Reason Morning Links: Army Used Psy-Ops on Politicians, Another Showdown Looming in Libya, Arizona Legislature Takes Up Another Round of Immigrant Bashing

• Rolling Stone: Army employed psy-ops on visiting U.S. senators to win more support and funding for Afghan war.
• Latest in Libya: Gaddafi amasses mercenaries in Tripoli, more high-ranking officials resign.
• New kidney list rules would favor younger patients over older ones.
• Wisconsin House to vote on controversial union bill.
• Arizona legislature to consider new round of anti-immigrant laws.
• British court orders Julian Assange extradited to Sweden.

Comments

[Mango Punch]

Baltimore PD cracks down on corruption
HuffPo has article on law enforcment for legalization online question for Obama.

[Pat D. King]

Arizona is not immigrant bashing. The state is broke and they are getting tired of paying for health care for aliens. I keep looking for that civilized country that has an open border, can't find one. Could Mr. Balko cite the percentage of Mexican inmates in the states of New Mexico, Arizona, and California? He won't because it is fucking high!

[Timon19]

Kang and Kodos demand full medical care for free!

[generic Brand]

It's Pat!

[Zeb]

None of what you say addresses whether or not Arizona is immigrant bashing.

Regarding open borders, a free market cannot exist when free movement of labor is artificially restricted. If the state is broke from paying for health care for aliens, then the solution is to stop paying for health care for aliens.

[creech]

My goodness, has no one ever before thought that one simple way to end free riding is to put the free rider off the bus?

[Heroic Mulatto]

They don't want to end free riding; they just want to end free riding for the other guy.

[MJ]

"immigrant bashing"

A complaint about "bashing" is the argument of the intellectually feeble.

[The Voice of the Public]

"you are limiting the voice of the public as you do this," said Democratic state Rep. Mark Pocan of Madison. "You can't dictate democracy. You are limiting the people's voice"

Blow it out your ass, Pocan.

[Nick]

If he tells his fellow Dems to have the same stance when they win an election and control a majority, then maybe his word had value. Until then...

[David (not that one)]

Is that Rolling Stone article an April Fool's joke or something?

[Mango Punch]

I'm kind of fed up with hearing about Julian Assange. Does anyone care anymore? I doubt Wikileaks will die out without his leadership + he seems like a douche.

[generic Brand]

You should care in that he's being lampooned when all he did was set up the means for whistleblowers, and had nothing to do with the information actually being leaked. This is nothing more than U.S. outcry spreading abroad. He is also being targeted in Sweden for the most ridiculous "crime" I've heard of in a while.

I'm sure you know both of those things, but for the same reason that we should care about every nut-punch story Balko sends us, we should care about this injustice.

However, I agree that he is a total douche.

[messenger]

Don't shoot!

[Whoopie Goldberg]

I think fucking a girl who is asleep is rape-rape.

[Ted Danson]

Fucking Whoopi is like swinging a bat in a cave.

[Roman Polanski]

Was she unresponsive?

[Anarchist]

I think he's dreamy.

[Mike M.]

Brent crude breaches $119 in wild, frenetic trading.

If the insanity in the sandbox doesn't get resolved fairly soon, we might be looking at $4 a gallon nationwide. Not good.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Gas jumped like $0.20 overnight here. It's up to $3.34 at the place I normally go to. Summer driving season is going to be AWESOME!

[Ray]

Wait till te dollar gets replaced as the oil pricing currency. It's going to make Jimmy Carter look like Thomas Jefferson.

[Marie Antoinette]

Let them ride high speed rail.

[MSM]

And why isn't the prsident doing anything about this..oh, wait, he has a 'D' after his name? Never mind.

[Mike M.]

The SOB is making the problem even worse by refusing to lift his illegal moratorium on offshore drilling here at home!

[Barack Obama]

Let me be clear.

We will Win The Future with green jobs.

[OhioOrrin]

US refinery capacity is maxed fool.

[The Thinking Man's NASCAR]

And which organization do you suppose has been taking seven or more years to process applications for permits to construct refineries?

(Hint: it starts with 'Federal')

[db]

Nobody can build a new refinery in the US because of your Team's environmental policy, fool.

[OO]

there's many lawsuits involved. let us know which groups you plan deny court access...fool.

[Pip]

What the fuck is wrong with you?

[OO]

you

[Pip]

I delight in that.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

English. Try it.

