Reason Morning Links: Election Night Day After, Bush Almost Dumped Cheney, Britain and France Sign Pact

• America Voted.
• Lisa Murkowski may win first Senate write-in campaign since the 1950s.
• George W. Bush writes in memoir that he considered dropping Cheney from the ticket in 2004.
• Britain and France sign historic defense pact.
• Iranian woman to be hanged today for adultery.

Comments

[2010 Dirty Martini]

2 oz Tanqueray, 1 tbsp dry vermouth, 2 tbsp Democrat tears

[Ska]

That's a bit too much vermouth....

[2010 Dirty Martini]

Democrat tears are sweet and yummy, so they balance out the dry vermouth.

[2012 Dirty Martini]

2 oz Tanqueray, 1 tbsp dry vermouth, 2 tbsp tears of libertarians who bought into the Tea Party

/He beats me because he loves me!

[2010 Dirty Martini]

That's the 2012 Dirty Martini, don't get ahead of yourself.

[Warty]

Who says we'll have to wait two tears for Team Red to turn on us?

[2012 Dirty Martini]

Just tears of "libertarians" who bought into the Tea Party. If they are stupid enough to buy into it, they are probably too stupid to realize they have been butt pumped until 2012, and even that's optimistic.

[JD]

The libertarians who bought into Obama in '08 seem to have realized in much less than 2 years that they were used.

[x,y]

Bwahahaha, now that's a good one. Last time I checked (earlier this week) Ron "Won't Answer One Question" Bailey and Timmy "The Black Man Gave Me Chills" Cavanaugh were on this board defending their Obama votes.

Proof.

"Defense."

[Tulpa]

Yummy and sweet, eh?

[Joe M]

Fifty bucks says Miller wins because of rampant misspellings of Murkowski which don't get counted.

Trust me, as a fellow Polack, I know whereof I speak.

[Barney Miller]

Wojo!!!

[BakedPenguin]

I heard NPR talk about how comments Miller made might have upset voters. such as "the minimum wage is unconstitutional".

What an idiot! Hasn't he heard of interstate commerce?

[Mr. FIFY]

It's sad that the truth gets spun that way...

[Tulpa]

Was he talking about the federal minimum wage law or the state ones? The latter are probably constitutional.

[BakedPenguin]

They didn't specify. Since he was running for a federal position, I thought he would be discussing the federal. Alaska's state minimum wage law may well be constitutional.

[Mr. FIFY]

I can't square the Constitution with telling employers they must pay X amount at the bottom end. If that's kosher, then a MAXIMUM wage would also be okay, no?

Wait, forget I said that. I can hear Chad, Tony, and the other wage-envyists salivating even as I type it, and I have yet to hit the submit button.

Oh, well, here goes...

[BakedPenguin]

I was referring to the Alaska State constitution, which I know nothing about. I agree that minimum wage laws interfere with freedom of association, and should be struck down as federally unconstitutional, but I think we know how likely that is to happen.

[hmm]

Britain and France sign historic defense pact.

Strong mutual aid agreements, what could possibly go wrong with that. Other than a retarded chain-reaction causing another world war.

[Brett L]

This means the US can finally withdraw from Germany, right?

[hmm]

Why stop at Germany?

[Brett L]

I was just thinking that Britain and France could take Germany, no probl... Shit.

[hmm]

If history is any indication I'd have to say they probably can't take Germany. Britain will just turtle up in the keep while France runs around fragging its team mates.

Oh ya, that was a Warcraft reference.

[Ska]

Do the French kick team killers?

[Aresen]

Be nice.

Just because the French have lost to the Germans in the last 4 wars (1815, 1871, 1914, 1939) doesn't mean they can't turn things around.

5th time lucky!

[John]

The French won in 1914

[Aresen]

1914-18 was, at best, a draw. And that only because the Brits were there with you Americans coming in during 1918 to prevent a collapse on the allied side.

Since most of WW1 was fought on French and Belgian soil, I'm calling it a loss for the French.

[John]

It was not a draw. The Germans were driven out of France, humiliated and had their government thrown out in a revolution and spent the 20s paying reparations. That is a loss. And the French Army did some very brave fighting in the First World War. The British had comparatively very few troops in France before 1916. And the Americans showed up to help with the final offensive in 1918, but by that time the Germans were a spent force. The Americans shortened the war but did not win it.

[Chris]

Are you Armenian, by chance?

[Chris]

That was to Aresen

[BakedPenguin]

And they lost in 1815, but not to the Germans.

[Aresen]

The arrival of the Prussians at Waterloo was the tipping point.

[John]

France was finished before Waterloo. They were broke. Even if Napoleon had won that battle, France was doomed. And doomed as a world power. They just didn't know it yet. France never recovered from the demographic decimation of the Napoleonic wars.

[Fluffy]

Yeah, we gotta be fair to France on the 1815 thing.

Nobody could reasonably be expected to take Britain and Prussia at the same time.

If Britain and Germany wanted to go round and round with us, right now, they'd give us a run for our money. After they ramped up a bit, maybe worked off some of the fat around the middle.

[John]

If the Muslims keep fucking with them, they just might do that. And God help anyone who gets in their way.

[SugarFree]

Amy Alkon Gets On Jezebel's Radar

("Radar" isn't sexist, right? Didn't a girl invent it or something?)

[hmm]

I'm sure Radar had a grape knee high after she got off.

[Timon19]

Grape Nehi?

[hmm]

Ya, I knew it was wrong the minute I hit submit and I was too lazy to look it up. The hooked on phonics approach worked just fine!

[Fluffy]

Understandable homonym usage.

Try to understand, most of us only know of nehi because Radar talked about it. And we've never seen it in spelled out in print.

[kinnath]

you never actually drank a nehi? I preferred orange, but grape was pretty good too.

[hmm]

Sadly I have, and still messed it up.

Such is the life of the captain of the shortbus.

[Drooler]

At least you're captain.

[hmm]

I actually knew it was close to that spelling. But that tidbit of information hadn't made its way through the 5 active, but very slow, synapses to the forefront of my brain before I hit submit. That coupled with laziness and generally not caring lead to my pathetic showing.

[Citizen Nothing]

I thought a "grape knee high" was probably some perverse sexual practice I was too uncool to know about.

