Reason Morning Links: Federal Judge Shortage, Olbermann to Current, White House Wants New Unemployment Taxes

• U.S. facing a crisis-level shortage of federal judges.
• Keith Olbermann reportedly headed to Current TV.
• Protests continue in Egypt; UN estimates death toll at 300.
• Obama proposes new unemployment taxes on business.
• Two U.S. teens killed in Juarez, Mexico.

Comments

[John]

http://hotair.com/archives/201.....xtremists/

End of the DLC

[Warty]

I still can't believe Heath Schuler is a representative.

[John]

Me either. I remember when he was with the Redskins. Three years into his career he still didn't understand the offense. He was just that thick that after three years of work and coaching he still couldn't grasp a pro offense. He was a fabulous natural athlete but didn't have the IQ to be a pro quarterback. And now he is in the House.

[Brett L]

Are you arguing that he's above average intelligence for the House? Because that's what it looks like. He actually had a career in something besides bullshit, no matter how poorly he did.

[SIV]

Take out the Asheville hippies and Yankee retirees and his district is very conservative, at least socially. The poor Appalachians and Cherokees get government checks.

[Corduroy]

A lack of judges does not constitute a crisis in my book.

[Rich]

Everything gets decided 5-4 in SCOTUS anyway.

[CaptainSmartass]

It would if you were one of the ones languishing in purgatory, either in prison or out, waiting for your trial to commence and finish.

[Abdul]

Many dockets are overwhelmed with criminal cases and civil cases that need some resolution--but federal judgeships are such a huge political football that Congress will never do anything about it, fearing that the "other" side will appoint jackasses who give gay people the right to abortion or take away the right of unborn felons to own guns.

[DJF]

How about instead of hiring more Federal Judges we get rid of a bunch of Federal Laws.

[Almanian]

Now, that's just CRAZY talk....

[CoyoteBlue]

Get thee to Somalia!

[Corduroy]

Increasing the unemployment tax cap, a surefire way to win over the Chamber of Commerce by reducing the government burden.

[capitol l]

And also the dumbest thing that could be done when unemployment is >10%.

Yes, let's make it more onerous and expensive for businesses to hire people, at least we'll have plenty of tax money when those businesses have to lay people off.../sarcasm

Really how fucking stupid can they be.

[Corduroy]

Pretty fucking stupid. Everyday selling my business and moving to Costa Rica is sounding better and better.

[Virginia]

Raised from $7,000 to $14,000 in 2014. I don't know whether to count on repeal or not between now and then. Since the economy is just going to stay in the shitter, then maybe we'll get enough fiscal conservatives in office to right the ship. Maybe.

[hmm]

Fuckin' labor markets, how do they work?

[Bingo]

Hey what happened to the story about the AZ cop that tasered a frog and made sexually suggestive comments towards the amphibian?

[Polynikes]

It hopped away.

[Dorothy]

It was all a dream. Pass the chicken.

[Mike M.]

Michael Moore(on) suing Weinstein brothers over profits from Fahrenheit 911.

[Mr. FIFY]

Moore is just showing how hypocritical socialists get when it's THEIR money on the line.

[MNG]

It's not like the Weinstein brothers are poor people so I'm not sure I get it.

[Pip]

Let me help you.

Moore rails against capitalists and capitalism and the US government (a.k.a. Zionist tools) for a living, and yet he is willing to use the courts (courts of the evil US empire no less) to increase his share of capital generated with the help of 2 Jews. It doesn't get much more ironic than that.

[Mike M.]

Moore is just showing how hypocritical socialists get when it's THEIR money on the line.

His "regular schlub" persona is laughable considering the guy is a freaking multimillionaire. He's like the Larry the Cable Guy of movie directors.

[Gregory Smith]

So Keith Olberman is going to Current? How appropriate, that's Al Gore's network, a haven for progressives. Can they even afford his huge salary?

As for Obama's new unemployment taxes on businesses, gee, that's just a great way to create jobs, isn't it? Reminds me of Saddam's son Udai torturing the Iraqi soccer team whenever they didn't play well.

