Reason Morning Links: Bulb Barons, Taliban Inflation, and a Blog Hoax

• Security checks aggravate boaters on the Hudson.
• The president prepares to visit crony capitalists in Durham.
• The FBI revises its rules to give its agents more latitude.
• The military has vastly exaggerated its success in capturing Taliban.
• The full Pentagon Papers are finally released -- minus 11 words.
• Weinergate has reached the stage of the scandal where the celebrity announces he's getting "treatment."
• As real Syrians flee the country, blog sensation "A Gay Girl in Damascus" tells the world she's actually a married guy from Georgia. Next question: Which western bloggers are false identities created by Syrian lesbians? (Besides Harry Knowles, I mean.)

The latest from Reason.tv: "The Facts about the Alternative Minimum Tax."

Comments

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

Golden Girls on Gay Marriage

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

Rewind: 'Golden Girls' Reunion

[Troublemaker]

Don't care.

[Gibby]

What did you just say? It's hard to tell with all those cocks in your mouth.

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

Ten Years And Counting: Where's The Global Warming?
...Most powerfully, global temperature trends during the twentieth century sharply defied atmospheric carbon dioxide trends. More than half of the warming during the twentieth century occurred prior to the post-World War II economic boom, yet atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions rose minimally during this time. Between 1945 and 1977, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels jumped rapidly, yet global temperatures declined. Only during the last quarter of the century was there an appreciable correlation between greenhouse gas trends and global temperature trends. But that brief correlation has clearly disappeared this century....

[John]

Didn't you hear Johnny? It is the new science. Not only does correlation not equal causation, but lack of correlation actually equals causality. It is the new scientific consensus. Now surrender all of your freedoms and prosperity in the name of the cult like a good little prole.

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

John, did you see the George Will article below (Govt by 'experts')?

[John]

Yes. And it is appalling.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Models, Models, MODELS!!!

[Dilbert Doe]

Models make me think of actresses. Saw "Dangerous Liaisons" yesterday. It came out in 1988. Uma Thurman is in the film. Hard to believe she has a career spannig about a quarter century.

[John]

And she was in Henry and June the year before that.

[Brett L]

I have to say that using "3 parts in 10000 to 4 parts in 10000" rather than 300 ppm to 400 ppm is annoying. It smacks of trying too hard.

[Doc S.]

Ha I thought the same thing. Apparently ppm is too much of an abstract concept, and he would rather use 30 characters to describe something than the 15 it should have taken. But hey, he's a real scientist, he knows how to present data.

[robc]

I real scientist doesnt care. The change is the same percent either way.

[Doc S.]

If you think the way you present your results to the rest of the scientific community doesn't have an impact on the way they judge your work you would be sadly mistaken.
If someone presented these results at a conference or in a journal article I would question whether they really did their due diligence in their lit review, or had much of a background in the subject as a whole.

[CrackertyAssCracker]

Ya, but reducing your fractions isn't all that nefarious, as these things go.

[Ray Pew]

If you think the way you present your results to the rest of the scientific community doesn't have an impact on the way they judge your work you would be sadly mistaken.
If someone presented these results at a conference or in a journal article I would question whether they really did their due diligence in their lit review, or had much of a background in the subject as a whole.

So long as the measures are correct, then one cannot make a significant case of it. In the biological sciences, it's not uncommon for people to use moles instead of mcg/mg/g units. It pisses me off personally, cause then I have to find out the molar mass of the substance, but I never consider the research tainted because of this.

[Doc S.]

you didn't take the time to actually look at the source data or read where it came from did you??

Fairly poor editorial, even by Forbes standards.

[Brett L]

The NASA satellite survey that Ron Bailey quotes here was the primary source for "no warming in a decade". Some of that is cherry-picking as 1998 is the warmest year on the satellite record, but still the statistics on rate of CO2 emission are solid, and the satellite survey shows aggregate warming, just over a 30 year period with the last 10 being statistically the same. The argument is not particularly invalid. If temperature is a function of CO2 concentration and CO2 concentration is higher than predicted, why are temperatures statistically unchanged over a 10 year period. And, if 10 years isn't a long enough window, why is 30?

[Doc S.]

"If temperature is a function of CO2 concentration and CO2 concentration is higher than predicted, why are temperatures statistically unchanged over a 10 year period."

If it was linear with only 1 variable then this would be correct, but unfortunately there's a lot more than one variable, so if A= Bx +Cx+Dx... and B gets bigger but C gets smaller you see the combination of the two, not just the effects of B. Obviously it isn't this simple, but simply saying "CO2 increased and temp didn't therefor this is invalid" isn't the right way to draw this conclusion

"And, if 10 years isn't a long enough window, why is 30?"

Unfortunately the 30 years is simply an effect of the data availability. And I won't claim to know what the best time period to show the data would be, although for most i would assume that it would be the that most accurately suits your agenda.

[Brett L]

If CO2 is the primary variable, and it is varying, then how could we not see an effect? Are you saying that the composite effect of the other forces are enough to entirely damp the effect of CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere? Doesn't that argue for a negative forcing climate in which the effects of anthropic CO2 emissions are far less than the positive forcing scenarios endorsed by the IPCC?

[Doc S.]

CO2 isn't the only variable that determines the earth's climate... It is, however, the variable that we are most able to control, that's why GHG emissions reductions are the main focus.

Geo-engineering is your response to a lot of the other variables.

[Brett L]

But if other (natural) factors damp it, how do we avoid overmitigation? What happens if these other factors dump us into an ice age? won't 1 or 2 deg. C make all the difference in how many people starve? You can't have it both ways. Either CO2 is the driver OR other factors alone or in combination have the ability to damp the effect and we don't know that our CO2 emissions are actually driving any part of the total change.

[robc]

Personally, I want about 10000 years of satellite data. That will eliminate most of the cyclic effects.

The current ice age, the Pliocene-Quaternary glaciation, started about 2.58 million years ago during the late Pliocene when the spread of ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere began. Since then, the world has seen cycles of glaciation with ice sheets advancing and retreating on 40,000- and 100,000-year time scales

Okay, I was off by one order of magnititue, need 100k years of data.

[Doc S.]

I want a yacht. And a monkey butler in a tuxedo.

[rather]

I want a yacht, a monkey, and a naked butler. Why the fuck do you need clothes on a boat?

[Doc S.]

Come on... how could you ever not laugh at this:
http://worldclassshitty.files......o_5i4g.jpg

and you definitely don't need clothes on a yacht, but chimps have this odd habit of ripping the genitals off of things and eating them... so if i have a monkey butler i'm not swinging free when he's around.

[JD the Elder]

So is it a _monkey_, or a _chimp_? They are not the same thing, as you should know, "Doctor".

[rather]

Oh Snap! Hmm, making a mental note to read everything JD the Elder writes

...but how do you see the monkey's tail while wearing a suit?

[John]

Ron Bailey puts up the satellite data every month. And the world has not warmed in a decade. And surely you aren't going to claim that carbon levels haven't increased because doing so kind of negates the need to reduce carbon production.

Yes, it is only ten years. And yes, there could be some other "X" factor that would normally be cooling the planet and therefore is negating the warming that should be occurring.

But it is not good news for the AGW cult.

[Doc S.]

It might be interesting to see what this month's results will show with all the record highs set in the east and the weird temps in the west.

Its CAAAARRRRRAAAAAAAAZZAAAYYYY

[John]

Some years have to be above the mean. That is why it is a mean not a constant.

