Reason Morning Links: Tsunami, Civil War, and Snoop

• A gigantic quake and tsunami hit Japan.
• The Wisconsin State Assembly approves the bill to limit collective bargaining.
• James O'Keefe releases another NPR video; NPR counters by releasing internal emails.
• Qaddafi loyalists in Libya's civil war retake Ras Lanuf and Zawiya.
• Protesters in Saudi Arabia face gunfire from the police.
• Wire creator David Simon reacts to the drug arrest of Wire actress Felicia Pearson.

The latest from reason.tv: "Tilting at Wind Turbines: Should the Government Subsidize Renewable Energy?"

Comments

[[Johnny] Longtorso]

Intruder Calls 911, [Afraid] Homeowner May Have Gun

Weigel on NPR allowing the ["Muslim Brotherhood"] to donate anonymously to NPR.

[[Johnny] Longtorso]

Weigel on everything else:

David Weigel

1. Who are you voting for in November? I've got the luxury of a guilt-free, zero-impact vote in the District of Columbia, which I would cast for Bob Barr if he was on the ballot. Since he's not, I'm voting for Barack Obama, the only remaining candidate whom I trust not to run the country (further) into the ground with stupid and erratic decisions,...

E-mails reveal Post reporter savaging conservatives, rooting for Democrats

...Republicans? "Ratfucking [Obama] on every bill." Palin? Tried to "ratfuck" a moderate Republican in a contentious primary in New York. Limbaugh? Used "ratfucking tactics" in urging Republican activists to vote for Hillary Clinton in open primaries after Obama had all but beat her for the Democratic nomination....

...In the e-mails, Weigel appeared particularly invested in the President's health care law, expressing undisguised scorn for moderate Democrats who seemed fearful about voting for it.

Rep. Daniel Lipinski, a pro-life Democrat from Illinois who expressed reservations about the abortion provisions in the legislation was, according to Weigel, a "monster" because he represents "a deeply safe seat" and could afford to vote for it.

Before he left Congress in a cloud, then-Rep. Eric Massa rocked Washington by claiming that backroom deals were polluting the health care bill. Weigel seemed to have little patience for Massa's inconvenient allegations. "Well, so much for the health care push leading the news cycle," Weigel wrote. "Does anyone else think this guy's turning out to be a political suicide bomber?"

After Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate seat, threatening to kill the health care legislation by his presence, Weigel stressed how important it was for reporters to highlight what a terrible candidate his opponent Martha Coakley had been.

"I think pointing out Coakley's awfulness is vital, because it's 1) true and 2) unreasonable panic about it is doing more damage to the Democrats," Weigel wrote....

[MNG]

Anyone else remember a guy who posted a lot of links and had an obsessive running feud with David Weigel? Rhymed with Tonejacko...

[[Johnny] Longtorso]

No comments on the substance MNG? Nothing about the 'civil' death threats against WI legislators? Nothing about the rank stupidity leftists like Weigel and you demonstrate? Just references to Lonewacko?

BTW, when was my last Weigel reference, anyway?

[Observer]

Why do some people take Weigel so personally? Did he come to your home and shoot your dog? Let it go, man. Let it go.

[[Johnny] Longtorso]

Every liberal needs daily, personal humiliation.

[MNG]

How Maoist of you.

[[Johnny] Longtorso]

Goose, gander.

[David Weigel]

Not sure why, but their personal lives must be utterly fulfilling!

[You got fired.]

And now you write for the same site as Amanda Marcotte.

These are facts.

[[Johnny] Longtorso]

[Obamassiah] wishes to prevent bullying with extensive govt control.
White House [seeks] child-speech oversight

Article [discussing] ways to encourage kids to lose weight by social engineering, [including] bullying fat kids.
Leave the [Fat] Kids Alone

[generic Brand]

"It breaks our hearts to think that any child feels afraid every day in the classroom, on the playground, or even online," first lady Michelle Obama said.

Why couldn't the solution be to stop making school attendance mandatory?

