Reason Morning Links: Miner Rescue Begins, Judge Halts DADT, Rhee Resigns

• Rescue of Chilean mine workers began last night. So far, 11 have been brought to the surface.
• Federal judge orders global injunction on enforcement of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Obama administration goes to court to stop it.
• Michelle Rhee will resign as D.C. schools chancellor.
• Obama administration lifts ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf.
• California gubernatorial debate gets ugly.

Comments

[Solanum]

joe's Utopia.

How SimCity Teaches Us The Pinnacle Of Urban Planning Is A Totalitarian Death State

[Warty]

This is...beautiful.

[Pro Libertate]

Your assumptions are wrong. The residents aren't quiescent because they're oppressed; they're simply subdued by the perfect peace and harmony of the well-ordered society. Almost no choices to make for themselves, and their entire lives happen within a radius of a mile. Simplicity. Perfection. And, the beauty of this hopeful vision is that the species might be eliminated altogether.

[MIchael Bloomberg]

Do you have a newsletter? I would like to subscribe to it.

[zoltan]

"And how many people today is domestic animals at heart? Wanting somebody else should tell them what to do, and take care of their needfuls, and protect them not just against their fellow men but against themselves? Why has every free human society been so short-lived? Is this not because the wild-animal men are born so heartbreaking seldom?"

-Trader to the Stars, Poul Anderson

[Ragin Cajun]

Whatever you do, don't tell the Cleveland City Council about this.

[wylie]

Funny, I was just looking at the case for SimCity 4 on my monitor the other day, reflecting on how the progression from 2000->3000->4->Societies just gets more and more oriented towards controlling the behaviors of the citizens.

I miss when you just built the shit and the computer ran "the public's" decisions of whether what you built is good or not.

It could just be a technical issue: as the game factors in more variables, and the populations get larger and larger, calculating decisions on a "person" by "person" basis would just slow the game down too much. Bad enough that they were trying to do 3d mostly in software as recently as SimCity4.

Technical Issue or Progressive Creep? You decide. I'm done with Maxis. (Especially after they dashed my hopes for Spore.)

[SimCitizen]

I've often wondered about this. In SimCity, nothing happens unless the omnipotent hand of the State wills it (ie, you, the Mayor). Given a blank slate of land, the land will remain a wilderness forever until the State brings power, roads, zones, etc. If police and fire protection aren't provided by the State, the citizens won't take any action to protect themselves.

I've always thought that the libertarian/anarchist version of SimCity would play itself -- houses, roads, and power plants would spring up without the player needing to do anything. Schools, libraries, and other services would also appear gradually, as they could be publicly funded. Also, the city would be much safer from rampaging monsters and earthquakes... at least compared to my reign as Mayor.

Of course, that would be the most boring game ever...

[Maria Shriver]

California gubernatorial debate gets ugly.

Hey! I was not there!

[sage]

Whitman proved spirited and comfortable on the counterattack, touting her endorsements from law enforcement groups, for example.

News flash: That's not something to be proud of.

[Brett L]

That's funny. I was thinking the same thing about Alex Sink in FL. Every time I see the PBA ads attacking Rick Scott, I want to vote for him.

[Pro Libertate]

My reaction exactly.

[Jonas]

No, but it's something to taunt Brown with, since the law enforcement endorsements are what got him to call her a whore.

I can respect politicians tormenting each other for public entertainment.

[TrickyVic]

""News flash: That's not something to be proud of.""

Agreed, but it translates to votes rather well.

[sage]

Obama administration lifts ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf.

And MMS returns to partying on the taxpayer dime.

[Rich]

And MMS the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement returns to partying on the taxpayer dime.

FTFY

[sage]

Gotcha. You say potato...

[The Gobbler]

"Federal judge orders global injunction on enforcement of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Obama administration goes to court to stop it."

Eat shit, Tony.

[Spoonman.]

I'd be excited about the shit Tony ought to be eating, except that this is awful. What the fuck, Obama?

[Pip]

This shows definitively, that Obama is a lying, self-serving sack of shit.

[Amakudari]

Wait, this is news?

Obama's been going to court to support the status quo in military policy for a long time now.

[sage]

He doesn't want to lose all those TEAM RED votes in '12.

[Abdul]

I'll defend Obama on this one. He's developed a plan for ending DADT, and he's phasing it in to cause minimum disruption for those opposed to ending it. I actually give him credit for not steamrolling over his opponents every chance he gets.

[Mike Laursen]

Meaning he's trying to put it off until his second term?

[Spoonman.]

Is DADT wrong? Yes. Thus, stopping its destruction, even if it's messy, is wrong.

[wylie]

"But, but, but, Legal Confusion is worse than ...."

[BakedPenguin]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Fuck yourself, Tony. Keep on voting for those politicians who get elected, you asshole.