[Doc S.]

Right, but that would go against the whole premise of his article that global temperature increases have completely stopped in this century, and thus by his logic make his theory invalid as well.
My issue is with him trying to present opinions as fact, and using data that best suits his agenda (granted I get the feeling the majority of the scientific community has done this). I know his job is to get viewers, readers, ad revenue ect.. so being controversial is more important than being accurate, but still this kind of poor reporting only hurts the system as a whole. Both sides of the supposed "debate" are extremely guilty of this.

[John]

It is impossible to say at what point the lack of correlation between carbon in the atmosphere and rising temperatures means the theory is bunk. It is probably more than ten years. But I think it is probably less than fifty.

[Doc S.]

Disclaimer: I cannot 100% say that anthro GHG emissions have huge effects on the earths climate. It seems very likely to me, from my research and my scientific background that our current actions are having an effect, and that it's going to result in a change with more negatives than positives to the global population as a whole.
I think that the effects have been strongly overstated by the alarmists, but that they are accurate although off in scale.
I also believe that the secondary improvements and effects to reducing emissions ( human health, ecotox, reduction in eutrophication and acidification) make it a cause that is worth pursuing.

As for the cult thing: I do look at climate change in the same way i look at religion. I think that the end result of me admitting there is a God and there ends up not being one is a lot better than me saying fuck that, and there turns out to be one. Thats why you better believe I give a shout out to the big man upstairs every time I do anything moderately dangerous.

Same thing with climate change: If it turns out to be overblown, the results of becoming more energy independent, improving infrastructure and transportation means, and improving efficiency as a whole aren't too bad of outcomes. But doing nothing and then getting mother natures version of the rapture would suck pretty bad.

[John]

You kid yourself. The result of preparing for climate change will be the end of our freedom and everyone being a lot poorer. These people are not your friends.

[Doc S.]

Well... with our current politicians and administration you might be right. But the situation as a whole I don't believe that human rights and wealth are mutually exclusive from environmental health.

[R C Dean]

Of course they aren't. More wealth and freedom is positively correlated with a cleaner environment.

Now, if only the warmies were pushing more wealth and freedom . . . .

[Highway]

They're not mutually exclusive by definition, but 'current' politicians are going to be our 'future' ones, and if (more) power is given to governments, then more power seeking people will flock to it.

You can't count on 'the right people' being in charge.

[robc]

Im a born again christian but I find Pascal's wager to be stupid.

[Doc S.]

It all depends on the utility. I like hedging my bets.

[rather]

I've never understood the concept of 'born-again; if it is so easy to get on the 'good side', why not wait till your deathbed?

'Hedging bets' is religion without faith.

I know their is a god and I say fuck him.

[Fatty Bolger]

that it's going to result in a change with more negatives than positives to the global population as a whole.

Why? Historically speaking, warming periods have been very good for the "global population." Why should it be different this time around?

As for the cult thing: I do look at climate change in the same way i look at religion. I think that the end result of me admitting there is a God and there ends up not being one is a lot better than me saying fuck that, and there turns out to be one. Thats why you better believe I give a shout out to the big man upstairs every time I do anything moderately dangerous.

Where's barfman when you need him?

If it turns out to be overblown, the results of becoming more energy independent, improving infrastructure and transportation means, and improving efficiency as a whole aren't too bad of outcomes.

The cost of CO2 mitigation and stupid schemes like cap & trade is extremely high. Improved efficiency and infrastructure will happen anyway, so you can hardly claim that as a benefit.

[Fatty Bolger]

Obviously I screwed up the italic tags. Mentally insert as needed.

[Cytotoxic]

DocS: those 'secondary' benefits were achieved a long time ago. "Energy independence" is a crock. Between China's giant lake of poison in Inner Mongolia made from processing magnets for windmills and the economic destruction of those windmills, the pain of the problems arising from AGW are already outweighed by our more painful "solutions".

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

Government by the 'experts'
...This is a travesty of constitutional lawmaking: An executive branch agency makes laws unless Congress enacts legislation to achieve the executive agency's aim. ...

[Brett L]

Seriously, I'm okay with governance by experts, as long as the experts who either fail to make falsifiable claims or have their claims falsified get an execution so horrible a Roman gladiator would vomit seeing it.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Nobody gives a shit about the technicalities anymore. It's all about the feeeeeeelings.... And obviously George Will hates sick people.

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

...The PPACA repeatedly refers to any IPAB proposal as a "legislative proposal" and speaks of "the legislation introduced" by the IPAB. Each proposal automatically becomes law unless Congress passes ? with a three-fifths supermajority required in the Senate ? a measure cutting medical spending as much as the IPAB proposal would. ...

...And it gets worse. Any resolution to abolish the IPAB must pass both houses of Congress. And no such resolution can be introduced before 2017 or after Feb. 1, 2017, and must be enacted by Aug. 15 of that year. And if passed, it cannot take effect until 2020. Defenders of all this audaciously call it a "fast track" process for considering termination of IPAB. It is, however, transparently designed to permanently entrench IPAB ? never mind the principle that one Congress cannot by statute bind another Congress from altering that statute....

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

It's illegal to repeal it. One man one vote one time. Third world democracy, just like MNG and the public service unions like it.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

If ever there was a time for a Supreme Court Justice to speak out against something prior to actually hearing the case, I think this justifies it.

[JoshInHB]

I think that it's time to admit that progressives have killed the constitution and begin working towards a new one.

[JW]

I wish I had started shorting torches and pitchforks in the 90's.

[R C Dean]

Congress can kill the IPAB any time it grows a testicle.

IPAB proposals do not become legislation unless and until passed by Congress. Assuming, of course, that SCOTUS grows a testicle.

[Lord Humungus]

the Dems feared a backlash against Obamacare and tried to entrench the law as much as possible.

This and the "pre-funding" funding were an attempt to stop Republican "sabotage".

Remember voters, this is what happens when you deliver all the power to one party.

[Anonymous Coward]

And the Imperial Presidency marches on. It is my earnest desire to live to see the day when the President declares himself Emperor and the American people, in their apathy, simply shrug their shoulders and shuffle along to buy the latest Apple gadget.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Hackers Expose Porn Website Login Info and Emails (Including Gov't Email Addresses)

...The hackers compromised the database of the hardcore website (called "Pron"), exposing not only the email addresses and passwords of over 25,000 members but also the credentials of 55 administrators of other adult websites...

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

Sorry to hear about that, Epi.

[Wind Rider]

Warty hardest hit.

[Brett L]

Best part is that the hackers are going to try the email/password combos against Facebook and post status messages about the person's membership if they are successful. So change your Facebook password if you are naive enough to use it for anything else.

[Troublemaker]

But I thought the anarchists assholes hackers were our friends?

[Brett L]

They are. They are teaching those of us who didn't know it that your pron email address and your facebook email should be different.

[John]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....lamic.html

Police 'covered up' violent campaign to turn London area 'Islamic'

This is what fascism looks like.

[Matrix]

It's pretty disturbing. Muslims in Europe and several parts of the world are very nuts. Not all, mind you, but a small portion of them make a big mess.

[Matrix]

BTW, in about 50 years, Europe will be a Muslim continent. The indigenous population is not growing at all. In fact, they are shrinking, thanks to low birth rates. But with immigration and high birth rates among the Muslim population, Islam will likely dominate the continent in the coming decades.

Something to inspire fear? Not necessarily.

