Reason Morning LInks: White House Wants New Mideast Peace Talks, Japan Nuclear Crisis Upgraded, Egypt Detains Mubarak

• Japan upgrades nuclear crisis to Chernobyl level.
• Obama administration to push for new Israeli-Arab peace talks.
• Egypt detains Mubarak, his two sons.
• Fourth opposition leader in Bahrain dies in government custody.
• Sen. James Inhofe praises Ivory Coast dictator.
• New at Reason.tv: "Sandy Springs, Georgia: The City that Outsourced Everything"

Comments

[Joh[nn]y Lo[n]gtorso]

Robot Chicken: Golden Girls in the City

[Restoras]

Epic.

[PoliteEdward]

As someone who is somewhat new here, I'm curious -- what is situation regarding you and the show Golden Girls?

[Restoras]

In the journey of life I think there are some questions that don't need to be answered.

[pancakes]

It's rather simple; He's either an angry closeted homosexual who blames Bea Arthur for his sexual frustration.

OR, his son is. One need not conjecture further.

[Joh[nn]y Lo[n]gtorso]

Why would my son blame Bea Authur for my sexual frustration?

[Joh[nn]y Lo[n]gtorso]

I am the only thing standing between you and being assraped by a cross dressing Steve Smith in a Bea Authur costume.

[Joh[nn]y Lo[n]gtorso]

I dare you to try to get that image out of our head.

[Joh[nn]y Lo[n]gtorso]

Your head, dammit

[pancakes]

yeah or that. He could be protecting us from some deep dark illuminati-type conspiracy involving saquatch, the pope, and countless reruns of the Golden girls.

but Occam's razor suggests otherwise.

[Joh[nn]y Lo[n]gtorso]

Occam was part of it. Don't be fooled by his obvious lies.

[PoliteEdward]

So, it's just a running gag on yourself that you're obsessed with the Golden Girls?

[Joh[nn]y Lo[n]gtorso]

It's Official: Environmentalism Is the New Religion

[Old Mexican]

From the link:

Robert Nelson, in the Independent Institute's recent book, The New Holy Wars, points out that environmental religion owes its moral activism, ascetic discipline, reverence for nature, and fallen view of man to the Protestant theology of John Calvin.

The tenets of the Church of Earthalujah are based on the view that:

...these freak storms and tsunamis and flocks of blackbirds are not a coincidence ? it's the Earth talking to us. The Earth's physical systems are in revolt.

Their faith is practiced both in church:

Every Sunday we have a devil and a saint, and the holy writ is the Earth. We have sermons and songs. Scientists give talks.

And on the street:

Friends give us soil from mountains that have been strip-mined and we go into bank lobbies like Chase and Union Bank as if we've been invited by an art curator and we sculpt dirt peaks and sing, then exorcise the demon out of the ATMs.

[Warty]

Holy Wars

[Zeb]

" The Earth's physical systems are in revolt."

How do we know they just aren't having a good time?

[waffles]

What do I win?

The Japan Nuclear Fuck-youshima had me all worked up for a week, maybe two. But I've got severe disaster fatigue. I guess it's how these things play out.

[waffles]

damn you Johnny, and your Neo-Malthusian Golden girl religion! I wanted FIRST!

[Joh[nn]y Lo[n]gtorso]

You'll never beat Bea Authur.

[Joh[nn]y Lo[n]gtorso]

Get out of my fantasies!

[she]

beats herself

[Tim]

Good luck with that battle.

[Rich]

Hillary Clinton [suggested] a stronger U.S. hand in trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Here we go again. Would someone *kindly* explain why the U.S. should have any "hand" in this at all?

[Tim]

She wants somebody who can understand, not come and go in a heated rush.

[Rich]

While I appreciate the sentiment, Tim -- that's a *slow* hand.

[JoshINHB]

Because her foreign policy is going so well.

[Rich]

OK, that makes sense. We should take on another war while we're on a roll.

[JoshInHB]

Two more.

[DJF]

So a county which is massively in debt and digging the hole deeper and deeper at an accelerated rate can find someplace else to waste time, money, resources and thought over.

[Tim]

Have we won in Libya yet? Has anybody checked lately?

[DJF]

I don't think they have even figured out who "we" is yet.

[Rich]

Ah, but have we figured out who "they" is?

[DJF]

Of course, "they" is anyone who gets in the way of one of our 500 lb bombs.