[Barack Obama]

The economuc beatings will continue until tax revenues improve.

[Warty]

Don't bring a stolen shovel to a snowblower fight

[capitol l]

SNOWBLOWER HUNGRY!!

SNOWBLOWER EAT PUPPY YUM!

[Rich]

Shovel stealer files lawsuit in 3, 2, 1, ....

[Almanian]

Saw this on the TEEVEE - that guy reminds me of me...

[generic Brand]

"...takes justice into his own hands."

I can see Chicago pressing some vigilantism charges against this guy, unfortunately. Otherwise, very hoo-larious

[Instant Karma]

Actually it's pretty stupid.

The guy spent a half hour snowblowing to cover a car that will take 5 minutes to brush off. Plus he left his gate open in the first place. Why have a gate if you're gonna leave it open?

Slashing the tires would have been a better idea. Takes 2 seconds and the shovel stealer spends money and time.

[Warty]

So you didn't watch the video, then. It took the twat four hours to dig out her car.

[John Thacker]

U.S. facing a crisis-level shortage surplus of federal judges laws.

[Mango Punch]

grrrr, just beat me to it.

[creech]

The annual Fed UC tax would go from $56/employee to $120/employee. In reality, this would dissuade employers from hiring only the very most marginal of employees. However, Fed UC is unconstitutional and should be eliminated. Let states decide how they want their programs to run. And, while they are at it, let employees voluntarily decide how much uc coverage they want and how much they are willing to be taxed to support it.

[Corduroy]

Something something frog boiling something something

[capitol l]

Isn't the tax now at 6% of earnings for each employee for the first $7000, for a cost of $420. They propose to raise the cap to $15,000, which would have employers paying $900 a year per employee.

[creech]

Nope, .8% on first $7000.

[Ska]

You get a credit for paying state unemployment insurance; the effective max for federal unemployment is $56 per employee (.8%) in most states.

15,000 * .8% = 120

[capitol l]

I just looked this stuff up, and it is a clusterfuck, especially in my state(PA). It is a wonder that anyone ever opens a business. The rates here are 3-10% depending on many different variables, and those variables mean different thing to the feds.

Here's a helpful sentence:

You have to keep in mind, the states and FUTA have different definitions of "employment," employee," "employer," and "wages." Now some payments may be exempt from FUTA but, may be subject to state unemployment tax.

------

Would you expect the states to enact a corresponding increase in line with the federal?

Meaning, Do you think that the states are now going to tax up to $15,000? What if the .8% and credits only work up to $7,000?

I just have a bad feeling that businesses are going to be on the hook for more than $50/employee/year.

[Ska]

CT already has UI on the first 15,000 of wages. NY is 8,500. Most states are 8000 - 10000 range, with initial rates at 3 - 4 %; rates adjust down if none of your former employees take UI.

In high UI states I don't think you're going to see employers get nailed for more than the additional $64 (still, that's more than a 100% increase in FUI).

The only adjustment to the federal credit for state UI that I've seen was after 9/11 when NY took loans from the fed gov. The percentage of allowed credit was adjusted and NY employers had to pay more for federal UI as a way to pay interest.

[robc]

One good thing about state UC (at least in my state) is the amount of tax varies depending on if it is used.

When my company started we were paying 2.7% on the first $7k, now we are the lowest tax rate, paying 1% on first 7k.

I think only two former employees used it, and I know one of them only got 1 payment (the other got 2-4, not sure exactly how fast they got new job). As a result, our "account" has a huge amount relative to the number of employees.

[robc]

First 8k, not 7k. 7k is federal cap.

[Mango Punch]

U.S. facing a crisis-level shortage surplus of federal judges prosecutions.

[Smile On Your Brother]

Why can't we get rid of the entire justice system and rely instead on voluntary behavioral cooperation and peace and harmony and unicorns?

[Rodney King]

Can't we all just get along?

[sage]

Keith Olbermann reportedly headed to Current TV.

I look forward to not watching him there.

[Dramatic Chipmunk]

That never gets old.

[Almanian]

I have never heard of Current TV, and it does not appear to be offered by my cable provider.

That is all.

