Reason Morning Links: Faith and Credit Edition

• Pastors defy the IRS's rules against political endorsements at tax-exempt churches.
• More banks shut down in Florida and Washington state.
• The moratorium on West Bank settlements comes to an end.
• The feds want to make it easier to spy on Internet users.
• The Army can't document any compensation payments to the prisoners abused at Abu Ghraib.
• South African workers protest wage regulations.
• Move over, Roberto Calvi: There's new allegations of money laundering at the Vatican Bank.

Comments

[TheOtherSomeGuy]

The internet spying thing by the Government is the most unsettling to me.

Thought Obama had asked to be elected so he could put an end to unreasonable Federal Government searches...

[John Thacker]

No, Obama asked to be elected so that he could be in the one in charge, because he Deserved it. Also, to pass nationalized healthcare.

In addition to the wiretap thing, the administration wants to move the bar from $10,000 to $1,000 for when overseas financial transactions are tracked and put in a database.

Obama may have given some people the impression that he was against spying, but he also gave some other people the impression that he was both pro and anti free trade. He gave a lot of people a lot of impressions.

That's what happens when you believe in "personality" and "intelligence" and "Hope" and other airy words instead of experience and non-contradictory policy statements and voting records.

[-]

True enough, but aren't we finally past all that?

[Rich]

FTFL: The Obama administration wants to require U.S. banks to report all electronic money transfers into and out of the country [Emphasis added]

Gee, one might start to think that such measures are being designed to make teh "nutcases" surface.

[John Thacker]

Yeah, report all, but the super detailed part would start at $1,000 (though maybe not include credit cards?) instead of the $10,000 it does right now.

[hmm]

He gave a lot of people a lot of impressions.

The worst impression of all the impressions he gave is the mushroom stamp on the forehead of the US.

[wylie]

the administration wants to move the bar from $10,000 to $1,000 for when overseas financial transactions are tracked and put in a database.

So, kiddies, remember to spend all your money before you emigrate.

[Kiddie]

We can still emigrate with gold, though, right?

[mike]

Just proving that the Dems are quite capable of being even more authoritarian than the R's:

-Any service that provides encrypted messages must be capable of unscrambling them.

-Any foreign communications providers that do business in the U.S. would have to have an office in the United States that's capable of providing intercepts.

-Software developers of peer-to-peer communications services would be required to redesign their products to allow interception.

It won't be long before they write into the law a requirement that you turn over your own personal keys or face a decade in Federal detention.

[robc]

Ashcroft was primarily responsible for strong crypto being legal/exportable. I didnt think your opening statement was ever in doubt.

[robc]

Any service that provides encrypted messages must be capable of unscrambling them.

Clearly they are unaware of how crypto works. Or, actually, maybe they are.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Great news: UN to appoint envoy to extraterrestrials

Foreign Policy mag: Why Is Paulie Krugnuts Blaming Foreigners for the Financial Crisis?

[Domtar the Space Alien]

Aliens Are Monitoring Our Nukes, Worry Ex-Air Force Officers

And your economy, Earthlings.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Citizens' Group Helps Uncover Alleged Rampant Voter Fraud in Houston

[Dick Whesill]

"Their work paid off. Two weeks ago the Harris County voter registrar took their work and the findings of his own investigation and handed them over to both the Texas secretary of state's office and the Harris County district attorney.

Most of the findings focused on a group called Houston Votes, a voter registration group headed by Sean Caddle, who also works for the Service Employees International Union. Among the findings were that only 1,793 of the 25,000 registrations the group submitted appeared to be valid.

The other registrations included one of a woman who registered six times in the same day; registrations of non-citizens; so many applications from one Houston Voters collector in one day that it was deemed to be beyond human capability; and 1,597 registrations that named the same person multiple times, often with different signatures.

Caddle told local newspapers that there "had been mistakes made," and he said he had fired 30 workers for filing defective voter registration applications. He could not be reached for this article"

[TrickyVic]

Voter fraud, or voter registration fraud? There's a difference.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Global Cooling and the New World Order
...The 58th Bilderberg Meeting will be held in Sitges, Spain 3 ? 6 June 2010. The Conference will deal mainly with Financial Reform, Security, Cyber Technology, Energy, Pakistan, Afghanistan, World Food Problem, Global Cooling, Social Networking, Medical Science, EU-US relations....

[SugarFree]

global power elite

Same phraseology as They Live.

[Pro Libertate]

You mean the Carpenter documentary?

[Nipplemancer]

Why are we not celebrating Rowdy Roddy Piper as the national hero that he is?