Instead sweeping legislation on guidelines to make schools safer for teh geyz. Maybe this McInerney kid shouldn't be tried as an adult for murder 1; that's not my call. But why aren't the people in these situations (this kid, the Rutgers kid that jumped off the bridge) held responsible for their own actions, the way we ask police officers to be? No one pulled the trigger except for McInerney. Everyone deals with bullying or discrimination or just plain shit they don't like on a daily basis.

Teach the children that life ain't all puppy dogs and unicorn farts; that they may actually face some adversity in life. Instead we hand out trophies to the fucking losers in a kids T-ball league and call it a day. Our yuppie society disgusts me.

/rant

[Drop-Out Criminal]

Why couldn't the solution be to stop making school attendance mandatory?

I agree. Let the little shits do their bullying on the streets, the way it should be.

[[Johnny] Longtorso]

Civility Alert: WI Protesters Tell [GOP] Senators "YOU WILL DIE!"

Before NPR scandal, a [warning] about 'elite' [liberals]: compassion turns to coercion

[[Johnny] Longtorso]

And I'm done.

[JOhnny MAckson]

Oh WOW, dude! I'm not programmed to be annoyed yet somehow am. LOL

Jess
http://www.anonz.com

[[Johnny] Longtorso]

The [Golden Girls]: How One TV Show Turned A [Generation] Of American Boys Into Homosexuals

[JOhnny MAckson]

Robosexual 4 life. LOL

Jess
http://www.anonz.com

[Tsunami]

Somebody needs to issue a Johnny Alert.

[Ice Nine]

>>After stripping the bill of fiscal measures that require a 20-member quorum for action, Senate Republicans abruptly passed the measure 18-1.
Democratic senators who fled Wisconsin last month to try to stall a vote on the measure said they were preparing to return to the state capital and fight back against what one of them called "political thuggery in its worst form."

So please tell me that the very first item on the agenda on the day the "thuggery fighters" are back in the capital will be the proposing and passing - with a quorum (LOL!) - of the fiscal measures that were stripped out of the first bill. Watching the Lefty heads explode over that would be sublimely entertaining.

[Brett L]

"Legislation introduced in Texas this week takes aim at a tactic used by Indiana and Wisconsin Democrats to stall anti-union legislation: The lawmakers fled to Illinois to deny Republicans a quorum. The Texas proposal would keep lawmakers who flee the state from being counted toward a quorum."

God Bless Texas.

[rather]

Fool me once shame on you; fool me twice...

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2463425/posts

[Ice Nine]

>>The Texas proposal would keep lawmakers who flee the state from being counted toward a quorum."

The Wisconsin thing is spreading and it's a beautiful thing. Kudos to TX. The bad guys are down and demoralized and it's basic Sun Tzu time - crush them.

[MNG]

My Gift To You All

http://www.slate.com/id/2287479/

Have you heard the latest report on Americans' sex habits? The study, Sexual Behavior, Sexual Attraction, and Sexual Identity in the United States, comes from the National Survey of Family Growth, the country's most respected periodic sex survey. Media reports about the study have noted what seems to be a resurgence of virginity. But the data also show something more surprising: Compared with women who are totally straight, women who are slightly bisexual are more likely to have tried various sex acts with men. In fact, compared with totally straight women, women who are fully bisexual or lesbian are more likely to have tried anal sex.
Why?

[MNG]

The top of the bottom? Five months ago, I noted that a different sex survey showed a big, long-term increase in anal sex reported by women. But there's no guarantee that this trend will continue.

Is a stimulus package in order?

[mr simple]

It's the technical virgin movement: everything but(t)!

[sloopyinca]

So, less brown cherries out there? Meh, how did it break down for women 30-40?

[zoltan]

Either that article or a similar one notes that of women who try anal sex a majority like it as much as or more than vaginal sex.

[Fluffy]

Maybe you have to be slightly sexually adventurous to even figure out you're bi in the first place.

They're trying everything, and they get around to trying chicks and say, "Hey, I like this!"

Whereas sexually unadventurous women are more likely just to be passive vessels who stick with men and just tell themselves they're frigid.

[Tender Lee]

"they get around to trying chicks and say, "Hey, I like this!""

Who wouldn't?

[MNG]

More From Slate on Sex Science

Naughty by Nature
What should we think of people whose addled brains are driving them to nymphomania?

http://www.slate.com/id/2287146/

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Qaddafi loyalists in Libya's civil war retake Ras Lanuf and Zawiya.