[Almanian]

...although sitting here watching MSNBC for my daily comedy, I wonder that Current might not be higher quality.

Could this fuckstick Chuck Todd be any more punchable? Lost the ginger smudge on your chin, you pussy. Don't recognize the chick with the chalk-on-the-fingernails grating voice.

OK, maybe I need to find Current and see what they have to offer...

[Butts Wagner]

Current is owned by Al Gore. Lots of hipster-oriented programming.

[Chupacabra]

And features on erotic massages.

[hmm]

With significant warming changing causing catastrophe.

[sage]

Since the frog story is gone, I need to repost this:

California man killed by armed bird at cockfight

[Col. Kurtz]

The horror....the horror...

[Bingo]

How does a weapon small enough to attach onto a chicken end up killing someone? I can't even think of the sort of physical technicalities of the situation.

Someone better warn the TSA.

[Pain]

I thought they were already looking for cocks.

[MNG]

What was the chicken's menatl health history? Did the system fail us by not flagging this cock sooner?

[Marshall Gill]

To what kind of extreme rhetoric had the cock been exposed? Probably reading Jezebel. Lots of cock hatred there.

[Spartacus]

Flagging cock is always and everywhere a serious problem.

[hmm]

Never run into a pissed off asshole rooster have ya?

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

How does a weapon small enough to attach onto a chicken end up killing someone?

They're pretty big, razor-sharp blades, actually, and attached to the rooster's ankle. They actually have pretty strong legs. Evidently, the bird sliced an artery in the guy's leg and he bled out in a few minutes. The femoral artery is not far below the surface and it's a very large vessel. Slice that open and you'll bleed out pretty quickly.

[Old Mexican]

The chicken had listened to too much talk radio! The inflammatory rhetoric!

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Howard Dean says the purpose of government is to redistribute wealth. The question is not whether government should redistribute, but how and how much.

Oh, and there would not be a single paved road in America if not for the federal government redistributing wealth. That comes right at the end.

Thus endeth our modern progresssive civics lesson.

[Mr. FIFY]

Fuck Howard Dean and all who are like him.

[sage]

SOMALIA!!1!1one!

[MNG]

To the extent that money is power and opportunity redistribution can be seen as fostering and spreading equal opportunity.

[Old Mexican]

Re: MNG,

To the extent that money is power and opportunity redistribution can be seen as fostering and spreading equal opportunity.

... as it has worked so well in the past...

[MNG]

As any good libertarian can tell you we've never really had a free market in the US, so the US itself is an example of this redistribution.

[Old Mexican]

Re: MNG,

As any good libertarian can tell you we've never really had a free market in the US, so the US itself is an example of this redistribution.

Is this supposed to counter my point? Because it actually MAKES IT, especially if one looks at how the Great Society became the Great Failure.

[MNG]

As I said we have been redistributing since the nation's inception and the result is one of the largest most dynamic economies in the world.

[Old Mexican]

Re: MNG,

As I said we have been redistributing since the nation's inception[...]

Excuse me???

[...]and the result is one of the largest most dynamic economies in the world.

Are you somebody mocking MNG? Because I don't think it is the MNG!

[MNG]

I'm not sure what is so confusing for you. Our nation's past is riddled with government providing opportunities for people to advance, many involving forms of redistribution, from homesteading acts to g.i. bills. The US economy has problems, but it is still one if not the most wealthy, dynamic economies in the world.

[Old Mexican]

Re: MNG,

Our nation's past is riddled with government providing opportunities for people to advance, many involving forms of redistribution, from homesteading acts to g.i. bills.

Homesteading acts are not G.I. Bills, and certainly were not "redistribution" of wealth. You're simply equivocating.

The US economy has problems, but it is still one if not the most wealthy, dynamic economies in the world.

The case can be made that this is DESPITE the best efforts of government, not because. The most redistributive periods of the U.S. were also the worst in economic growth: 1930-1946 and 1968-1980.

One of the most dynamic periods of growth, the 20's, were also the LEAST re-distributive of America's history, with taxation levels actually going DOWN, spending going DOWN. And, despite what YOU think, people's personal wealth increased, as more Americans were able to afford houses, cars, appliances and radios.

