Reason Morning Links: Murder, Torture, and Cholera

• The West Memphis 3 get a new hearing.
• The Fed's latest money-pumping sparks talk of a "currency war."
• Bush confirms he approved the use of waterboarding, but the timeline isn't clear.
• A suicide attack kills dozens at a Pakistan mosque.
• Did UN troops bring cholera to Haiti?
• There's a decision -- but not a final one -- in the "Amazon tax" case.
• The coming race to be House minority leader.

Comments

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Re: "currency war"

Don Bodreaux over at Cafe Hayek nailed the absurdity of trade wars in a post a couple weeks ago:

If Real Wars Were Like Trade Wars.

Leader of Absurditopia (A): I say, leader of Stupidia ? we demand that you stop occupying that contested strip of land. If you refuse, we'll have no choice but to shoot our own citizens.

Leader of Stupidia (S): You don't scare us! That land is ours. And if you do kill some of your own people, make no mistake that we will immediately ? and just as cruelly ? commence to killing our own people. Courage is our national motto!

(A): Ha! You're bluffing. But I'm not. I've just courageously ordered my troops to mow down in cold blood ten percent of my fellow countrymen. Take that!

[Ayn_Randian]

I am not supportive of the encumberance of trade. But the analogy is inapt. There are beneficiaries in trade wars. Namely, the protected industries.

[R C Dean]

There are beneficiaries in shooting wars as well.

[Ayn_Randian]

I maintain that the analogy is, at best, a stretch.

[waffles]

Yes, in trade wars raping and pillaging is much more civilized and more easily quantifiable.

[Ben Bernanke]

The whole world wants the US economy to recover, but it serves no purpose to go throwing money from a helicopter onto the economy

Shut up! It's our money!

[Corduroy]

I'm beginning to think that SCUD missiles are better metaphors for the Fed's money tactics.

[deluded1]

Not really, SCUD missiles have targets

[PapayaSF]

But they rarely hit them, so the metaphor is pretty good.

[jtuf]

A suicide attack kills dozens at a Pakistan mosque.

Muslim terrorists have a say, "First go after the Saturday people. Then go after the Sunday people." They neglect to tell their neighbors that step 3 is going after the Friday people. Muslim terrors make many videos about killing non-Muslims, but the majority of their victims are Muslims.

[Muslim terrors]

the majority of their victims are Muslims

See?! We are The Religion of Peace!

[Jesse Walker]

If they replace that mosque with a mosque, the terrorists will have won.

[Spoonman.]

OK, that's funny.

[wylie]

Did you read it as part of an Xzibit meme too?

[Spoonman.]

No. But, nice.

"Yo, I heard you like victory mosques, so I put a mosque on your mosque so you can jihad while you jihad."

[Jerry]

Could just be that Persians don't like Punjabis, and vice versa.

[Pip]

^^THIS^^

[Johnny Longtorso]

I posted this last night, but the comments have, ahem, improved. They've whipped each other into such a frenzy that they're calling for de-Nazification of the US. You know, what happened in Germany after they were forcibly conqurered.

Your raised voice is hate, their raised voices are righteous indignation.

Slacktivist: Tea Party are evil, hateful vermin brainwashed by the 'Left Behind' books
reply to this

[jtuf]

I would be glad to see the Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party end in the USA, but I don't see any connection between Conservatives and Nazis, and I don't think the government should target them.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Their tears are my ambrosia.

[Bobaroo]

I also want to re-happy them.

Then bring back Happy Meals.

[Pip]

In Ess Eff, they are now called Crappy Meals.

[Brett L]

I prefer my raptures with dystopian cyborg Soviets

[jtuf]

Did UN troops bring cholera to Haiti?

The proximal cause of the cholera epidemic could be the pathogens in the UN troops. The ultimate cause is probably the lack of plumbing. If a nation has to choose between toilets and missiles, the toilets will extend life expectancy much more than the missiles will.

[wylie]

Interestingly, a toilet dropped from a Bomber is also pretty destructive....2birds/1stone?

[George Lass]

@wylie

Tell me about it.

[Corduroy]

My father told me a long time ago that the most underrated thing in the world was a good shit using indoor plumbing.

[Ragin Cajun]

The words of a wise man.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

On the other side of that coin, a good shit in the woods when you've got a comfortable log, a warm dapple of sunlight and some sphagnum moss within easy reach... that is sublime.

[Johnny Longtorso]

A recoil against liberalism, By George F. Will

[capitol l]

Reads like a liberal pundit only two goddamn years ago.

It's called perspective motherfuckers.

[Rich]

Azam Tariq, spokesman for Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Taliban, denied that the faction was involved. "It is the work of Blackwater," Tariq told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location

Inquiring minds want to know if Xe has denied responsibility.

[Jerry]

China to America: stop printing money!
America to China: stop buying our money!

[R C Dean]

America to China: stop buying our money!

The Chinese are ramping down their purchases of US debt as quickly as possible, and entering into bilateral agreements with trading partners so they can do business in yuan rather than dollars.

So, yes, they are.

