Reason Morning Links: Protests Swell in Egypt, Winter Storm in the Midwest, the Internet Gets Crowded

• Egypt protesters hope for their own million man march; Obama administration bails on Mubarak.
• Huge storm predicted to dump feet of snow across the Midwest.
• Google assembles a workaround to allow Egyptian protesters access to Twitter.
• Bush daughter Barbara endorses gay marriage.
• The Internet is running out of addresses.

Comments

[SugarFree]

Man claims Parkinson drug made him a "gay sex addict."

[Au H20]

Actually, that explains a lot.

[Name Nomad]

Shouldn't he be thanking them for giving him a new hobby?

[Jenny McCarthy]

I call bullshit on this.

It was the preservative in his flu vaccine.

[CoyoteBlue]

I predicted this.

Now we all can take a pill and go queer for the weekend.

[Au H20]

So, the tubes actually can clog?

[John]

I finally read the Vinson opinion. What is remarkable is how smart and shall I say erudite the judge is. That is a hell of a well written and thoughtful opinion. It puts to shame must of the crap that comes out of the Supreme Court. And puts total lie to the idea that arguments against the Constitutionality of Obamacare are somehow unserious.

[Old Mexican]

But... but John... He wants little children to *sob* *sob* DIE!!!!

At least, that is what Erwin and Alice Bowie and the other statist fucks insinuated yesterday...

[Alice Bowie]

You know what's about the free market?

Rich libertarians get to sit around in their top hats and their monocles to watch billions of poor kids dying on the street.

[Pro Libertate]

If we had as much government over the last century as we have today, we'd probably have 100 million fewer people anyway.

[nekoxgirl]

If it was just up to big government, we'd still be a bunch of peasants. The industrial revolution happened because of capitalism, not because of some wise paternalistic government.

Statists can try to argue libertarians don't care about poor people but at least we don't want everyone to be poor.

[Trespassers W]

Note to self: buy monocle.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Alice Bowie,

You know what's about the free market?

Rich libertarians get to sit around in their top hats and their monocles to watch billions of poor kids dying on the street.

And taking baths in their coin vaults?

I'm more of a baseball cap type of guy myself, y'all.

[SugarFree]

I would have preferred that he objected to the law based on essential principles rather than just balking at the mechanism, but half-a-loaf is better than none.

[Rich]

this Act has been analogized to a finely crafted watch,and that seems to fit. It has approximately 450 separate pieces, but one essential piece (the individual mandate) is defective and must be removed.

With all due respect, "finely crafted watch" my ass.

[MNG]

You know, like a finely crafted sausage.

[Nick]

Sausage isn't all that good for you either. Like Obamacare, it will eventually kill you. With all the Obama talk of eating healthy, their stupidity shows when they talk about that coronary of a bill as the saving grace of American healthcare.

[Big Sausage and Canned Meat]

Dear Sir,

We at the National Association of Sausage and Canned Meat Producers (NASCMP) object to your characterization. Sausage is, in fact, a necessary part of a balanced diet.

Posts like yours not only put American jobs in jeopardy, but also make the US more dependent on foreign sausage.

Stop supporting the terrorists. Eat sausage.

[zoltan]

Sausage is good for you. Make it yourself.

[Vermont Gun Owner]

2000 pages and the leading proponent had to pass it to find out what's in it? That's one complicated watch. I hope it at least has glow in the dark hands.

[wylie]

It let's you know the time, 2 weeks ago, for 42 different time zones, which are all located on other planets.

[Ska]

It's the Patek Philippe of legislation.

*barf*

[Patek Philippe]

** searching through papers on desk **

I'm sure we have Wolk's phone number here somewhere ...

[Restoras]

DO NOT SAY THE NAME!!!!

[Patek Philippe]

Wolky! I meant Wolky!

[Marshall Gill]

DO NOT SAY THE NAME!!

Since Reason is not responsible for any comments, can *I* question if a certain douche has congress with sheep?

[James Ard]

I believe Vinson has put Kennedy on the spot with his solid decision. It would take a ton of twisting for Kennedy to overturn it.

[Cyto]

Let me try:

Bla, bla, bla, Wickard. Bla, bla,bla, Raich. Bla, bla, bla, commerce clause. Bla, bla, bla, precident. Bla, bla, bla stare decisis.

How'd I do?

[Vermont Gun Owner]

And yet... a Link that anonymous posted last night.

One of the article titles further down the page:

Law Professor Koppelman: The Decision Invented "Bizarre New Legal Theories."

[Virginia]

This apparent paradox emerges from the bizarre new legal theories that Judge Henry Hudson had to invent in order to invalidate the law - theories that, if taken seriously, would randomly destroy large parts of federal law.

Now we're talking!

[Vermont Gun Owner]

I wonder if by 'randomly destroy large parts of federal law' he means 'selectively destroy the unconstitutional parts of federal law'.

[Rich]

Federal law has been analogized to a finely crafted watch, and that seems to fit. It has approximately 450 billion separate pieces, but one essential piece (the Constitution) is defective and must be removed.