[Resto Druid FTW]

Sure, the people who make bombs.

[The Hillary Files]

The Truth Solution To Our Woes Is Out There.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

She's enlightened enough to understand they need a referee.

[Devil Inchoate]

Or a coach. Or a Cinnabon franchise.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

When isn't Hillary suggested a "stronger" gun-wielding hand fix the problem du jour?

[Somalian Road Corporation]

suggesting, blah

[Joh[nn]y Lo[n]gtorso]

Via Balko

Forfeiture Follies

[SugarFree]

Fourth opposition leader in Bahrain dies in government custody.

Just a few bad apples in the police force, I'm sure.

[Tim]

The Saudi Police force.

[SugarFree]

Just a few bad apples, Tim. Apples. Apples. Bad apples. That's all it is, badapplesapplesapples. babbadbad

[waffles]

Someone forgot their insulin?

[SugarFree]

I forget nothing and forgive even less.

[Tim]

Looks like he went facedown on the keyboard.

[Gray Ghost]

They've been like this for awhile. See Saudi Arabia v. Nelson, 507 U.S. 349 (1993) U.S. citizen gets arrested for whistleblowing in Saudi, gets shit kicked out of him for a little over a month by Saudi cops, is released/deported back to U.S. Tries to sue Saudi Arabia in tort, gets told by SCOTUS that sovereign immunity applies, and he doesn't meet the criteria in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. No subject matter jurisdiction then; kindly fuck off now, kthxbai. http://www.law.cornell.edu/sup.....22.ZS.html

[Fist of Etiquette]

Japan upgrades nuclear crisis to Chernobyl level.

The first rule of Chernobyl Club is you don't talk about Chernobyl Club.

[CaptainSmartass]

What's the second rule?

[Fist of Etiquette]

No one ever seems to last long enough to ask.

[Apollo Jist]

Fourth opposition leader in Bahrain dies in government custody.

Just think how many would have died had they not been in custody!

[Jersey Patriot]

Win.

[Tim]

Hydropower claims another life:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.....dyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hydroelectic has for years claimed countless lives in the form of spawning fish. Wind farms have disrupted untold number of bird migration patterns. Silicon tetrachloride, the byproduct from solar panel manufacture, is toxic to plant growth.

No, there is no safe energy source but Matrix-style human batteries. So let's get on that, Skynet.

[Resto Druid FTW]

SIGN ME UP!

[Vermont Gun Owner]

One of my professors worked on an autonomous car (it was a government style black SUV) and called it Skynet. We spent the whole lecture that he presented it making jokes about how he was only telling us about the boring features like GPS, video recognition, etc, when we wanted to know where the fold out machine guns were.

[Richard]

Yet another reason why hydro must be banned!

Seriously, the water levels here in Vermont are amazing and it's still raining! The only person I've talked to who says this isn't the highest water level she's ever seen remembers the 1927 flood.

[Vermont Gun Owner]

One of my college friends posted that the 'Flood Warning' sign near his apartment was currently floating down the Winooski River.

For a silver lining, now the flooding first floor bathroom here makes me feel at home.

[wylie]

There's something appropriate about a Flood Warning sign floating on flood waters.

"Honey, think this counts as a flood?"

*sign floats by*

"Ah-yup."

[Scooby]

Here's a story about 5 workers at a hydroelectric plant killed by hazardous working conditions. OSHA let the operators off with a fine of under $200k- less than $40k per life!

[Vermont Gun Owner]

But how many people were killed by nuclear that day?

[Matrix]

A BAJILLION!!

[Otto]

Sen. James Inhofe praises Ivory Coast dictator.

Awesome - "he couldn't have killed anyone, he's a Christian". Meanwhile, The Obama administration is backing Outtara. Personally, I don't think I'd want to pick a horse in that race.

[Virginia]

Gbagbo and his wife Simone are evangelical Christians and have attended the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual event that is run by the secretive Christian group called the Family.

Oh ay, they meet tri-annually in Colorado in a secret mansion known only as the meadows.

[cynical]

So, is there some word for weirdo Christian theocrats that tries to distinguish between them and ordinary Christians to avoid offense, like "Islamist" versus "Muslim"?

If not, any suggestions? Cruxist? Christianist? Jesist?

[Syd Henderson]

How about picking the guy who won the election?

