Reason Morning Links: Trolls, Auditors, Rioters, Hackers

• The Obama White House tries to argue that the War Powers Act doesn't apply to the Libya War.
• The Bush White House allegedly attempted to dig up damaging personal information about the Iraq War critic Juan Cole.
• A federal judge slaps down America's most notorious copyright troll.
• New York's state assembly passes a bill to legalize gay marriage.
• ICE's auditors will hunt for illegal hiring at 1,000 companies.
• Political chaos reigns in Greece.
• The latest from LulzSec and Anonymous.

The latest from Reason.tv: "Ask a Libertarian: Final Question."

See the full playlist of "Ask a Libertarian" videos here.

Comments

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

Estelle Getty, 'Golden Girls' Matriarch, Dies at 84

[Matrix]

What's with your daily GG posts anyway?

[sage]

He's a fag. That's what.

[Matrix]

I always liked the GG and I'm a heterosexual male.

[Abdul]

If you are a heterosexual male, you apparently didn't watch Golden Girls long enough.

[Matrix]

I also watched a lot of Will & Grace. I guess no matter how hard the media tried, I stayed straight. I can't help it... I was born this way!

[Bohica]

I always liked the GG and I'm a heterosexual male.

Dude, you're lying to yourself about (at least) one of those assertions.

[MNG]

I think it's hilarious, a running joke for the regulars.

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

They are the key to what has happened to society. They were the media's attempt to undercut King Reagan and thwart the tide of conservatism in the service of Big Gay.

[Zeb]

Wow, I though she was way older than that.

[Bohica]

That was my first thought too - wasn't she already about that age in the show?

[Syd Henderson]

She was actually younger than Bea Arthur, who played her daughter, and Betty White.

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

Gangbanging at Taxpayer's expense

Remember kids, Progressives can only be responsible for good. Therefore, all evil must be the result of others.
Democrats try to channel scandal into gun control push
Faced with bracing evidence and the testimony of four ATF agents contradicting the Justice Department's initial blanket denials that assault weapons were knowingly allowed to escape into the clutches of Mexican drug cartels, Democrats tried a new approach at a hearing Wednesday.

Rather than focus on questioning the GOP's investigative tactics, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sought to subtly channel the burgeoning scandal into a push for new gun control laws.

For instance, Rep. Gerry Connolly, Virginia Democrat, connected the apparently reckless investigative strategy to the National Rifle Association's (NRA) lobbying pushes....

...Rep. Carolyn Maloney, New York Democrat, also drew a link between the Operation Fast and Furious scandal and whether ATF agents are plagued by "toothless" laws....

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

Democrats try to channel scandal into gun control push
Faced with bracing evidence and the testimony of four ATF agents contradicting the Justice Department's initial blanket denials that assault weapons were knowingly allowed to escape into the clutches of Mexican drug cartels, Democrats tried a new approach at a hearing Wednesday.

Rather than focus on questioning the GOP's investigative tactics, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sought to subtly channel the burgeoning scandal into a push for new gun control laws.

For instance, Rep. Gerry Connolly, Virginia Democrat, connected the apparently reckless investigative strategy to the National Rifle Association's (NRA) lobbying pushes....

...Rep. Carolyn Maloney, New York Democrat, also drew a link between the Operation Fast and Furious scandal and whether ATF agents are plagued by "toothless" laws....

[John]

Johnny

If we just took everyone's guns, the ATF wouldn't have to run undercover operations like this and the problem would be solved.

[wylie]

And if the Gun Experts at the ATF can't be trusted to responsibly handle firearms, what hope do the rest of us uneducated slobs have?

Wait...wtf?

[cmace]

Plus the swat raids would be safe for everyone.

[Libertarian2]

True. Unless a homeowner/pedestrian/driver pulls out a wallet/cell phone/dog.

[creech]

John, I've had liberals give me this solution. I always ask them "how many gun confiscation agents would die trying to round up guns from crazed militia and other gun nuts?" Answers have ranged from "hundreds" to " thousands" but none of them have ever said they were willing to be the ones rounding up the guns.

[Concerned Citizen]

Why do you equate 'crazed' with 'militia'?

[OO]

gun confiscation is a wingnut canard designed to foam-up then fund-raise

[John]

Yeah just because gun control turned into gun confiscation in Australia, the UK and every other country where gun control went unchecked doesn't mean it can happen here.

[OO]

so be sure to send ur patriotic donations now, now, now...barbarians at the gate ma!

[dunphy]

not to mention new orleans

[TrickyVic]

""always ask them "how many gun confiscation agents would die trying to round up guns from crazed militia and other gun nuts?"""

You could also ask them if they are going to round up cop's guns, and if they say no, then use their own "no good reason to have a gun" rhetoric.

[WTF]

Of course the fact that the ATF, a government agency, blatantly violated the law means we need more laws to further strengthen agencies such as the ATF, wait, what?