[SugarFree]

Fisting with the foot up to the knee? Which would definitely make something purple.

[Citizen Nothing]

So it's still called "fisting" when you use a foot? Jeez. The things you learn on the Internet.

[Citizen Nothing]

(And I now wish someone would give Harry Reid a grape knee high.)

[SugarFree]

It is variously called "Foot-Fisting" or "Footing."

[brotherben]

Don't the brits call it "footey?"

[SugarFree]

Googling seems to suggest that "footy sex" main involves the sex affairs of Football players.

But "Foot(e)y" would make sense in context.

[hmm]

Well. This took an awesome turn for the WTF?

[Timon19]

It's available in real life grocery stores. Also available: peach (meh).

[hmm]

They shouldn't be upset. Men have solved their natural flaw of putting aesthetics first by inventing alcohol.

[Fluffy]

More atrocious lies from un-self-aware people.

You know what really disgusts me about all of this whining about how unfair it is that women are judged by whether or not men find them attractive?

That there's nothing for them to whine about unless they're secretly applying just as rigid a standard to men, and just not talking about it.

Every last one of those poor, poor anorexic girls who is "overwhelmed by patriarchal lookism" and "tormented by Madison Avenue" and is out there cutting herself because she can't get a boyfriend could get a boyfriend in the next five minutes if she really wanted one, just by walking up to the ugliest loser nerd in her high school or college and asking him out.

Since they don't do that, I always assume that every woman who complains about "lookism" actually means "I'm pissed off because the arbitrary standards men have for what is attractive are preventing me from getting the guy I arbitrarily find attractive with my own standards".

[John]

^^This^^

[C'mon man]

It's a shame Hillary didn't win the 2008 election because we'd have a post-misogynistic country. At least we have a post-racial country.

[Mo]

Every last one of those poor, poor anorexic girls who is "overwhelmed by patriarchal lookism" and "tormented by Madison Avenue" and is out there cutting herself because she can't get a boyfriend could get a boyfriend in the next five minutes if she really wanted one, just by walking up to the ugliest loser nerd in her high school or college and asking him out.

No because most of the ugly loser nerds held out for more attractive women. It's the MAD of high school dating, the ugly nerd girls and the ugly nerd guys both held out hope that they'd find a hot nerd that wasn't as superficial as they were.

[John]

There is some truth to that. But those girls don't even have to settle for an ugly loser guy. Garutnee you there are perfectly acceptable guys following them around like lost puppies putting up with their whinny horseshit because they are too young to have figured out these kinds of chicks are a drag on your soul. But they won't take them as boyfriends because doing so might take away all their excuses for being miserable.

[Fluffy]

Right, exactly.

Because the dark secret of anorexic cutter girls is that their chief motivation is actually...vanity.

It's a perfectionism that turns malignant. "I'm so special, I should be the hottest girl with the hottest girl, and be the most popular, and go to Yale, and...blah blah blahdy blah blah. So I guess I'll starve myself. And cut myself 'cause I'm just so sad that I'm not those things and no one understands me."

Guys don't do that not because they're not "victims of patriarchy" but because guys are much, much better at settling.

[John]

Yup. And when they do figure out that maybe they should settle, all the guys who were following them around have moved on and they are too old to attract new ones. See Dowd, Maureen for a very public example of this modern breed of bitter aging spinster.

[dbcooper]

Who has a crush on Keith Richards it seems.

[Bingo]

The thing is that the stereotypically ugly nerd guy is likely to go on to do well in school and get a good job, increasing his chances of finding a hot chick.

The stereotypically ugly nerd girl will go on to get a degree in feminist studies, barely be able to find a job, and spend her time posting on places like Jezebel, which detrimentally decreases her chances of finding her Twilight-inspired prince.

[John]

A lot of them become lawyers. The legal field is full of crazy over achieving nerd girls.

[Pope Jimbo]

Mo, what is the guy equivalent of "quitting time"?

A gal can show up in a bar and without trying very hard go home with someone if she really wants to get laid. If she is fugly she may have to wait until quitting time, but there is almost always some guy in the bar who is drunk and horny enough to take a ticket with her to horny town.

What do ugly guys do that is similar?

[Warty]

It's called hoggin', dude. Don't do it.

[brotherben]

damn good advice Warty. If you aren't careful, you stay drunk and end up married to one for 24 years and then face a tasty divorce after sobering up and realizing what a ginormous fucking idiot you are.

[Warty]

The stink takes forever to wash off when it's just one night. How do you clean an entire marriage off yourself?

[brotherben]

Well, in my case, I take great comfort in the two wonderful kids we raised. Other than that? I thank Joe Pesci for the mysticism of the interwebs and social networking sites that allowed other men to fall under her spell and give her assurance that she was alluring in the eyes of men more successful and virile than me.

[Drooler]

She's dating boys in junior high?

[SugarFree]

Molting.

[The Gobbler]

Top. Shelf. Lawyers.

[SugarFree]

What do ugly guys do that is similar?

There is no functional equivalent because prostitution fills that social niche.

[Woodrow]

From watching my old high school friends, I will tell you there was no chick too ugly that they would turn down if she came onto them. I mean, as long as she wasn't exposed to toxic waste or something....

[BakedPenguin]

Once again, Fluffy cuts through the bullshit. Women are just as, (or damn close as) attracted by looks as men are. They are slightly more subtle, but this does not mean they are any "deeper".

[Pope Jimbo]

Women get really turned on by the size of a guy's bulge (wallet that is).

Looks aren't nearly as important to women as financial security is.

[Tulpa]

Only until they trick Mr. Financial Security into marrying them. Then they start looking for a hot guy to fuck on the side (or, more likely, to be their primary fuck partner and fuck Mr. FS on the side), with the resulting offspring supported by Mr. FS, even if he gets wise and gets a divorce.

Fuck marriage. Did you hear that, Mom?

[prolefeed]

Sorry your wife cheated on you, Tulpa.

[Bingo]

Women have pretty flexible standards of attraction when it comes to male looks. The bald chubby guy that looks like a scaled-up infant suddenly becomes her "little bulldog" when she finds out that he owns his own business and pulls in good money. All things considered, it's a pretty good situation for the guys.

[Fluffy]

It actually doesn't matter if it's looks, or not.

It's still something.