[BakedPenguin]

Finely crafted watch? More like a Rube Goldberg invention, only without the utility.

It's also hilarious that this comes from a government website, and that they are violating copyright...

[Chiun]

Finely crafted watch?

"An keen mind has no need for a watch; they are a confidence trick invented by the Swiss.."

[Restoras]

That is exactly what he means. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Vermont Gun Owner,

Law Professor Koppelman: The Decision Invented "Bizarre New Legal Theories."

Meaning: Those that don't agree with Koppelman, of course.

[Vermont Gun Owner]

Yeah, to clarify: "The Decision" it referred to was not LeBron heading to Miami, but the December ruling by a federal judge (Henry Hudson) that the mandate was unconstitutional.

[MNG]

I hope people haven't been saying the opposition is unserious, because that in itself would be unserious. By Obama's own admission we are talking about major new ground here, a major new program, and it for the first time seems to involve the federal government requiring people to participate in interstate commerce. I don't think the distinction ultimately does what many here do, but it's surely serious to think it might. Sure, it's a rare day the commerce clause is limited, maybe that was what people were getting at, but it's not unserious to think this never before taken step might not be permitted.

[John Thacker]

I hope people haven't been saying the opposition is unserious, because that in itself would be unserious.

Well, the official White House response is that the ruling is unserious, etc.

[mr simple]

David Zirin on the role of soccer clubs in the Egyptian uprising.

[generic Brand]

I believe it. There's a great book (if you're a soccer fan) called How Soccer Explains the World; it gives soccer-based theories on the fall of Yugoslavian ethnic cleansing and the corporatism of Spain, as well as explaining American progressivism.

[Corduroy]

The apocalypse is real apparently. Just give the various groups enough time to build their numbers.

http://www.physorg.com/news/20.....ciety.html

[wylie]

Bunk. The Amish expansion will halt as soon as they run out of realestate in Lancaster. I can't see 44mil of them cramming their farms together that tight.

[Corduroy]

Sid Meier should add the Amish to Civilization VI. Special abilities include +10 barn raising.

[Wind Rider]

Meir will still probably code it that random jerks in Triremes two whole squares away will be able to torch it despite impossible odds against.

[Brett L]

Limitation is that all techs in and above Industrial Era cause massive unrest.

[Ska]

Quick! Build more temples!

[Citizen Nothing]

The Amish long ago started their great trek from Lancaster, PA. Ohio (Holmes County area)is now the home of the biggest Amish community.
Which is great if you need some woodwork done. Those Amish are entrepreneurs through and through.

[wylie]

Ohio (Holmes County area)is now the home of the biggest Amish community.

Yeah, West Lancaster, I know about it.

[Progressive Guy]

Oh no! If people who think about the world in mystical terms keep breeding recklessly, Mother Earth will get angry and destroy the human race!

[Heartless Libertarian]

We tried to warn them! We said, you have to let poor kids starve, for the sake of evolution! No public education -- only the genes of people who save for their offspring's education should be promoted. No public healthcare for them either, or you're just making things worse.

But they didn't listen. And now, look at the world. People go to church. Well, some of them. And they believe lies like "there is life after death" instead of believing lies like "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" or "global climate change is caused by human beings"

[J sub D]

A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says cameras at red lights have reduced the rate of fatal crashes by 24 percent in 14 large cities that introduced them from 1996 to 2004.

[Corduroy]

We have a redlight camera very close to where my business is. I have mixed feelings about it, but I will admit that I feel it has reduced the numbers of people trying to gun it to get across.

[Rich]

Has it increased the numbers of people trying to gun it to put it out of commission?

[John]

But it has also increased the numbers of people slamming on their breaks to keep from running the light.

[Corduroy]

In this case the intersection is notoriously congested, the impulse for most people is to try to push the boundaries in order to get thru it when they get a chance. There's not really much chance to speed up beforehand which would result in people slamming on the brakes.

[Ice Nine]

>>But it has also increased the numbers of people slamming on their breaks to keep from running the light.

Wow, veritable paragons of self-control!

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

I continue to be unable to comprehend why a camera would cause anyone to change how they approach and stop at a red light.

It is elemental, fundamental, driving 101 that you were supposed to have learned in basic driver's ed. Yellow light = stop if you are able to do so safely. Red light = stop, period. If you are going so fast that you are unable to stop by the time the light turns red, perhaps you should re-evalute the speed at which you're driving down that particular road.

If you have some kind of wierd problem being able to actually stop your car at a red light, the fault lies entirely with the operators of the vehicles, not with any government-installed camera.

[Anarchist]

I have a right to go as fast as I want and to stop where I please, when I please. Red lights are a artificial mechanism of THE STATE.

[Citizen Nothing]

The fault could also lie in the length of the yellow light (which should be adjusted according to the speed limit/safe stopping distance). Some red-light camera municipalities have actually decreased the yellow-light time, no?

[Citizen Nothing]

sorry. I see this has been addressed below.

[Sy]

Yes, they absolutely have.

[JD]

You fail to account for the fact that 90% of drivers are complete idiots.