[Old Mexican]

Re: OhioOrrin,

US refinery capacity is maxed fool.

Linkey-link, please?

[OO]

do ur own research. and look-up capped viable wells, inventory parked in tankers, & move closer to work.

[Old Mexican]

Re: OO,

do ur own research.

I don't have time to do your job, asshole. YOU made the assertion, YOU provide evidence, or man up and get out of your mommy's basement.

[Isaac Bartram]

The "capped wells" canard is an urban legend on about the same level as the "two hundred MPG carburettor" that the guy who everbody's cousin knows a guy who knows a guy who's uncle/father/gym teacher invented.

You know, the one that Esso/Amoco/Texaco bought the rights to and then destroyed the plans.

How's the tinfoil hat fitting today OO?

[Kant]

86% is not capacity...

http://www.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pe....._nus_m.htm

[R C Dean]

US refinery capacity is maxed fool.

(1) Link required.

(2) Doesn't prevent the cost of finished products, like gas, from being pushed up when the input costs, like crude oil, go up.

[Mike M.]

US refinery capacity is maxed fool.

Refining capacity has next to nothing to do with the retail price of gasoline. Iran has practically no refining capacity in their entire country, and they pay less at the pump than we do.

[OO]

subsidized

[Mike M.]

They just eliminated the subsidies a few months ago which dramatically increased the price there, and they're still paying less than we do, primarily because it isn't taxed out the wazoo like it is in the west.

[Rhayader]

Since when is it the President's job to micromanage oil prices?

(And yes, this works both ways.)

[Mike M.]

It's not. However, the president is still supposed to obey the law and respect the separation of powers and co-equal branches of government principles. This is not a dictatorship and we don't worship at the cult of the presidency here.

[The Other Kevin]

High gas prices + planned inflation proposed by Krugman = PROSPERITY!

[Tim]

"It would take at least ten years for those domestic sources to come online. so why bother?"

[The Other Kevin]

Is that quote from 10 years ago?

[Tim]

Yeah, more or less. It was a Dem talking point in 2001 and again in 2008. It never gets old.

[Rich]

+10

[WALKER = KOCH = OIL = BIEBER]

KOCH BROS MADE ANOTHER BILLION LAST NIGHT. BOYCOTT DIXIE CUPS.

[Kool]

The Biebs? Shit, we're in more trouble than I thought.

[Malcolm Excellent]

I am sick of this oil-soaked administration's constant activities that are nothing but means of driving up windfall profits for its Big Oil masters!

Oh, wait a minute...

[OhioOrrin]

repeal all taxpayer subsidises to oil cos.

[Zeb]

I doubt you will find any objections to the repeal of any subsidies around here.

[Kreel Sarloo]

Heh, OO is the type who sqeals like a stuck pig when HIS preferred corporate welfare gets cut.

[Kreel Sarloo]

Gee, for once you've said something that everyone here agrees with. Interesting that in your mind you think it's controversial.

Keep in mind though that most of what you call subsidies are in fact accelerated depletion allowances and early writeoffs of exploration costs.

All businesses get depletion and/or deppreciation deductions and get a wide range of capital cost allowances.

The difference with oil companies is that they get to take them upfront while most other business have to spread them over the life of the asset.

[Marshall Gill]

repeal all taxpayer subsidises to oil cos.

I always hear this but never see any numbers. If Exxon pays several hundred million dollars in taxes but gets tax breaks amounting to tens of millions, that ain't a subsidy.

How about ending the oil companies subsidy to the taxpayers?

[sloopyinca]

And while you're at it, end the absurd amount that gas is taxed.

OO will bitch about the subsidies, but doesn't say a word about how overtaxed fuel is. Oh, and OO, that affects the little guy a lot more than the "fat cats."

[OO]

gas taxes are the fed hgwy maintence funds. u should care about that during ur long-ass commute living too far fm work

[Isaac Bartram]

What about the fifteen percent that gets siphoned off to pay for public transportation, OO?

Even if one believes that mass transit needs a subsidy, taking the funds from a tax source dedicated to something else is just plain wrong. Especially when your constant song is about how much that "something else" is subsidized.

[Isaac Bartram]

sloopy, I have no problem with ending the gas tax as long as you find another way to pay for roads, preferably direct user fees (tolls).

The gas tax is a poor proxy for a user fee anyway and it's time to completely get rid of it.