[Spainish Guy circa 800 AD]

ZOMG!!!! In about 50 years, all of our faire lande will be overrun by the Moors!!!!!!! The Berber armies are coming for your daughters!!!!!

RUN!

[Brett L]

Except they were already being ruled by Moors. Other than that, what's the difference?

[John]

http://drhelen.blogspot.com/20.....-from.html

Psychologists write on how to profit from counseling old people who will be denied rationed medical care in favor of the young.

Remember, Palin was crazy and stupid when she said death panels.

[Jordan Elliot]

Palin's crazy and stupid all of the time. Doesn't mean she can't also be correct on occasion.

[Dilbert Doe]

Ever have an original thought? No? I didn't think so.

[Lost_In_Translation]

You mean rationed medical care will be rationed!?! Heavens above, but liberals claimed to be able to infinitely meet unlimited demand within their limited program.

[Doc S.]

I would like to apply the "Even a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut" theory here. But actually for as bat shit crazy as some of her beliefs are, others aren't too far off.
Now if only we could exorcise those bat shit crazy ideas... But I guess that's just menopause

[R C Dean]

But actually for as bat shit crazy as some of her beliefs are,

Examples?

[OO]

whoops - family/doctor/insurance decisions to withhold critical geriatric care happens now. but if palin's death panels are what u seek, look to jab brewer throwing transplant seekers off state medicare.

[R C Dean]

family/doctor/insurance decisions to withhold critical futile geriatric care happens now

About 99% of the time, its a family decision (or even the patient's!). About 1% of the time, the family is too dysfunctional to do the humane thing, and the doctors have to step in. I've only seen the docs do it when either (1) the patient was suffering with no chance of recovery or (2) no brain left.

I have never once seen an insurance company get involved.

[rather]

So RC, you are saying private insurance never refuses to pay for a person who is unlikely to survive? Or are you referring to Medicare only?

[Kreel Sarloo]

I'm pretty sure insurance companies pay exactly what they are contractually required to pay. Outcomes or potential outcomes are not a concern to them.

They are only concerned with the language of the contract.

[R C Dean]

Medicare, private insurance, Medicaid, whatever. I've never seen any of them get involved in any way in a withdrawal of care case.

I've never seen withdrawal of "critical" care, that is, care that actually has the potential to make a positive difference in outcomes, even discussed. By anyone. Ever.

[OO]

my elderly mother who had a stroke was determined, by the insurance co, to be beyond any quality of life so only pallative care was covered.

[Almanian]

If the healthcare contract said they get to make that decision, then there's no contractual beef. If it says something else, did you sue?

And you've just restated what's already been discussed ("critical [in your mind]" vs "actually makes a difference", so you're just running over the same ground again.

[rather]

RC you are so full of shit. I don't even need to google 'refusal of care because you didn't mention you had acne at 16, and now that you are sick, we found are out to refuse to pay for your care'

Let me google: "RC is full of shit" instead

About 38 results (0.17 seconds) LOL

[JD]

So you'd rather they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars so she can lie in a nursing home bed and develop pressure sores and eventually probably die from inhaling her own vomit instead of dying in peace? What a good son.

Besides, the elderly already have the ultimate goal of universal taxpayer-funded healthcare. How would the outcome in the progressive utopia of single-payer for all be any different?

[OO]

nope - she was in the teachers insurance so no medicare. and no nursing home which they also wouldnt cover. we had to take her back home & rent the equpiment for her

[rather]

OO, I am sorry to hear that your family had to go the stress. Libertarians seem to think contract are 'holy', when, in reality, they play a wait you out game because they know you are sick, and will give up

[Kreel Sarloo]

rather, you do realize that resources are not unlimited, don't you?

Even in countries where healthcare is a "right" ther are not enough resources to guarante every sick person a satisfactory outcome.

People simply die waiting in line for treatment.

[rather]

Kreel Sarloo,
Canada spends:

45.33% less money on health care

Per capita public and private health expenditures combined in Canada are $3,673 USD while The United States spends $6,719 USD
This entry contains the per capita public and private health expenditure at purchase power parity using US Dollars. This figure combines government, personal, and employer spending on health care
Source: World Health Organization

I know we can do better, even without spending almost twice the amount

[Kreel Sarloo]

And people die waiting line waiting for treatments in Canada.

Or they just suffer in pain waiting in line for things like hip replacements.

Canada keeps its spending low by denying people care.

[Tim]

Have we won in Libya yet?

[Lost_In_Translation]

We never have to win, we just have to distract.

[Wind Rider]

Please define "winning" to aid the "proper authorities" in properly moving the goalposts. Thank you for your cooperation, citizen.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Winning...duh

[Almanian]

#WINNING

Gotta remember the pound sign, and capitalization.

[robc]

Re: Weinergate

Has Markos apologized for his fraud claims? Or has he weaseled out some explanation?

Weaseling out of things is what separates us from the animals. Except the weasel.

[John]

Did that guy who claimed the rapture was going to happen last month ever apologize? Being a cult leaders means never having to say you are sorry.

[robc]

True. But people made fun of that guy both before and after.

Then again, I guess his true believers will listen to him with his next rapture prediction, especially considering this one wasnt his first. So, yeah, kos is okay, liberalism is just a much bigger cult.

[bosty]

he had a stroke

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

He's been raptured then.

[Lost_In_Translation]

The Weasel Defamation League would strenously request that you stop referencing them in relation to Mr. Markos, a man with whom good upstanding weasels would have nothing to do with.

[Brett L]

Actually, yes. At least according to Mickey Kaus

[John]

I am not a big Kaus fan. But that piece is hilarious, especially the part about Kurtz.

[Lord Humungus]

I like Kaus - sure, he's a liberal - but he's not batshit crazy one. I disagree with him on a few points, but overall I could drink beer with him w/o wanting to wring his neck.

[John]

I could too.

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

Your "Dems are responsible for Fannie/Freddie" links of the day.

Via NPR: Political Networks Of Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac

Note who signed the damn thing (and that it's a PDF):
June 28, 2004 open letter to Pres Bush from House Dems (PDF)
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20050

Dear Mr. President:

We urge you to reconsider your Administration's criticisms of the housing-related government sponsored enterprises (the "GSEs'') and instead work with Congress to strengthen the mission and oversight of the GSEs.

We write as members of the House of Representatives who continually press the GSEs to do more in affordable housing. Until recently, we have been disappointed that the Administration has not been more supportive of our efforts to press the GSEs to do more. We have been concerned that the Administration's legislative proposal regarding the GSEs would weaken affordable housing perfomance by the GSEs, by emphasizing only safety and soundness. While the GSEs' affordable housing mission is not in any way incompatible with their safety and soundness, an exclusive focus on safety and soundness is likely to come, in practice, at the expense of affordable housing....

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

Obama and the Fat Cats
...One could mention other liberals who cashed in at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, such as James Johnson, aide to former Democratic vice president Walter Mondale, Franklin Raines, budget director under Bill Clinton, Jamie Gorelick, deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration ? and Rahm Emanuel, a Freddie Mac board member who did quite well, despite the implosion. ...

In Bid To Reform Fannie and Freddie, Obama Can't Shake Crony Clintonistas Who Caused the Mess
...As it turns out, former President Clinton packed the boards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with virtually as many personal allies and beneficiaries as they could hold. The most visible was Franklin Raines ? Fannie Mae chairman, CEO, and former Clinton budget chief ? who later resigned in disgrace with a multi-million parachute.