[Jerry]

Results in each of the 14 camera cities varied. The biggest drop in the rate of fatal red light running crashes came in Chandler, Ariz., where the decline was 79 percent. Two cities, Raleigh, NC, and Bakersfield, Calif., experienced an increase.

Correlation is a bitch.

[MNG]

I hate the very idea of those things. I'm still not sure they don't create more hazards as people try to gun it to get through and avoid the ticket. But also there aer many times where you may be following a person through a turn that is green which turnes both yellow and then red because the idiot in front of you slows down or stops during the turn. Then you get the ticket, WTF?

[SugarFree]

The exact thing happened to me last Monday night. Dipshit in front of me slams on his brakes and makes a right turn at the last moment, leaving me in the intersection when the light turned red. Pip-squeak cop swaggered like he had busted an international smuggling ring single-handedly.

Are cops really baffled as to why so many people hate them?

[Vermont Gun Owner]

The cop was right. You should stop at the line and wait for the car in front of you to clear the intersection completely, and then go. Actually, it'd be better if you just waited for the light to cycle through again. Just one car through per green!

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I thought that if you were already in the intersection when the light went to red then you were fine. No?

[Tim]

If you enter legally you can't be charged. Or rather, you shouldn't be. But it is Sugarfree we're talking about here, so what ever the officer did to him was justified.

[Cyto]

I've had that exact situation. I entered an 8-lanes wide intersection on the green - going under 25 miles an hour. It turned red before I made it all the way through. Cop pulled me over and cited me, even though he acknowledged what I just said. Assistant DA offered to wipe out the charges if I'd pay a civil penalty of $100. My alternative was to take at least one more full day off from work to challenge the charges in a trial. That's way more than a hundred bucks... soooo.... they got their official and legal bribe/extortion money.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Please tell me you handed him the $100 bill right there in front of the judge. That would have been awesome.

[Restoras]

This is my understanding as well.

[SugarFree]

Kentucky has a law where entering the intersection while the light is yellow is considered running the light. Few cops enforce it, but this one was intent on being a dick.

It's all about the money. If it was about safety, they could do numerous other things than plant a cop near a congested intersection.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Kentucky has a law where entering the intersection while the light is yellow is considered running the light.

That seems crazy to me. Why even have a yellow light, then?

[Butts Wagner]

In some places, the yellow light comes before the green.

[Isaac Bartram]

IIANM, in most jurisdictions if the light turns red while you're still in the intersection it's a violation. Some places spell it out that it's a violation if you proceed into an intersection without being able to clear it while the light is green or yellow (EG due to a stacked up queue ahead) no just for going like a bat out of hell because the light's yellow.

That's what the yellow is for. The yellow light means stop if you can, slow down and proceed with caution if you can't. It doesn't mean "go like hell".

There are actually engineering formulae for determining light timings and all the agencies they firm I work for has contracted with follows them.

If politicians are messing with light timings for the purposes of enhancing revenues, then it's extreme malfeasance on all sorts of levels.

But if you're running into the backs of cars that stop for red lights, you're not operating your car in a safe manner. 🙂

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Not in Texas, thank god.

[BakedPenguin]

It doesn't mean "go like hell"

Isaac, you're a good guy, but I gotta tell you, you're way off base here...

[Isaac Bartram]

BP, I was trying to be funny.

My point is mostly that the yellow is a signal for you to make a judgment call. If you're too close to the intersection to stop safely when the light turns you should have time to make it through the intersection if you maintain your current speed or slow down slightly if the timing has been set right. You should also be on your guard for less aggressive drivers who may feel they have to jam on there brakes to come to a screeching halt.

If you have to accelerate you probably have time to stop and should do so.

[Californian]

Here in California some municipalities have been in trouble for shortening the yellow light cycle timing (against state regs).

Speaking of idiots slamming on the breaks, I recently witnessed an accident where one did slam on his breaks and the driver behind him wasn't paying attention. Shot the dude right out into the intersection, where he proceeded to get out of his car and walk over to her to exchange traffic information while cross traffic was trying to get through the intersection.

Days later, I saw the same guy slam on his breaks for another yellow.

[No]

Are cops really baffled as to why so many people hate them?

By "so many," do you mean a handful of adolescents at H&R? Most of the country has no problem with the concept of law enforcement and has little if any direct contact with cops, except maybe at picnics and charity events.

[J sub D]

Residents of the inner city nearest you may think are certain you are full of shit.

[No]

Most people don't live in the "inner city." Most law-abiding Americans have little or no contact with cops. You should get out more. This place will rot your brain.

[Good Citizen]

It's funny because even the cops in my family hate most cops and I've actually never heard a non-cop have anything positive to say about cops. But in your world it is only 'adolescents' who hate cops (who, BTW, should hate cops because cops treat even the good ones like shit).

[No]

We all have our anecdotes. I've never heard anyone in the real world complain about cops. Only here and other crackpot blogs. You're not representative of normal Americans. An echo chamber is just that.

[Nick]

I've never complained in public about cops and had anyone say I'm overreacting or that most are decent human beings, but every time, I mean every time, at least one other person has joined the complaint fest. Cops suck. Even the good ones are dicks to someone.