[Ebeneezer Scrooge]

But in any case, when we're all done with that part of the game, this fact will remain: if you want to sell exports, the US market is The Promised Land. And it will remain so for quite some time to come.

[cynical]

5 years?

[MNG]

"Did UN troops bring cholera to Haiti?"

It's common for visitors to bring a gift.

[Ayn_Randian]

As you can see, we have some lovely blankets for sale...

[Pip]

That is such bullshit. Back when that happened no one even knew that germs and viruses existed.

[capitol l]

Jeffery Amherst discussed the idea 250 years ago. People have been using bio-warfare since, at least, the time of Genghis Kahn.

You don't need to know the chemistry behind black powder to kill with it.

[BakedPenguin]

Yeah, they used to catapult cattle & sheep infected with anthrax into besieged cities. Not a new idea.

[King of the Britons]

Run awaaaaaay!!!!!

[Brett L]

Since Reason is asking me for donations, its going to be all Lobster Girl all the time for the next week, right?

[Jordan Elliot]

Exactly. My $2.50 annual and $5 monthly best be buying me some Lobster Girl action...

[Pip]

Past performance proves that just like PBS, Reason is big on the bait-and-switch.

[creech]

You want Lobster Girl, just google it.
Some nice full frontal topless photos.
John should appreciate!

[Nick]

I can't believe she doesn't have a Wikipedia entry.

[?]

If they replace that mosque with a mosque, the terrorists will have won.

You have a knack for the insular clapper, Welch. Want a hookup at Comedy Central? I know a dude.

You won't get credit and you can't show up at the Unspeakable Holiday party or put it on your resume or tell anybody about it, because, y'know, Kochtopus.

But you've got it, kid, and you're wasting it on us.

[?]

Walker, not Welch, dammit. Brain-o.

[capitol l]

Busted!

[Tulpa]

The plan is voluntary for food companies and involves no legislation. It allows companies to cut salt gradually over five years so the change is not so noticeable to consumers.

Big government and big business, working together against consumers again. Oh, and...

The city's campaign against salt resembles its push to cut trans fat from restaurant foods, which began with a call for voluntary compliance. When that did not work, the city passed a law to force restaurants to eliminate trans fat.

[Chupacabra]

It's almost like consumers want salty food.

[West Texas]

More on the lovely Houston red light camera debacle.

My favorite part is this:

Layoffs might be needed

Mayor Annise Parker acknowledged the referendum has exacerbated ongoing challenges with the city's budget and noted HPD, which was the recipient of funds from the camera program, would be responsible for cutting its budget to make up for the immediate $10 million gap created by the vote.

But, but, but I thought it was about SAFETY!, and not about money?!?!?!!?

This whole thing stinks, especially the way that the city is now trying to hide behind the contractual terms with the collection agent operator of the cameras to keep them up and running another 4 months.

Talk about contempt for constituents...

[Spoonman.]

You aspartamed the link.

Bonus in the poor suburb of Baytown:

Meanwhile, city officials in neighboring Baytown are discussing whether they will station a police officer at each of seven camera-monitored street intersections, a requirement of a new red light camera ordinance city residents passed Tuesday.
Baytown Mayor Stephen Don Carlos said because it would be impossible to post officers at every intersection, the city will likely cease to issue tickets through the cameras.

[West Texas]

My bad.

[Brett L]

Wait, safety has a price? I'm shocked. Shocked!

[cynical]

If it's more than $1.05, then I'll take freedom instead.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is that font getting bigger? Or am I getting younger?

[Pope Jimbo]

1) Watch this video of an interview between a local anchor and our Sec of State Mark Ritchie.
2) See the local paper get the vapors over her treatment of Ritchie.

A couple of points:

a) Even though Ritchie repeatedly refers to his election as a "vindication" of his handling of the Franken recount, you need to remember he won with 49% of the vote to 46% for his challenger. (about 71K more votes). I guess if you are a Democrate sub 50% wins count as a landside/vindication/mandate.
b) the anchor came from CNN to our local Fox affiliate. With the CNN stint, you'd hardly think she is completely evil
c) Local paper has gobs of comments along the line of "How dare she be rude to an elected official"

Seriously, does anyone here think she crossed a line? I don't, but I am biased in thinking that Ritchie is a total punk.

[Jordan Elliot]

"How dare she be rude to an elected official"

The indoctrinations are going well.

[Gabby]

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

[Cyto]

c) You forgot the implied and silent "Democrat" in those comments.

As in: "How dare she be rude to an elected Democrat official."

I'm sure they have no problem with being rude to a republican elected official. See George Bush, Dick Cheney,(gov) Sarah Palin ...

[Pope Jimbo]

I was living in Memphis when Echols was arrested, charged and convicted of this crime. I have to be honest, I thought he was guilty at the time. I based my thoughts on the data available from the media.

At the time the web was just getting started and I don't think that the concept of a blog had even appeared yet.

Given some of the other evidence that seems to have come out, I'd like to see a new trial.

I'm also curious as to how much the presence of new media outlets will prevent stuff like this from happening in the future. Might Echols have gotten a better deal back then if there were ways to get his message out rather than just the local paper and tv stations which were mere mouthpieces for the LEO?