[capitol l]

I wonder if Sandi took a shit in Sandy Springs?

[kilroy]

I did.

[Warty]

I know that Tandi took a shit in Shady Sands.

[wylie]

I once had a Shandy in Tangy Spands.

[Nancy Pelosi]

To my Republican friends: take back your party. So that it doesn't matter so much who wins the election, because we have shared values about the education of our children, the growth of our economy, how we defend our country, our security and civil liberties, how we respect our seniors. Because there are so many things at risk right now -- perhaps in another question I'll go into them, if you want. But the fact is that elections shouldn't matter as much as they do...But when it comes to a place where there doesn't seem to be shared values then that can be problematic for the country, as I think you can see right now.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/.....57307.html

[Rich]

the fact is that elections shouldn't matter as much as they do

Pelosi 2012!

[Barack Obama]

But the fact is that elections shouldn't matter as much as they do.

They don't.

[lil w]

got that right brownie

[mike]

Actually Nancy, with Bush 3+ in office and the R's in the House, things look pretty much the same as they ever was.

[DJF]

I thought it was Clinton 2 and the Democrats in charge of the Senate. But then, I often get team red and team blue mixed up.

[Ice Nine]

Me too. It always seems so logical to me that "Red States" should be the Democrat-ruled ones. How did this get reversed, anyway?

[DJF]

Newsweek made a picture showing that and all the MSM jumped on board. Newsweek being a publication worth the entire dollar it was sold for.

It was sort of like when the Soviet Union was falling apart and suddenly all the communists were referred to as conservatives by the MSM since obvioulsy left wingers can't be bad.

[robc]

My understanding is that the networks would alternate red/blue each presidential election. 2000 happened to be red for the GOP. It was the result of that election that led to red/blue states and now the colors cant change. Although, if I were running a news network, I would, just to confuse people. Or use green and orange in 2012.

[kilroy]

Or use green and orange in 2012.

Why do you hate the Irish?

[Ska]

Because they're subhuman creatures, like small drunken apes. Next question.

[kilroy]

As a mnemonic aid:

Blue = suffocating from the weight of carrying every fucking loser in the country.

Red = on fire for Jesus, or something.

[pancakes]

burn one for jesus!

[The Bearded Hobbit]

How did this get reversed, anyway?

The red/blue was used, IIRC, for the 1976 election, red, white and blue was the fashion for the Bicentennial. The Dems protested that red made them look like commies so the were given the blue.

So now it's

Team Blue = the reds
and
Team Red = not the reds.

... Hobbit

[DJF]

Translated "We need to stick together or those uppity peasants will interfere in our right to rule over them".

[Virginia]

University President Lawrence Bacow praised Pelosi's efforts in Congress to make financial aid more accessible.

"Many students would not have the privilege of studying at Tufts but for the efforts of Leader Pelosi," he said.

The article failed to mention that University President Bacow went on to thank Chairman Pelosi for giving life to his children. Then he drank heavily from her toilet.

[Devil Inchoate]

"Tufts University would be unable to charge its exorbitant tuition but for the efforts of Leader Pelosi."

[Esteban]

My alma mater strikes again! $46,000 per year and counting!

There's also talk of making a social justice class mandatory for all freshmen. Boy will they not be getting any money from me!

[Gerald "wylie" Ford]

the fact is that elections shouldn't matter as much as they do

I've never found them essential to the process.

[VungWoo]

OK, I never thought about it like that before.

http://www.total-privacy.it.tc

[CUNT-VOMIT ALERT]

Who would?

[John]

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/loc.....stroy.html

Feral hogs are on a rampage in a Fort Worth neighborhood, leaving a path of destruction behind.

Pigs are evil

[capitol l]

Pigs are evil

Either you've read too much Balko, or you have gone full on mooslim. You ain't no mooslim is you, John?

[John]

I said they were evil. I didn't say they were not tasty.

[Ice Nine]

Did you read about some guy who has suggested burying pigs anywhere the Muslims are contemplating building mosques? LOL. Hey, it might work.

[robc]

Perfectly reasonable...if you own the land.

[Ice Nine]

I think effectiveness, not necessarily reasonableness, was the point.

[Joh[nn]y Lo[n]gtorso]

But delish.

[Fist of Etiquette]

And magical.

[waffles]

I hear it's decent fun to shoot them, but you have to be quick and deadly because they fucking charge your ass.