I guess the best we can hope for now is a stalemate where Qaddafi controls the western half of the country and the rebels control the eastern half.

[John]

Mother Jones finally admits the truth.

""Insisting on some Diogenic level of honesty from liberals is really just a way of ensuring that liberals will never win public support for anything."

http://motherjones.com/kevin-d.....4-mistakes

[MNG]

Duh, I said something like this a while back. Liberals make up only about 25% of the US population. To win nationally and in most places they must temper their message. This is also true for conservatives (try running on privatizing SS) though to a lesser degree

[MNG]

An interesting implication is that we've never really been under a truly liberal (or for that matter conservative) regime any more than a truly libertarian one. This is why liberals and conservatives are so often upset with their respective preferred political parties.

[Bradley]

That depends entirely on what "liberal" means to you. The word is ridiculously overloaded and should just be thrown out. Along with "conservative", "progressive" and right/left wing.

[[Johnny] Longtorso]

So to win govt power, you have to lie thru your teeth, and [THIS] is the govt you trust w/ the power liberals demand for it?

[Brett L]

"I think the peer-reviewed evidence is wrong. It simply isn't able to capture all the dynamics of money in politics."

So, the peer review process can be imperfect? Or is the science settled?

[Devil Incohate]

I see what you did there.

[Michael]

...but sure: we lefties ought to criticize bad policies regardless of whether they help our cause or not.

I've never heard a leftist so candidly admit their tendency to embrace bad policy whenever it is politically expedient. Nice find.

[MNG]

And the end of my hat trick, a gender discrimination article of a different sort

http://www.slate.com/id/2286671

The innocent, unconscious bias that discourages girls from math and science.

These experiments suggest that subtle and unconscious factors skew the "free choices" we make. The career choices of men and women are affected far more by discrimination than by any innate differences between men and women. But it is not the kind of discrimination we usually talk about.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Look for "male presence" to replace "male gaze" in feminist circles. Our mere presence in the same room as a woman is oppression.

[CoyoteBlue]

My genitals loom large over any room I'm in. Some women shreak in fear ... others are intriqued and drawn to me.

But I do deny them my essence.

[rather]

Some women 'shriek' in fear LAUGHTER.

[MNG]

Feminists can still argue that these deep seated beliefs were in large part fostered and created in part by government action limiting women's opportunities and that ameliorative programs (i.e., title ix) are thereby justified.

[gaijin97]

Which all makes sense if each of us is actually group...groups don;t get ameliorative aid, individuals do. Groups don;t pay for it...individual's do. Whether your principles are with groups or individuals probably says alot about whether you support ameliorative programs.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Yes, leftists do seem to be quite attracted to the idea that the best way to make up for past mistakes is to punish people who had no role in them.

[Brett L]

No mention of the effect of female math & science instructors on male participation...

[MJ]

"But overt sexism does not explain these findings. In fact, that model of discrimination might be an obstacle to overcoming the real challenge."

Redefing "discrimination" that must be remedied from external limitations imposed by others to internal limitations caused by subconscious reactions to stimuli render the concept laughable. No institution can control such stimuli so that they have an equal effect on every potential identity.

[Canine Gays]

And if they were greeted by a dog wearing an E=mc^2 T-shirt?

[Zeb]

I read the article. I don't see how any of that means that the career paths that women (or anyone) make are not freely chosen. Whatever effect having a male teacher may have, the discrimination here is still something that the women are doing to themselves.

[Ice Nine]

I never imagined back when I first saw the O'Keefe/ACORN video that it would ultimately bring ACORN down. On the contrary, I'm now getting the feeling that his latest handiwork will be directly responsible for the gutting of NPR's federal largesse. That 26 y/o is building an impressive resume.

[SIV]

Go TEAM RED!

[Pip]

Go TEAM RED FREE CITIZEN!

FIFY, Dipshit.

[Team Blue]

Assange -- Good
O'Keefe -- Bad

[zoltan]

The Captain of Team Blue doesn't seem to think Assange is all that good.

[DNS]

That 26 y/o is building an impressive resume.