[Nipplemancer]

Why are we not celebrating Rowdy Roddy Piper as the national hero that he is?

[wylie]

You aren't? Get with the program Nip. Pop that shirt off and get rowdy.

[Nipplemancer]

I'm already rocking the kilt & biker jacket motif, what else can I do?

[JW]

Put on the damn glasses, poseur.

[Pro Libertate]

Because most of us aren't Canadian?

[Mr. Piper]

I'm here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And I'm all out of gum.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Finally, Barney Frank Confesses
..."I hope by next year we'll have abolished Fannie and Freddie," he said. Remarkable. And he went on to say that "it was a great mistake to push lower-income people into housing they couldn't afford and couldn't really handle once they had it." He then added, "I had been too sanguine about Fannie and Freddie."...

[Herb Moses]

What an asshole!

[John]

Sorry about that. What a dick. Worse still he doesn't mean a word of it. If re-elected he will go right back to mao maoing banks to lend money to people who can't afford it.

[robc]

I bill to abolish them was proposed at least as early as 2002. And also 2003. (Not sure about before or after). Hey Barney, why is it that at least one congressman had this figured out at least 8 years ago and you are just now clueing in? And maybe this means you should fucking listen to him on other financial issues, you fuckwit.

[robc]

A bill, not I bill. I am not a bill.

[SugarFree]

Then why are you sitting there on Capital Hill?

[robc]

Im not. Because I am the law.

Or something.

[SugarFree]

I'm an amendment to be
Yes, an amendment to be
And I'm hoping that they'll ratify me
There's a lot of flag burners
Who have got too much freedom
I wanna make it legal
For policemen To beat 'em
'Cause there's limits to our liberties
'Least I hope and pray that there are
'Cause those liberal freaks go too far.

[robc]

I looked for the video for that to link, when I made my initial "I am not a bill" post.

[BakedPenguin]

C'mon, robc. It's not that hard.

[Tulpa]

A bill, not I bill. I am not a bill.

I assumed you were using Roman numerals.

[Mr Whipple]

IMHO, F&F are more about controlling the mortgage market, in general, than putting low-income people in homes.

[Johnny Longtorso]

The Economist: Is rising inequality in America exaggerated?

[Johnny Longtorso]

Minimum-Wage Hike Leads to Maximum Cuts
...But while supporters applaud the higher wages some of these workers now earn, critics warn that businesses are responding by cutting workers' hours and hiring fewer people.

David Macpherson, professor of economics at Trinity University and co-author of a recent study on the effects of the minimum-wage increases, says the hospitality industry's concerns are justifiable....

[Almanian]

One or two added links was helpful and fun. Six, seven starts to become annoying. I'm here for Reason's morning links - I'll subscribe to your blog if I want yours.

Your comments about Reason's morning links would be most welcomed here, however. Thanks.

[-]

Shields up!

[Johnny Longtorso]

Why Almanian can keep his opinions to himself.

[-]

Johnny Longtorso is the Jimmy Dean of breakfast links.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Try my sausage.

[-]

Too salty!

[Johnny Longtorso]

And too big.

[Almanian]

And stay off my lawn! Too-many-hyperlink-making nogoodnik!

[-]

Just about time for the goon squad to show up. Enjoy the rest of your morning, gents.

[Almanian]

lulz!

[MNG]

I've been telling you: Lonewacko v. 2.0

[Warty]

Johnny Longtorso? I'm not seeing it.

[Suki]

Consider the demented source.

[Johnny Longtorso]

LW disagreed w/ MNG. I disagree w/ MNG. Therefore LW = me.

You know who else disagreed w/ MNG? Hitler.

[Suki]

JL, Hitler agreed with MNG more often than not.

[waffles]

I doubt it. I don't think MNG and hitler were contemporaries of each other.

[Suki]

Are you talking about time-static Hitler or time-travel Hitler?

[robc]

Use incif and put Johnny in your filter. With proper choices you wont see any of his posts or any of the responses to them.

A winner is you!

[SugarFree]

There you go being all reasonable again.

[Suki]

Is that a "drink" or not?

[Almanian]

Nah, I generally like the links - he's contributing to The Cause. Ya gotta have a little fun at H&R and start a fight once in awhile, or it's just not H&R!

[Almanian]

Plus, someone spoofed me - I'm honored

[Arthur Alan Wolk]

Ya gotta have a little fun at H&R

Well, OK. But just a little.

[wylie]

WHOA, that was too much fun. You'll be hearing from my lawyers.

[robc]

Im surprised that post has been deleted yet.