And then there's President Obama's current White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who served on Fannie Mae's board for a mere 14 months and raked in a cool $320,000.

Clinton also packed the Fannie board with Democratic Senator and "Keating Five" defendant Dennis DeConcini. Hillary Clinton's confidante Jamie Gorelick got a prized seat, as did Bill and Hillary favorite Harold Ickes, Democratic strategist....

[John]

How is Gorelick not at Danberry doing a couple of nickels?

[DJF]

He is too big to fail.

[Wind Rider]

This is one of the great unanswered mysteries of our time. She should at least be permanently banned and barred from ever performing in any 'public' role or function, ever again.

[John]

I have met her at conferences. She is as homely as a fence post and has absolutely no personality. She is not overtly unpleasant. She is just totally unremarkable. I honestly cannot figure out how she has been so successful at stealing money and destroying the country. She is the most disappointing arch villain since Eichman.

[JW]

I've dealt with Tim Howard, Raines' CFO and the architect of the Fannie book cooking, a couple of times. He personfies the arch villain sterotype a bit better.

[John]

I am never surprised by the kind of appalling people who get to the top in Washington.

[JW]

appalling people

Feature, not a bug.

[Restoras]

Banality of Evil

[Anonymous Coward]

She is as homely as a fence post and has absolutely no personality. She is not overtly unpleasant. She is just totally unremarkable.

The two qualities of the career bureaucrat.

[robc]

Whats under the yellow? I think I want to know that bit. And considering the topic of the letter it cant be a national security issue.

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

I think the yellow is just highlighting by whoever posted the PDF.

[robc]

Got it. If I select the section with my mouse, I can see the text. Thats ... stupid. I thought it was something being redacted, but its the part you quoted above.

[Lost_In_Translation]

First they came for the boaters...wait,that's not right, first they came for the air passengers, wait, I think they came for the drivers in and around New Years, the the air passengers, now the boaters. That sounds right. So soon i expect to hear that the terrorists have infiltrated the ranks. Maybe then they'll come for themselves and consume the system. What, a guy can dream...

[WTF]

So, what is the novel constitutional theory/interpretation that allows a search of someone's boat without probable cause? Or do they not even bother with justifications at this point?

[Lost_In_Translation]

They must be late on their student loan payments....

[DJF]

I haven't been on a small boat in a couple of years but they use to use the excuse of looking to see if you hade safety equipment like life preservers, flares, lights, etc, or they ask for boat registrations, fishing licenses etc. Anything to allow them on board and then they check out everything.

[WTF]

[...]they use to use the excuse of looking to see if you hade safety equipment[...]

Still not sure how that gets past the Fourth Amendmement - I mean, apartments in my town are required to have smoke detectors, but no one can just do a search of your apartment to see if you have them. So how are boats different?

[Lost_In_Translation]

Eh heh hem. I think Balko has already covered that issue. They can and have done that.

[WTF]

Well, damn. I guess it must have something to do with the part of the Fourth Amendment that says, "...except in the case of public safety concerns." In the super secret Constitution that is not for the general public.

[Wind Rider]

Boats are different from apartment in that they're older, and so there's been a lot of weaselling around to come up with ways to justify boarding them without needing any permission from anyone. Apartments, not a Phonecian inve3ntion.

[Marcus Didius Falco]

If we didn't have apartments in ancient times, what was that fifth-floor hovel I used to live in?

[DJF]

The US government has also declared certain waters as restricted areas, such as near naval bases, bridges, tunnels, power plants, etc. So once that area is declared it, the government then gives themselves the permission to search boats in those restricted areas. If you look at a marine chart you can see various restricted areas marked out.

[Wind Rider]

Why does it include. . .Kansas?

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

how are boats different?

For most people, it's not your home. And when you're out operating in navigable waters, you're voluntarily engaging in a specially-regulated activity.

[Clich? Bandit]

Boats have always been different. They are covered under maritime law. The boating commmunity has been screaming about this for 230 years or more. There is literally no recognized 4th protection regarding boats, including houseboats. This is not exageration nor is it a hidden fact. As I said, boaters have know this for a very long time and been fighting it unsuccessfully for a long time. To put a fine point on it: The authorities need zero justification for searching your boat, ever.

[R C Dean]

There is literally no recognized 4th protection regarding boats, including houseboats.

Well, of course not. The Constitution stops at the navigable water's edge. You have no free speech rights on a boat, either. And if the Coasties want to throw you overboard because you're black, well, tough luck.

[Clich? Bandit]

unfortunately this is accurate.

i was stunned when I discovered this is common knowledge in the boating community.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It's largely a function of federal grants buying every two-bit sheriff a boat in order to stop the terrorists.

Just wait till the federal funding dries up and the departments have to pay for their own operations, then you'll start seeing boat seizures for catching rockfish out of season.

[Invisible Finger]

Right before federal funding dries up, asset forfeiture laws will be enacted making the federal funds less important anyway.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

So, what is the novel constitutional theory/interpretation that allows a search of someone's boat without probable cause?

You are not in your home and you are voluntarily engaging in a specially-regulated activity. There have been court cases on this very question, and it's pretty well-decided that the USCG has the authority to board any vessel that is in waters covered by the USCG's authority (which is pretty broad).

I've read some pretty egregious encounters, including one that involved USCG boarding a private pleasure boat to confirm the Y-valve was closed (to prevent any discharge of sewage) and ended up with the coastie in charge diving down the companionway, gun drawn, screaming, pointing it at the owner's head. Because he had to make sure he wasn't flushing his toilet overboard.

[Rich]

"Job No. 1 is keeping people safe," said Charles Rowe, a Coast Guard spokesman. "Even the ones who are complaining."

IOW, it's for your own good, even if you are too stupid to appreciate that.

Also, spokespeople should stop saying safety is "the most important thing we do". If it were, their organizations would simply eliminate activities such as boating or providing air transportation.

[Wind Rider]

bullshit. That little puddle pirate spokeswanker needs to review why the Coast Guard was set up (a branch of the Treasury, btw, originally) - it was to enforce the original funding source for the country - import revenues. And oh, by the way, as a nice fig leaf, they were tasked to go rescue people in trouble.

Ain't a damned thing about them acting as human condoms to keep us safe from teh funz. . . .

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

"Job No. 1 is keeping people our jobs safe,"

[Cyto]

After they shoot someone the answer morphs to "officer safety is our primary concern."

[John]

They always come for themselves eventually. That is not a dream.

[John]

Russ Feingold

It is not over until we win.

And my god what a bunch of nasty, dirty hippie demonstrators.

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2.....til-i.html

The Italians for all of their faults, do produce a better class of demonstrators.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/i.....oto_num=20

[Amateur Sociologist]

Althouse does OK with the protester pictures, but if you really want the qualtiy crazy protester pics, you can't beat Zombietime.

[P Brooks]

"We get a lot of complaints, but maritime safety and security has taken on a whole new direction since 9/11 ? we're more proactive, we're more vigilant,"

There is no "Right to Boat" in the Constitution, you dumb civilian!

OBEY

[Matrix]

fucking 4th Amendment, how does it work?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Not very well, needs some maintenance

[Pro Libertate]

We neglected to install the required patches.

[JW]

I wish that they would tell us that it's a cookbook, already.

[JoshInHB]

Which fucking amendment hasn't been eviscerated?

The only one I can think of is the 3rd.

[Congress]

Have faith in us. We'll get to it eventually.

