Reason Morning Links: Tribunals at Gitmo, FTC vs. Google, GOP Budget Trims $4 Trillion

• U.S. to hold military tribunals the Obama administration said wouldn't happen at Gitmo, the detention center he promised to shut down.
• Write your own DMV joke: Archeologists discover tablet that may shed light on one of civilization's earliest bureaucracies.
• New GOP budget would trim $4 trillion over 10 years.
• Meanwhile, another federal government shutdown loom this weekend.
• FTC said to be taking aim at Google.
• New at Reason.tv: Are You an Independent Thinker? Try Reason!

Comments

[J[o]hnny L[o]ngt[o]rs[o]]

University of Maryland: Terrapins Meet ''Golden Girls'': Queer on
UMD's Pride Alliance has a long list of events planned for the remainder of the semester. They include a self-defense workshop and a marathon of the Golden Girls. ... Queer on Campus

[OO]

obviously voluntary

[J[o]hnny L[o]ngt[o]rs[o]]

Secrecy hides taxpayer dollars used in Big Green lawsuits

List of health reform waivers keeps growing

[Justin Imbieber]

1,168 businesses, insurers, unions and other organizations have received one-year exemptions .... The administration says the temporary waivers are granted to help stabilize the insurance market until a fuller package of reforms takes effect

How about "stabilizing the justice system" by waiving MJ prosecutions?

[Lord Humungus]

rule of law - how does that work again? This is just cronyism, pure and simple. I'm sure the waivers will have to be "extended" - provided the companies/unions continue to donate to the correct party.

[Libertymike]

There can be no rule of law with its administration monopolized. It is just common sense as only those a few fries short of a happy meal would argue otherwise.

[Another Phil]

And without the administration of law monopolized, you have civil war. Retard.

[Libertymike]

Oh, wow, how insightful. I see you have gobbled down all of the pablum fed to you by your statist masters.

You make the outlandishly speculative statment that we would have civil war if the state did not have a monopoly on the administration of justice without the benefit of any facts or historical analysis, RETARD.

[Libertymike]

Hey, retard, wouldn't civil war be a good thing? You know, to wash the streets with the blood of judges, cops, prosecutors, prison guards and the like.

[Brett L]

No man is above the law, but with enough money, he can often get around it.

[OJ]

What? Huh?

[J[o]hnny L[o]ngt[o]rs[o]]

The Truth About Money and Politics

[SugarFree]

Write your own DMV joke

The last time I went to the DMV, I pretended I was mute. They were much nicer to me than the people in line in front of me.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't get it.

[Ice Nine]

ADA chic?

[SugarFree]

Just bored and I wanted to see if I could do the whole thing with gestures. Explaining that I can't be an organ donor was fairly tricky.

[Ice Nine]

You are a sick person. But I like that in you...

[Ice Nine]

I think you should go for pretending to be blind next time.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You are the worst joke teller. Also, as someone born suffering from renal agenesis, I find your selfishness with your organs disgusting. Hopefully one day we can get the IRS to force your estate to give me your kidney. (Now that's a death tax with some bite.)

[Spoonman.]

Am I reading that correctly that your kidneys didn't grow?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Am I reading that correctly...?

Unilateral renal agenesis. Only one. What do you take me for, a freak?

[WTF]

Why force his estate? As a human being, you have a right to what you need, and if others can provide it, they must be forced to, because Social Contract or something, so the government should take his kidney for you NOW. /Tony

[Ice Nine]

Or, you could just go to India and trade a bag of rice for one.

[SugarFree]

Not unwilling... I can't be an organ donor and I can't give blood either. The diabeetus.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hey, enough with the medical disclosures. HIPAA!

I don't really want someone else's kidney inside me, anyway. Can you just imagine? Gross.

[Hannibal]

Unless you had it with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

[T]

I was about to say... Given how weak your pancreas is, I'm not sure any of your other organs would be much of a prize.

[Charlotte Sometimes]

I did not weigh enough to give blood until age 33. . . stupid aging.

[SugarFree]

They used to love my blood and know they don't want it at all. It's like I'm married to the Red Cross.

Anyway, music for you, Dear Charlotte.

[Charlotte Sometimes]

OK, I loved that; thanks for digging it up, SF. I even liked the Blink-182 song ("All Of This") featuring Robert Smith a few years ago. . . but he could probably cover a Nickelback *shudder* song and I'd like it. And the blood bank is just using me for my B+ blood.