[Warty]

I wish Chrome allowed plugins. But then again, I kind of have mixed feelings about incif - a lot of the fun of this place is seeing what our local bellringers are up to.

[Dave Barry]

Every now and then I wonder if I shouldnt have filtered MNG, turn it off and within 3 posts remember why I did. It only takes 1 for Tony.

[robc]

Dammit!

[Death Panelist]

Holy hell, Chrome? Why don't you just give Google all your financial data and detail for them all your personal proclivities?

Anonbot, will you back me up here?

[John Thomas]

LOL, that is too true. LOL

- privacy tool

[Almanianonymous]

"We're not talking expanding authority."

Yes, you are, you powerhungry, prying fuckwad.

[Jerry]

The feds want to make it easier to spy on Internet users.

Remember, it was Bill Clinton who first introduced the FBI Carnivore program.

[Bingo]

I've always been curious how a program like that doesn't violate the 4th amendment. Not that the 4th amendment means anything these days...

[Suki]

You can't blame him, he had a voracious appetite.

[mr simple]

The sense of entitlement of law enforcement in the wiretapping story is amazing. They act like we owe them and are incredulous that anyone would say no. And the claims that they would have stopped all terrorist activity in the past if only they had this capability then is outrageous.

I know, I know, nothing new.

[Rich]

"They can promise strong encryption. They just need to figure out how they can provide us plain text."

So, "$T6sel46vb7V^Bku5B^*o8" becomes "The tortoise is in the vacuum cleaner". Then what?

Also, the fun will *really* begin when *absolutely* secure communication is implemented by private parties.

[Dick Whesill]

"The tortoise is in the vacuum cleaner"

AGAIN??!!!??

[Darkwing Duck]

The cows are not what they seem.

[TrickyVic]

""So, "$T6sel46vb7V^Bku5B^*o8" becomes "The tortoise is in the vacuum cleaner". Then what?""

You send in the special forces to extract the tortoise.

Not that they know what the tortoise really is, they must extract it to find out.

[Suki]

The moratorium on West Bank settlements comes to an end.

Putting out the MNG beacon again. Brace for spit, filled tantrums for the "tolerant" side that will not recognize Israel as a state.

[MNG]

Eminent Domain: Just fine when Israel does it!

I like the comma between "spit" and "filled" btw. John T's personalities have English as a second language just like he does! Consistency is the hobgoblin of little (split personality) minds I guess...

[wylie]

Yeah, take THAT John...err, I mean Suki.

[Suki]

Did MNG get a Nobel Prize in Economics or Peace?

Discuss.

[Rich]

Any wagers as to when the Israeli-Palestinian Mid-East Problem, or whatever it's called, will be settled once and for all?

I'm thinking asteroid strike.

[Suki]

Maybe when a more reasonable generation of Palestinians takes over. A generation that wants to work and trade instead of attacking the only "enemy" that wants them to be peaceful and successful.

[Mr Whipple]

Where's Anna Freud when you need her?

[robc]

I will give you a place, but not a time. And silly Canadians

[robc]

2nd link got SFed.

[J sub D]

Sunrise at midnight. Radioctive zombies become the new issue.

[Suki]

Where would you rather live, in Gaza or MNG's analyst's office?

[John]

Gaza. It is quite pretty. As long as you can afford to live in a building with a good generator, it is not bad.

[Suki]

Just stay away from the water park when the religion of peace is on a rampage.

[Hamas]

Curse those women and their evil ways!

[Mr Whipple]

Just like North Miami Beach.

[Suki]

Are the evil "Jooz" disrupting Iran's peaceful nuclear program?

[Suki]

US Army Soldiers accused of operating murder ring in Afghanistan

[MNG]

Johnny Longtorso seems to have spent the weekend gathering Important Information About the Progressive Alliance to Destroy America and Apple Pie instead of watching football...Give us ten more Johnny!

[John Thacker]

Well you should appreciate it MNG, since it allows you to change the subject and avoid commenting on, say, the wiretaps link, which is one more piece of evidence of how the executive always craves more power, and why gridlock is useful (Democrats will rubberstamp proposals from Democratic Presidents that they would oppose from Republican Presidents, and vice versa with Republicans.)

[Johnny Longtorso]

Both the 'Horns and Texans sucked over the weekend, so I thought I'd take my frustrations out on MNG's progressive masters.

[John]

Still not a single Reason post on the Coates testimony. WAPO covered it for God's sake.

[Suki]

They were busy working on a Pulitzer covering the Colbert circus.

[Eric Holder]

An extremely well-deserved Pulitzer, I might add.