[Pro Libertate]

That'll happen when the SWAT teams establish occupancy in nicer homes after a raid.

[Anonymous Coward]

fucking 4th Amendment, how does it work?

He's dead, Jim.

[James T. Kirk]

KHAAAAN!!!

[Bee Tagger]

allowing them more leeway to search databases, go through household trash or use surveillance teams to scrutinize the lives of people who have attracted their attention.

If this is the first step in the march toward a snarky TMZ-style FBI show, I'll sacrifice a smidge of my liberty.

[Jess Asken]

What is a typical salary for a household-trash-goer-througher?

[Bee Tagger]

Who's going through the trash of the trash-goer-throughers?

Their suspicious spouses.

[sarcasmic]

Detectives in city police departments make upwards of 80K.
Feds surely make for than that.

[Inid O'Jub]

Heck, I'll do it for $50K.

[Homeless Person]

I'll do it for "the spoils".

[Lord Humungus]

heh, my mother has cousins who run one of the larger trash haulers in Chicago.

Needless to say, they had (or still do?) a basement of items "found on the route". This junk was traded to other relatives for things of real value.

Just part of my "Dutch Mafia" connections.

[Inmate]

The pay sucks but we get fringe benefits like all those credit card applications people throw out

[John]

http://nalert.blogspot.com/201.....ly-to.html

Consumer electric bills to go up 40 to 60 percent thanks to EPA greenhouse regulations. Fuck you to anyone who ever argued in favor of that damned cult.

[JW]

Don't worry, when this does come to fruition and the proles start complaining abou the price, they can just blame it on greedy capitalists.

[Bee Tagger]

Wasserman Schultz said...
"But we have made clear that he needs to resign, he needs to focus on getting his own personal issues in order, focus on his family..."

I am so tired of the DNC shilling for James Dobson.

[OO]

yep dobson is another pree-vert

[Derp!]

"Urine..." - *shakes head at the hopelessness of Urine's case*

[P Brooks]

But since 9/11, security and enforcement have been transformed, aided by grants from the Department of Homeland Security that have underwritten more and better boats and manpower. Westchester County did not have a marine unit until 1999; now it has two high-tech surveillance boats that cost $250,000 and $400,000 and can patrol around the clock.

And if we stop buying quarter-million dollar boats for the pigs to play with, millions of children and elderly people will DIE in the streets.

[Troy]

Terrorists are everywhere P. Donthcya know? If it wasn't for all these little pricked soldier wannabees, we would be walking streets of children blood.

Seriously, the "Security State" has arrived.

[John]

Debbie Waserman Shultz

we were able to, under President Obama's leadership, turn this economy around.

Even David Gregory wouldn't let that one pass. Remember, Palin is the dumb one.

http://www.nationalreview.com/.....bert-costa

[Jerry]

They're not dumb, they're pathological. Slight difference.

[Shmenge]

No reason they cant be both.

[cynical]

It's technically a true statement.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Please, a brief word on Game of Thrones spoilers:

Don't.

[robc]

Its a frickin sled.

[Lost_In_Translation]

WTF?

Was someone watching the NBS Finals last night instead of what they should have been watching?

[robc]

Mavs won.

I hope I spoiled that for someone.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Lebron...still zero...it makes me giddy.

[Brett L]

Is there anyone in the world surprised that the Heat choked (except maybe LeBron)?

[robc]

Why would LeBron be surprised? He did it in Cleveland regularly.

[Lost_In_Translation]

It makes the new movie's (Bad Teacher) line so much more funny.

[Brett L]

He strikes me as the serial monogamist who keeps marrying someone different thinking that the other party is the reason the marriages keep failing. Some people can lie to themselves in the face of any reality.

[MNG]

Was rooting for the Mavs, but I don't hate on Lebron. I don't want to return to a NBA with a Jordan-like player who pours in 40 a night and overwhelms all opponents.

[R C Dean]

I view it as more of a choke by the refs.

Didn't they get the memo? Dirk is the past, man. Lebron is the future, and the future needs a ring.

[John]

No No. LeBron blew that with the Decision. The last thing the Angel of Stern wants is for star players running the league and forming AAU traveling teams in the big markets. If Stern controls the refs and by extension the results, the Heat were destined to lose in the finals, where they can generate the maximum ratings without actually winning anything.

[Invisible Finger]

Well, the story isn't that Dirk won, it's that LeBron lost.

It's just building the story so that when LeBron finally does win, he will have fought through so much more adversity.

This is why I hate SportsCenter, sport radio, sports magazine, etc. There are the games, and there are the stats. There is nothing else, but phoney human interest stories fill up the other 21 hours of the media's day.

I blame Roone Arledge.

[R C Dean]

Well, the story isn't that Dirk won, it's that LeBron lost.

Well, Dirk damn sure didn't do much to win that game, that's for sure.

And watching LeBron cough up rebounds to the Mav's runty white guy backup point guard, that was just painful.

So, point taken.

[JT]

You mean the National Basketball 'Ssociation?

[Platypus]

or Syndicate?

[robc]

A Game of Thrones was published 3 years before The Matrix. I guess I shouldnt give away the "coppertop" spoiler either.

Also, Bruce Willis is dead. James Earl Jones is Luke's father.

[Lost_In_Translation]

I always knew Luke had a bit of house ne...vermind.

[robc]

All the suspects stabbed him.

[Lost_In_Translation]

It looks like something lost their mind.

Yeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh

[Brett L]

Verbal is Kaiser Soze.

[robc]

Snape killed Dumbledore.

[proegg antichicken]

I stole the cookie from the cookie jar.

[Platypus]

Max shot the sheriff, but he did not shoot the deputy.

[PS]

Kristen shot JR.

[Fatty Bolger]

Maggie shot Mr. Burns.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

I am Spartacus.

[Fist of Etiquette]

There is a spoiler contained in the previous thread. I had already been spoiled. (I hollered up at Ethel, but it was too late.)

[Rich]

Contest!

The eleven missing words are:

[my entry]
"provided no intelligence-gathering methods or secrets about sources were disclosed."

[Lost_In_Translation]

[mine]

"...entered the president's quarters, gun in hand, but then chickened out"

[Cy Nickelfuque]

"Of course, the actual truth behind these actions must never surface."

[sarcasmic]

Pretty sad when the universal symbol for Good Idea is against the law.

[P Brooks]

apartments in my town are required to have smoke detectors, but no one can just do a search of your apartment to see if you have them

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[WTF]

Yeah, I guess they don't even need to bother with "we thought we heard evidence being destroyed" - now it's just "we were doing an inspection for smoke detectors and found....". All in accordance with the "public safety exmeption" to the Fourth Amendment, of course.

[Enough About Palin]

As I mention about a year ago, the cops broke into my house (with a court order) while I wasn't home to look at my gas pipes.

http://reason.com/blog/2010/03.....nt_1629468

[Almanian]

Well, you gotta admit, you do look kinda "suspicious", EAP. So it's OK for them to do that, right? Right.

[Kreel Sarloo]

Yes, that was wrong. What the gas company should have done when you refused a safety inspection was to disconnect your service.

[R C Dean]

Does your contract with the gas company give them the right to inspect your house? If not, they have no grounds to cut off your service as long as you pay your bills.

Is your gas company a monopoly? If so, then I don't think they should be able to dictate terms of service that are irrelevant to the actual service they are providing.

[Kreel Sarloo]

I suspect that there is legislation that provides for the gas company making inspections and that that those rules are spelled out in the contract (which no one ever reads) that every gas company agrees to by signing up for service.