[Rich]

I'll bet they were also much louder to you.

[Abdul]

Maybe it's a professional courtesy between dumb people?

[SugarFree]

Double meaning joke FTW.

[Rich]

The United States will hit the legal limit on its ability to borrow no later than May 16, ... Geithner said on Monday, ramping up pressure on Congress to act to avoid a debt default. [He said] "Default by the United States is unthinkable."

I call bullshit on this. H&R readers think about it quite a bit.

[Brett L]

We wouldn't default, we just wouldn't be able to borrow any more. It's not like the full note comes due. We've already got debt service built into the budget.

[Tim Geithner]

Hey, remind me again: When does the full note come due?

[CaptainSmartass]

Considering the Congress depends on borrowing money to pay for a number of programs, not being able to get more could cause some catastrophic events to transpire.

In other words, go long on popcorn futures, things could get interesting.

[Zeb]

Unthinkable is a really funny word. He must have thought about default to even reach that conclusion.

[Abdul]

U.S. to hold military tribunals the Obama administration said wouldn't happen at Gitmo, the detention center he promised to shut down.

A sincere question: has there ever been a bigger lie told in a presidential campaign?

I can think of "read my lips: no new taxes." But even there, Bush 1 raised existing taxes instead of creating new ones. Additionally, federal taxes have always and will always be with us. Gitmo (as a prison) was only created ten years ago. Now it's on the way to becoming an entitlement program.

[John]

Anyone who bothered to look and think about GUITMO knew that it couldn't easily be closed. Either Obama was criminally stupid or criminally dishonest. And honestly I can't see how it makes a difference.

[TrickyVic]

""Anyone who bothered to look and think about GUITMO knew that it couldn't easily be closed. ""

True.

""Either Obama was criminally stupid or criminally dishonest.""

Criminally? No. Many candidates make promises that are beyond what the President can do on his own. Obama didn't account for the fact that Congress has a say.

[Brett L]

"I don't believe in nation building" -- GWB

[MNG]

I dunno, this is kind of like saying Bush lied/failed when he did not deliver on privatizing Social Security or immigration reform. You know, seperation of powers, how does it work?

[Citizen Nothing]

Bush did fail/lie. Your point?

[SugarFree]

As a hotbed of crypto-Republicans, he just pwn'd everyone on the whole website.

[MNG]

Come on, I know most Reasonoids are not GOPers. I was just saying I don't think it lying to push something and have Congress thwart it.

[Citizen Nothing]

Ah. So Bush didn't lie/fail. You're such a Team Red cheerleader, MNG!

[MNG]

Well, yeah, I don't think Bush lied about SS privatization.

[Abdul]

Bush couldn't change SS without congressional approval. All of his promises there carried that implied caveat.

I think the gitmo thing is a lie because Obama has the authority to get rid of gitmo and try KSM in a federal court--he just doesn't want the consequences. A caveat with gitmo is that congressional republicans threatened to defund any gitmo alternatives--which would render the president's decisions on gitmo moot. Still, there were two years of Dem control of congress where gitmo could have been closed. Indeed, OBama promised to do it in his first year as president.

The most positive alternative to lie is that Obama was incredibly stupid about what the consequences were. That kind of stupidity is worse than a lie because a liar could always go straight. An idiot can't decide to be smarter.

[OO]

the prob for the federal courts, who've convicted 300+ terrorists, is the waterboarding which taints evidence. the prob for the tribunals, who've convicted maybe 3, is the appeals process.

[Not an Economist]

There is more problems than just that. Any competent attorney could get a lot of the evidence gathered overseas thrown out because it wasn't gathered by trained investigators and therefore could be tainted.

[Tim]

We are going to need someplace to put Ghaddafi.

[Tim]

Though he probably deserves to be chucked out of a plane 40,000 feet over Scotland.

[wylie]

What did Scottland do to deserve that?

[Nipplemancer]

Irvine Welsh

[sloopyinca]

Trainspotting is a perfect example of a movie that was better than the book, IMO.

[deified]

Haggis

[John Thacker]

A sincere question: has there ever been a bigger lie told in a presidential campaign?

Come on, there were bigger lies told just by Obama in his Presidential campaign, starting with how the President can't send troops into a country that doesn't pose an imminent danger to the US without Congressional permission.