[Obama]

I'm trying to line Reason up for a Nobel as well.

[R C Dean]

Preach it, John.

Shameful. Just shameful.

[Jerry]

Segway company owner dies riding two-wheeled machine off cliff.

[JEP]

He really regretted installing that seat belt feature.

A senior design at my university built a segway-like machine, but apparently it had the nasty habit of slamming on its breaks and smashing your face into the ground once it got above a certain speed.

[wylie]

A senior design at my university built a segway-like machine, but apparently it had the nasty habit of slamming on its breaks and smashing your face into the ground once it got above a certain speed.

Well, considering the market for Segways, I'm thinking your friend intended that as a feature not a bug.

[Suki]

He really regretted installing that seat belt feature.

At last, a defense for being "thrown clear" of a vehicle.

[Barney Frank]

At least he died doing someone something he loved.

[Aresen]

If he was drinking, MADD will never let us hear the end of it.

[Mr Whipple]

More banks shut down in Florida and Washington state.

Yes, but Credit Unions Bailed Out
U.S. Backs $30 Billion in Bonds to Stabilize Key Institutions; Subprime Legacy

Analysis here:

http://www.zerohedge.com/artic.....assets-fai

[John]

http://gatewaypundit.firstthin.....ela-votes/

OPPOSITION WINS Majority of Popular Vote in Venezuela Election

This is good news. Let's see what kind of "Democrat" Chavez is. And Ms Machado the opposition leader is quite fetching.

[John Thacker]

Yes, but even this favorable prediction notes that majority of the popular vote may mean one-third or fewer of the seats.

[Warty]

I still remember joe getting all pissy when I called Chavez a caudillo. Those were the days.

[John]

Joe's defense of Chavez was one of his more pathetic moments. It basically boiled down to "sure he is kind of a thug but the Venezuelans seem to like him and what is a few busted heads or a confiscated radio stations?"

[SugarFree]

And don't forget the whiff of "as long as a democracy does it, it's all OK." People have no rights at all in the face of the will of the majority in joe's world. Sick little tyrant.

[R C Dean]

I recall some uncomfortable waffling on the question of whether a majority vote was merely necessary, or was actually sufficient, for a government to be legitimate.

[SugarFree]

Like the rest of the democracy supremacists, joe seemed fine with a majority of those voting to determine"consent" of the governed.

For example, Obama is Godlord of America because 25.4% of Americans of voting age voted for him.

[robc]

It is a (slightly) better method than wearing a sandtrout suit.

[Suki]

Stop picking on me about that SF! I apologize! I will never vote for Obama again, I swear.

[Tulpa]

25.4% of Americans of voting age voted for him.

I seem to have missed the armed thugs keeping anti-Obama voters away from the polls on Election Day 2008.

As a radio talk show host once said, if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice. If you don't vote, you've delegated your decision to the majority who do vote. Doherty, Mangu-Ward, et al, I'm looking at you.

[SugarFree]

I seem to have missed the armed thugs keeping anti-Obama voters away from the polls on Election Day 2008.

Good thing I didn't say anything of the sort then.

[robc]

As a radio talk show host once said, if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.

I was about to correct you when I got the joke. Okay, good one.

The rest of your post is only true if you are pro-democracy.

[Rhywun]

I just tell people who try that argument on me that I refuse to participate in a system that's rigged against third parties.

[R C Dean]

Let's see what kind of "Democrat" Chavez is.

Is there some question about it?

[Suki]

Obama Democrat, no question.

[Warty]

English projects have strange problems

[Warty]

Er, not a project. Council house = housing project and council = local government, is that right? Stupid limeys, pretending they speak English.

[Dave Barry]

Recently my family and I spent a week in London, which is a popular foreign place to visit because they have learned to speak some English over there...Often, when they get to the crucial part of a sentence, they'll realize that they don't know the correct words, so they'll just make some silly ones up..."You go down this street here, then you nip up the weckershams"..."Then you take your first left, then you just pop 'round the gorn-and-scrumbles, and, Jack's a doughnut, there you are!"

[Rich]

"Humour can be incredibly culture-specific, and is very open to misinterpretation or even offense [sic] by other cultures."

Now *that's* funny!

[Warty]

U.S. should be able to shut Internet, former CIA chief says

1: What has the CIA ever accomplished to deserve the presumption of competence that it enjoys?

2: How bad would a cyber attack have to be to cause more damage than shutting down the entire fucking internet?

[John]

1. Nothing

2. That is a good question. It sounds like blowing up the village to save it. I am really not seeing the point.

[Warty]

CIA Accidentally Overthrows Costa Rica

[wylie]

It sounds like blowing up the village to save it.