[waffles]

ooh, can't shoot in city limits. Maybe they can get a variance?

[Old Mexican]

You can't shoot your crossbow within city limits???

[CaptainSmartass]

Pretty sure you can shoot in city limits to defend yourself or others. So if you see a pig, shoot that fucker.

Same with those feral hogs.

[Old Mexican]

Just don't eat the pig, it's bad for you.

Hogs are delicious, though...

[Jim Bob]

OH MY GOD HE'S COMING RIGHT AT US!!!

[Name Nomad]

They're comin' right for us!
Get 'em, Ned!

[Ned]

We gotta thin out the herd. We're environmentalists.

[pancakes]

*pulls out boomstick*

I've got your variance right here!

[Charlie Sheen]

fucking charge your ass

I pay coke-encrusted cash for mine!

[Night Elf Mohawk]

It's coming right for us!!

[Resto Druid FTW]

Vince: Bacon tastes good, pork chops taste good.

Jules: Sewer rat might tast like pumpkin pie, but I would know because I wouldn't eat the filthy mutha f*kker.

[John]

She Really Takes the Fifth Commandment Seriously
On Thursday we noted the story of Taffy Brodesser-Akner, an L.A. lefty with a Republican friend. It turns out that isn't the most unusual thing about her. Five years ago, her wedding to Claude Brodesser made the "Vows" column of the New York Times, and from reading it we learn that Taffy is extremely loyal to her parents.

Taffy is an Orthodox Jew, Claude was a Roman Catholic. Theirs was a long-distance relationship--she lived in New York at the time--that started over the phone. When they finally met, "the chemistry was impossible to ignore." We pick up the story at the end of their first date, in January 2004:

At the end of the night he kissed her. She promptly told him she could never see him again.
"It was hard for me to date people I didn't intend to marry," she said. "I had dated a few guys who weren't Jewish, and it really hurt my mother."
Taffy couldn't stay away. Her mother didn't like Claude even after he agreed to convert to Judaism (which required him to be circumcised at age 33--ouch!). Only when Mom saw a video in which Menachem Schneerson, grand rabbi of the Lubavitchers, "advocated conversions," did she come around.

Another odd aspect of the union isn't specifically mentioned in the Times story. Claude now works for New York magazine, where his byline is Claude Brodesser-Akner. That's right, Taffy got him to add her father's name to his own. At least she's not one of those feminists who hate patriarchy.

http://online.wsj.com/article/.....34850.html

[Abdul]

Resolved: getting your wedding noticed in the NYT Vows column alerts the world to the fact that you should not be taken seriously.

[Tim]

Sounds like Taffy has some real pull.

[wylie]

Should I order the veal?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Converting your religion for your potential spouse? I never understand that. It would seem to scream to clergy or whoever is doing the conversion that the person doesn't take either faith seriously and is, genital mutilation aside, just going through the motions.

Is there a religious conversion fee? Is extra coin in the collection plate enough to overlook obvious hypocrisy?

[Abdul]

Walter Sobchak: I'm saying, I see what you're getting at, Dude, he kept the money. My point is, here we are, it's shabbas, the sabbath, which I'm allowed to break only if it's a matter of life or death...
The Dude: Will you come off it, Walter? You're not even fucking Jewish, man.
Walter Sobchak: What the fuck are you talkin' about?
The Dude: Man, you're fucking Polish Catholic...
Walter Sobchak: What the fuck are you talking about? I converted when I married Cynthia! Come on, Dude!
The Dude: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...
Walter Sobchak: And you know this!
The Dude: Yeah, and five fucking years ago you were divorced.
Walter Sobchak: So what are you saying? When you get divorced you turn in your library card? You get a new license? You stop being Jewish?
The Dude: It's all a part of your sick Cynthia thing, man. Taking care of her fucking dog. Going to her fucking synagogue. You're living in the fucking past.
Walter Sobchak: Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax...
[shouting]
Walter Sobchak: You're goddamn right I'm living in the fucking past!

[Tim]

"Oh, come on Donny; they were threatening castration! Are we gonna split hairs here? Am I wrong? "

[DJF]

You would think that the one all knowing all powerful god of the universe might notice that he did not actually believe.

[God]

Hey, I'm merciful, too!

[DJF]

On your good days sure, but then there are those other days, for example I refer you to large parts of the Old Testament.