[MNG]

The feds bought the land and maintained it with tax money paid by one set of taxpayers and gave it to another group. You can add things like the Freedman's Bureau in there.

I'm not for redistribution in the sense of taking money from x and giving it to y. But I am for taking money from x when x has plenty and using that money to create institutions and tools to increase opportunity and class mobility, things like schools, the small business administration, etc.

[Marshall Gill]

I'm not for redistribution in the sense of taking money from x and giving it to y. But I am for taking money from x when x has plenty and using that money to create institutions and tools to increase opportunity and class mobility, things like schools, the small business administration, etc

Take a posting break, dude, you contradict yourself here. You claim to oppose taking money from X and giving it to Y and then list a number of "Y's" to which you would favor wealth transfers.

So you are opposed, except when you are in favor?

[Shorter MNG]

"But I am for taking money from x when x has plenty"

I'm a god damn thief.

[Old Mexican]

Re: MNG,

The feds bought the land and maintained it with tax money paid by one set of taxpayers and gave it to another group. You can add things like the Freedman's Bureau in there.

The "tax" money you refer to came from tariffs and duties, MNG - hardly part of a redistributive scheme. As for 'maintaining' it, I don't know what you mean by that.

I'm not for redistribution in the sense of taking money from x and giving it to y. But I am for taking money from x when x has plenty and using that money to create institutions and tools to increase opportunity and class mobility, things like schools, the small business administration, etc.

What is 'plenty'? Whose decision, yours? Mine? Your dog's? My aunt Anna's?

You pose an argument for taking from x to give it to y based on this wishy-washy notion of having plenty, but that does not justify the taking at all, as the term 'plenty' is totally subjective. A person poorer than YOU might think you have 'plenty'... Or *I* might think you have 'plenty', for that matter. In whose wise hands are you willing to leave that decision?

Besides this, your argument makes no sense in the framework of the discussion, as you cannot explain how the wholesale taking of property (or 'wealth') from a group to give it to another achieves the kind of growth you allude to.

As a matter of fact, like I point out above, the 'best' periods of American redistributionism were also the WORST in economic terms, as people held to their wealth like dear life because they became affraid of the government. This happened during the Great Depression, during the Great Stagflation (70's), and now during the Great Pelosi-Reed Recession.

[Restoras]

Define 'plenty'.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

I'm not for redistribution in the sense of taking money from x and giving it to y.

Well this pretty much exactly is what they're talking about. What do you think the refundable Earned Income Credit (EIC) is?

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

But I am for taking money from x when x has plenty

Define "plenty". And who gets to decide who has "plenty"?

Fucking thief.

[NotSure]

Was America in your view the only one redistributing, because there were much bigger redistributers out there, and they did become very wealthy the opposite happened. Argentina is a good example check what happened to it over the last 100 years.

[Pip]

Please cite examples of federal wealth redistribution circa 1792.

[sage]

Or it's as simple as buying votes.

[cynical]

Yes, giving government (ie, those with the most power) control over the disposition of more money (ie, more power) promotes equality. Wait, no, I meant inequality.

[CrackertyAssCracker]

To the extent that its mine, it can be seen as stealing.

[Spoonman.]

The federal unemployment insurance tax rate of 6.2% on the new, larger base would be reduced, so that the U.S. would be taking in no more revenue than it does under the current system, a person familiar with the plan said.

Wait, then what the hell is the point?

[CaptainSmartass]

Those deck chairs aren't going to rearrange themselves, you know!

[Old Mexican]

U.S. facing a crisis-level shortage of federal judges.

That's because all these judges are being killed by these rhetoric-motivated, crazed gunmen! I mean, the Olbermann told me so!

[MNG]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02.....?_r=1&hpw;
Teaching creationism in public schools has consistently been ruled unconstitutional in federal courts, but according to a national survey of more than 900 public high school biology teachers, it continues to flourish in the nation's classrooms.