[Ass Heaven]

Hi. I live in the real world. Gainfully employed by a multi-billion dallar corp, eran more than the median US household, homeowner, truck owner, motorcycle owner, boat owner, 401(k) owner, thousands in my checking account, well known in my community (pop. 2M), have served on the boards of several non-profits, never been arrested, haven't had but one traffic ticket in over 25 years, and yet, I hate the fucking cops. Why? Because I have seen first-hand how they operate. They are called pigs for a reason.

So please, No, go peddal your BS elsewhere.

[Azathoth]

No is right. Rarely does the subject of cops come up--and I live in the inner city.

When they do come up favorable or unfavorable feelings are conditional on the reason they came up.

[Rich]

Protests swell in Egypt

Protests also cool in Jordan

[affenkopf]

Protests in Sudan.

[affenkopf]

This time with workling link!

[Ice Nine]

Not only that, they're going to make a nifty new country there!

[Mike M.]

CRU's shifting sands of global surface temperature:

"The longer I am involved in the global warming debate the more frustrated I am getting with the CRU temperature data. This is the one of the most commonly cited sources of global temperature data, but the numbers just don't stay put. Each and every month the past monthly temperatures are revised. Since I enter the data into a spreadsheet each month I am constantly seeing the shift in the data. If it was the third significant digit it wouldn't bother me (very much), but it is much more than that.

For example, I have two very different values for January of 2010 since September 2010. Here are the values for January based on the date I gathered it.

Sep 10th, 2010: January 2010 anomaly was 0.707 ?C

Jan 30th, 2011: January 2010 anomaly is now 0.675 ?C

That is a 5% shift in the value for last January that has taken place in the past 4 months. All of the initial months of the year show a fairly significant shift in temperature.

Monthly Temperature values for global temperature change on a regular basis."

[Old Mexican]

So.... Cap and Trade?

[wylie]

Energy Consumption Protection And Affordability Act.

[Trespassers W]

See? Temperature instability is a prediction of the AGW hypothesis. The fact that it's retroactive is even stronger evidence!

[Vermont Gun Owner]

Global warming is so powerful its temperature gradient is flowing into the past.

[Rich]

lulz

[wylie]

I recently harnessed AGW to cause heat to diffuse from a colder object to a hotter object.

[Brett L]

Do you need investors?

[Vermont Gun Owner]

Aw, close. In fact, that was merely the normal diffusion from hot to cold, but backwards in time.

[Old Mexican]

Heathen! How DARE you question the only true science?

[Fist of Etiquette]

How are the numbers backing the assertion of Global Warming on Mars? Is that data complete bunk, too? Because we're all going to have to move there when Earth is dead from Global Warming.

[Not an Economist]

The temperature on Mars did not increase until after man put objects on its surface. So global warming on Mars is man-made too.

[Meh]

You should see what the Russians have done to Venus.

[Old Mexican]

Huge storm predicted to dump feet of snow across the Midwest.

Cold temps and sleet to be blamed (suprise!) on GlobalWarming, aka Climate Change, aka Climate Chaos, aka That Thing So Conveniently Vague We Don't Even Have To Explain It.

[wylie]

Boogeymen don't work if they're not vague, silly OM.

[Not an Economist]

What good is staying home from work if you can't go anywhere?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Bush daughter Barbara endorses gay marriage.

The new generation of GOP ladies don't like the prospect of being unwitting beards.

[SugarFree]

Or the rumors of her tonguing box at Yale have some validity.

[Ragin Cajun]

God and Minge at Yale?

[Fist of Etiquette]

All college girls experiment. It doesn't mean they still don't want (need!) to land a husband eventually.

If there were actually any women at H&R, they could back my up on this.

[John]

Her tonguing her sister? I would buy her having some experimental fun. But her twin? That sounds like Penthouse Letters BS.

[SugarFree]

I never said it was her sister. I heard it from a girl who went to Yale while dating a friend of mine. This means it has little validity, of course, but she told me it wasn't that big of a secret on campus.

[John]

So what was the secret? That she had a one night stand? Some making out? Or dated someone seriously. Details, we want details.

[SugarFree]

It was mostly just LUGging. She was trying to explain to us about the omerta code among Yalies and used Barbara as an example. Apparently the code of silence is most of the campus community, not just Skull and Bones.

[R C Dean]

So, she explained the code of silence by passing on salacious gossip?

Interesting. I suspect she didn't fully grasp the concept.

[SugarFree]

She wasn't white, R C. They really didn't accept her very much.

[Tim]

Bullshit! You don't have any friends.

[Vermont Gun Owner]

Not even candy.

[Da' Judge]

Hearsay is inadmissible.

[Concerned Citizen]

Link, please! with photos

[CaptainSmartass]

POGTFO.

[BakedPenguin]

I was going to ask for this earlier. Don't know why I didn't. One thing you can say for both Dubya Bush & Al Gore, they've had some decent looking daughters.

[Cyto]

Like Nixon's daughter with Eisenhower's son? Yeah, that's a pretty good reason to avoid repressing gays into the closet. Finding out 15 years into the marriage that he's gay is pretty far into the awful range.

