might have become the new sudafed.

[rawdawgbuffalo]

The Tea Party Aint racist - Tea Party Aint racist - they just hate Muslims, Hispanics and Blacks
LMAO

[Kolohe]

Why does Rove have a career?

The whole reason there is a Tea Party is because Karl Rove is a worthless pile of fail.

There's a lot of luck, but also a bit a skill in winning (or tieing if you prefer) an election over the de facto incumbent in a time of unprecendented peace and prosperity.

[adam]

The poverty rate is completely meaningless. Under the procedures by which the official poverty rate is calculated, only cash income is counted in determining whether a family is poor; cash welfare programs count, but benefits from noncash programs, such as food stamps, medical care, social services, education and training, and housing are not included. Taxes paid, such as Social Security payroll taxes, and tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, are also excluded from poverty calculations.

So a family getting public housing, medicaid, foodstamps, etc., but only earning a few thousand in cash income will look desparately poor even though they're comfortable enough getting all of kinds of income in non-cash forms.