Of course that would probably be the same legislation that created the gas company's monopoly in the first place.

Even if the gas company has a monopoly, they are not without competition. Any household function that needs gas can be done as well with electricity. So the gas company always has to consider the electric company in its business plan.

Unfortunately, we do not live in the perfect world in which legislators do not see it as their duty to oversee and micromanage "public utilities".

Just saying that if I was in the business of supplying anything as potentially hazardous as natural gas, I'd provide for making inpspections one of the conditions for continuing service. If anyone is stupid enough to refuse a safety inspection he deserves to have his service cut off. Breaking into his house broken to enforce the inspection is wrong.

[TrickyVic]

""All in accordance with the "public safety exmeption" to the Fourth Amendment, of course.""

Code enforcement.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The only solution to the ever-encroaching FBI is to cut their budget. 14,000 agents with not enough to do except poke through trash.

[Sinic]

But it turns out that more than 80 percent of those called captured Taliban fighters were released within days of having been picked up, because they were found to have been innocent civilians, according to official U.S. military data.

The Taliban killed numbers are most likely the same way. It's fucking sad how few people are going to care at all.

[John]

this just in, many people arrested by police are actually innocent and later released without charges.

[Sinic]

80 fucking percent? And that's not even the issue. The military claimed that they were all Taliban even after most of them had been released. And what about the Taliban killed numbers? There was more incentive to lie about that.

[John]

They have a huge incentive to lie and pick up innocent people to get their numbers up. This has been going on since the war started. If you are commanders "X number of insurgents detained" is a great OER bullet. I am a veteran of more than a few detainee operations in Iraq. And I can tell you most of our detainees turned out to be dirt farmers caught in the wrong place and released. My only surprise is that it has taken the media 10 years to figure that out.

[Wind Rider]

You fuckers act like you actually miss the breathless anticipation waiting to see the latest "body count" of gooks, zips and other little random yellow or brown people. Lying bitches.

[John]

What are you talking about?

[Sinic]

That will make them not hate us. And BTW, 80% of the 2,000 killed is 1,600. That's in addition to the claimed civilians killed.

[JoshInHB]

My only surprise is that it has taken the media 10 years to figure that out.

Why would that surprise you?

You're talking about people that accepted Weiners transparent bullshit excuses before that horrible Breitbart did actual reporting.

[TrickyVic]

""My only surprise is that it has taken the media 10 years to figure that out.""

What? There's been complaints about us doing that all along. In Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been complaints about farmers in Gitmo since Gitmo hit the media.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Expecting people to pick up on the lies isn't exactly the same thing as keeping the public well informed. Public policy is being made on the basis of improper data (whether or not the congress critters actually know the true numbers, they're claiming credit for them).

[MNG]

Hearts and minds Sinic, hearts and minds!

[Anonymous Coward]

But if we don't capture everyone, how will be able to kill the number 3 man in Al-Qaeda for the 4th time this year?

[R C Dean]

Actually, I find the quick release to be good news. That's how its supposed to work.

Now, lying about whether they were Taliban is very bad, mostly because it creates an incentive to fill quotas.

"Bring me in some towelheads, boys! Doesn't matter which ones. We need to get our numbers up."

[Brett L]

"Round up the usual suspects."

[Cytotoxic]

Great point!

I also doubt the %killed as civilians is similar. The arrests largely seem to come out of nighttime raids the deaths during firefights. Remember, America is not responsible for those deaths. It is the fault of the Taliban and AQ.

[Spoonman.]

What a great way to win support, detaining random peasants and then releasing them a few days later, whatever shit they were planning on doing to feed their families in those days put on hold.

You missed the harvest day and your crop is past its prime? Sorry, we thought you were Taliban...

[R C Dean]

You missed the harvest day and your crop is past its prime? Sorry, we thought you were Taliban had a quota to meet...

[Cytotoxic]

Decent article marred by writer's attempt to psychically know that Petraeus 'manipulated' people when it's possible he was just wrong.

[Skip]

This makes perfect sense! All those liberal Egyptian college kid bloggers who squawked about moving into the 20th century must be married guys from Georgia. That would explain why the Muslim Brotherhood is in charge.

[MNG]

The Whistle-Blowers of 1777

The tension between protecting true national security secrets and ensuring the public's "right to know" about abuses of authority is not new. Indeed, the nation's founders faced this very issue. In the winter of 1777, months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American warship Warren was anchored outside of Providence, R.I. On board, 10 revolutionary sailors and marines met in secret ? not to plot against the king's armies, but to discuss their concerns about the commander of the Continental Navy, Commodore Esek Hopkins...Hopkins had participated in the torture of captured British sailors; he "treated prisoners in the most inhuman and barbarous manner," his subordinates wrote in a petition.

Hopkins, infuriated, immediately retaliated. He filed a criminal libel suit in Rhode Island against the whistle-blowers...Later that month, without any recorded dissent, Congress enacted America's first whistle-blower-protection law

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06......html?_r=1

[OO]

exactly why only torture at gitmo is allowed since that's not amurikan

[TrickyVic]

You don't have the security clearance to see that info.

[MNG]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06.....s.html?hpw

About one in four of the nearly 7,400 elected representatives across the country do not possess a four-year college degree, according to a report released Sunday evening by The Chronicle of Higher Education in Washington. That compares with 6 percent of members of Congress, and 72 percent of adults nationwide...Arkansas has the least formally educated Statehouse, with 25 percent of its 135 legislators not having any college experience at all, compared with 8.7 percent of lawmakers nationwide. It was followed by state legislatures in Montana (20 percent), Kansas (16 percent), South Dakota (16 percent) and Arizona (16 percent).

[John]

I am not seeing why that is a big deal.

[MNG]

I know, it just proves the Age of the Common Man, anti-elitist tide is doing OK!

[Brett L]

How are these places worse than California, New York or Illinois despite their lack of degreed officials. Why, just like in private industry it is almost as if credential and achievement are unrelated.

[MNG]

Are credentials and achievement unrelated? I thought Charles Murray, among others, has provided a great deal of evidence otherwise.

[Brett L]

We could ask Michael Dell, Bill Gates, and Walter Cronkite. It would be hard to argue this in say, education, because there is a minimum credential required. Same with, say, many branches scientific research where it would be difficult for someone with less than a masters to gain access to the necessary equipment. If we gave uncredentialed people access, would performance decline? It is a question we don't have the information to answer.

[MNG]

Like I said, you should check out some of the studies on this. Murray, who decried credentialism, found pretty strong relationships between it and intelligence and life success.

[JoshInHB]

Confirmation bias.

[Lord Humungus]

These days, credentials are practically required to get hired into anything beyond factory worker.

At my last job, the company refused to hire someone with 15 years of computer experience because the guy didn't have a degree. And this was just for a "Computer Support" position.

It seems like the days of my dad, who started as a store clerk and worked his way up the chain to VP to retire at 55 are dead and gone. He is a college-dropout and smart as a whip, but he had to leave school to feed his family.

[Fatty Bolger]

Companies in general have given too much power to HR. HR loves to weed out as many people as possible using arbitrary criteria. Makes the job easier.

I'm sure there are other companies taking advantage of the situation, though.

[MNG]

"Why, just like in private industry it is almost as if credential and achievement are unrelated."

I know, but why can't we get even more pure and have a significant amount without high school degrees?