[MNG]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....eheadlines

An organization that fights animal abuse is calling the slaughter of 100 sled dogs by an outdoor adventure company in British Columbia a bloodbath and police are investigating.

The British Columbia SPCA's manager of animal cruelty investigations said Monday an Outdoor Adventures Whistler employee was told to cull the dogs.

Marcie Moriarty says some dogs were shot, while others' throats were slit before their bodies were pitched into a mass grave.

Vancouver radio station CKNW radio is reporting that the company expected more sledding business in an anticipated post-Olympics tourism boom. But the boom never materialized and the sled dogs were killed last April.

[Ragin Cajun]

I blame global warm...er, climate chaos.

[affenkopf]

If society didn't have an irrational aversion to dog meat these dogs could have been put to better use.

[Name Nomad]

"Better use" is subjective, as some life will still prosper from the nutrients. They may be worms, various bacteria, and plant life, but it won't be wasted regardless.

[Cyto]

The cops could have used them for drug raid practice.... just sayin'

[Virginia]

That would be a crime in the US for violating the WARN Act and I bet the business owner didn't put up an unemployment insurance notice at dog-eye level. So good thing this cull happened in Canada.

[Michael Vick]

Cool!

[BakedPenguin]

Fuck. They couldn't have tried to find homes for these dogs?

I am not saying they should have to deal with the law. I am saying that they're assholes.

[Da' Judge]

Who is stopping you from adopting all the sad-eyed doggies?

[J sub D]

The grim reaper.

[BakedPenguin]

The people who already killed them, asshole.

[zoltan]

They're dogs...I mean, better a quick death than being leashed on a chain and poorly fed all their lives (I'm looking at you, poor Texas Mexicans.)

[P Brooks]

Weeks after the shooting in Tucson, sellers at an Arizona gun show allowed undercover investigators hired by New York City to buy semiautomatic pistols even after they said they probably couldn't pass a background check, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday.

"After Tucson, you would think that people, particularly at a gun show in Arizona, would have been much more careful in enforcing the law," he said. "That unfortunately in some cases wasn't the case."

Bloomberg has authorized similar sting operations around the country as part of a push for tougher federal laws to help keep guns off the streets of New York.
AP

Bloomberg is spending money from the NYC budget to carry out a huge personal PR campaign, completely beyond the bounds of his jurisdiction. What might the FEC say, if he decideds to run for some other office in the land?

"Hey, look over there! It's those guys' fault my city is not safe!"

Later-

Jim Cavanaugh, a retired agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, where he was in charge of the Nashville division, said he didn't believe the sales described by the mayor were, in fact, illegal.

"It's not a prosecutable offense" because the purchasers were not truly felons, minors or drug abusers and because they didn't tell the sellers definitively that they were, Cavanaugh said. As for Bloomberg, he said, "ATF has asked him not to do it and to please coordinate with ATF if he thinks a violation is occurring."

In 2007, the U.S. Justice Department warned in a letter to City Hall that such civilian operations risk "legal liabilities" and can "unintentionally interrupt or jeopardize ongoing criminal investigations."

The mayor conceded that most illegal guns in New York City are coming from states along the East Coast, but said the rampage in Tucson would bring national attention to the investigation.

What would be really amusing (and totally unlikely) is if the BATF decided to charge Bloomberg and his narcs with illegal straw purchases, since they went out with the specific intent of buying pistols on behalf of a third party.

[Brett L]

What the FUCK is the mayor of NY doing sending his minions across state boundaries to attempt to buy guns in an illegal manner? Shouldn't any sovereign immunity those investigators have end with their sovereignty -- ie at the NYC line?

[Tim]

Are they traveling armed? Cause that's illegal too.

[Restoras]

Haven't you heard? NYC is run perfectly and is a paradise since he became mayor-for-life and now he just wants to share his utopia with everyone else - by force, if necessary.

[Brett L]

I have no problem with NYers thinking they are God's gift to the planet, as long as they stay in that shithole. Bloomie's breaking the bargain.

[Chupacabra]

As long as they didn't salt their food, it's all good.

[NoVAHockey]

He's done this in VA too. I think the state AG told him to piss off.

[Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles]

The correct term is "fuck off, Bloomberg!"

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Yes, the AG told him that what his people did violated state and potentially federal law, and if he sent people here to do it again, they would be prosecuted.

[Britt]

That was the old AG, who's now the Governor. Who's done such awesome things as raising the speed limit and trying to end liquor socialism in my beloved Commonwealth.

Rock on Bob.

[DanD]

You know, as much as I hate the ATF as an agency, the Nashville division has some relatively cool people in it. They had a table (probably required by federal law) at gun shows, and they would cut up with everyone there. Their whole attitude was basically "we have to be here, but we know you're not doing anything illegal so we're just going to have a good time with it."

[nekoxgirl]

Mayor Lex Luther needs to stay in NYC.

[Old Mexican]

Google assembles a workaround to allow Egyptian protesters access to Twitter.

A planet where suppliers serve their customers?