Hey, it worked in Iraq and Afghanistan. Right? RIGHT?!

[CIA]

1. If we told you...

2. If we told you...

[Rich]

"It's actually the new area of endeavor, I would compare it to a new age of exploration. Military doctrine calls the cyber thing a 'domain,' like land sea, air, space, and now cyber ? It is almost like a frontier experience" [Hayden] said.

He continued, "And out here in cyberspace, *I'm* the Law."

[Jerry]

Apparently he is missing out on the hollywood domain as well 🙂

[Tulpa]

I suppose he'd like the power to boil the ocean or condense the atmosphere, too.

[TrickyVic]

Can the Internet be shut down?

[J sub D]

The pace has accelerated as banks' losses mount on loans made for commercial property and development. Many companies have shut down in the recession, vacating shopping malls and office buildings financed by the loans. That has brought delinquent loan payments and defaults by commercial developers.

? And we had fun, fun, fun
Till reality took the bubble away ?

[J sub D]

The Army can't document any compensation payments to the prisoners abused at Abu Ghraib.

The military sucks at bookkeeping. Who knew (other than anyone who was in the military, or contracted with, them)?

[Warty]

Hilariously hopeful LA Times article

"Middle America is being ignored by Washington and the media. Centrists are desperate for a voice today; they feel entirely unrepresented," said Mark McKinnon, a political strategist and former advisor to President George W. Bush.

It's a beige alert!

[John]

They are setting up the spin for the November election. The election won't be a earthquake for small government. No, it will be the long forgotten "moderates" who crave big government run by David Brooks.

[Dick Whesill]

The multi-millionaire owner of the Segway company died in a freak accident yesterday when he rode one of the high-tech two-wheel machines off a cliff and into a river.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....z10jxPqeI8

[P Brooks]

Horror story.

Can a municipal service like a library hold so central a place that it should be entrusted to a profit-driven contractor only as a last resort ? and maybe not even then?

[SugarFree]

Staffing is always the fat that can be cut in any library system. My wife and I have worked in four public library systems. (Only once together, thankfully.) You could cut 50% of the staff in any of them and have the same level of service.

[JW]

Good question. Whaddya say we find out?

[P Brooks]

Surprise!

Frank Ferry, a Santa Clarita councilman, dismisses the criticism as the work of the Service Employees International Union, which has 87 members in the libraries. The union has been distributing red shirts defending the status quo. "Union members out in red shirts in defense of union jobs," Mr. Ferry said.

Library employees are often the most resistant to his company, said Mr. Pezzanite, a co-founder of L.S.S.I. ? and, he suggested, for reasons that only reinforce the need for a new approach.

[JW]

"Union members out in red shirts in defense of union jobs,"

Can we get these guys a guest starring role on Star Trek?

[Johnny Longtorso]

For John:

Obama Justice Department Rocked

[Warty]

Via LRC: I'll take one art, please!

[troy]

Shouldn't Millard Fillmore be closer to the front?

[Robert]

The death of Roberto Calvi was retold of in very cute encoded form on Lost. Too bad the overall serial turned out to be much better for its allusions than for its own story. See the first 2 paras. under the table under "Faking Fake Deaths" near the end of http://users.bestweb.net/~robg.....ost14.html for explanation of the show's allusions to P2. Of course it complicates things a bit when the Terry O'Quinn character represents simultaneously Roberto Calvi and Dr. Manhattan!

[Aresen]

Pastors defy the IRS's rules against political endorsements at tax-exempt churches.

This problem wouldn't arise if there wasn't a special exemption for "religious" organizations in the first place.

[EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy]

It equally wouldn't arise in the absence of regulation about who can and can not speak about things political.

I'm not a fan of the tax exemption for churches qua churches because it puts the government in the position of decide who is and is not an "official" church which treads all too near the establishment clause for my tastes, but the real cause of the conflict here is attempts to control political speech.

Mind you, I also suspect that widespread denominations are more likely to get away with it that "fringe" or "oddball" groups: that Methodist churches (to pick a random example) are less likely to be sanctioned than Unitarians; and if so that would also represent a problem under establishment.

[TrickyVic]

""'This problem wouldn't arise if there wasn't a special exemption for "religious" organizations in the first place.""

I think it's a non-profit exemption, not a church per se.

[No Name Guy]

Nit pick here

"More banks shut down in Florida and Washington state."

Uhhh.... I live in Washington, not Washington State. When referring to Washington City, call it by it's proper name or Washington, DC.