And, actually, you are wrong. The gas tax is lower now (adjusted) at both the federal and state than ever. Politicians are reluctant to raise either the fuel tax or tolls to any level approaching the cost of construction and maintenance since they know the people want "free" roads the same way they want free everything else.

Highway departments are running account deficits (taking money from the general fund ie subsidizing) road construction at increasing rates.

Only part of this is explained by the fifteen percent or so that is siphoned off from the gas tax to subsidize mass transit.

[creech]

$4 per galloon, woohoo! I'm making so much money on my Vanguard Energy Fund I don't care if it goes to $10.
By the way, everyone who feels Big Oil is screwing them and making huge profits, there's an outfit called the New York Stock Exchange where you can join the Big Oil club for not huge amounts of money.

[The Gobbler]

^^^^^^^^^

[robc]

Yep. I calculated that my Exxon stock more than hedged increased gas prices during the last huge price spike.

[robc]

I cant figure out how "insanity in the sandbox" isnt good for oil prices? Okay, short term, I see the jump, but it can only be good long term. Well, assuming the new governments are no worse than the old ones, which is a big assumption.

[MAJ Cy Opps]

More, um, "coffee", Senator?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Army employed psy-ops on visiting U.S. senators to win more support and funding for Afghan war.

Seems like a waste of effort. (Take that how you like.)

[Tim]

I can picture them locking McCain in a tiger cage at some hellhole base and beating him. What laughs...

[Ragin Cajun]

Al Franken was a target? "Mr. Franken, you're good enough, smart enough..."

[Rich]

I'll bet they LOLed behind closed doors about doing just that.

[a]

They used it on McCain and Lieberman? Why bother? Has the Army also worked on tricking dogs into licking their own dicks?

This story should lead to massive Pentagon cuts, and not for ethical reasons. They clearly have too much money on their hands if they can waste it on sneaky programs to make members of Congress do what they would have done anyway.

[generic Brand]

You're missing the point here:

The Senators did what they would have done anyway because the Army ran psy-ops on the Senators to do what they were going to do anyway. Without the psy-ops, the Senators very well would have done what they were going to do the whole time!

Chalk up another win for the good guys!!

[Name Nomad]

Breaking news! Cannabis gives people "the munchies". This groundbreaking study took Canadian researchers almost two years of work.

[Rich]

Your comment gave me uncontrollable giggles!

Think we can get a grant?

[waffles]

why is the article from india? This is so un-American, where are my cheetos?

[Rhayader]

Because our media never reports on marijuana studies that don't claim links to schizophrenia or hard drug abuse.

[wylie]

This groundbreaking study took Canadian researchers almost two years of work.

One guess why it took so long...

[Old Mexican]

Rolling Stone: Army employed psy-ops on visiting U.S. senators to win more support and funding for Afghan war.

They thought they were staring at goats....

http://www.sliceofscifi.com/wp.....terthm.jpg

[Rich]

Seems the Army got to your link.

[Old Mexican]

How about this one?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com.....z.jpg?zz=1

[Old Mexican]

British court orders Julian Assange extradited to Sweden.

He will have another shot at screwing two other whor... I mean, women.

[waffles]

You mean womyn?

[OhioOrrin]

hoers

[Old Mexican]

OhioOrrins?

[Ska]

Why such contempt for prostitutes?

[zoltan]

Seriously, those women are not whores. They gave it up for free. Whores are at least smart enough to get something tangible out of it.

[Old Mexican]

New kidney list rules would favor younger patients over older ones.

No death panels here! None whatsoever, so move on, people! Nothing to see here!

[sloopyinca]

Those lists are bullshit for the most part anyway. I still want to know why people cannot sell their kidneys or other organs and actually profit from it. If that were allowed, you'd have a lot less people on the lists to begin with.

[WTF]

Good point - the surgeons profit from the transplant, the hospital profits, the recipient profits - it seems everyone is allowed to profit except the donor.

[generic Brand]

But... but.. the black market organ trade! Do you want organs to be sold along the backROADS!!111!! like this was Somalia???

[sloopyinca]

It's pretty early here on the left coast, but I believe a Screwdriver is in order after that comment. Bravo!!

[Isaac Bartram]

Does a comment count in the drinking game if it was sarcasm?

[Harry Reid]

I still want to know why people cannot sell their kidneys or other organs and actually profit from it.

(Rolls eyes.)

[Old Mexican]

Re: sloopyinca,

I still want to know why people cannot sell their kidneys or other organs and actually profit from it.