[Pablo]

Where does one begin to figure out which lie was the biggest? Getting out of Iraqistan is right up there, along with his opposition to an individual HC insurance mandate.

[Pablo]

Now we've got Libiraquistan!

[Restoras]

Gasoline recently surpassed $4.00/gallon in my small locality; some commentary here:
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=183604

Wondering how far behind $5.00 is - June 1 or August 1?

[Almanian]

It's because...BUSHCHENEYHALLIBURTONBIGOILTEXASKOCHBROTHERS!!! Right?!!

[Ice Nine]

Of course. But you forgot RICHARDMELLONSCAIFE. (Say, how did the Koch's manage to replace him in the Lefty Pinata Pantheon, anyway?)

[Ice Nine]

Kochs

[OO]

$4/gal is imp because...THEBURBSARETOOFARFROMWORKFOOL

[Urine]

you're an idiot. Yes, it's important just b/c the burbs are too far from work. And only for that reason.

You tool...

[Restoras]

Well I take the train to work so ,,!,,. I can also appreciate how this can have a greater impact on those less fortunate in our society as inflation is want to do. But thanks for your pointless snark.

I am merely pointing out the trend in gasoline as an indicator of, gee, what pray tell? Perhaps a rambunctious Fed printing too many dollars? What else might this portend?

[Citizen Nothing]

OK. So I'll be paying, what, an additional $4 a day for the gas I use on my 25-mile each-way commute?
Fuck. Time to sell the children.
(Would that my health insurance premiums had only gone up $4 a day this year.)

[Citizen Nothing]

On the other hand, I also just bought some Chevron stock. Bwahahah! Time for a new top hat!

[Restoras]

Don't forget the platinum-framed monicle.

[Almanian]

I can afford $5/gallon gas in my hotrod and Big Ole Pickup Truk Wif a Gas-Guzzling V8?.

Fuck the Poor.

/monocle & tophat

[Citizen Nothing]

and Big Ole Pickup Truk
You know the mudflaps with the nakkid chick? Mine are gold.

[sloopyinca]

Big deal. I got gold trucknutz on my Monte Carlo Bitch!!!

[Gray Ghost]

Question to the commodities market-savvy here: why have gas prices been so much higher this time at crude oil prices of $108 (W. Texas)/$120 (Brent), than when crude oil prices flirted with $140@barrel towards the end of 2008? Is it due to currency manipulation like QE I and II? Is it because banks are finally starting to release the money the Fed Reserve's been shoveling into them for the last three years? Is it due to some other reason(s)?

Thanks,

[WTF]

Gee, what could be going on?

[robc]

You bought Exxon stock to hedge right?

Right?

Anything less is criminally stupid.

[Citizen Nothing]

I'm one step ahead of (or behind) you robc.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Archeologists discover tablet that may shed light on one of civilization's earliest bureaucracies.

It was actually a prehistoric Declaration of Igneouspendence, signed by John Hanrock.

[Almanian]

Their first leader was George Washingstone.

[WTF]

Their first Postmaster General was Ben Franklinite.

[Jerry]

Their first banker was Alexander Hamiltonicle

[Rufus Fingerhut]

Their first congresscreature was Henry Claytablet.

[Cy Nickelfuque]

"The fact that we have a tablet like this means that this government had scribes, and scribes are a product of bureaucracy," Dr. Cosmopoulos said. "And this suggests some degree of political complexity and a growing need to keep track of commodities, property and taxes, all earlier than we once thought."

Seems like quite a leap, given the illustration of the tablet in the link.

[Lord Humungus]

and free healthcare!

[generic Brand]

Hasn't the leading theory been that it was the church who knew how to read and write? When did we make the leap from religious leaders are the intellectual powerhouses to government bureaucrats?

[Zeb]

I don't think that there was much of a distinction between religious and governmental bureaucracies in early civilization.

[Just Dropping By]

Hasn't the leading theory been that it was the church who knew how to read and write?

Religious organization have preserved literacy at various points, but most written languages appear to have evolved first for accounting/trade reasons.

[James Ard]

Church and government have been one in the same for most of history.

[robc]

That was Middle Ages Europe. Not sure it necessarily applies anywhere else.

[Ice Nine]

Mr. Holder blamed politics for the continued delay in bringing ...

Politics? In the AG's affairs? Say it ain't so, Mr. Holder.