[Pip]

Off track, but you mentioned Memphis, which reminded me of how last night I was wondering if they will ever name a hurricane Elvis.

[Nick]

Will they name a hurricane Carter?

[Slut Bunwalla]

I've read a lot of case documents and transcripts regarding the case. I'm not sure if they were guilty or not, but they absolutely deserve a new trial. That entire debacle was handled terribly, from the initial investigation to the end of the trial.

[Pope Jimbo]

My feelings exactly. I'm not convinced one way or the other and would like to see someone step in and do a thorough review of the evidence.

I can personally testify to the fact that just the hint of the occult freaked a lot of the hillbilly baptists out of their minds during the initial investigation.

[Daze]

Just the hint of the hillbilly also freaks out a lot of educated urban sophisticates. That's a big part of the WM3's appeal to people whose limited knowledge of the case comes only from pro-WM3 propaganda like "Paradise Lost" and "Devil's Knot".

[Daze]

These three guys were obviously guilty. Why exactly is their case a libertarian issue?

[P Brooks]

I think I just heard the Presidential Suit say he is going to double American exports in the next five years. No mention of how he plans to accomplish this miraculous transformation of the American economy. Maybe Government Motors was just the prologue.

And, of course, partisanship is bad. Shut up and do what I say!

[capitol l]

This thing is very hush-hush, but I can tell you this: it involves Amway, Afghanistan, and the army.

[Brett L]

Hyperinflation will solve this problem. And American Exceptionalism. And the Social Security/Medicare trap. And rich people. Its win-win-win-win!

[CoyoteBlue]

So we're going to export: bullshit, mountains of debt, old people and rich/productive people?

[Brett L]

Actually, I think we'll be exporting corpses not old people. But other than that, yes.

[Corduroy]

Never underestimate the devaluation of the previously almighty dollar. What the Fed is doing now is reminiscent of the late 70's.

I deal with about 200 different manufacturers, I'm starting to see price increases on imported items. In 1981-1982, there was no such thing as a price list because of rampant inflation. I'm afraid we are headed that way again. Just keeping up with the price changes is a minor nightmare. I wonder how Amazon is going to deal with it.

[R C Dean]

Obama is such an idiot that he thinks a 25% devaluation of the dollar will mean that US firms will become 25% cheaper than their competitors, and will pick up oodles of business.

He's sort of overlooking that all of their input costs will increase by something close to 25% as well.

[BakedPenguin]

...their input costs of imported materials.

And since he's probably planning some sort of mini-"juche" program to support American jerbs...

[Wesley]

We're going to annex Afghanistan, and legalize Opium production there.

[rhea]

Currency war has been going on from before, but is already at its extreme. And to top it all, it has not helped its people because of this.

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

[Spoonman.]

You used to post in more coherent English.

[capitol l]

She's mad because Sam won't give her a raise and Dianne is a bitch.

[Brett L]

Don't make the bot angry. You won't like her when she's angry.

[Pip]

I bet you sucked a mile of dick.

[P Brooks]

Now Goolsbee is on: "We're saving your asses, you ingrates!"

[Pip]

"A suicide attack kills dozens at a Pakistan mosque."

God damn animals.

[R C Dean]

"A suicide attack kills dozens at a Pakistan mosque."

Historically, barbarians become civilized on only one of two ways:

(1) The civilize themselves.

(2) An actual civilization conquers them and kills everyone who insists on being a barbarian.

Nobody really wants to go the second route any more, so they're going to be barbarians for as long as they want.

[West Texas]

This is correct.

The enlightened view is that it's wrong to try and change people, but OK to continually worry about their behavior and keep giving them multiple chances to change themselves.

[PapayaSF]

I don't think the enlightened have any problem trying to change people they see as racists, sexists, conservatives, fascists, CO2 emitters, etc. etc. But you're right if they are foreign barbarians: maybe they have a point, we must respect their culture, blah blah.

[Slut Bunwalla]

Is anyone else getting that animal shelter ad? Is it just me, or is it really fucking creepy? I think it might actually be an ad for a bestiality community.

[brotherben]

Labradiddle Acres?

[brotherben]

Did I miss this here somewhere recently?

[Slut Bunwalla]

What the fuck. Why the hell would anyone want to challenge that amendment, especially singling out Sharia as your reason for doing so?

The amendment doesn't just block Sharia law, it states that the Oklahoma courts shall not consider international law, or any law other than state and federal, when making rulings.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

[Michael Ejercito]

Read this comment .

Clinton recapped the arguments on both sides for Gore: "Lloyd says this. Dick says that. Gore laughed and said, 'That's a no-brainer. Of course it's a violation of international law, that's why it's a covert action. The guy is a terrorist. Go grab his ass.

And this post

None of which apply to Al Qaeda.

We could interrogate them with pinking shears and then feed them
through a wood chipper.

No harm, no foul.

[jasno]

What's Ron Bailey's take on the introduction of cholera to Haiti? It's a good thing, right? After all, the species count increased by one.