And an impressively large target on his back; his activities have incurred the wrath of many a special interest.

[Ice Nine]

You got it. I was going to put that in that post also but didn't want to appear hysterical (Thanks for taking the heat). The other inkling that is tickling my mind is indeed a certain foreboding one that he might actually be in physical danger.

[Spazmo]

Now if only he'd turn his attention to something that actually makes a goddamn bit of difference in federal spending. O'Keefe is a garden-variety Republican with the usual boner for cracking down on welfare leeches and public radio. Sure, both of those are bad things, but they're not going to bankrupt the country. Entitlement spending, foreign interventions, and the Federal Reserve will.

If the right thinks they need their own Michael Moore, they are even dumber than I thought.

[Shorter Spazmo]

Voter fraud and propaganda are harmless fun!

[Ice Nine]

And if Spazmo thinks that ACORN was merely a bunch of welfare leeches and not the pernicious, massive voter fraud factory that it was, he is even dumber than was apparent from the rest of his post.

[Zeb]

I keep hearing people say that ACORN was guilty of a lot of voter fraud, but I really haven't seen any evidence that that is true. The closest I have seen to evidence is that they submitted registration forms that people had filled out inaccurately, but it is my understanding that they are legally obliged to submit the forms that people fill out even if it looks like an obvious fraud or joke. I'm not trying to defend ACORN here, so if you can point me to anything else, I would be obliged.

[JOhnny MAckson]

Anonbot creed: Sesso, aperto 24/7. Not sure why it's in Italian. But anonbot sex addiction is why you meat bags are still breathing. LOL

Jess
http://www.anonz.com

[Zeb]

Fake anon bot is not nearly as good as the real thing.

[Charles 3E]

Peter King wants to be our worst congressperson.

http://www.arrl.org/hr-607

[Brett L]

When he takes that honor, it will be from Sheila Jackson Lee's cold, dead hands.

[Sheila]

The Living Constitution is in pain! It is literally weeping!

[Shelia DNS Lee]

it will be from Sheila Jackson Lee's cold, dead hands.

This outrageous hate speech will not be ignored! RACIST!

[Corrine Brown]

Hey, what am I, chopped liver?

[Rich]

With all due respect to Rep. Brown, that never gets old. 😎

[Brett L]

Ooh. I get a tingle of moral superiority every time I see a UF alum act that stupid. Then I interact with people in Tallahassee and it goes away.

[Nipplemancer]

don't forget about the flaming moron who thought the influx of troops to guam would lead to it capsizing.

[Solanum]

Federal gun raid leaves border town without mayor, police chief

The mayor, police chief and a village trustee in the New Mexico border town of Columbus have been charged along with eight other defendants with buying firearms for illegal export to Mexico, federal authorities said Thursday.

[OhioOrrin]

per old mex (NRA propaganda), this is all made up. the cartels beg, borrow, & steal weapons fm the mexican army or buy them on the international black market.

[Gus]

Who keeps shitting on the carpet?

[Wind Rider]

"Tilting at Wind Turbines: Should the Government Subsidize. . ."

With the particular pet peeve of very badly designed, inefficient, butt ugly, and bird killing pinwheels being embraced as 'the' workable solution, artificially, the answer is a resounding no, even without watching the video. If those things that truckloads of funding is being wasted on really did work, there would be no reason for the government to be injecting a damned dime to the process. But they're too stuck on something - either the feelgood, the back scratcher, the rush of somnolent 'that's nice' unthinking approval polling - to see that instead of working so damned hard to get everyone to swallow this crap, they could be leisurely sitting back figuring out 'official' ways to skim off the top for the revenue generation (along with energy) of something that DID actually work. Sorta like they're doing with petroleum already. Short sighted buffoonish imbeciles.

[Wind Rider]

/i

There, happy now?

[Lord Humungus]

never

[generic Brand]

A gigantic quake and tsunami hit Japan.

I have a lot of friends in Japan, so I'm hoping everything is okay where they are. It looks the quake hit Northeast Honshu the hardest. Fortunately most of my friends are either in Tokyo or the northwest. Still, between Katrina, the tsunami in Malaysia, Haiti, Peru, and now Japan... this is getting a little weird.