Women create a status hierarchy of males, and most of their self-pity is rooted in frustration at how high on that status hierarchy their own attractiveness will take them.

No matter what the criteria are, that means that the easy way out of the self-pity trap is simply to aim lower. Or at the bottom. And if they won't do that, I don't want to hear their complaints about how unfair it is that men are judging them.

This goes both ways, by the way. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of self-pity among boys/men too. "Wah, wah, I can't get a girlfriend, life is so unfair." [Whatever. Unless you are dead last on the status list, you can get a girlfriend. You just don't want the ones you can get.] The difference is that men don't tend to turn their frustrated vanity and self-pity into complex social theories about matriarchy or nonsensical shit like that. And they don't starve themselves, cut themselves, get plastic surgery, etc. They just muddle through until they find someone willing to date their lame asses.

[BakedPenguin]

Good point.

What I really find annoying is that the typical female vision of attractiveness that is promulgated is not the one that matches up with what straight males really want - it's the vision of fashion designers. e.g., Gay men, and other women. Most men I know like curves, not women who look like they just got out of a POW camp.

[Psychic Octopus]

As one of the few men who like women with a really low BMI, I know you're right.

[John]

The difference is men grow up. You see very few men over the age of 30 whining about how they can't have a girlfriend. But you see tons of women over 30 doing it. And they are almost always white and middle or upper middle class. Modern feminism has created an entire class of middle and upper class self entitled childish white women.

[SugarFree]

Minimum beauty standards are pretty low to begin with. The vegan girl at work with a faced like a crippled foot, Wookie-level hairy legs and who constantly reeked of burnt garlic not only found a boy, but got married.

It's not that all men aren't attracted to overweight or plain-to-homely girls. There are many that are, but not enough to keep up with the demand. Ugly women have really just over-supplied themselves to the market.

[John]

http://www.nypost.com/p/entert.....HmE5VjjF5L

Here you go. That girls is as cute as a button. She is 18 and probably has seven or eight figures in the bank. But she is anorexic, cutting herself, and just checked into rehab. For real? What possible excuse could she have for being that fucked up. There are girls who live in trailer parks being molested by their mom's scumbag boyfriend who are not half that fucked up. She is just a poster child for the type of young woman you are talking about.

[Bingo]

Sounds like fun, I'd date her. Hey baby, dump that dumbass celeb boyfriend and get with this libertarian prince.

[John]

I can deal with the drinking and drugs. I can even deal with the not eating. But I am not hanging out with a chick who cuts herself. That is just beyond fucked up. Life is too short to deal with that shit.

[Bingo]

Ah yeah, didn't see the cutting self part. That's a dealbreaker.

I really feel sorry for those celebrity kids, seems like they all sorts of problems growing up and wash out before they hit 30. Really doesn't seem worth it.

[Enough About Palin]

Read this:

Bright Red Scream: Self-Mutilation and the Language of Pain

From Publishers Weekly
Strong's research into "cutters" combines journalistic passion with academic integrity. Through dozens of interviews conducted for a 1993 San Francisco Focus article, she explores the reasons that lead over two million Americans to injure themselves regularly and deliberately with such items as knives, razor blades and broken glass. Although most cutters are young women who have been emotionally, sexually, or physically abused as children, Strong's research shows that this specific type of self-harm also appears in other groups. Most interviewees here claim to use cutting to distance themselves from pain and rage, or to "feel something" after years of abuse have left them emotionally numb. The powerful first-person stories, in which the cutters describe their ritualistic methods and somewhat addictive cravings for seeing their own blood, highlight the problem and ultimately lead to understanding and sympathy for those who suffer from the disorder. (A foreword from University of Missouri-Columbia psychiatrist Armondo Favazza, author of Bodies Under Siege, discusses past difficulties in bringing the disorder to the public's attention.) In addition to presenting a psychological focus, Strong also investigates possible neurological and chemical changes that both abuse and cutting can cause. A brief foray into comparison with the American tattooing trend and scarification in other cultures proves to be the book's only weak point, drawing on hypotheses rather than concrete fact. The author recovers quickly, however, when she explores the comprehensive programs and treatments available to cutters. Riveting and dynamically written, this book is an important addition to psychological literature. Agent, Sandra Dijkstra. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

http://www.amazon.com/Bright-R.....amp;sr=8-1

[JW]

And they don't starve themselves, cut themselves, get plastic surgery, etc. They just muddle through until they find someone willing to date their lame asses.

That's what alcohol is for.

My M-I-L is one of the exceptions. I've seen pictures of her in her younger day and she was hawt. She's one dirty old broad, smart and witty as as hell, and still horny at 80. (She tells me "I hope you're fucking like rabbits.")

Settled and married a man she didn't really love, but it was the 1950's so she thought was supposed to. Raised 3 kids, dumped him and eventually married my F-I-L, who was just this side of a short, hairy troll, but very intelligent. She loved him for his brains, wit and personality and she still mourns his death him to this day, 17 years later.

[Tulpa]

Every last one of those poor, poor anorexic girls who is "overwhelmed by patriarchal lookism" and "tormented by Madison Avenue" and is out there cutting herself because she can't get a boyfriend could get a boyfriend in the next five minutes if she really wanted one, just by walking up to the ugliest loser nerd in her high school or college and asking him out.

Uh, no. I was an ugly loser nerd in high school and still would not have dated a very ugly girl. There's a level of ugliness beyond which you're better off hollowing out a cucumber and dating that.

[SugarFree]

Or a melon heated in the microwave.

[Tulpa]

My older brother burned his weiner trying that with an orange.

I guess acidic fruit is best avoided for those purposes.

[SugarFree]

How big was this orange? And why not a banana peel?

[Enough About Palin]

You know all the tricks!

[Fluffy]

Anorexic women generally aren't 1's. The 1's know it's hopeless and don't even try. The anorexics are 6's and 7's who are pissed off they aren't 9's and 10's and will hurt themselves to try to get there if they have to.

And any 7 girl can get any 1 or 2 guy she wants, unless some other 7 got to him first.

[JW]

Tall leather boots add 2-3 points to almost any woman.

It's the one saving grace of winter.

[prolefeed]

Shorter Fluffy @9:52: Women have pussies. It's not that hard to get laid if you have a pussy.