[(Articulate) Eric Holder]

It is not so.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Meanwhile, another federal government shutdown loom this weekend.

The federal government should shut down every weekend. Holidays, too. That would probably save some money.

[Almanian]

SECOND!

[Brett L]

Apparently the Republicans are holding out a one week CR that will cut another $12B and all federal abortion funding in DC. I really don't understand why the Dems just don't surrender and get this fight that they're losing out of the news. They could pass the 2010 and 2011 budgets by May 1 and spend a year NOT getting bad press about it.

[John]

Actually, the Republicans have been surprisingly smart with the CRs. Yes, the CRS don't do the cuts we need. But with the Democrats controlling the Senate and the Whitehouse, the cuts we need are not going to happen. But what the CRs do add up after a while. And the kill Democratic sacred cows. Meanwhile the Democrats are stuck in the position of closing down the government over a few billion dollars worth of cuts.

[James Ard]

I don't expect the Dems to compromise. I'm pretty sure they think the shutdown will benefit them thanks to the media. But it may backfire this time.

[John Thacker]

What the Republicans are doing is taking every cut that's been agreed upon in the negotiations so far, packaging it into a CR, and then passing it. Then, they come back for more.

It's worked pretty well so far, even though it is just small ball (and small potatoes.)

[Tim]

Shut it down, sell it off.

[aQ]

good idea! allah akbar

[Almanian]

U.S. to hold military tribunals the Obama administration said wouldn't happen at Gitmo, the detention center he promised to shut down.

I know I shouldn't get a warm, fuzzy, glowing, happy feeling about this, but I do. The hypocrisy and 180's are so delicious.

[Rich]

Holder's, um, "frustration" is also delicious.

Hey, that reminds me -- when *are* we going to have that dialog on race?

[P B]

Sometime during the 2012 election, but just to call Pres. Obama's opponent a racist.

[Chupacabra]

When you stop clingin' to your guns, PB.

Not a moment sooner.

[P B]

It will be a long time then.

[Almanian]

Never, cause "we're" not "courageous" enough, according to the AG.

[CoyoteBlue]

Ayn Rand ruined my childhood.
http://www.salon.com/life/feat.....bjectivist
[I'm not an objectivist but this made me laugh]

also
Rule #1: Blame Liberterians for EVERYTHING!

[Brett L]

Wow. Nothing like getting paid to call your dad a selfish dick and have thousands read it. I bet that goes a long way to reconciliation.

Meh. He'll never know.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

The philosophy of modern progressives tends to boil down to FUCK YOU DAD. At least the Salon dork distilled it to its essence.

[Abdul]

The philosophy of modern progressives tends to boil down to FUCK YOU DAD

I've never thought of it that way before, but now that I've thought about it, I can't find many exceptions.

[capitol l]

When I was younger and read Rand I thought that she had a great philosophy that taught you to be a good and moral person not because you are compelled to do so, but because to do so is a positive for you. The message that I got from The Virtue of Selfishness is that when you commit charitable acts you are really doing good by you and there is nothing wrong with that. Also, the part that says how lying harms you because you conceded reality to someone else's gullibility.

Then I went online to discover if others had read Rand and gotten the same message. I was really disappointed when I found out that the entire Objectivist community were bellicose assholes like that woman's father.

I don't think that the philosophy is to blame for these people's assholitude, rather their self serving simplification of that philosophy.

Also, I blame the libertarians and the Koch bros.

[Libertymike]

But, at the end of the day, Rand, herself, was a gigantic cheerleader for the nation state and its monopolization of the administration of justice, violence and currency.

[Citizen Nothing]

Yeah - What I took away from my youthful reading of Rand was that, by doing well for yourself you are often doing good for others. Of course, I thought Eddie Willers was the most important character in AS. I guess I still do.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

Nice.

Credit to the author for understanding that objectivism and libertarianism are not synonyms.

Love the paragraph that includes "objectivism helped me stay strong throughout my parents' legal battle... On weekends I argued with my friends that global warming didn't exist." 'Cause Rand inevitably leads to AGW denial, dontcha know?

[Brett L]

Or maybe to the viewpoint that all of those AGW scientists and people like Al Gore might have a personal interest in the view they were pushing? Cui bono is certainly something reading Rand taught me to ask.

[robc]

I half-listened while clicking through lolcat photos.

For some reason I had placed this story in the late 80s/early 90s, not 20 minutes ago.