Because people would then be waking up in ice-cube filled bathtubs with a nasty backache and a cell phone in their hand, silly! I mean, don't you read internet chain mail? Those things are true, man! True, I say!

[Actually it's to keep the organ register people employed, but don't mind that - we, uh, need them, like we need public worker unions... I guess.]

[Rhayader]

If you legalize organ markets, obviously the Sinaloa cartel will start stealing people's kidneys. And that's just not cool.

[sloopyinca]

That would also be another inevitable consequence of drug legalization. Current drug dealers would resort to organ theft of teens to maintain their lifestyle. We must continue the War on Drugs to save teh childrunz organs!!!

[Jan Brewer]

nothing new in AZ. already kicked transplant patients to the curb.

[Gus]

Great Moments in Socialized Medicine
Here's a chilling story from the Windsor (Ontario) Star:

The Ontario parents of a dying baby boy say they will not give their consent to have him removed from life-support, despite a court's order, as they try to hold out so he can be transferred to a hospital closer to home.

Baby Joseph Maraachli had been scheduled to be taken off life-support Monday morning.

The 13-month-old child, who is in a vegetative state, has been at the London Health Sciences Centre in Ontario since last fall. His parents have said they want to bring him home to die surrounded by family, not in a hospital.

Father Moe Maraachli said Monday that, on the advice of the family's new lawyer, he and his wife, Sana Nader, are not consenting to have Joseph's breathing tube removed, despite the ruling of a Superior Court judge last week and a January decision of the Consent and Capacity Board of Ontario.

The Consent and Capacity Board. Here in the states we call it a death panel.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Parents dying Ontario baby defy court order life support/4320874/story.html

[sloopyinca]

But how do they transfer a life support patient to another hospital? Didn't Costanza try that with a Frogger? machine and it didn't work?

[wylie]

Look, that plan totally would've worked had he just taped an Out-of-Order sign over the screen for the move.

[R C Dean]

I run into variations on this all the time. While I don't like having a state board making the final decision, this is a lot more complicated than Steyn makes it look.

First off, doctors, nurses, etc. aren't the slaves of the parents. They shouldn't have to provide care that they don't want to provide. In a lot of these cases, the families are completely dysfunctional, there is no hope for the patient, and the toll on the actual human beings providing the care is very real.

Second, I have never had anyone insist on pointless heroic measures when they had to pay any part of the tab. You'd be shocked at how often family members ask "Is this going to cost us anything?", and when the answer is no, they say "Do everything!"

Third, what we don't know here, is whether the baby is suffering. People in vegetative states can suffer, you know, and prolonging suffering with no hope of recovery is the number one reason life support is pulled.

[Old Mexican]

Arizona legislature to consider new round of anti-immigrant laws.

They purport to stop immigration... to Arizona, from other states, especially for Americans that look like Pancho Gonzales.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Video: Union protester grabs FreedomWorks staffer's camera, hits her with sign

Union thug assaults Tabitha Hale
...Tabitha's account. "This just can't be tolerated anymore. It's one thing to be called a violent teabagger. It's another to be called a violent teabagger while you're being assaulted. They've been comparing themselves to the Egyptians ousting Mubarak. Looks like they're not too far off, given that they share the tendency to assault women with cameras."

[Johnny Longtorso]

Dem Congressman tells unions that they "need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody"

Public unions force taxpayers to fund Democrats

[generic Brand]

They've been comparing themselves to the Egyptians ousting Mubarak. Looks like they're not too far off, given that they share the tendency to assault women with cameras.

HIYO!!!

[Mike M.]

If fed up taxpayers are "teabaggers", then the democrats fleeing the state are fleebaggers.

[robc]

The person who made that joke here yesterday had the good decency to link to the source he stole it from. 🙂

[The Left]

Bitch got what she deserved.

[P Brooks]

Are Swedish jurors as stupid as American jurors? Or does Assange have a realistic chance of getting acquitted?

[Just Dropping By]

I'm pretty sure Sweden doesn't use the jury system.

[alittlesense]

They use the "trial-by-lutefisk" system......

[Old Mexican]

Latest in Libya: Gaddafi amasses mercenaries in Tripoli, more high-ranking officials resign.
Well, he did say he was going to die a martyr... he is surely hastening his demise.