[Psychic Octopus]

And yet?

If she does put her pussy to use she is going to be called a whore and such - and not by the men, who like someone like that as long as she doesn't spill beans with whom they regard or want as girlfriends; no, it will be the envious women, some prettier, some uglier, who will attack her because she isn't applying the same market distortions they are applying, even though those distortions are what prevents them from getting hotter (richer, funnier, whatever) men anyway. The Jezebelites will sound like SoCons in this case. In some ways, they are reverse SoCons, at that.

[Shem]

Every last one of those poor, poor anorexic girls who is "overwhelmed by patriarchal lookism" and "tormented by Madison Avenue" and is out there cutting herself because she can't get a boyfriend could get a boyfriend in the next five minutes if she really wanted one, just by walking up to the ugliest loser nerd in her high school or college and asking him out.

So...when women are unhappy, it's because they can't get a man. ...good to know.

[Bingo]

Amy Alkon is my new favorite person.

[Enough About Palin]

Every front and back door should sport one of these:

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/warrantdoormat.jpg

[Apple]

Ladies, feel free to change our standards of beauty by creating a new women's magazine with plus sized, unibrowed models that no one will buy, or whatever you're planning to do to start the revolution. If you have time to make short, bald, fat dudes with back hair attractive too that would be great. Thanks!

[BakedPenguin]

Don't forget to make nose hair attractive. I'm tired of tweezing those fuckers out of my nostrils every week. Oh, maybe I should start a website called "Samson" where guys can bitch about the shit they have to do to get and keep women.

[Bingo]

"Help! Girlfriend wants me to get a job. Why does the matriarchy keep trying to control my wild masculine spirit?"

[BakedPenguin]

"She won't sleep with me when I don't shower. Why can't she accept my BO as part of my masculine ruggedness?"

[Bingo]

"Some strange woman came up to me at the gym and complimented me on my body. Argh, I am not some piece of meat! I'm a strong, masculine human, please respect me! Any other men sick of the female gaze?"

[Billy Shakespeare]

I won't come out of my man cave! I won't!

[Mr. FIFY]

I shave out my nose hair, BP. Not hard to do if done carefully. The ear hair is a bit trickier, though.

[SugarFree]

Get yourself a Detail Trimmer. Works great on ear hair.

[Mr. FIFY]

My girlfriend does the ear detail for me. I think I'll get her one of those gizmos for Xmas.

[Jezebel]

Misogynist bastard.

[Citizen Nothing]

See -- That kind of personal grooming advice is why I come to H&R!

[brotherben]

That little personal trimmer is perfect for nose hairs. I have an undocumented Mexicam immigrant with a weedeater that does my ear hair every other week. I'm looking for a suitable herbicide.

[Mr. FIFY]

Well, Citizen, I do return the favor by way of trimming the hedges. If you get my drift.

[JW]

There are better ones out there, but yeah, nothing beats a good electric groomer.

And with that, I give you the Phillips BodyGroom (Old, but stil amusing.)

[brotherben]

Oh, fyi, btw:

NEVER EVER EVER TRY TO WAX AWAY NOSE HAIR!

[wingnutx]

Go to a Turkish barber. They take big cotton swab, dip it in alcohol, light it on fire, then burn your ear hair off with it.

[Michael]

I wonder how many of Jezebel's regular readers feel that outfits consisting of three different hues of purple are a perfectly acceptable thing to wear.

[CrackertyAssCracker]

SugarFree,

Do you ever try to direct Jezebels over here to see our reactions to their silly crap? Or would that get you banned/break your cover?

[SugarFree]

It would probably be too obvious. And they ban at the drop of a hat. I really only appropriate jokes to see if they have a sense of humor. The stuff that I want to post outweighs the stuff I do post about 20 to 1.

[zoltan]

The problem with Jezebel is that they overthink everything AND they don't understand that men primp too. When Alkon says that looks and mind matter, it doesn't mean you need to attend to your looks the way a Hollywood starlet does. You don't need to spend "three hours at the gym" as Alkon says either. Women think about what they've been told from beauty magazines (taking lots of time and effort on hair and makeup, lifting three pound weights) and they stress out over it. Most guys don't care if your eyeshadow is a perfect color gradient! At least not the ones who want to fuck women.

It's frustrating that Jezebel continues to deny evolution's unchangeable effects on men and women. If my boyfriend started to get fat and not take care of himself, you better believe I will be unhappy just as if the same thing happened to him. This is not a sexist sentiment. If you have to spend a lot of time with someone, of course personality counts because you don't want to be annoyed all the time, but you also don't want to have to look at something hideous either.

[Fluffy]

http://www.bostonherald.com/ne.....p;srvc=rss

Cops: "When we shot that football player kid, all of our dashboard cams happened to be turned off simultaneously"

Paging Dr. Radley

[Bee Tagger]

I have to hand it to shadowy foreign corporations, they really won big last night. And they had the guile to lose Whitman and McMahon to throw people less intelligent than Rachel Maddow off the scent.

[quaffles]

When you attribute such awesome powers to shadowy foreign corporations it's like you are creating some kind of god in your head, or more accurately, a devil. So now you need an equally or more powerful god to fight your devil, ah of course, the federal government.

I think that evil genius is sufficiently rare that one shouldn't ascribe to evil what can be explained by incompetence. But who knows for sure? Jesus, that's who.

[Mike Laursen]

OK, OK, so he got the details a little wrong. The Kochs selected Whitman and McMahon because they knew they were incompetent losers.

[Pip]

REPORT: US to spend $200 million per day on Obama's Mumbai visit

http://www.ndtv.com/article/in.....isit-64106

[John]

http://pajamasmedia.com/instap.....2India.jpg

I am surprised it is that little. He seems to be using a lot of helicopters. Those things cost $5000 an hour.

[Abdul]

We'll make it all back when he wins that "slumdog millionaire" show.

[The Other Kevin]

Where's that "2010 Voter" commenter this morning? I thought he'd be the first to comment. Must still be out celebrating.

[2010 Voter]

Hello, TOK. Yes, it was a late night. Not a complete victory, but about what I expected.

This is the last chance for the Republicans. They had better listen hard to the Drs. Paul.

[SugarFree]

Scientists and science fiction writers pick 10 "lost" books of science fiction.