[Brett L]

Sure. As long as I can give intelligence or math tests to my applicants without being sued on equal protection grounds.

[MNG]

I agree you should be able to do that. BTW-Murray has a big discussion about that very issue in the Bell Curve.

[Brett L]

I guess my problem with your original statement is that some credentials are more valuable than others. And some that have value in one context are worthless in another. Most of my problem with 'credentialism' is treating all of the credentials of a certain type (e.g. college degrees or professional certifications) as having the same value in all contexts.

[Jerry]

Arkansas has term limits, and I believe most of the people serving terms already have a local government job.

[Jerry]

(and 80% of them are registered Democrats)

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Anything is preferable to a sociology degree

[MNG]

Hey, our first lady has one of those!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That explains a lot

[sarcasmic]

MNG believes in equality.
Equality means that people who believe in equality the way MNG does are equal, and everyone else is inferior.

Everyone in Arkansas is racist and stupid. Every last one of them.
That means that people of Arkansas are inferior, especially the legislators because they are uneducated.

Because they are so inferior when compared to the enlightened and higher educated people in Washington D.C., they do not deserve to govern themselves.

They should instead be ruled by their betters.
Their betters being people who believe in equality in the same way as MNG.

[MNG]

"Everyone in Arkansas is racist and stupid. Every last one of them."

Nah, just electoral majorities!

[WTF]

TRAKTOR PULLZ!!!11!

[MNG]

They can't afford tractors in Arkansas, they just do tug o' war.

[MNG]

While they play the jug and spoons.

[JoshInHB]

Don't forget the washboard.

[Lord Humungus]

and the one-string tub-thumper... and the jug.

[Enough About Palin]

Our resident Ph.D. is once again masturbating. Others without degrees include Bill Gates and Herman Cain, both of whom are too rich and too busy to spend all day, every day, posting on H&R.

[MNG]

I wonder why it riles so many people up here to suggest that there is some association between credentials and ability? It's particularly interesting since a lot of people here often insist that the fact that someone achieves in the financial world is a testament to their acumen and talents (we hear that Limbaugh or whoever "must" be intelligent because "look at how much money he makes").

I think credentials, while of course not prefectly correlated with talent or ability, are like most indicators of success going to be highly correlated. And I mean credentials broadly. IMO a degree is equivalent to being an officer in the military, or being a certified master in some trade, or making a high level management position in business. I imagine all are correlated with ability and talent.

[T]

Umm. No. You can get a college degree simply through perseverance. It displays nothing about your intelligence, ability or talent, just your motivation. And often, motivation just isn't enough.

I speaking simply of undergraduate work, BTW. Grad school is another subject with different issues.

[Ted Kazinski]

What he said^^

[sarcasmic]

When I went to college I was surprised to discover how many people who are completely devoid of ability and talent manage to fudge their way though classes and get a degree.

I'm guessing that either you have never gone to college, or you are one of those people.

[MNG]

"I was surprised to discover how many people who are completely devoid of ability and talent manage to fudge their way though"

That's funny, because I thought the same thing in the business world. Or better put, the world.

[sarcasmic]

Yet you trust people in government.

Odd.

[Fatty Bolger]

That's funny, because I thought the same thing in the business world. Or better put, the world.

Sure. They leaned on their credentials, rather than their ability. Happens all the time.

[Cytotoxic]

Yes he is. He doesn't even seem to care whether the 3/4 have a real degree like engineering or something like sociology. All that matters is being checked and processed by the system-something, anything!

[Libertymike]

Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks! Mr. Nowitski, to quote Stuart Scott, was just "redirkulous".

Happy for Mark Cuban, Dirk, Jay Kidd, Jayson Terry, Tyson Chandler, J.J. Berea, Shawn Marion and Coach Carlisle.

Unlike many, I can not join in the Lebron schatenfraude. Sure, no question Dirk Nowitski was the best player in the series, but Lebron did have a triple double in game 5 and he was the best player for the Heat in the Celtics and Bulls series.

[MNG]

How soon before there are comparisons between Dirk and Larry Bird as great white hopes, with proper concern and consternations all around of course?

[John]

Dirk is a German and has a different game than Bird did. He is not as good of an all around player, although he is great. And honestly, race just isn't that important in the NBA anymore. No one seems to care that Dirk is white.

[MNG]

It's the first time since 1986 that a white player was series MVP, that's a long time relatively.

A lot of NBA fans are white and a lot of them have been wanting another great white player to step up. I think it's good for the game in the same way that Tiger Wood's success in golf was good for that game.

It's also nice to see a European player hit so big, also good for a game that is trying to maximize its global appeal.

[John]

Meh. It is a culture thing. White people will root for black people and not care that no white guys are successful provided that the black people are not too ghetto. A guy like Ray Allen or Grant Hill is more white in a lot of ways than Bird, who had a very black game and grew up very hard and poor, ever was.

[Pip]

"A lot of NBA fans are white and a lot of them have been wanting another great white player to step up."

Full of shit much?

[Spoonman.]

I grew up in Dallas. In a city obsessed with race, nobody gave a shit what race the Mavericks players were.

The superintendent of DISD, though? Didn't matter what their credentials were, only whether they were black or hispanic.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Wrong. I'm a white guy. Could care less what race or ethnicity a player is. I root for winners. Of course as a Lakers fan, I am a little spoiiled!

[John]

The triple double was a fraud. The failed when it counted and he didn't score when they needed him to. And he hit a lot of hero luck shots in the Boston and Chicago series. He is 33% from three point range during the season. But managed to hit several big contested threes against the Bulls and Celtics. Good for him, but there was no way that was going to happen for a third straight round.

[Brett L]

Its not schadenfraude, its just fact. Dwayne Wade has more championships than LeBron but no one is talking about how he did or did not pick up his game for the Finals. Someone has to pick up a team, put it on his back, and carry it across the line in the NBA finals when the game is on the line. LeBron was supposed to be that guy and couldn't get it done. That was evident by mid-season this year. Maybe next year it will be different.

[MNG]

Do you want to return to that era? I don't. Look at the Mavs, their star player had a bad night too, and other less famous guys stepped up. It was more like the New England Patriots, a team effort. That's a good thing. One player isn;t going to overwhelm opponents anymore. Good.

[Brett L]

Are you saying that Bird, Johnson, Olajuwan, and Kobe didn't pick up their teams in must win situations in the finals and carry them by force of will? That's what I'm talking about, and I don't think you'll ever get to the point in professional sports where the will of the best player on the court to win (or not) isn't the deciding factor in a multi-game series.

[MNG]

I would just rather see winning done by well coordinated teams with few megastars than a Jordan-esque team.

I hated the Jordan era, it was pathetic. The NBA would not allow the man to have a bad night, if he shot poorly he would get put on the line about 20 times and still get his average.

[Invisibel Finger]

You obviously didn't watch or don't remember those Bulls finals games. Jordan didn't dominate every single one, in fact the winning shots usually came from someone other than Jordan.

If anything, neither Wade, nor LeBron, nor Bosh stepped up in the 4th quarter. Too many shots coming from House and Chalmers. Of course, they were the ones who were open, and had they hit those open shots we'd be hearing how great the big 3 are even though the big shots were hit by the nobodies. But the nobodies were open because the better players were occupying the defense.

Jason Terry has always been a player of this caliber, but the idiots in Atlanta made him play point guard for so much of his career.

[Libertymike]

Invisible Finger, I did not care much for Jordan. Sure, there were many times when Scottie Pippen, Paxon, B J Armstrong, Tony Kukoch, Horace Grant, and Steve Kerr made the crucial shots.