You deserve this completely. Too bad there are others who so very much don't.

[John Thacker]

He's developed a plan for ending DADT,

You mean, "kick the can down the road until public opinion changes more," yes? Which means that an Obama Administration is no different on this subject than, say, a McCain Administration would have been.

and he's phasing it in to cause minimum disruption for those opposed to ending it his approval ratings.

So similarly everybody loved George W. Bush's proposal that loosened up the use of stem cells compared to Clinton's tighter policy, right, even though it didn't free things up completely?

I agree that most politicians are bound by public opinion to a large degree, but it's amazing how people will consider one politician a wily actor with subtle sympathy to their position, and another one evil.

Ehh, it's simply not a priority for him.

[Abdul]

Look, DADT is the result of a political process, and it's ending in a political process. This is how democracy works. It's not always quick and pretty, but it is democratic.

And if you think a Judge imposing his or her will overtop is better, it's only because you agree with the result. When spome judge does an end run around the democratic process and you disagree with the result, you'd be outraged.

[John Thacker]

Oh, sure, I agree in general. I just think it's amusing how people insist on viewing politicians as evil or not for things that have nothing to do with their actual actions.

Especially because I highly doubt that the Obama Administration actually believes that DADT is Constitutional. So why appeal? I suppose there's always that theory that the Executive and Legislature shouldn't think about Constitutionality at all, simply pass whatever they feel like and the SCOTUS will sort it out.

[Mike Laursen]

I've seen Barbara Boxer quoted as invoking that theory. She knowingly took part in canceling a bunch of offshore oil drilling leases knowing she probably didn't have the Constitutional right to do so without compensating the leaseholders, but said the courts could sort it out.

[Pablo]

I've heard that argument before and it truly pisses me off. One state legislator here in GA said something to the effect of "its our job to pass laws, not to worry about whether they are constitutional. that's for the courts to decide." WTF?? Excuse me, didn't you take a fucking oath to uphold and defend the constitution? Does that mean nothing to you??

[Spoonman.]

I agree with the Judge imposing her will overtop it because she's pointing out that it's unconstitutional. That is how things are supposed to work.

[Medium well more like a small]

I'll defend Obama on this one. He's developed a plan for ending DADT, and he's phasing it in to cause minimum disruption for those opposed to ending it.

Harry S. Truman disagrees.

[Pro Libertate]

No president has ever done more for gays ever in the history of everness. Ever!

[Ska]

Gheyest president ever!

[wylie]

In a revving Harleys sort of way.

[Nephilium]

wylie, those are fags, not gays. Get it straight.

[Hobo Chang Ba]

Don't forget this gem: Obama goes to court to stop the overturning of the DOMA, which candidate Obama opposed.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69B63U20101012

Seriously, besides the hacks in his Administration and a few MSNBC hosts and bloggers with no shame or sense of cognitive dissonance, why the heck would anybody vote for Obama again? Seriously, after isolating moderates, polarizing conservatives and libertarians, and making moderate liberals look completely incompetent, he's now stabbed his own base in the back repeatedly when they were the only people still holding on to his phantasmagorical promises. From the drug war, to gay rights to ending our overseas adventurism and closing Guantanamo, what exactly has Obama followed through on for those who worked hardest to get him elected?

[JD]

There was no way this administration wasn't going to challenge the DOMA decision. Nothing is a bigger threat to this administration's ideology and goals than a 10th Amendment win.

[John Thacker]

what exactly has Obama followed through on for those who worked hardest to get him elected?

1. Health care has been a long-term Democratic dream. Sure, the sausage that resulted was nothing at all like what Senator Obama described, but lots of Democrats will take it as a first step.

2. Pretty sure that those UAW and SEIU members and teachers and other government unions worked really hard to get him elected. They had matching colored T-shirts and everything.

All this just reveals who really has the power.

[All the Gays in the Military]

Judge Phillips, where have you been all my life?

[The Gobbler]

"California gubernatorial debate gets ugly."

From the comments: If it's Brown, flush it down.

[sage]

LOLZ

[creech]

I was stunned to learn that just about every rescued Chilean miner must be related to half of the U.S. population.
Glad they are all getting out safely, but do we need wall to wall media coverage of every last one being pulled to the surface? This focus on Chilean miners is sure to cut into their coverage of LEO outrages reported by Radley Balko.

[Jack]

See, this wouldn't happen if we converted the whole world to wind farms. You don't have to mine wind.

[Barack Obama]

I've *got* to find a way to take credit for the Chilean miner rescue... Axelrod! Get your pasty ass in my office, NOW.

[Puff-pass]

Barack Obama analyzing over Axelrod's pasty ass... this is not attractive.

[John Thacker]

It's actually fairly remarkable, because as you allude to, normally one American is worth quite a few foreigners in news coverage.