Although, I'm confused why Atwood is on there. She has stated repeatedly that she isn't a science fiction writer.

[Fluffy]

Wow, nice list.

Dark Universe and The Listeners sound really good, and I'd never heard of either.

But I don't see how you can call Earth Abides and We "lost". That's like having an article where Harlan Ellison and Ursula Leguin are your "lost" sci-fi writers.

[SugarFree]

I've read 7/10.

I thought First and Last Men shouldn't have been there either. Like We, anyone reasonably conversant with the genre knows of it, even if they haven't read it.

[dbcooper]

Yeah, definitely interested in checking out The Listeners; bookmarked that one yesterday. Anyone read it?

[SugarFree]

Not one of the ones I read either. I've read some James Gunn (This Fortress World and The Joy Makers), but not that one.

[Bingo]

We is definitely one of my favorite novels and should be mandatory reading in high school along with 1984 and Brave New World. It also has the most depressing ending I've ever read.

[BakedPenguin]

I still need to get to We. It's been sitting on my shelf for a year now.

[Xeones]

I just finished it for the second time. Zamyatin called it his "funniest" book, but it's just plain old chilling dystopia to me.

[Spoonman.]

I liked We thought it seemed like it could stand a better translation than the one I had.

[CrackertyAssCracker]

Is anything besides the Earthsea stuff by Leguin any good? I like all the Earthsea stuff, but everything I've read be her has been communist BS and has sucked.

[Fluffy]

Usually when I read anything by Leguin that's any good, I look down at the spine of the book and discover that I accidentally picked up something by Doris Lessing.

[zoltan]

The Lathe of Heaven annoyed the shit out of me but the Left Hand of Darkness I liked out of sheer weirdness.

[Brett L]

The Cyberiad is still lost? Even after the remake of Solaris? Also, Atwood was reviewing We, which is a Russian version of Brave New World, and pretty okay. Worth reading if only to see how the Russians were doing it. Her books did not make the cut.

[SugarFree]

What I meant was that Atwood doesn't consider herself a science fiction writer-- doesn't want to be associated with that gutter genre--and she's not a scientist... why was she asked to review anything?

[dbcooper]

She needs the money from greater exposure? She has cranked out a lot of books recently.

[Brett L]

Ah, okay. I don't keep up enough with my genre snobs.

[Trespassers W]

The Cyberiad is still lost? Even after the remake of Solaris?

It's really hard for me to find Lem in bookstores.

Although, come to think of it, I haven't looked on Amazon, which makes me an idiot.

[Pip]

A stunner: State GOP wins both House and Senate

For the first time in more than a generation the GOP swept to control of both houses of the Minnesota Legislature.

http://www.startribune.com/pol.....ec8O7EyUsl

[Pope Jimbo]

Thank Zeus!

They might do some real good if the remember to send their bills to Dayton's desk after 3pm when the meds kick in on him.

How can my home state elect a guy who actively campaigned on the idea that we need to really screw the rich over with additional taxes?

[Cyto]

Al Franken?

[C'mon man]

NY Times: The most expensive midterm election campaign in the nation's history, fueled by a raft of contributions from outside interest groups and millions in donations to candidates in both parties...

Here is the narrative. We need to get to the bottom of this!

[hmm]

What was the finally tally for outside spending. I've see reports the CoC out spent unions by 5-10 million.

[C'mon man]

It's a secret. Keith and Rachel will keep you posted.

[Lone Wookie]

The Times frets over $4 billion in private money spent by willing individuals (creating lots of jobs in the process) but not over the $800+ billion "stimulous" stolen from taxpayers and generations to come and dumped down a hole.

[MP]

WTF is an "Outside" interest group anyhow? Where is this magical Inside/Outside boundary?

[John]

A group is "outside" if it spends money on someone you don't like.

[C'mon man]

Does it really matter? One day, in the near future, when you are commuting to work going 500 mph on a high speed rail form TX to LA, those "outside" interests will be a distant memory.

[John]

Some one on one of the threads last night brought up the hipster slur from 2008 about the center of the country being "dumbfuckistan". Looking at what happened last night in NY, California, and New England, that slur seems a bit ironic. Massachusetts re-elected Devel Patrick and Barney Frank. California re-elected Barbara Boxer and put Gerry Brown back in as governor. I understand that the D's opponents probably were not much better. But how can you re-elect the people who have bankrupted your state? I don't care who is running against the guy, you can't cast a "more please" vote? But that is what those people did.

I guess reality has to kick these people in the balls a little harder for them to get it.

[hmm]

Stockholm syndrome.

[Michael]

What are these "hipster balls" of which you speak, sir?

As an aside, is it just my skewed perception or did third parties seem to draw an unusually impressive vote count this time around?

[waffles]

Ah, so that explains how they can wear those funny looking jeans.

To me it seemed like like lots of people were checking "other" as well. A few people I know, who consider themselves Ds, told me they refused to choose the lesser of two evils. It wasn't 3rd party support but rather main party disdain.

[Hobie Hanson]

California re-elected Barbara Boxer and put Gerry Brown back in as governor. I understand that the D's opponents probably were not much better. But how can you re-elect the people who have bankrupted your state? I don't care who is running against the guy, you can't cast a "more please" vote? But that is what those people did.

California has had a Republican governor since 2003, so they didn't vote in the same people who bankrupted the state. It's the 2/3 majority requirement for passing revenue measures that is bankrupting the state, anyway.

[SugarFree]

Please don't be his porn.

[Mr. FIFY]

Whose porn? I don't see anything above, just a blank area void of substance. The squirrels must be putting up phantom posts again.

[Corduroy]

More correctly, it's the simple majority for passing spending measures that's the problem.

[kinnath]

The formula for bankruptcy is spending more than you take in.

[Chad]

We still have to raise taxes. Even if we didn't have massive debt. Suck it up.

[J_L_B]

Chad you make this classic mathematical mistake: high taxes = high revenue, higher taxes = even higher revenue. The wealthy will make greater use of offshore tax havens in response to any tax increase. That explains why the tax inflow rate (as a % of GDP) hasn't moved much in the past several decades even considering the confiscatory tax rates of the 1950's. Raise taxes all you'd like, tax revenue maxes out at 22% of GDP no matter what the rate.