However, I agree with MNG to the extent that Jordan appeared to receive preferential treatment. Extra special preferential treatment. Even in the last minute of his tenure with the Bulls, he fouls Karl Malone while stealing the ball from him and he fouls Byron Russel while pushing him in making that iconic shot.

[Anonymous Coward]

Unlike many, I can not join in the Lebron schatenfraude.

And why the hell not? Lebron chokes. It's what he does. Wade looked like somebody took a dump in his cereal, especially when one bold reporter asked "Did you choke?" and he looked at Lebron as if to say, "Well? Did you?"

[proegg antichicken]

For Bill O'Brien, summer had meant the bliss of the Hudson River ever since he went out fishing for strippers as a boy. But last year, after he was stopped once too often by law enforcement patrol boats with armed officers, he decided he had had it.

Closing the brothels by the Tappan Zee? Washingtong Irving will be rolling in his grave!

[Tim]

Your papers are not in order.

[P Brooks]

About one in four of the nearly 7,400 elected representatives across the country do not possess a four-year college degree

Wow-subsidized industry lashes out at people who question the value of their subsidy.

Okay; now show us how many people in this country hold a college degree with absolutely no connection to the job they do every day.

A degree in medieval French poetry would totally revolutionize the debate over stream access, or handing self-governance over Eminent Domain to the power company.

[MNG]

It's interesting how many folks here who resent class envy seem to love them some credentialism envy...

[Wind Rider]

Kind of reminds me of trying to be envious of a really fucked up tattoo someone I knew got once. Wasn't really happening.

[Shorter MNG]

"I have PhD, so I am obviously better than all of you."

[Shorter MNG]

"I value equality, so I am obviously better than all of you."

[MNG]

Spoofer was like "Man, both of these zingers are critical, which one to post...I know, both! Desperate times call for desperate measures..."

[proegg antichicken]

How are they a spoofer? The name clearly indicates that they are shorter than you and intended to differentiate, not duplicate.

[Pip]

"Zinger" That's a Jewish name isn't it?

[Almanian]

You're thinking of "Zingerman", like the deli in The People's Republic of Ann Arbor, Meeeeeeeeechigan.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Muck Fichigan!

[AceDeuce]

Home of the $20 pickle!

[Faux MNG]

JOOS!!

[The real Faux MNG]

It's not the Jews, it's the Zionists and Israelis I cannot abide. Ask my hero Patrick Buchanan, he'll explain everything. His master's degree in journalism proves he's a super genius. Like me.

[Azathoth]

bahzinga!

[Spoonman.]

If it makes you feel any better, I'm abandoning my PhD studies and exiting with an MS because I decided a PhD wouldn't do much to help me in my desired career.

YMMV, of course.

[Even Shorter MNG]

Envy, envy, penis envy.

[Matrix]

I have a degree in history and my job is in logistics.

[P Brooks]

It's interesting how many folks here who resent class envy seem to love them some credentialism envy...

?????????

[proegg antichicken]

P Brooks, I envy your credentials.

[P Brooks]

Upon further reflection, I will state for the record:

I would much rather be represented in the Montana Senate by the holder of a degree in medieval French poetry than by the holder of a doctorate from the Kennedy School of Government.

[Almanian]

Montana, medieval French poetry - two of MY favorite things, I know. So I'm right there with you, PB.

[EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy]

I'd like to see a few more people who know from personal experience that you can't fool mother nature.

I'll settle for scientists and engineers, but I think our legislature would be well served by some machinists and carpenters.

And a few people who succeeded in the slipstick subjects, but not too many lest they get all cocky and stat to think they're in charge.

Not that I want the job, I spend to much of each day in meetings as it is.

[proegg antichicken]

I have to go live in California for two months. I will be working on some big project the west coast branch just landed while they get their shit together and actually hire. I hate to leave Pittsburgh, but the muggy, stormy summer here isn't all that desirable.

What does that say about the insane hoops employers have to jump through if it's more economical to send me and two others to Oakland than to hire more bodies?

Also, since my recent dedication to becoming a SW PA, crusty yinzer-hick, how will I survive in the Bay Area? They're all Michael Savage fans out there, right?

[Brett L]

Please. Just treat them crusty hipster-hicks and you'll be fine. They're just as provincial, but with different signals.

[proegg antichicken]

can you purchase marijuana easily and discretely near Berkeley?

[Trespassers W]

"How much for a quantum of chronic?"

[John]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....-2009.html

Those wily Canucks seem to be doing well. You just can't trust those people.

[John]

http://www.bostonherald.com/ne.....id=1345033

Mitt Rommney and Devel Patrick are turds

[Almanian]

http://www.Dog_Bites_Man_ZOMFG!!!_one!!.shit

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

And in other news, the sun rose in the East...

[Spoonman.]

I am not sure I have ever seen a more insane ad than the "What is President Reagan's 2011 Jobs Plan" one running on this page.

HE IS DEAD. Somebody has enough money to hire a graphic designer to make this ad, but is sufficiently insane to think it makes any sense?

[proegg antichicken]

Never underestimate the conservitard's urgent need to summon Reagan's ghost.

[Lord Humungus]

Zombie Reagan 2012!

[Brett L]

I'd vote for him if he promised to eat the brains of any candidate that ran against him.

[Matrix]

Honestly, could a Zombie Reagan do any worse than Bush II or Obama?

[Brett L]

Depends on his Congress.

[Michael]

From the Yahoo! article on Weiner:

The scandal has shifted public attention to Weiner's behavior and away from issues like the unpopular Republican plan to cut the Medicare healthcare program for the elderly.

Say what?

[R C Dean]

I thought the Repubs were trying to repeal the $500BB cut to Medicare?

Color me confused.

[WixZoo]

Sounds like we are off to a crazy start this week for sure.

http://www.complete-privacy.no.tc

[Lord Humungus]

truer words have never been spoken by Anonbot.

[Sparky]

Coming soon, REAL laser eyebeams:

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech.....test=faces

And from the "Hey you damn kids, get off my lawn" department:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011.....latestnews

[Brett L]

Two thoughts on the shootings:
1. What are 11 and 12 year olds doing running around the neighborhood unsupervised at 10:40 pm.
2. It is always appropriate to fire a warning shot if you suspect from their behavior that your trespassers may be adolescent idiots rather than hardened thieves.

[proegg antichicken]

aren't warning shots illegal?

[Fatty Bolger]

Less illegal than shooting 11 year olds.

[Brett L]

Raised in Texas, so they are unnecessary (but still polite) after dark in my mind. I'll have to check in Florida, where I currently live. I might just have to have an accidental discharge into soft ground.

[R C Dean]

Don't pull the trigger unless you are trying to kill stop someone who poses an imminent threat to you or others.

If you want to scare someone, use a starter pistol.

[John]

Astonishingly, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson claimed in March that the utility rule is "expected to create jobs," because it will "increase demand for pollution control technology" and "new workers will be needed to install, operate, and maintain" it. In other words, the government should harm an industry and force it to ruin working assets so maybe other people can clean up the mess.

http://online.wsj.com/article/.....mg=com-wsj

Why doesn't she just break some windows?

[Lisa Jackson]

Don't be silly. We have no political interest in window companies.

[Matrix]

Taxpayers paying for Gov't Contractor Retirements

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

@#^&*@*&^!!

Lousy bastards just can't stop spending.