[PermaLurker]

I am very worried. My friend lives in Nitori which is very close to Sendai which looks like was hit hard.

[DanD]

Still, between Katrina, the tsunami in Malaysia, Haiti, Peru, and now Japan... this is getting a little weird.

OMG, natural disasters!!! The world is ending!!!!!!!!!! Buy gold, it's your only hope!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you for real?

[generic Brand]

I'm saying there is a collection of big natural disasters in the last 5 years. That seems like a lot more than I have witnessed in the rest of my life. Albeit, some of the disasters were made worse by building a city below sea level. But that doesn't mean these aren't serious enough to warrant concern.

Maybe if you took your head out of your ass you would realize I didn't call for action to stop global warming; I didn't insist the apocalypse is upon us; I only stated that this seems heavier than normal. Fucking moron.

[DanD]

Albeit, some of the disasters were made worse by building a city below sea level.

Congrats on your belated epiphany. Next up: realizing that I focused solely on your insinuation that natural disasters are increasing in frequency. They are not. I said nothing nor implied nothing about global warming. And you don't know nearly enough about me to tell me if I'm a "fucking moron" or not.

You could use one of these fine products.

[generic Brand]

Next up: realizing that I focused solely on your insinuation that natural disasters are increasing in frequency.

I didn't insinuate that natural disasters are increasing in frequency. They common factor between all 5 events I mentioned was the magnitude of the disaster. Japan's quake is registered as the 5th hardest since 1900. Haiti's earthquake was devastating. Katrina (and 5 other hurricanes in the last 5 years) was a category 5 before dropping to a 4 at landfall.

I'm not some global warming apologist that says these things are happening more frequently. It's because they happen that Japan knows to build safeguards into their infrastructure to prevent even further destruction. New Orleans city planners had been sitting on a timebomb; I don't deny that.

I said nothing more than shit's gettin weird. The implication is that the world is taken so aback by these disasters when we should be more prepared for them. But when the magnitude of the disaster is this high this frequently, that's something to take note of, nothing more.

[R C Dean]

Still, between Katrina, the tsunami in Malaysia, Haiti, Peru, and now Japan... this is getting a little weird.

Its global warming climate change! Run for the hills.

[Zeb]

Huh. The climate causes earthquakes now?

[Zeb]

I wonder if there have been more earthquakes of larger magnitude lately, or if they have just been happening where lots of people live. I would be interested to see some analysis of the historical frequency of such events.
You should have left Katrina off your list and added 2 quakes in New Zealand.

[Al DNS Gore]

Still, between Katrina, the tsunami in Malaysia, Haiti, Peru, and now Japan... this is getting a little weird.

Still think my "climate chaos" rhetoric is so far fetched now? Excelsior!

[P Brooks]

A gigantic quake and tsunami hit Japan.

But think of all the broken windows. And the NGO parasites will swarm across japan like locusts and get rich(er).

[DNS]

But think of all the broken windows.

It's good to be a glazier.

[Gus]

I can haz Cholera?

[Bradley]

I will freely admit that Pearson's character on The Wire scared the shit out of me.

[Ska]

It took more than a few episodes for me to realize she was a she....

[Gus]

"Prosecutors have charged a St. Paul attorney with obstructing legal process after they say she hit a vehicle in the Sweeney's Saloon parking lot and then kicked and swore at police who tried to arrest her.

Rachel Lauren Toberman, 29, also was charged with refusing to take an alcohol breath test.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_1.....ost_viewed

WTF???????

[Restoras]

Ya know, if we just brought back Prohibition this kind of thing would never happen again.

[AU H2O]

Scott Walker signs the bill:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....34508.html

[Zeb]

Ugh. Don't read the comments.
Usually I can manage to see how people whom I disagree with just have different values or priorities, but these people are just declaring the opposite of reality to be true. Elected legislator passing a law is undemocratic and tyrannical, but leaving the state to prevent a vote which is clearly favored by the majority is good and democratic. And I am getting really tired of people calling privileges "rights".

[Bruce Majors]

Great blog on tsunami and how it reveals the necronomic nature of Keynesianism:

http://butwhatthehelldoiknow.c.....-stimulus/