[Google]

Don't Be Evil Pay Taxes

[JoshINHB]

California voted for suicide yesterday.

[Citizen Nothing]

Yeah. And I would think now that if the state bailout by the feds doesn't come in the lame-duck session, it ain't comin'.

[creech]

Maybe, but how many GOP congressmen are there and if they vote with a solid Democrat bloc to bail out Cal. is that enough for a majority?

[kinnath]

No one is going to break a filibuster after yesterday.

[Mike Laursen]

To be fair, our Republican choices weren't all that great, either.

[waffles]

I just keep thinking to myself over and over good lord, California, you really are that dumb.

[kinnath]

So what do we have to offer CA to get it to scede from the union?

[Brett L]

That should be a part of the bailout. You can take the money, but you have to leave.

[Enough About Palin]

Kind of like how one deals with a prostitute.

[P Brooks]

California voted for suicide yesterday.

Mandatory suicide, I hope.

[MP]

Before Warty does it.

[SugarFree]

I'd like to add...

[Warty]

You please me, minions.

[hmm]

California voted for suicide yesterday.

This could be a good thing. It's easier to sell vacant property.

[C'mon man]

What are you talking about? Prop 23 was defeated. I heard a million green jobs were created this morning.

[?]

Fifty bucks says Miller wins because of rampant misspellings of Murkowski which don't get counted.

Pfft. Ron Paul's Cock's write-in vote for itself, in Hebrew, will be counted as a vote for Murkowski.

Alaska is home to the last Republican machine, and Miller is a Palin proxy. She can't be allowed to win, so he won't.

[John]

Fuck Alaska. I hope the House cuts off every federal penny to the place. You want to elect the "my daddy gave me this seat and it is all mine" bitch, have fun. But don't expect any support from the rest of the country.

[Citizen Nothing]

Alaska needs a grape knee high.

[Tulpa]

We need their oil and strategic location. You can bet that the Murkowski familia is less corrupt than the noblest ruling family in the Middle East.

[wylie]

Set the bar low, much?

[RyanXXX]

Amen, John. They always carry on about how "rugged and independent" they are, like they're out their cutting a new frontier. But they are the biggest fuckin' welfare state in the nation

[Anonymous]

It never ceases to amaze me how gullible some self-described libertarians are. You have all these credulous comments thinking that the GOP victories are going to lead to anything more positive than gridlock... why? When was the last time Republicans cut the size of government? (I mean literally cut, not cut into the rate of growth or some other Reaganesque figleaf.)

If anything Republicans do more damage to libertarian causes than Democrats do because when they get into power and fuck up, they use the rhetoric of capitalism and minarchism, which gives those concepts a bad name in the minds of voters. At least when Democrats fuck up they're not sliming us by association.

[hmm]

gridlock is pretty fuckin' positive

[C'mon man]

Bullshit. They'll easily cut 10 million in discretionary spending. Boehner said they'd repeal the tanning bed tax first thing, as well.

[George Hamilton]

Damn straight!

[John]

Fine. Then vote the Democrats. Suppose the Ds had won last night and had a majority in the House and a sixty vote majority in the Senate again. You think Gridlock is no better than that? I do. And if you don't you are nothing but a concern troll.

[rho]

You speak as if it's a binary thing--vote Red or Blue!

If Team Red shows some mettle in the next two years, maybe I'll crawl out of the gin bottle in November to vote for somebody. Until then, sitting back and hurling bipartisan invective is a perfectly reasonable option.

[John]

So I guess you would have preferred the Democrats maintaining their majority and viewing the election as a mandate to do cap and trade and card check?

If you would prefer that to what happened, you are either stupid or just another concern troll.

[Mike Laursen]

You have all these credulous comments thinking that the GOP victories are going to lead to anything more positive than gridlock... why?

Where are all these comments you speak of?

[John]

As Episiarch would say, "concern troll is concerned".

[Anonymous]

They're from last night's election thread, I thought that was reasonably obvious. Tons of morons crowing about how Rand Paul and his crew of sellouts are going to fight Obammunism with their bullshit Pledge to Nowhere.

Look Law Student, I'm not happy that social conservatives still prevent people from realizing that liberalism is a failed ideology. But--

An historic tidal wave of revolt against deficit spending and intrusive government has swept over the country. Entrenched incumbents are toppled in a revolt against business as usual in DC.

OMG, Reason's writers are unbelievable. Anyone who doesn't think this isn't a net plus for freedom is willingly blind. It's celebration time!

The GOP isn't perfect, but they're a helluva lot better than the Democrats. With the Republicans you at least know they're not going to try to ban incandescent fucking lightbulbs.

If you held your nose and voted Republican because of gridlock, great. I'm getting way more of a TEAM RED vibe from comments like that, though.

[John]

"An historic tidal wave of revolt against deficit spending and intrusive government has swept over the country."

That is true. It wasn't a Republican wave. People still hold the GOP in low esteem. But they hate the Democrats more. Why? Because they stand for deficits and intrusive governments. And why don't they like the GOP? Because they trust them not to be for the same thing.

Last night was a good thing. If you don't believe that you are just a concern troll.

[John]

And you don't want gridlock. You are just a fucking liberal in here to cause trouble.

[Anonymous]

Yes, clearly because my complaint with Republicans is that they ruin the reputation of minarchism and capitalism by fucking up under its name, I'm a "fucking liberal." You fucking idiot.

[John]

Bullshit. You don't believe a word of that. You are just here trolling. I may be an idiot, but you don't have to be too smart to see through your horseshit.

[Anonymous]

What, anyone who doesn't express glee at GOP victories is a troll now? Someone who refuses to accept the tea party movement as libertarian is a liberal? Pardon me for giving a shit about people getting killed, tortured, and imprisoned for life, I'm sure I should be way more concerned about a 5% increase in the highest tax bracket.

It's not a victory for libertarianism unless the people getting elected are actual libertarians. If you're celebrating either party being elected, you're a goddamn moron. Republicans have been promising limited government for fifty years and they've never once delivered.

[Jake Boone]

Don't let John rile you up too much. He's the regular Team Red apologist 'round here (but he implies that he's a libertarian sometimes for... the social cachet he thinks we have, I guess).

We know he's sort of a living cornucopia, except that instead of abundant food, he produces endless bullshit and logical fallacies.