"The Planet Of The Free Marketers"

No government can match the ingenuity of highly motivated people.

[Tim]

Seconded.

[Pol Pot]

No government can match the ingenuity of highly motivated people.
You wish bourgeois swine.

[Stalin]

No government can match the ingenuity of highly motivated people.

I knew what to do with my motivated people.

[Saddam Hussein]

Me too.

[BakedPenguin]

Indonesian Pop star arrested for sex tape (SFW).

[Tim]

By taping did you mean that duct tape was involved?

[MNG]

I have to wonder if it was filmed in a Bollywood style...

[John]

I remember when this broke. The women he was with are bollywood quality and then some. OMG>

[Tim]

Filmed? You mean a residue was left?

[BakedPenguin]

Tim - I haven't seen them, so I can't say. MNG - I would imagine the singing and dancing were at a minimum, but again, I haven't seen them. John - I remember some racist asshole coming to H&R and claiming that all Indian women were ugly.

[Restoras]

In my book there is nothing hotter than a hot Indian woman. Except the sun (maybe).

[SugarFree]

Another country lost to the rising tide of fuckheads.

[BakedPenguin]

All it takes is a small minority of vocal assholes. Sort of like public sector unions in the US.

[Tim]

I was watching Danw of the Dead interspersed with the Egypt riots the other day. Strangely syncronous.

[Wind Rider]

It also works if you start 'Dark Side of the Moon' at the right place - just like with the Wizard of Oz.

[Someone Cap This Fucker]

NEW YORK (AP) - Weeks after the shooting in Tucson, sellers at an Arizona gun show allowed undercover investigators hired by New York City to buy semiautomatic pistols even after they said they probably couldn't pass a background check, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday.

"After Tucson, you would think that people, particularly at a gun show in Arizona, would have been much more careful in enforcing the law," he said. "That unfortunately in some cases wasn't the case."

Bloomberg has authorized similar sting operations around the country as part of a push for tougher federal laws to help keep guns off the streets of New York.

http://apnews.myway.com/articl.....MSSO0.html

[Old Mexican]

"After Tucson, you would think that people, particularly at a gun show in Arizona, would have been much more careful in enforcing the law," he said. "That unfortunately in some cases wasn't the case."

Interesting, despite the fact the gunman used a handgun, not a semiauto, which are unwieldy and hard to hide.

[Brett L]

I believe that most Glocks are, in fact, semiauto. Once there's a round in the chamber you can just pull the trigger until the magazine empties and then pull the trigger one more time to fire the chambered round.

[Old Mexican]

Ah, my mistake - I thought they sold semiauto RIFLES, not handguns.

Which in that case, who cares? It's not illegal to sell guns in AZ.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

I've heard the tape on the radio and the stink is that the undercover buyer asked the seller, "do you have to do a background check?" The seller said no, and the buyer said, "Oh, ok, good, because, you know, I don't think I would pass, if you know what I mean."

The seller purportedly didn't bat an eyelash and just went ahead and sold the guy the gun anyhow.

I'll have to check, but is there a federal law that forbids even private sales where you know or have reason to believe the person is not qualified to posess a gun? I think that Bloomberg's beef might be that there is a state law to that effect. Again, I'd have to check.

[BakedPenguin]

So his beef is that someone didn't follow the law? If that's the case, how will creating a new law that someone else doesn't follow fix that?

[Brett L]

Apparently its not even that bad. BATF has taken the line that statements have to be positive in nature. e.g. "I'm a convicted felon." This bullshit about "I don't think I could pass a background check." is way too nebulous. Good on BATF for having sane standards.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Well, if ALL buyers at gun shows were required to go through background checks, then theoretically, a guy who wouldn't pass the check wouldn't be able to buy a gun. Here, the story is a guy who admitted to not being able to pass the background check bought a gun from a seller who didn't care whether the buyer could pass the check.

That's the thinking, anyhow.

[JD]

It is illegal for anyone to transfer a firearm or ammunition to someone if you know or have reasonable cause to believe that they fit one of the prohibited categories (18 USC ?922(d)).

I don't know if the seller saying "I don't know if I could pass the background check" qualifies as reasonable cause, but it would be enough for me to not sell to the person.

[Restoras]

Commerce Clause!

[Old Mexican]

Bush daughter Barbara endorses gay marriage.

And why wouldn't she? Who would want to endorse dull marriages?

[Fist of Etiquette]

That comment is gay. We all know "dull" is code for "unfabulous".

[Tim]

I heard she's running guns to Arizona lesbians.

[Pip]

"Who would want to endorse dull marriages?"

Protestants.

[generic Brand]

You mean Baptists.

[MNG]

If you look at the polling it seems opposition to gay marriage is an old folks game. Here is a question I have, is it something that will fade with that generation or will today's young people grow averse to it as they age?

[Tim]

Kids these days. Humpf.

[Brett L]

I hope they (we?) stop letting the government tell us who can marry whom. Ending tax and welfare benefits would put the nail in the coffin.

[SugarFree]

The true objection to it will fade a little more, but saying so out-loud will become a signifier of cultural pariah-hood. There's still a lot of people who object to seeing a white girl and a black guy together, but those that say it out-loud are marginalized immediately.