[Johnny Longtorso]

Matthews Gives "Free Advertising" To Union Leader: It's "Great" He's An Old SDS Guy

Bailed-Out GM Workers Getting $4,300 Bonuses

[Gregory Smith]

I'm proud of Arizona's new immigration laws, it was Milton Friedman who said something like "You can have immigration to jobs but not immigration to welfare." The last thing we need is more illegal aliens that are gonna have more kids that will require more schools, more teachers, more teachers unions, more bilingual education. No, it has to stop. Come legally or don't come at all.

ISRATINE AND OTHER FUN FACTS ABOUT QADAFFI.
http://libertarians4freedom.bl.....about.html

[Old Mexican]

Re: Gregory Smith,

I'm proud of Arizona's new immigration laws, it was Milton Friedman who said something like "You can have immigration to jobs but not immigration to welfare."

That's an indictment on the welfare state, not on immigration.

If you really really wanted to stem the flow of immigrants, but really really do it, you would have to get rid of ALL LABOR RELATED REGULATIONS, FEES, TAXES AND COSTS, in order to bring down wages to a market level. Otherwise, employers will keep seeking AFFORDABLE labor and laborers will keep jumping over the fence, no matter what else you do besides the above.

[Heroic Mulatto]

"[B]ilingual education" teaches one that "gonna" isn't a word.

[sloopyinca]

Come legally or don't come at all.

Wait a second. Were you still talking about Arizona or did you switch over to Julian Assange?

[generic Brand]

Damnit! Well, different joke I guess.

[generic Brand]

Come legally or don't come at all.

Preferrably into a condom so you don't leave any anchor babies.

[Greenspan]

course friedman was buired in the ruins of the collapsed chicago school of economics.

[Zeb]

Then I assume you support changes to the immigration laws so that anyone who can get a job can legally enter the country.

[Rhayader]

Ah, the good old "get in line!" argument. Makes perfect sense.

[Spoonman.]

Not that I'm for foreign intervention...but can't somebody the Libyans already hate, like Italy, just kill Gaddafi already?

[Tim]

Qaddaffi is no Robert Mugabe, that's sure.

[Rich]

He's a Mugabe wannabe.

[P Brooks]

Democratic Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who is in the Chicago area, said all 14 senators remain outside of Wisconsin and would not return until Walker is willing to compromise.

"It's not so much the Democrats holding things up, it's really a matter of Gov. Walker holding things up," Erpenbach said.

Tyranny of the Majority!

The essence of evil.

[R C Dean]

I love the formulation:

"Its not our utter instransigence that's the problem, its the other guy's utter intransigence that's the problem."

[Vermont Gun Owner]

Even more so than that:

"It's not us refusing to allow the vote to happen, it's his desire to vote on this immediately that is holding up the vote!"

Sounds like a little kid "he made me do it!"

[Old Mexican]

Wisconsin's teachers required to teach kids labor union and collective bargaining history

Because teaching them how to read, write and do math is soooo 19th Century.

Wisconsin's teachers are required to teach children about the history of the labor union movement and collective bargaining in the United States, per a law former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle signed in December 2009. Wisconsin's Assembly Bill (AB) 172 requires the state's teachers to incorporate "the history of organized labor in America and the collective bargaining process" into their lesson plans.

http://dpi.wi.gov/cal/labor-history.html

[Ragin Cajun]

Don't worry, this being public schools, these kids probably now think "organized labor" is a pregnant lady with a checklist.

[Tim]

An unwed teenage pregnant lady.

[sarcasmic]

An unwed teenage pregnant lady on public assistance with a checklist.

[The Other Kevin]

It would be awesome if the teachers were scheduled to teach that lesson on the day they were out protesting.

[MJ]

You don't think that the lesson plan presents unionism as an unalloyed good?

No chance at this being a tool of indoctrination, is there?

[public school system]

We don't teach kids how to think. That's dangerous.
No, we teach them what to think. That makes them nice and docile.

[MJ]

Despite the blurb in the Hit & Run link, the Arizona law seems to be directed against illegal immigrants, not immigrants in general.

Why would Balko give such a dishonest and misleading description?

[waffles]

he's a schill for Big Mexican?

[Anarchist]

It's the art of propaganda.

[Old Mexican]

Re: MJ,

Despite the blurb in the Hit & Run link, the Arizona law seems to be directed against illegal immigrants

And just their luck, those are soooooo easy to spot!

Right?

[MJ]

For the purposes of obtaining a proper licensure, signing your kid up for school, etc. It may be difficult to spot if the person fraudulent documentation, but having fraudulent documentation woul itself be another sort of crime, would it not?