Most of us just try to ignore him. Well, when we're not ridiculing him.

[Mike Laursen]

Guess it's an open website. If there's a story about Rand Paul it's gonna draw some conservative or conservative-libertarian commenters.

[P Brooks]

Bring on the death panels!

[C'mon man]

Energy Independence from Al Kayda!

[JW]

Panels seem like such a nuisance. Can't we move straight to the torches and pitchforks?

[John]

Geraldine Ferraro whining on Fox News last night about how so many Democrats who are losing tonight have "done so much for their districts" was great. It gave me a bit of hope. Perhaps stealing for your district doesn't guarantee lifetime power after all.

[Citizen Nothing]

Sounds like Ferraro could use a good grape knee high!

[SugarFree]

"And on that day, a meme was a'born."

[P Brooks]

What I'd like to hear departing Governor Schwarzenegger say as his farewell address:

"So long, suckers!"

[John]

Meg Wittman spent $150 million trying to win the job of taking the blame for the complete societal meltdown that is about to occur in California. She has some real masochism issues. The people of California did her a favor.

[Aresen]

Kinda my take. I was wondering "Why in hell would anyone want to take over the job?" (Actually, I was wondering even when Schwarznegger ran.)

California is going down the tubes and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop it.

[John]

I think it will turn around eventually. But it is going to get really bad before it gets better. About 60% of the electorate believe in policies that are just horrible. And they have convinced themselves that anyone who doesn't believe in such horrible policies is an ignorant, racist redneck. So they not only have to admit to themselves that their entire political view is wrong, but also they are going to have to admit their entire cultural view is wrong. Those are going to be bitter pills for them to swallow. It is going to take a lot of horror, rationalization and rewriting of history for them to come around to reality.

[brotherben]

The worst of it is that the rest of the country seems to love to follow in california's footsteps.

[Barack Obama]

Have you tried the slurpies?

[Brett L]

I kind of hope the Governator's whole head will come off Total Recall style and it turns out that one of the North Korean Kims was under there all along.

[Oso Politico]

Hasta la vista, Baby...

[Kim Jong Il]

Hasta ra vista, Baby...

[JW]

"California...remember when I said I'd kill you last? I lied!"

[Billy Shakespeare]

As long as he doesn't say this:

"I'll be back."

[Aresen]

Iranian woman to be hanged today for adultery.

I wish there was a hell so the mullahs could burn in it forever.

[Mr. FIFY]

I look forward to the scathing, no-holds-barred protests from NOW and Jezebel over this Iranian atrocity.

Yep, any second now. I'm sure they're just polishing up the press releases.

Aaaannnyy minute now. I'll just get this pot of coffee going in the meantime.

Well, I can't wait any longer, but I remain confident that these stalwart defenders of the rights of women will, indeed, share their outrage over this heinous crime.

[SugarFree]

Whatever, dude. They are tackling the important subjects, like The Hiccup Girl, sexist Halloween costumes, and fisking the cover of this month's Men's Health.

[Mr. FIFY]

My bad. I guess I can't understand their method of prioritizing women's issues.

I also suppose none of them want to come over and fix me a sandwich and give me a blowjob. Oh, well.

[brotherben]

Your sights are set low my friend. She has to be willing to fetch cold beer on demand as well as samiches and hummers.

[Mr. FIFY]

Hey, I'm not a demanding dude. I can get my own beer, unless she wants to get it for me. Usually about half the time, such is the case.

[Citizen Nothing]

Are grape knee highs halal?

[Jackie Mason]

Fuck that. Are they kosher? That's what I wanna know.

[SugarFree]

kashrut.com considers Grape Nehi to be kosher, but since it does contain corn syrup, it is not kosher for Passover.

[Joe M]

If they are, we'll have to boycott them.

[BG]

Executing someone for adultery is, of course, irrational and barbaric (as is the case with much of what religious fanatics do). Even crazier is the fact that the original sentence was the extra-primitive penalty of stoning to death (which is still a prescribed penalty under Iranian law).

This sexually repressed control freakishness is compounded by several aspects of Sharia in effect in Iran:

- All sex between unmarried people is illegal.

- It is difficult for a woman to legally obtain a divorce.

- The age at which females may be legally married in Iran is 13 (until recently it was 9 if she had parental approval; I am not sure if that is still the case). If she is that young, she is probably not in possession of the understanding and reasoning capacity an adult would have (and she can be easily pushed into marriage by parents or guardians).

- I also believe that Iranian women can not legally leave Iran without permission from a husband or male relative.

So the combined effect of these laws is: If you are a woman in Iran you can only legally have sex with one guy (after you've married him). If you decide you don't like the guy after that, you might not be legally able to leave him and seek another partner. And being married to him may never have been your choice in the first place, but you are still stuck with him. And if you seek some control over your own sex life in violation of these laws, there are draconian penalties of flogging (if you are unmarried) or death (if you are married).

And this country is on a UN council that has the ostensible purpose of upholding women's rights. It reminds me of a saying: the difference between truth and fiction is that fiction has to make sense.

This case was a major public relations disaster for Iran and rightfully so. The country already has an image problem, and the decision to halt the death sentence suggests that the regime in Tehran is sensitive to that fact. If she is indeed executed today (the reports are not confirmed), it will indicate that the regime now feels confident enough in its position to issue a slap in the face to the subset of the left that cares about human rights (as most of this same subset would tend to advocate a conciliatory approach towards Iran by the west). And if they feel confident enough to carry out this sentence (which will discredit the idea that grassroots outrage and diplomatic isolation are enough to get Iran to change its behavior) it should be interesting to see how far they are willing to push the envelope in areas of greater international concern (such as their nuclear program and alliance with Hezbollah and Hamas).

[brotherben]

Locally, we re-elected Harri Anne Smith to the Alabama senate. The republicans disowned her for backing Democrat Bobby Bright in '08 for the U.S. house. She ran as an independant. Voters didn't seem concerned about the federal indictments against her for bribery, bribe taking and vote buying in the electronic Bingo mess.

[Big Chief]

MSNBC is incredible. I was watching all the cable stations last night to see what kind of slant they'd have on the election. They all tried to be pretty balanced, even Fox (aside from spending so much time kissing Palin's butt), but not MSNBC. It was a Team Blue temper tantrum from the outset. Even though I expected them to be slanted, they were so openly Team Blue I was amazed.