[Ska]

It's the Asian girls that go with Asian guys that bother me.

[SugarFree]

Me too, Ska. Me too.

I've often said the only upside to being an Asian guy is that it's much easier to date Asian girls.

[Da' Judge]

Not being a fat geek also helps.

[BakedPenguin]

It's the Asian girls that go with Asian guys that bother me.

I know exactly what you mean.

My cousin married a beautiful Indian girl. His wife has an even hotter cousin, who won't go out with me. I am completely against that sort of thing.

[wylie]

There should be a law.

[Divorce Attorney]

Gay marriage = cha-ching$

[JD]

If you look at the polling it seems opposition to gay marriage is an old folks game.

That's what people have been saying about marijuana legalization for 40 years or more.

[nekoxgirl]

Polls I've seen indicated that the under 35's support gay marriage by like 60 to 40.

[Tim]

An official close to the administration said U.S. officials are in touch with Muslim Brotherhood representatives through interlocutors. The official said White House leaders have made it clear they understand "that the Muslim Brotherhood is part of the fabric of Egyptian society."

Obama's Carter moment? Let's hope not.

[Mike M.]

Muslim Brotherhood's Muhammad Ghannem calls for the closing of the Suez Canal and for Egyptians to prepare for war with Israel.

The thought of these radical Islamofascist animals possibly gaining control of the Suez is enough to send a chill down my spine.

[Chris Matthews]

I think you mean the Panama Canal, buddy.

[Billy Mummy]

"the fabric of Egyptian society"

Gauze?

[Tim]

The Gauza Strip.

[SugarFree]

Yeah. I'm the one with no friends.

[Tim]

Look, that was just a throw away laugh line.

[SugarFree]

I hate you forever now. Forever.

[Tim]

Come back Shane, come back!

[the troll]

Momma has work for you!

[Restoras]

"An official close to the administration said U.S. officials are in touch with Muslim Brotherhood representatives..."

Either that or they are foreign emmisaries of Taco Bell.

[Wind Rider]

Probably fakes, like that guy that claimed to be a Taliban head honcho. The tell, if they'd noticed, was that the conversation opened with them claiming "well, our great Uncle planned to farm one day, can we get a payoff check now?"

[Brett L]

Mmmm. "Charlem".

"If wine is produced in winery, beer in a brewery and bread in a bakery, where are you going to grow cultured meat?

In a 'carnery,' if Mironov has his way. That is the name he has given future production facilities.

He envisions football field-sized buildings filled with large bioreactors, or bioreactors the size of a coffee machine in grocery stores, to manufacture what he calls 'charlem' -- 'Charleston engineered meat.'"

[Tim]

Soylent Green is People!, Yada yada...

[Toyota]

In a 'carnery,' if Mironov has his way.

He won't have his way.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Sounds too much like "carney", and carneys creep me out. As Austin Powers said, "small hands; smell of cabbage."

[cynical]

If this is really going to take off, the vegetarians are going to have to bite the bullet and create a market for this stuff. Of course, since they don't know what good meat tastes like, the only way they can ensure it will be appealing enough to entice non-vegetarians will be to start eating meat, in order to have a basis for comparison.

[P Brooks]

Are cops really baffled as to why so many people hate them?

Someone should explain to them that fear is not the same as respect.

[The Ghost of Machiavelli]

On it.

[J sub D]

Truth.

[P Brooks]

Did that Health care ruling "invent bizarre new theories" or "resurrect long-ignored old ones"?

[Tim]

Just reflecting the far right wing rhetoric of the tea party and McCarthy-ites. Also John Birchers.

[jtuf]

Seeking to impose some kind of order, the military set up checkpoints to search people entering the square, presumably for hidden weapons, separating them by gender so that women could be patted down only by other females. But there were no immediate reports of clashes, and little sign of any security police.

So Egyptians are now as free as Americans at an airport. At least that's an improvement.

[mike]

I find it hillarious the way the press is trumpeting a turnout of 250,000 as giganormous! beyond belief!

A month ago there was a hockey game outside in Michigan. It pulled 115,000. So if this whole democracy get rid of the tyrant thing is so important why can the Egyptians only manage a paltry 250,000? Weak.

[J sub D]

The Internet is running out of addresses.

I'm warning you all, this is going to be every bit as traumatic as the Y2K problem.

[SugarFree]

http://www.clownpenis.fart

[J sub D]

For the uninitiated the preceding is why it is called SugarFreeing a link.

[SugarFree]

You wanted that to be a live link? Fucking sicko.

[SugarFree]

For the record, anything you put a www in front of is highlighted as a link, whether it is wrapped in a href tag or not.

http://www.JsubDSucks.com

[Cluck]

"For the uninitiated the preceding is why it is called SugarFreeing a link."

This may prove difficult for you to comprehend but I'm going to try anyway.

Some problems can not be fixed. Not by the family, not by the church, not by the government. Kinda sucks, don't it?

[J sub D]

Hi there anonypussy?

What's happening in the basement?