[Old Mexican]

Re: MJ,

For the purposes of obtaining a proper licensure, signing your kid up for school, etc.

Basically you prefer to burden Americans even further than simply surrender to the realities of ecomomic law.

Old Mexican's Law of Government Solutions:

"The increase in the number of problems created by a 'solution' purported to solve a 'problem' will be exponential, and the number of problems created by each required new solution will also be exponential"

[(]

You made that up yourself?

[Joe Arpaio]

Right!

[Old Mexican]

Well, that didn't last long...

Chris Matthews Says Limbaugh And Beck Have "Ethnic Disdain" For The First Family

http://dailycaller.com/2011/02.....st-family/

Huh... Did you just call them "racists"? I mean, again?

So we have:
"Racists!"
"Roads!"
"Externalities!"

And "Ethic Disdainer!"

[OO]

just entertainers dissing each other. whoda thunk it

[sloopyinca]

Damn, he called them out! And I bet the 37 people across the country that were watching his show were delighted.

[Nick]

All 37 were people watching in a research capacity to show people what a moron he is, so maybe they liked it in a different way than what you meant.

[?]

Are Swedish jurors as stupid as American jurors? Or does Assange have a realistic chance of getting acquitted?

Less stupid, statistically. Sweden has the lowest rape conviction rate in Europe.* Since rape is among the least provable crimes, that's as it should be?and/or Sweden has way the fuck too many rape trials.

This one is the only one I know any details about, and it certainly sounds like some bullshit.

*The reason I know this is because Amnesty International recently put out an Urgent Action Report (or whatever) bitching that rape prosecutions in Sweden fail too much. They're so angry about the penis, they're calling for show trials. Amnesty F. International. "Libertarian."

[Tim]

Reason, IIRC, has reported that Canada is number 1 in the world for rape.

[Hugh Akston]

She cried no, eh

[Kreel Sarloo]

Canada has a higher crime rate overall than the US, including violent crimes. So do many other countries where the view of the US as a violent country is widespread (eg Japan).

The main difference is that in the USA a higher percentage of violent attacks end in the death of the victim.

[Nick]

So you're saying we need more simple ass-kickings to improve our numbers?

[zoltan]

The main difference is that in the USA a higher percentage of violent attacks end in the death of the victim.

Probably due to legal possession of firearms. Still, it's not bad that violent crime is much lower.

[sloopyinca]

The main difference is that in the USA a higher percentage of violent attacks end in the death of the victim.

I'm sure a lot of this is due to the system of reporting in different countries. When they chuck an infant down a well in China, does it count? How about when they inject the brain of a baby coming out of the birth canal with formaldehyde? Oops, I forgot that was the state doing it, so it doesn't count. (Likewise, I assume the number of violent crimes perpetrated by the cops in the USA aren't counted either, so maybe it's a wash.)

[Roman Polanski]

Tim|2.24.11 @ 9:47AM|#
Reason, IIRC, has reported that Canada is number 1 in the world for rape.

They are not unresponsive.

[Whoopie Goldberg]

Tim|2.24.11 @ 9:47AM|#
Reason, IIRC, has reported that Canada is number 1 in the world for rape.

But it's not rape-rape.

[Whoopi's Enormous Vagina]

It's really just guys trying to keep their crank warm.

"Come on fellas, plenty of room for everyone..."

[WTF]

What - all this rape talk and no STEVE SMITH jokes?

[Old Mexican]

Whores To Reid: Bring It On, Baby!

Nevada prostitutes and brothel owners say they're not afraid of Harry Reid's threats to end legalized prostitution

http://dailycaller.com/2011/02.....arry-reid/

[Ragin Cajun]

Of course, it is all professional courtesy.

[Chris Matthews]

Legislative disdain!!

[Virginia]

NYT:

the release of a quarter of a million confidential American diplomatic cables

This has been thoroughly debunked.

[Rhayader]

Seriously. Why is that the common-wisdom narrative?

[Virginia]

Perfect storm:

1. the reporter is lazy
2. the NYT is a mouthpiece for authoritarianism

[waffles]

http://www.pennlive.com/midsta.....e_wis.html

I know some of these people. As I handoff a report I know is going to require a fuckton of edits and needs to be out the door today I envy these kids. Kids? Well, they are technically adults but the to-do list on the fridge is like:
1) Get foodstamps
2) Get ride to Harrisburg
3) ...
Ah, it must be nice. They have no idea how priveleged they are even as they identify as perpetual "have-nots". How can one have solidarity with the working people of the world if you do no work? Am I the sucker?