[God]

Come off it. We all had our youthful indiscretions.

[John]

I always found that to be about the most profound insult to a religion one can give. It is one thing to say "okay honey raise the kids that way". But it is another thing entirely to convert to a religion you don't otherwise have any affinity towards just so you can marry someone. It is basically saying "well the thought that I am going to burn in hell or will never know the real truth of the world if I don't convert to (insert religion here) really never took. But when converting got me into some woman's pants, that was it, I was a convert".

[DJF]

I am agnostic, I don't know if god or gods to exist.

However if they do exist I figure that it might not go over well that the only reason I was down at the Synagogue was to pick up chicks.

[Tim]

A guy like Zeus might be cool with it. A Ghanesh on the other hand, would trample you.

[Charlotte Sometimes]

Zeus would only be cool with it if you left all the hot chicks for him.

[DJF]

Zeus is cool, he understood the need to pick up chicks.

[pancakes]

Every thunderstorm I look up into the sky and scream "Zues is a santa-bearded pussy!".

I learn the best blasphemy here. Thanks H&R!

[DJF]

This woman demanded that the guy gets the end of his dick cut off????? Sorry no way baby.

Did he at least trade that she had to get some gonzo sized boobs in return?

[DJF]

Or maybe she should kiss his dick every day for the rest of her life to make it better?

[Ice Nine]

One might wonder if Claude and Taffy both wore wedding gowns.

[Tim]

+1

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Check out the Wikipedia entry for LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. He took his lovely bride's name as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Villaraigosa

[Fist of Etiquette]

Obama administration to push for new Israeli-Arab peace talks.

You know what weak presidents are good at? Pushing Middle East peace agreements.

[Tim]

Maybe he could bbuild them some high speed rail while he's at it.

[Rich]

Any bets as to when "Middle East peace" will actually be achieved? I can't imagine a date; but I'll posit that, if there is one, it will follow a "nuclear incident".

[pancakes]

All I can say is sand+intense heat = glass. Glass it.

[Sandi]

sand+intense heat = the shit I took in pancake's mouth.

[pancakes]

Oh come on, that's just vile. Who knows where that anus has been!?

Actually...

[CoyoteBlue]

In fairness, strong presidents also push for Middle East peace agreements and fail pathetically. I've come think that the big Middle East Peace is just a scam to distract our executive branch and get money out of our sub-tard Congress.
There are no Jews.
There are no Arabs.
Just a happyland of stereotypical semitic hucksters in foriegn aid bazaar.

[John (Wallpaper Murals Guy)]

I agree. Peace talks are always just that, talk. No real action, no real results.

[Irresponsible Hater]

"Upgraded"

That's good, right?

[waffles]

for hysterical anti-energy crackpots, certainly.

[Mike M.]

Metropolitan Washington D.C. is the richest part of the United States, and getting richer all the time. It's good indeed to be in charge of the empire.

[Tim]

In the future at least, when we mistakenly bomb cheering Libyan rebels of Afghani weddings there will be no pilots to court martial:

http://www.popsci.com/technolo.....use-clicks

[Old Mexican]

Or when (not if) they kill Americans:

http://dailycaller.com/2011/04.....us-troops/

[Tim]

"the Navy said the X-47B would be piloted not by human handlers in some steel box in Nevada, but by 3.4 million lines of software code. "

Hopefully nobody ever hacks into that software.

[Old Mexican]

Skynet will....

Du du du DUUUUUUM!

[script kiddies]

hehehehehehehe

[korean script kiddies]

kekekekekekekeke

[brazilian script kiddies]

huehuehuehuehue

[Tim]

You won't be laughing when the Cylons come for us.

[Top Men]

That could never happen. Trust us.

[DJF]

I am glad to hear that you are working on this.

[CaptainSmartass]

3.4 million? Bet the whole thing could be compressed into four lines of Perl.

[DJF]

I hear that Microsoft has assigned its top H1B workers to it and not only are they 50% complete and only 50 times over budget and 500% behind schedule but they have already started working on the 3,000 software updates needed to fix security problems

[Tim]

Yes and they have changed the passwrod from "password" to "1234"

[wylie]

Thank god, "password" is the kind of code a moron has on their luggage.