[sloopyinca]

^^This^^ We need to get Bill Steigerwald to do a little follow up.

Embellishing your life story ain't a good way to start your journalism career, Miss Bereznak.

[Tim]

We still bombing Libya or have we pulled back? Hasn't the weekend extension of 48 hours expired?

[NATO Spokesperson]

That's next weekend.

[MNG]

"New GOP budget would trim $4 trillion over 10 years."

Last night I caught some of Rachel Maddow's show and she and her guests were gleefully screaming about how the GOP's plans to reform Medicare is going to leave them politically vulnerable. It was shockingly irresponsible in my opinion, they did not care one whit about the substance of the issue just that this was a political hammer that could be used. I was appalled.

[Tim]

It's a two step strategy:
first comes the hammer, then the sickle...

[Almanian]

nice!

[WTF]

MNG|4.5.11 @ 9:31AM
...they did not care one whit about the substance of the issue just that this was a political hammer that could be used. I was appalled.

But not actually surprised, I hope.

[MNG]

Actually I was. On Fox and MSNBC I've seen hyper-partisan attacks on policies and scandals but this was nakedly political. And the glee! Maddow even stopped and commented on how excited her and Chris Hayes were getting.

In fairness some of their glee was because the GOP used the "they gonna cut medicare" meme against the Dems during the Obamacare push.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Wait, you've never seen anything "nakedly political" on MSNBC before? Did you just start watching?

[John]

Here is what I don't get about liberals. If pension funds and entitlements eat up the entire budget, there won't be any money left over for all the do good policies liberals love. You would think liberals would be more worried about these things instead of defending an unsustanable system to the death.

[WTF]

Hey, as long as they think people still have more income and wealth to loot, (Mikey Moore, et al.) then no problem paying for all of the goodies they want.

[John]

A few of the less brain dead ones like Mickey Klaus are finally catching onto the fact that they may be running out of other people's money. But they are few and far between.

[MNG]

I've been saying that for a while. These are good programs, they aer in danger of being insolvent, therefore we should address that danger.

But a lot of liberals take the Michael Moore tack that we should alter our tax policy to fix all of this or cut the defense budget drastically to do the same. I like the latter option more than the first but still think entitlements are going to need reforming.

[Restoras]

I think it's as least as much, if not significantly more, about holding onto the reins of power than it is about helping people.

[tmp1701]

Come one, MNG, try some libertarianism. Just one little sip. You don't have to think about it, just be cool.

[MNG]

Dude, I have to keep the window cracked around here to keep from getting a contact high...

[Citizen Nothing]

MNG never inhales.

[Almanian]

lol

[Brett L]

MNG, I find talking heads from all sides tend to demagogue. Think all the TEAM RED guys ecstatic about ObamaCare passing because it would help them.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Did they even acknowledge that $400 billion a year would only trim the current deficit by about 25%?

[mog]

anyone see msnbc yesterday? whole segment on nationalizing the airline industry. apparently only the government is good enough and smart enough to run an airline. WTF

[Tim]

The Feds could Amtrak it inside of ten years.

[Jay Leno]

Southwest's new slogan is: "We love the sky, and it shows!"

[Tim]

"Smell the fresh air"

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Well if that happens, I'm driving everywhere. Fuck it. I don't care if it takes me 4 days. I've seen the kind of people that are attracted to government jobs, and I'm not going to put my life and that of my family in the hands of a government maintenance worker. Good enough for government work isn't good enough for me when I'm 35,000 feet in the air and if something breaks, we're pretty much fucked.

[kinnath]

Aeroflot for the win

[ev]

Not too long ago I flew from Korea to Moscow-->Frankfurt on Aeroflot. I had never heard of them before.

Seriously. BY FAR the shittiest airline of all fucking time.

And I had a layover in the airport that was bombed in Moscow! I was there like 5 months before the bombing; freaked me out my fair share, it did.

[kinnath]

You must be a youngster if you haven't heard of Aeroflot, the national airline of the Soviet Union. The current Aeroflot is mere shell of the craptacular airline it used to be.

[Scruffy Nerd Herder]

When Aeroflot would crash in the old CCCP, occasionally the airport authorities would just push the wreckage off the runway and continue operations. They became monuments to incompetence.

[Scruffy Nerd Herder]

My father is a private pilot, I always buy him ballcaps with airline logos.