[Technically Adult]

There is no tax deduction for contributing to Penn ACTION.

Then screw 'em.

[capitol l]

I heard about the mercenaries in Libya a couple of weeks ago from a guy that knows a guy.

He told me that Quadafi has been shipping in crazy-ass warrior types and dressing them up with official army/police uniforms. I guess a lot of the actual police/army didn't have the stomach for killing their own countrymen, and may be actual sympathizers.

So I asked the guy: "What are they, like crazy zulu rwandan butchers or something(joking)?" He just replied with a terse "yup."

The only reason that word originally got out was because the mercenaries have been getting attacked while on patrol. They usually have their real ID on them. It is brutal on the ground.

People are fucking pissed though. When the government airs a threat people go to the streets and start new riots/protests.

[db]

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/a.....ercenaries

[capitol l]

Thanks, I'll read it later, gotta run now. FP usually has good stuff.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Illegal immigrants would be barred from driving in the state, enrolling in school or receiving most public benefits. Their children would receive special birth certificates that would make clear that the state does not consider them Arizona citizens.

I don't know about the rest, but there is no way Arizona can currently bar illegal aliens from enrolling in primary and secondary public schools. Plyer v. Doe makes it clear that this is a 14th Amendment issue. Furthermore, Federal law prohibits school districts from asking for any information that might reveal an enrolled student's immigration status. Though, many school districts in podunk, one-horse towns are able to get away with asking for it due to (willful?) ignorance of the law.

[Barack Obama]

Their children would receive special birth certificates that would make clear that the state does not consider them Arizona citizens.

Now just a doggone minute!

[P Brooks]

They used it on McCain and Lieberman? Why bother? Has the Army also worked on tricking dogs into licking their own dicks?

Pretty much my reaction.

[John Thacker]

The "psy-ops," while disturbing, seem to pretty much just being the bureaucracy trying to get its own way and preserve its funding. Nothing that surprises anyone who's seen Yes Minister, really, and nothing that doesn't happen anywhere else in the government.

[Kreel Sarloo]

Come legally or don't come at all.

Fine, then set up a system where they can come legally without being on a twelve-plus year long waiting list.

Most Mexicans have no wish to come permanently to the US and become citizens. They want to come, make some money and go back home and start a business or buy a house and raise their families in an environment that they prefer to the Yanqui way.

If you are really concerned about immigrants coming and changing the country culturally you would be in favor of expanding the system that lets people come to do just that.

Contrary to American Exceptionalist thinking, not everyone in the world wants to become an American citizen. But America is exceptional enough that they would like to come and work here for a few years.

Of course, the drug war is doing more than anything else to destroy anything remotely resembling a decent way of life there.

[capitol l]

ANCHORBABYZHATE'EM!!!

[MJ]

"Fine, then set up a system where they can come legally without being on a twelve-plus year long waiting list."

OK, then let's do that. Right now, though Arizona is trying to deal with immigration law as it exists, with the federal government having both fairly strict restrictions on legal immigration and largely turning a blind eye to the illegal immigration which is a problematic for the rule of law.

Reason seems to be more in favor of defending the worst of all worlds status quo with regards to illegal immigration then in trying to expand avenues to legal immigration.

[Kreel Sarloo]

Detaining and deporting thousands of people a year is hardly "turning a blind eye to...illegal immigration".

And the arbitrary and indiscriminate raids and roadblocks that ICE and the Border patrol set up are cetainly "problematic for the rule of law" affecting as they do citizen and non-citizen alike.

[Gus]

If Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker wins his quest to force state workers to contribute more to their pensions and health care costs, he won't exactly plunge the state to the bottom on public worker benefits.

He will put it on par with Minnesota.

Wisconsin's 267,000 public workers pay next to nothing out-of-pocket toward their pensions. State and local governments are supposed to pay half the retirement contribution, with employees paying the rest. But in Wisconsin, many union contracts stipulate that the employer -- which means taxpayers -- picks up the employee's share.