[Ice Nine]

Oh goody, a new American "mediated" Israeli-Arab peace plan! These of course have long since degraded to sheer political theater. For anything of this sort to possibly work requires a visionary statesman on both sides of the dispute - something the Israelis are long on and the Arabs are chronically short of (Where is Sadat when we need him?). It doesn't hurt to have a strong American President knocking heads together. And here we come with...Obama? The Arabs will look at him and say to themselves, "Hey chump, bow to my ass, then of course strike a pose, then as soon as your performance has ended get the fuck outta here." Then it will be back to business as usual.

[Old Mexican]

Obama administration to push for new Israeli-Arab peace talks.

The president will be working very hard to obtain the coveted Nobel Peace Prize he already won.

[P Brooks]

Hillary Clinton [suggested] a stronger U.S. hand in trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This does not sound at all like, "If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve" to me.

[P Brooks]

can't shoot in city limits. Maybe they can get a variance?

Be a man. Use a pike.

[Rich]

I know a guy who dispatched a groundhog with a broken broomstick.

[waffles]

boomstick?

[Rich]

** Groucho Marx voice **

And how that groundhog got ahold of a broomstick, I'll never know!

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

In my crappy college apartment, I used a broken hockey stick to kill a rat in my kitchen.

Yeah, the place literally was a rat-infested dump.

[Charlotte Sometimes]

The first duplex we rented after marrying in college was a mouse and spider-infested craphole. I accidentally killed a mouse with a flyswatter one evening and felt awful about it. I just meant to stun the little guy so I could move him outside before the spiders got him.

[Brett L]

I know a guy who choked a bobcat to death.

[Fartin' Spartan]

Is that what they're calling it, nowadays?

[Abdul]

Steve Smith threatening the world supply of mail order brides in the Ukraine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDTFw_2lWX8

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

Hillary Clinton [suggested] a stronger U.S. hand in trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

People have been fighting over that shitty little corner of the world ever since they figured out that one of the things you could do with a rock is hit somebody in the head with it. And now Hillary thinks she's gonna change all that? Talk about being full of yourself!

[RyanXXX]

I'm not even surprised by their egos anymore

[Old Mexican]

Rand Paul Says He Is Considering Filibuster Of Budget Agreement

Eso es tener huevos. Or brass balls.

[Speedy Propper]

Heuvos would be heckling Obama's speech at 1:30 ET.

[kilroy]

How do I send him a case of 5hr energies?

[John]

Hey kids lets tax the internet.

http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler.....-shopping/

[Old Mexican]

It's about sticking it to those filthy rich people!

...right?

[P Brooks]

"the Navy said the X-47B would be piloted not by human handlers in some steel box in Nevada, but by 3.4 million lines of software code. "

What could possibly go wrong?

[Tim]

Paging Rod Serling...

[CaptainSmartass]

Considering the overlap between /. and H&R, I'm surprised this hasn't been posted already.

US Police Increasingly Peeping at Email and IMs

[Tim]

If you're not guilty of anything then you have nothing to be afraid of.

[Tim]

Unless you like privacy, then sure, you've got a plenty to be afraid of.

[Mongo]

I deleted -- not deactivated -- my Facebook account yesterday!

I could not stand that goddam thing...

[Old Mexican]

The Experts All Agree: We're All Confused As To Why The Pres Is Losing The Black And Latino Support

Why is Obama's Support Slipping Among Blacks and Latinos? Gallup seems dumbfounded. Fernandez says inflation is beginning to bite. Malcolm suspects a general case of scales-falling-from-eyes. I nominate... [unions?] ... comprehensive immigration reform. When Obama pushes for it he alienates blacks. When he fails to achieve it he alienates Latinos. He's done both... The timing of the drop (in March) doesn't support this explanation. But timing's often off, no? The trend seems to be there.

My take? Very high unemployment levels among blacks and Hispanics, plus the government teasing Hispanics with "just around the corner!" immigration reform.

"Though majorities of blacks (85%) and Hispanics (54%) continue to approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president, his ratings among these groups slipped in March and have set or tied new lows,' reports Gallup."

[pancakes]

It's not like they go from supporting Obama to supporting some crackety-ass honky. It's more like from supporting Obama to "meh".

[Spoonman.]

I saw the free Spanish weeklies after the 2010 elections. The theme was, "Obama didn't help us, so why should be bother to vote for his party? I stayed home."