Researchers found that only 28 percent of biology teachers consistently follow the recommendations of the National Research Council to describe straightforwardly the evidence for evolution and explain the ways in which it is a unifying theme in all of biology. At the other extreme, 13 percent explicitly advocate creationism, and spend at least an hour of class time presenting it in a positive light.

[Old Mexican]

Re: MNG,

"Teaching creationism in public schools has consistently been ruled unconstitutional in federal courts, but according to a national survey of more than 900 public high school biology teachers, it continues to flourish in the nation's classrooms."

This can tell you either of two things - One, biology teachers are LOUSY at teaching evolution, or Two, they surrendered to reality: People don't like it when things or ideas are shoved down their throats.

I gave up arguing with Creationists a long time ago. Their beliefs are harmless, at least to me, so really I have NO business telling them what they should believe, and I tell them "you have no business telling ME what I should believe, either, so let's leave it at that."

[Old Mexican]

Probably because it's easier for a better-to-do person to obtain one of those DC permits than for a poor person.

And who said socialism was about looking out for the little guy?

[Bingo]

Misreply but see also the banning of "Saturday Night Specials"...

[MNG]

Excellent point OM.

[Bingo]

13 percent? That's less than I expected. There's a certain percentage of hardcore religious social conservatives that feel threatened by anything with the trappings of modern thought and they insulate their beliefs in a bubble world. Better to delude oneself than to let the devil enter your soul through secularism, or some such.

I'm hoping the increasingly secular American youth put an end to the nonsense in a generation or two.

[capitol l]

Next time you advocate for higher teacher pay remember what you paying for.

Fucking fairy tales.

Student: Fucking magnets...How do they work?

Teacher: Jesus.

[Abdul]

I find it hard to believe that jugaloo students would be capable of learning evolution seeing as how they have never practiced it.

[Michael Ejercito]

Teaching creationism in public schools has consistently been ruled unconstitutional in federal courts, but according to a national survey of more than 900 public high school biology teachers, it continues to flourish in the nation's classrooms.

Seventy percent of Americans favor teaching creationism alongside evolution.

[cynical]

"explain the ways in which it is a unifying theme in all of biology"

What? It might be useful for understanding why certain processes are more prevalent than others, or exist at all, but it doesn't actually tell you anything about how they work. You don't need to understand or worry about the Big Bang or cosmology to make predictions regarding inertia or gravity or electricity.

[MNG]

Post-Heller Gun Ownership Trends in DC

In the 2? years since the U.S. Supreme Court ended the District's handgun ban, hundreds of residents in Washington's safest, most well-to-do neighborhoods have armed themselves, registering far more guns than people in poorer, crime-plagued areas of the city, according to D.C. police data.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....id=topnews

[Old Mexican]

Probably because it's easier for a better-to-do person to obtain one of those DC permits than for a poor person.

And who said socialism was about looking out for the little guy?

[Solanum]

Indy cops love them some tasers

Check out the fat fuck at the 2:00 minute mark in the video.

[Officer Chuck Evans]

I have big bones!

[hmm]

Geeet in ma bellah!!

[hmm]

Geeet in ma bellah!!

[yet another dave]

oh Canada

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Cr.....89911.html

[Pip]

Thanks! It led me to this:

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/La...../home.html

[Slap the Enlightened!]

Thousands of Greek nationalists march on Athens

Odd that you can find this footage all over youtube... but you'll google in vain for a news item reporting it....

More

[Jerry]

Perhaps because they want to reinstate the Greek dictatorship or so?

[DanD]

They don't explicitly demand this, but history says that it's precisely what their efforts will lead to.

[DanD]

The tanking economy and coincident mass unemployment in Greece is largely being blamed on illegal immigration and a perceived tainting of Greek heritage and tradition. A lot of the rage you're seeing in this video is based on that.

I really would like to know what they're chanting. If the sound weren't being recorded with a condenser microphone, I could probably make out enough to translate.

If you think the small bickering about illegal immigration here in the US is bad, then you have no idea how bad it can get 🙂

[DanD]

OK, looking through the comments, someone has transcribed one of the lines of the chant (argh, have to transliterate it because of the spam filter):
yeia tin ellada mou, kai yeia tin istoria mou, ego tha doso kai tin zoi mou.

this translates to:

"For my country, for my history, I will give my life."