In Minnesota, it doesn't work that way because it can't. Here, public employees pay 5 to 6 percent of their salaries into their pensions, with taxpayers kicking in roughly the same amount. The split is written into state law and can't be tinkered with in collective bargaining agreements.

http://www.startribune.com/pol.....84878.html

[Jerry]

Indiana Dep. AG Loses Job After Advocating 'Live Ammunition' For WI Protesters

[John]

Lawyer wants presidential pardon for Charlie Manson

http://www.politico.com/click/.....o_act.html

[One of Many Other People]

"Manson has been made out in America to be the Satan of the criminal justice system," said Di Stefano. "He does not deserve the title."

Correct. I do.

[Bush the torturer]

who are you?

[John]

In Last 24 Hours Dem Protesters Have Assaulted a Young Woman, Tortured a Camel, Called Opponents "Bad Jews" & Attacked Gay Black Tea Partier

http://gatewaypundit.rightnetw.....aypundit2+(Gateway+Pundit)&utm_content=FaceBook

[Rich]

Here is the camel video. WTF?

[cynical]

So, a joke goes wrong, without malice; a chick gets thwapped (possibly on the camera phone) with a flimsy sign; some people suggest that a Jewish guy is not properly honoring his faith because he's harassing people with his political viewpoint, with which they strongly disagree; and some people yell at a black guy who's yelling at them.

Jesus, they're going to murder us all any day now. There's no need to resort to this hysterical victim shit, John. Don't become what you hate.

Although, I did like how the union bitch said to the black guy at the end "do you have any children? that you claim?" Yes, union whore, no black men actually claim or take care of the children they father.

[GILMORE]

I am still concerned by Radley's personal spelling of the Q(?)/Jheri-Curl-guy Libyan leader; it seems an intentional deviation

also, torturing camels is wrong

[P Brooks]

If that fucking camel hadn't stuck his nose under the tent, we'd all be better off.

[SugarFree]

Can we stop with the camel-bashing?

[wylie]

Not until that camel is put out of its misery.

[Kanuckian]

Arizona, what goes around comes around.

[Brett L]

It will make me sad if this turns out to be a hoax.

"My boss flies quite a bit and he has an amazing ability to remember faces. If he sees a TSA agent come in we turn our backs and completely ignore them, and tell them to leave.

Their kind aren't welcomed in our establishment."

[Holy Cow]

Illegal immigration is the same as eminent domain. Both involve the unlawful taking of land.

Just like New London has no right to take over Kelo's land on NL's terms, an illegal immigrant has no right to declare resident on their terms alone.

[Kreel Sarloo]

Holy false equivalency, Batman!!!!!

[Kreel Sarloo]

Next question is, how many parts of the Bill of Rights are you prepared to cross out with your Sharpie so that you don't have to be inconvenienced by having greasers and other darkies living on your street?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Illegal immigration is the same as eminent domain. Both involve the unlawful taking of land.

I'm not sure I buy this line of argument, since U.S. Citizenship has evolved beyond "white guys who are land owners". There are plenty of natural-born citizens who don't own any land, and never will in their life time.

[Holy Cow]

resident=residency.

[zoltan]

Army spends millions on NASCAR sponsorship

If only Republicans would vote against this.

[cynical]

Against military recruiting, or against funding NASCAR? Both unpopular with Republicans, true, but I think they're saving their political capital for other battles.

[P Brooks]

How will those hillbillies ever even know there *is* an army without Ryan Newman?

[Holy Cow]

Who said anything about white guys?

You mean to tell me an AZ landlord must rent to "some dude" because he shows up with a check and a desire to rent an apartment?

And any attempts to learn the identity and residency status of "some dude" by anyone--landlord, local city voting board, state of AZ, ICE, MasterCard, employers, bank, John Stagliano--must be ignored?

Because "some dude's" desire to live in AZ trumps all other rights?

So what rights doesn't "some dude" have? Are there any situations will "some dude" will have to prove who he is and where he is from? No?

Okay, great. So now property rights -- be they an individual's or a State's-- are not nearly as important as "some dude's" desire? Cool....

[Holy Cow]

Which part of the Bill of Rights says that anyone can live in the US no questions asked?

[Kreel Sarloo]

My mother said I should be kind to retards so I'll spare you any further abuse.

But since you are so obviously retarded, I won't try to reason with you either.

[Kreel Sarloo]

Hey man, you don't want to rent or sell to anyone for any reason at all, that's fine.

Don't tell those of us that don't use irrational reasons to conduct our business to cater to your bigotry.

You seem to have the reasoning skills of a three year old so I would be surprised if you were capable of owning any property to have rights to.

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

Thanks