[Spoonman.]

why should WE bother

[Old Mexican]

Re: Spoonman,
That's pretty much what I hear as well, especially in the Spanish language TV channels: Many Latinos, and especially Mexican-Americans, feel that the Dems simply played them for fools, right after Harry Reid's token and late-in-the-game effort to pass the so-called "Dream Act." Most Latinos felt the Dems could have passed that one any time they wanted before November 2010 and that the politicians simply procastinated out of fear of losing the seats they ended up losing anyway.

The best part is that Latinos are VERY familiar with political double-speak and demagoguery, so they are not as easily fooled as black Americans - which almost vote in block no matter what. The Hispanic population is very heterogeneous when it comes to politics, so it takes a lot of very convincing wooing to lure them in, not just being a black candidate for president... We Hispanics do not suffer from terminal white guilt, and don't care that the president is black; shit, most Latin American countries already had black or mixed-race presidents, even Mexico (i.e. Vicente Guerrero, a War for Mexican Independence hero.)

[John]

Inflation actually 10% using pre 1990 measure.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42551209

[Warty]

I was apprehensive about signing a 2-year lease on my new place, but it seems to have been a wise move. Fuck the Ben Bernanke.

[Old Mexican]

Oh, so http://www.shadowstats.com/ is finally being vindicated.

[robc]

5.5% per-1990.

10% is pre-1980 measure.

All 3 are BS, as inflation isnt a measure of prices anyway.

Change in M2 is probably the best measure of inflation.

[robc]

http://research.stlouisfed.org.....ation]=pc1

Looks like inflation is about 4.5%.

[robc]

5 year graph, shows things more clearly:

http://research.stlouisfed.org.....ation]=pc1

[robc]

That last link didnt work right, you have to change the graph to 5 years manually.

[DanD]

Now see, I can agree with this. Anyone who goes to the grocery or home-improvement store on a regular basis sees this.

[shrike, Ben's surrogate lover]

Not true! Not true! Bernanke knows what he's doing! There's no inflation! La-la-la-la-la!

[Jersey Patriot]

It's true. He does know what he's doing. That's the part that should scare the living shit out of us.

[sloopyinca]

You motherfuckers want some good news for a change?

Holy Shit! Judge actually rules in favor of First Amendment. Soccer moms in comment section express butthurt.

[Cytotoxic]

You guys want to OD on good news? Ontario to decriminalize MJ in 90 days.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2.....marijuana/

[P Brooks]

I used a broken hockey stick to kill a rat in my kitchen.

This reminds me of a story a friend used to tell. Short(ish) version:

He and his roommates at Berkeley had an apartment which came supplied with rats. They didn't want to kill the poor rats (Solidarity!!), so they got some of those sticky no-kill things; a sort of rat flypaper. They awoke to a godawful commotion in the kitchen, where they found a big pissed off rat with three feet stuck to the "trap" busily rowing himself around the kitchen with his remaining free foot, barking and snarling ferociously.

There was some confusion about what to do next. He finally went to his room and got his hockey stick, opened the kitchen door, and sailed the rat into the darkness with a wrist shot.

The next day, they upgraded their arsenal to rat guillotines.

[wylie]

This is now the leading contender for Funniest Rat Anecdote of 2011.

[Slap the Enlightened!]

BNP elects mayor

[putra]

I think the Japanese has started to overcome their nuclear.
http://www.american-dreams.info/

[RyanXXX]

Not that it's my call, or America's, but I think the Egyptians should turn the other cheek here with the Mubarak family. Send them into exile, to live the rest of their days in disgrace.

Tinpot dictators aren't worth the trouble. I could see the value in executing a monster like Saddam, or even Gaddaffi, but Mubarak and his sons just aint' worth it.

Thomas Paine tried to convince the French to send the "Capets" into exile in America. We know what happened next. Baptizing your revolution in blood is no way to go.

[cynical]

I'd say just put them in prison like any other crook. Show that no one is above the law, and all that.

[Isaac Bartram]

I hear it's decent fun to shoot them [wild hogs], but you have to be quick and deadly because they fucking charge your ass.

A few years ago I saw a website that a couple of guys here in Central Florida had to promote their rather interesting guide service.

The only weapons they allow hunters to use is a spear, unless you've really got nerve and want to take one on with a knife.

I don't know if they're still in business.

I remember reading about some guys in Australia doing it as well.

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

Thanks