They're saying lots more, but I can't make out enough to give an accurate translation.

When I was visiting family in Rodos last summer, these same chants were going on in the town square. If these kinds of protests have made it to the islands, you know things are bad.

[DanD]

Sorry, I keep thinking of more things to add.

Their banner says "Chrysi Afgi." It means "Golden Dawn," which is the name of this movement. I saw the graffiti everywhere, but I had no idea there were this many people behind it. Holy cow...

[Slap the Enlightened!]

Their banner says "Chrysi Afgi." It means "Golden Dawn," which is the name of this movement. I saw the graffiti everywhere, but I had no idea there were this many people behind it. Holy cow...

I suspect that goes a long way in explaining why you *don't* see any news items reporting it...

...we wouldn't want anybody to think the peasants are discontented with the One World, multi-culti future their Enlightened? elites have planned for them, would we?

Still, somewhere between 5-10,000 people marching are a little hard to hide....

[Pip]

"Chrysi Afgi."

So that doesn't translate into christfag?

[bill]

well, the frog was an old story.

Pinal sheriff balks at rehiring deputy who allegedly used Taser on frog
by Lindsey Collom - Oct. 28, 2010 01:04 PM
Alvarado allegedly said the frog was "taking it like a champ."

Alvarado denied the accusations but said he told the dispatcher he was going to take the frog into the desert to perform a sex act on it, just to rile her. Alvarado also admitting to firing the Taser 10 to 15 times that morning, but said he was only testing the unit because it hadn't been working properly.

and his Polygraph was inconclusive

[cynical]

Great, now even French people have rights.

[bill]

well, the frog was an old story.

Pinal sheriff balks at rehiring deputy who allegedly used Taser on frog
by Lindsey Collom - Oct. 28, 2010 01:04 PM
Alvarado allegedly said the frog was "taking it like a champ."

Alvarado denied the accusations but said he told the dispatcher he was going to take the frog into the desert to perform a sex act on it, just to rile her. Alvarado also admitting to firing the Taser 10 to 15 times that morning, but said he was only testing the unit because it hadn't been working properly.

and his Polygraph was inconclusive

[bill]

well, the frog was an old story.

Pinal sheriff balks at rehiring deputy who allegedly used Taser on frog
by Lindsey Collom - Oct. 28, 2010 01:04 PM
Alvarado allegedly said the frog was "taking it like a champ."

Alvarado denied the accusations but said he told the dispatcher he was going to take the frog into the desert to perform a sex act on it, just to rile her. Alvarado also admitting to firing the Taser 10 to 15 times that morning, but said he was only testing the unit because it hadn't been working properly.

and his Polygraph was inconclusive

[sage]

Are you sure?

[Old Mexican]

You don't have to say that again!

Please, don't say it again... please?

[Old Mexican]

Yet Another (The Sixth, So Far) Video Of Planned Parenthood Willing To Aid Underage Prostitution.

http://dailycaller.com/2011/02.....ixth-time/

In the sixth installation of a concerted campaign to discredit Planned Parenthood, Tuesday Live Action released yet another video showing the abortion provider seemingly willing to aid a pimp and his prostitute in the sexual exploitation of young girls.

[Abdul]

I don't see how any liberal-oriented group at this point meets anyone who claims to be a pimp and doesn't immediately ask: "Are you James O'Keefe? Where's Hannah--she's the one we really want to meet."

[Pip]

Well if one caters to pimps on a regular basis, one becomes innured.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Abdul,

I don't see how any liberal-oriented group[...]

Yes, Abdul: they are THAT dense.

[Abdul]

Well now I don't believe in anything anymore! I renounce homeopathic medicine, the church, and climate science!

[Ska]

Thank Xenu you still believe in thetans. Mwuhahahaha.

[Old Mexican]

Obama proposes new unemployment taxes on business.

As another way to guarrantee even MORE unemployment.

[Axman]

You talk like more unemployment is bad. What better way to break the stranglehold of the unions and bring labor costs down?