[Puff-pass]

What are the chances Michelle Rhee wants to start a family with me?

[d]

0%?

[Dello]

I'd be happy enough if she'd consult to my private school.

[Jonas]

Isn't she the one who said, basically, private schools should be abolished and all schools should be public so bright people like her can have control over the whole system?

[Jonas]

Why yes, yes she is:

I believe we can solve the problems of urban education in our lifetimes and actualize education's power to reverse generational poverty. But I am learning that it is a radical concept to even suggest this. Warren Buffett framed the problem for me once in a way that clarified how basic our most stubborn obstacles are. He said it would be easy to solve today's problems in urban education.

"Make private schools illegal," he said, "and assign every child to a public school by random lottery." Think about what this would mean. CEOs' children, diplomats' children, many would be going to schools in Anacostia and east of the river, where most of our schools are. I guarantee we would never see a faster moving of resources from one end of the city to the other. I also guarantee we would soon have a system of high-quality schools.

from here

[zoltan]

We would soon have a system that used to exist hundreds of years ago: hiring a tutor to teach in your home or teaching your children yourself. You'd have to make homeschooling illegal too.

[Shocked]

I thinking your missing Warren Buffet's point. Its not that there shouldn't be private schools, it was that if all the elites' kids have to go to the urban public schools then things would improve.

[GoNavy]

She did not mean that she really wanted to make private schools illegal. The story was meant to illustrate that politics were playing a part in the distribution resources and if the great and the good had to send their kids to an Anacostia school, then the great and the good would make sure that the Anacostia schools were good.

But you knew that already, but just wanted to beat Rhee for some other reasons.

We know where Obama sends his kids to school. Where does the new mayor send his kids?

[Anonymous Coward]

So rather than Michelle Rhee having to take on and break the teacher's union, get the rich parents to do it because their little rays of sunshine are stuck in the system?

I'm not sure whether that's good old fashioned gutless cowardice or a rare instance of true Machiavellian brilliance.

[Xenocles]

I'd go with the brilliance one, only because she pissed off too many people to be called a coward.

[BakedPenguin]

She's married to an ex-NBA star. So pretty low, I'd say.

But you never know, this could be the thing that causes a break up. That'd be your chance, dude.

[Spoonman.]

What about the big story, the Return of Stimulus: Electric Boogaloo?

[MP]

Today I'm going to the bank to switch to a 10-year fixed at 3.875%. If you have a mortgage and you haven't re-financed yet, do it now. This bubble is going to pop and it'll be brutal.

[P Brooks]

Judging by the comments on the WaPo story, Michelle Rhee was singlehandedly responsible for destroying an entire generation of schoolchildren.

[Brett L]

How can they tell in DC?

[P Brooks]

Maxine Waters just said nobody loses money on a loan modification.

Top

men.

[P Brooks]

Holy fucking shit, Maxine Waters is stupid.

[John Thacker]

Her impression of banking and loans is based on the Saturday Night Live sketch where Eddie Murphy dressed up as a white guy.

[BakedPenguin]

Michelle Rhee resigning as D.C. schools chancellor.

Maybe she'll get picked up by Newark. She'd do more for them than the $100 MM from Facebook dweeb will.

[Alice Bowie]

Actually, with $100MM, one can hire 1000 teachers at $100k/year. Adding additional teachers would reduce class size and remedial kids can be handled separately. All Ms. Rhee can do is fire everyone and hire new teachers that would be fired three years from now.

And BTW, I thought the LIBERTARIAN solution for poor, disabled, and sick people was CHARITY.

Penguin, I know u r a LIBERTARIAN. Aren't you for CHARITY as oppose to taxing the masses? Why dog someone with good intentions and who plans to use his own money to help others? You don't have to answer. I already know. The CHARITY bit is a bunch of BS. You guys are ok with poor, disabled, and sick just dropping off the face of the earth. They just don't fit in to the 'FREE-MARKET' bla bla bla.

[d]

That would pay their salaries for one year. Furthermore, didn't the Kansas City thing a couple decades ago demonstrate the ineffectiveness of throwing money at schools?

[R C Dean]

Obama administration lifts ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf.

More governance by press release. They "lifted the ban", but I'm betting no permits get issued.

[Brett L]

You'd be right. In order to recommence operations, sites have to be certified compliant with all regulations, including new ones added since the ban took place.

[John Thacker]

I agree, but won't this upset both sides?

[Xenocles]

It will upset most of one side and a small part of the other. Everyone will see that the ban has been lifted, upsetting most enviros. Only a few will notice that the administration has replaced the ban with regulatory unresponsiveness.

[Pip]

Hey America, how's that affirmativey actiony president thing working out for you?

[????? ??????]

Thanks