My personal faves - Aeroflot and Valuejet

[The Enema Man]

I've got some bad news for you. The ROADS are maintained by government maintenance workers.

[Dongo Monog]

They could double, maybe triple that if they put a leash on the useless Pentagon!

http://www.anon-tools.no.tc

[Jersey Patriot]

You're not fooling me, SkyNet.

[cynical]

Wouldn't SkyNet be agitating for nuclear buildup?

[rather]

An FTC investigation of Google, the world's most popular search engine, "could be on par" with the scope of the Justice Department's probe of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) a decade ago

They'll do what Microsoft did to ditch any future problems. I want just thinking lobbyist need more money to bribe Washington.

[P Brooks]

Meanwhile, another federal government shutdown loom this weekend.

I need to get to work on my The End is Near sign.

[Tim]

Yeah we should all be holding our breath.

[Pseudo Warren]

Loom, LOOM, LOOOOOOOOOM!!!

[pistoffnick]

Bring it on!
Vroom, VROOM, VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

[P Brooks]

It was shockingly irresponsible in my opinion, they did not care one whit about the substance of the issue just that this was a political hammer that could be used.

And, in the back room, teh gambling....

[Gregory Smith]

As evil as Google can be (they disabled my adsense account and stole the money I made), I don't want the FTC investigating them.

If the UN had existed in the 1800s.
http://libertarians4freedom.bl.....tions.html

[Libertymike]

You are aware that Adolph Hitler admired Lincoln? Do I have to tell you why?

[MNG]

Because he freed the slaves?

[Gregory Smith]

Why? Was it the fact that Lincoln was a racist who wanted to deport blacks to africa? (Read Lincoln's White Dream). Was it that he imprisoned Maryland legislators so they wouldn't vote to secede? Was it his sedition laws? Do tell me why, I am seriously curious.

If the UN had existed in the 1800s.
http://libertarians4freedom.bl.....tions.html

[Citizen Nothing]

Obviously it was the hat, you idiot.

[Gregory Smith]

I'm not an idiot, there's a lot of evidence of all the evil things Lincoln did. In fact, if you hate statism, you should hate Lincoln.

[Libertymike]

Actually, I must confess that I misread your blog post. I thought that it was pure sarcasm.

Hitler loved Lincoln's employment of the fuerherprinzip. He admired Lincoln's willingness to impose "total war" on the civilian population.

[Gregory Smith]

Well, I did not know that and appreciate you telling me.

Here's what I do know about Lincoln. Check out the historical quotes in this link.

MISSISSIPPI BURNING OVER LICENSE PLATE.
http://libertarians4freedom.bl.....plate.html

[Almanian]

You know who else admired Lincoln? Godwin...

[MNG]

Anyone else see this?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ml?hpid=z3

U.N. peacekeepers and French troops launched military operations against loyalists of Ivory Coast's longtime strongman Monday, a significant escalation of force that effectively placed peacekeepers on one side of the West African country's deepening civil war.

[capitol l]

Maybe they're feeling nostalgic.

[Ice Nine]

OK, look, I am going to strangle the next person who says, "Ivorian."

[Just Dropping By]

Ivory Coastian?

[Almanian]

Ovarian?

[Zeb]

What would you propose be used in place of "Ivorian"? It is the correct word to use, unless you want to say it in French in which case it is "Ivoirian".

[Ice Nine]

I'm going to strangle the next person with no sense of humor.

[Citizen Nothing]

If there are ivorian Ivorians and ebonian Ivorians, living together in perfect harmony like the keys on my pyano keyboard, oh lord why can't we?

[John]

Can't we just say fuck it and go back to colonialism? At least it was honest.

[MNG]

I dunno, it seems to me to be an honest attempt to actually help "this time." But man, the French are mightly belligerent lately...

[John]

Colonialism was an honest attempt to help. It went off the rails a lot. But it was in many ways based on Victorian dogooderism.

[MNG]

There was some of that rhetoric but it was mostly an honest attempt to take over and use land and make money.

[Warty]

Nothing like today.

[cynical]

lol

[mad libertarian guy]

Who doesn't like civilizing the savage other?

[Brett L]

Yeah. Amazing how motivated they get when the consequence of inaction is more African refugees in France.

[T]

What, you mean all those Algerians haven't integrated into French society perfectly by now?