[John]

Do they even have a token conservative?

[Big Chief]

The only Republican I saw them speak to was Bachman, which is a statement in itself. Matthews kept asking if she was going to move forward with investigating the House Dems now they the GOP had the House. She responded by saying they were going to cut taxes and fix the economy. Matthews evidently hasn't interviewed politicians before because he seemed stunned that she was not answering his question. It was pretty funny.

[John]

I watched that. She got a great zinger off asking Mathews if he was "still feeling tingly". Mathews about blew a gasket. At the end of the interview he said "I never used that word." And then called Bachman a moron. You could tell he is really embarrassed by the infamous "thrill up his leg" comment. It was fucking great.

[Joe M]

Ah, I didn't know the background on that. What are the details exactly?

[John]

During the 2008 campaign Mathews said that Obama "gave him a thrill up his leg". No kidding. He really said that.

[?]

Only two short years ago Olbermann was banished from the election-night round table for his over-the-top Democrat proselytizing. Now he and his little brother Maddow are the stars of the show. Sick, but funny.

[J_L_B]

It would be the equivalent of Fox having Hannity, Beck, Palin, Santorum, and Rove as the anchor team for the election. They had some of those guys, but the main anchor team was composed of pretty neutral individuals. Fox is a right-wing news organization, but it has a right to its message just like PMSNBC can repeat liberal talking points every day.

[Media Matters]

Not if Uncle George gives us more money!

[Big Chief]

MSNBC is incredible. I was watching all the cable stations last night to see what kind of slant they'd have on the election. They all tried to be pretty balanced, even Fox (aside from spending so much time kissing Palin's butt), but not MSNBC. It was a Team Blue temper tantrum from the outset. Even though I expected them to be slanted, they were so openly Team Blue I was amazed.

[rhea]

Infinite Gridlock------- America, welcome to a deeper, and hotter part of hell. Congratulations! We'll all go down with this country.

We help Americans find jobs and prosperity in Asia. Visit http://www.pathtoasia.com/jobs/ for details.

[Aresen]

You know, if there is a Chinese Hegemony in the future, the world is going to get very nostalgic about the Pax Americana very, very quickly.

[John]

Yup. I used to tell my friends in Germany that whenever they bitched about the US. None of them ever had an answer. They just got kind of pale and changed the subject.

[Lone Wookie]

Pax Americana

That's funny. I thought pax meant peace. If this is peace, let me have war.

[BakedPenguin]

Well, we wouldn't want to actually collect that peace dividend, now, would we?

[Pip]

It's called dividend reinvestment.

[Aresen]

Pax Americana has been in use for the last 50 years. It refers to the fact that no full-scale war has been fought since the end of WWII, primarily due to US military supremacy.

The term is derived from the Pax Romana the period from roughly 27 BCE to 200 CE* when Rome was militarily supreme and no major wars were fought. (There were plenty of small wars that cost a lot of lives - Teutonberger Wald, Dacia, etc. - but none that seriously threatened Rome's power.

*726 AUC - 950 AUC, if you prefer.

[Lone Wookie]

Since the end of WWII we've had Korea, Vietnam, The Balkans, Gulf Wars I and II, Afghanistan...all "minor" conflicts. Hardly wars at all! Ride on the Pax Train!

[RyanXXX]

I'd argue the existence of nuclear weapons has done more for "peace" between major powers than American hegemony has

[Lone Wookie]

We've managed to avoid total war since Nagasaki, but nukes have not prevented all the other conflicts I noted above. Almost 400,000 American servicemen have been killed or wounded since WWII. Pax Americana is a myth.

[Pip]

He rhea, my cock needs sucking again. And where the fuck is that beer?

[SugarFree]

For those who are still thirsty...

[Warty]

I was disappointed that they didn't have any whining up last night. I'm glad they came through.

Also, I personally am offended at the symbolism behind the majority of the state (almost 78%) actively choosing to keep the word "plantation" in title of their state, given Rhode Island's role in the slave trade.

[BakedPenguin]

"Waaah! We lost women in the Congress! Of course, McMahon, Angle and McDonnell lost, but they're not progressive, so they're traitorous whores."

[Media Matters]

And it's okay by us if they were called whores. We look the other way when shit like that happens, because it's entirely justified when applied to Republican females.

[BakedPenguin]

It's Not Fair!

[Warty]

That is one unsexy accent.

[BakedPenguin]

Yeah, East End girls are almost like Jersey girls - they can be really good looking, but it's a lot easier to deal with them when their mouths are closed. Or filled.

[zoltan]

I don't understand why people are obsessed with having people who look like them representing them. As opposed to thinking like them.

[Warty]

I love me some Mark Twain.

"If we would learn what the human race really is at bottom, we need only observe it in election times."

[ManikMonkee]

"Britain and France sign pact"

This too me looks just like the start of an EU army,
with one seat on the UN security council as opposed to the EU's two current seats

Not necessarily a bad thing if the EU was a small government/capitalist institution with most power devolved to individual states

but unfortunately thats not the case

[Corduroy]

Maybe they'll march on the Deutschland when the Germans refuse to loan them money for their pension payouts

[P Brooks]

I flipped through the news channels, last night, just for fun. MSNBC was like watching coverage of a plague.

From the look on Keith Olbermann's face, I couldn't help thinking that not only had Old Yeller died, but the Republicans had butchered and eaten him. Deep fried, on a stick.

[JW]

I was instead watching my DVR'd The Walking Dead (which may not have been all that different from PMSNBC coverage). I likee.

[John]

I watched it for a little bit. When I watched it, Ariana Huffington was the only one who seemed to have any grasp of reality. She basically said Obama listened to Geittner who told him that if Wall Street was fixed the economy was fixed and then screwed up by pursuing healthcare instead of concentrating on the economy. That from a liberal perspective is at least a reasonable explanation of things.

[Wall Street]

Our message is consistent, our success is of utmost importance to the country. Too Big To Fail must be the motto of the day.

[P Brooks]

Alternative farewell from Ahhhnult:

"Tomorrow, I'll be sober, but you'll still be crazy."

[Fist of Etiquette]

There was an election?

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

Thanks