[Spartacus]

I am anonypussy.

[Spartacus]

That wasn't me.

[Spartacus]

Me neither.

[BakedPenguin]

Some problems can not be fixed. Not by the family, not by the church, not by the government. Kinda sucks, don't it?

Again, I'll ask - what part of this statement is untrue?

[Brett L]

Have you tried memorizing IPv6 addresses? I miss not having to count higher than 256 4 times to remember an IP.

[robc]

127.0.0.1

::1

Yeah, which is harder to remember again?

[Brett L]

Right. Now tell me how access that computer from the actual internet.

[robc]

by domain name.

DNS, never need to know a fucking ip address ever.

[Brett L]

Real programmers use IP addresses. Especially when our domain address changes haven't propagated across the interwebz. If only I never had to think about IP addresses again.

[robc]

/etc/hosts until propagation is complete.

[robc]

Any programmer who hardcodes an ip addresss is fired.

[Tim]

Related headlines:

The alphabet is out of letters.

Language unsustainable with just five vowels.

Consonants wearing out.

[BakedPenguin]

Y?

[SugarFree]

Sometimes.

[EBN OZN]

We're still living off that number.

[Mrs Grable, my 5th gr. teacher]

And sometimes "w".

[Trailer Park Boys]

the correct term is "fuck off Bloomberg!"

[P Brooks]

I hope they (we?) stop letting the government tell us who can marry whom.

Ummmmm...

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Gotta love this subtle headline:

"Rachel Maddow is a hero for telling the truth; Fox News keeps spinning lies."

[Tim]

Rachel Madcow.

[Wind Rider]

Hey, it's not every day you find a dyke willing to honk on Olbermann's bobo, kids.

[Rachels Secret]

Lean left. I mean forward. Wear geeky glasses and dress like a boy. Talk reallyreallyreallyreally fast. And at all times maintain the illusion that you are relevant. The suckers will swoon.

[mr simple]

I don't get it; what's he trying to say?

[cynical]

That he's an idiot. He wanted to be indirect about it, though.

[Cyto]

I like his contention that he's neither liberal nor conservative. Then he proceeds to spend a half page telling us how great liberal talk icons are and how Fox News and the Koch brothers suck. At least he didn't spell it "Faux". And he managed to avoid choking on the irony.

[Isaac Bartram]

Stanley Crouch manages to inject politics into his jazz commentaries.

Why anyone pays any attention to him any more is a mystery to me.

[nekoxgirl]

I like how Rachel Maddow fairly portrays conservative protesters as rational human beings that just happen to have a different political orientation than herself. Oh wait, isn't she the person that compares them to fascists and terrorists and Timothy Mcveigh?

Yes, she is truly an American hero and paradigm of unbiased journalism.

[P Brooks]

New York City is so awesome and perfect and safe, Bloomberg wants to make the whole country just like it.

He's just trying to save you from yourself, America!

[rbenchley]

He reminds me of Cocteau from Demolition Man. "That's who you remind me of: an evil Mr. Rogers!"

[stepherz]

No classes today b/c I'm in the Midwest!

[SugarFree]

By the way, I'm not feeding the troll at all today. I hope that none of you do as well.

[the troll]

Not bloody likely.

[Warty]

But Nash equlibrium!

[P Brooks]

Which troll?

Or is this just pre-emption?

[SugarFree]

Anonopussy/Rather, SM/Edwin, Tony/Chad, Max/Morris/Lefiti/Edward or any other name they think up.

Their contributions are as useless as their genitals and I'm sick of it.

[the troll]

Why can't you quit me/us/them?

[robc]

I think I have all of those incifed. Except for randomly changing punctuation.

[Spartacus]

The insecure and volatile little narcissists (Episiarch, SugarFree, Heller et al) who attack others for disagreeing with the blog's prevailing group-think are to blame. Stop the silly name-calling and you'll have a more civil place. But then, civility is not considered a virtue here. So you're stuck with all the silliness. Blame yourselves.

[P Brooks]

Oh, him.

[P Brooks]

So his beef is that someone didn't follow the law? If that's the case, how will creating a new law that someone else doesn't follow fix that?

He's trying to shift the blame for the fact that NYC is a shithole onto people 2500 miles away. Because guns shows with their crazy "loopholes" and whatnot magnetically attract lunatics, drug fiends, and mass murderers. And if only we could get Serious About Gun Carnage, America would be safe for salt- sugar- and fat- banning nannies.

[Mango Punch]

the fact that NYC is a shithole

Not really.

[Restoras]

If by shithole is meant "community run by self-centered, narcissistic, bloviating gasbags that believe they have the right to rule over all the rest of us, and live by their own rules", then YES.

[The Bronx]

You sure about that, guy?

[Commentariat]

self-centered, narcissistic, bloviating gasbags

You talking to me?

[P Brooks]

But then, civility is not considered a virtue here.

Golly, Mayor Bloomberg, I really appreciate your taking the time out of your busy day to save us from our incivil selves, but don't you have something more important to do, like running a sting operation against roving cupcake trucks in Medford, Oregon?

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

Thanks