[Imperialist]

That's what I've been saying for a couple of years now -- but no one want to hear it 😉

[P Brooks]

I notice our resident EXPLOSIVE DECOMPRESSION MEANS PLANES FALLING FROM THE SKYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! hysterics have been completely silent on the Southwest incident.

[MNG]

I think we need a congressional investigation into WTF was up with Butler's shooting last night.

[Ice Nine]

If they had shot 20% they would have won. Well, that and maybe grabbed a couple offensive rebounds.

[P Brooks]

My friendly neighborhood regurgitator of Union Hall Talking Points was whining about some report about derelict bridges around the state. He ignored me when I said, "So raise the gas tax and fix the goddam things." He would much rather whine about how the evul TeaBagsterz are a bunch of meanies who won't steal money from other states and spend it here.

My boycott of the bar which allows him to blather ceaselessly about this shit starts today.

[John]

Interesting article in the WSJ about India's educational problems.

India projects an image of a nation churning out hundreds of thousands of students every year who are well educated, a looming threat to the better-paid middle-class workers of the West. Their abilities in math have been cited by President Barack Obama as a reason why the U.S. is facing competitive challenges.

Yet 24/7 Customer's experience tells a very different story. Its increasing difficulty finding competent employees in India has forced the company to expand its search to the Philippines and Nicaragua. Most of its 8,000 employees are now based outside of India.

In the nation that made offshoring a household word, 24/7 finds itself so short of talent that it is having to offshore.

"With India's population size, it should be so much easier to find employees," says S. Nagarajan, founder of the company. "Instead, we're scouring every nook and cranny."

India's economic expansion was supposed to create opportunities for millions to rise out of poverty, get an education and land good jobs. But as India liberalized its economy starting in 1991 after decades of socialism, it failed to reform its heavily regulated education system.

http://online.wsj.com/article/.....atsNewsTop

[Warty]

it failed to reform its heavily regulated education system.

That sounds familiar.

[Sidd Finch]

1.2 billion people aren't all employable in IT? whodathunkit

[deified]

Also a problem in Israel...

[rather]

Anon brought down Sony.
http://technology.iafrica.com/technews/719662.html
Anonymous claims that Sony's legal wrangle with PS3 hackers George Hotz and Alexander Egorenkov is an attack on free speech

No playing your playstation

[Warty]

In honor of our newest war in black Africa, here's the War Prayer.

[P Brooks]

Thanks, Warty.

[Clich? Bandit]

this is great...lets give more decisions to the government. What could go wrong?
I hate Arizona

[Kristen]

I've said it before and I'll say it again....right now is the long dark teatime of the soul (? 1988 Douglas Adams) for Federal workers/contractors known as "between Prezznits and Memorial Days".

I'm wearing my jammies inside-out and praying to FSM they shut this bastard down for a few days. I'm single, no kids, so I can take the pay hit. Y'all who can't go a week or so without pay because of your breeding habits can suck it - I'm off to some exotic destination!

[Libertymike]

Why don't you engage in some real soul searching and decide to actually make or produce somehting?

[Kristen]

Please, do tell me, anonymous pussy internet guy, what I do for a living and where. I'd love to hear your theories. You clearly have A LOT of knowledge of the everyday workings of each and every bureau and office in the government as well as every private sector job in the world. And you're clearly omniscient about whether I work in the public or private sector. Do you peek in my windows at night, too?

[cynical]

You sort of suggested it was either pubsec or closely tied to pubsec by insinuating that a government shutdown would deny you a paycheck.

[Libertymike]

Kristen-

Should I peek through your windows?

[TheCreeper]

Find your own tree.

[P Brooks]

If the government shuts down all the roads will disappear.

OMG TEH ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAADZZ!

[Tim]

And the high speed rails!
And the low speed rails!

[R C Dean]

Jeebus. They are monetizing between 70 - 105% of the debt anyway under QE. They are printing the money anyway, so if we stopped issuing bonds, it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference to the government's ability to pay for shit.

Amirite, Draco?

[P Brooks]

They are printing the money anyway, so if we stopped issuing bonds, it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference to the government's ability to pay for shit.

"Hey Rocky! Watch me pull a trillion dollars outta muh hat!"

[TrickyVic]

Shoot at cops, and they will blow your house down. Ok, they won't blow, they will use heavy machinery.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/n.....73789.html

[Joe Biden]

"With India's population size, it should be so much easier to find employees,"

That because they all own convenience stores.

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

Thanks