A good reason to oppose abortion for prostitutes, too. More lower-class babies = more surplus poor folk to swell the ranks of the unemployed.

[Old Mexican]

Keith Olbermann reportedly headed to Current TV.

Awww, shoot! My satellite channel package doesn't carry that one! Darn it!

[Old Mexican]

Two U.S. teens killed in Juarez, Mexico.

That's probably because of Mexico's very lax gun laws.... oh, wait - NOT!

[hmm]

Is it just me or has the term 3rd war been creeping into dialogue to describe the drug war.

Jesus christ people actually prefer the phrase 3rd war, as in we are fighting three fucking wars, to WoD. The US is doomed...

[Old Mexican]

"Yes, They Are Overpaid"

http://www.weeklystandard.com/.....e+Hotsheet

The truth about federal workers' compensation

[Brett L]

Furniture that runs on an alternative energy source... meat. I hope the robots don't learn to feed us to their power converters.

[generic Brand]

It doesn't catch enough flies to power the motor on top and the digital clock. But this is just a first step.

Hasn't this been the issue with all "renewable" sources of energy? You can either power the mechanism, or you can power the thing that charges/runs the mechanism. You can't charge them both (from the same energy source)

[P Brooks]

Jesus christ people actually prefer the phrase 3rd war

Our War on America is kind of awkward...

[hmm]

MNG|2.8.11 @ 10:02AM|#
But I am for taking money from x when x has plenty...

Worthy of reposting down thread. I think I'm going to book mark that. I can see it coming in handy down the road.

[Trespassers W]

Wish I'd bookmarked the thread where he argues that the estate tax isn't bad, since we'll make sure we leave enough for your kids. I taste bile every time I recall it.

Minge is reasonable and intelligent, and an occasionally useful gadfly, but never forget that, deep down, he has no respect for you as an individual. (Which isn't to say that he thinks of it that way.)

[P Brooks]

By proposing to enlarge the pool of wages subject to unemployment taxes, the White House appears to be offering states a more politically palatable way to raise revenues than to boost tax rates. States could keep the tax rates they have, or even lower them somewhat, and still raise considerably more revenue than they are raising now.

Giving with one hand, taking (more) away with the other...

[P Brooks]

It's not redistributionism when the government's intentions are good!

[hmm]

Obama defending regulation with frost free fridges.

"But he started talking about energy efficiency and about refrigerators, and he pointed out that the government set modest targets a couple decades ago to start increasing efficiency over time. They were well thought through; they weren't radical. Companies competed to hit these markers. And they hit them every time, and then exceeded them. And as a result, a typical fridge now costs half as much and uses a quarter of the energy that it once did -- and you don't have to defrost, chipping at that stuff -- and then putting the warm water inside the freezer and all that stuff. It saves families and businesses billions of dollars.

Frost free fridges, how the fuck do they work? (and who had such a great idea?)

[R C Dean]

Because business would never pursue products that are preferred by consumers without the feds pushing them along.

Notice how Our Leader is so dense that he gives away the game, and doesn't realize it:

Companies competed to hit these markers. And they hit them every time, and then exceeded them.

Once you exceed a regulation, you're doing whatever you're doing for reasons that have nothing to do with the regulation.

[J sub D]

Two U.S. teens killed in Juarez, Mexico.

Because their names were Carlos Mario Gonzalez Bermudez and Juan Carlos Echeverri nobody will give a good goddam.

If only the victims were Mary Sue Johnson and Rebecca Adams who were on spring break partying like drunken sailors on their first liberty in months, then America would know all about it.

As it is, lost down the memory hole before Friday.

[Kline]

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]

Does being stalked on H&R by an anal retentive obsessive retard lend me a certain credibility?

[SugarFree]

What I find fascinating is that this particular phrase set it off. It's really a fairly bland observation of fact. Do you even remember the original context? The archives is inconclusive (words are too common.)

[J sub D]

A thirteen year old drug addicted prostitute dragged chained into court coupled with my healthy distrust of the drug rehabilitation industry/scam (we have no statistics, we allow no follow ups, trust us).

[J sub D]

The relevant conversation starts here.

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

Thanks