[wylie]

Wait...wtf?

And there you are, WTF, right on cue.

[Matrix]

Of course they'll find anything to push the gun control issue. Weren't many of these guns that they gave to cartels class III or illegal anyway? How would more gun control even stop this? The ATF broke the law. Every top official who knew about this and signed off on it should be in prison right now.

[sarcasmic]

"The ATF broke the law."

Ummmm, isn't the ATF in the business of law enforcement?

Those who enforce the law are not obligated to follow it.

It's a perk of the job.

[NoVAHockey]

Rep. Gerry Connolly -- not quite the mole-man from California, but he's related somehow.

[Joe M.]

The gun control issue is settled. The 2nd amendment won.

[Resto Druid FTW]

This. Sadly, that won't stop them from trying to seize guns from folks.

[JoshInHB]

Not a bad idea as long as they focus on controlling the guns that might fall into the hands of BTFE agents since those cocksuckers are the problem.

[cynical]

Wow, that was about the stupidest thing they could do, politically. I can just see the attack ads now.

"Democrats sell guns to narcoterrorists, use this as excuse to disarm the people. What do these known terrorist supporters have planned for us next?"

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

Gangbanging at Taxpayer's expense

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

Attack Ad Goes Gangsta in California

[Abdul]

While it was an hysterical parody of Luther Campell, that ad was far easier to label as "racist" then anything ever said about Willy Horton.

[PantsFan]

Chivalry isn't dead. It's just terribly sexist http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....le2062654/

[Nigel]

What's wrong with being sexy?

[dunphy]

sniff my glove!

[Ian]

You should have seen what they wanted to put there. It wasn't a glove, I can tell you that!

[Joe M.]

Offering to help a woman carry shopping bags.... Insisting on driving her home.... Assuming she wants help buying a laptop.... Complimenting a woman on her cooking.... Insidious deeds like these are being overlooked by women as well as men...

Bwahahahahahaha...

[Number 2]

You gotta love it when someone argues that the party being insulted and demeaned does not realize they are being insulted and demeaned.

[T]

False consciousness is one of the more pernicious and stupid ideas the left ever came up with.

[SugarFree]

I'll give the left hell all day long and twice as much on Tuesday, but the roots of false consciousness go back to Plato's cave.

[robc]

You saying Plato wasnt a leftist?

[SugarFree]

I don't think it's a left or right concept. Marx was just re-purposing Plato, but the idea of is even older if you consider the Hindu idea of maya (the illusion of the material world). Or the Zoroastrian idea of evil arising from druj (falsehood.) Even Gnostic Christianity relied on the world we perceive being the work of The Demiurge for the sake of deceiving us that the material world was the only eternal truth.

[SugarFree]

Everyday acts that imply that women should be cherished and protected are a form of patriarchal control, they argue. Based on the report, published in Psychology of Women Quarterly, enlightened men should avoid the following:
...
2. Insisting on driving her home (implies she can't look after her own safety)

I bet Lauren Spierer would have appreciated a ride home.

[Solanum]

The local media's jacking off all over this story has been sickening. Go to any Indy news website and half of the front page stories are about Natalee, er, I mean Lauren. I knew it was only a matter of time before the national media pulled their dicks out.

[Mary Jo Kopechne]

I should have taken a cab.

[Mammy Sent Dis Ovah]

"Psychology of Women Quarterly"

Isn't this inherently sexist?

[An Observation]

Laren Spierer did get a ride home.

It was just to her new home in somebody's basement.

[dunphy]

maryjo kopechne would have appreciated a sober driver who didn't leave her to drown. don't take a ride from a kennedy if you can help it (granted, i did pull over john jr. once and he was SOBER at 1:30 am!)

[Appalachian Australian]

Mary Jo died so that the Community Reinvestment Act might live. Try to get some perspective!

[Trespassers W]

Interest on its bonds - the money Greece must pay to investors who lend it money - yesterday soared close to 28 per cent

Are they confusing interest with yield?

[Trespassers W]

I'm going to go ahead and say yes, after trying to parse the rest of that sentence. It's like the writer had to ask someone else what a bond was, and they didn't quite get the explanation.

[robc]

Maybe they are couponed bonds.

[Appalachian Australian]

Coupons with little LED displays with the current market interest rate on them?

[PantsFan]

Rioting overshadows hockey as Vancouver reels after Game 7 loss

http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....le2062706/

[John]

How long before we declare Canuckistan a failed state?

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

Anna and Kristina better not have gotten hurt.

[Rock Action]

Is this an Anna or a Kristina?

http://bleacherreport.com/arti.....-the-chaos

[not Al Pacino]

GREAT ASS!

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

I must be the only person here watching OWN at 5am then.

[Rock Action]

It's more like that little quiff of hair on the inner right thigh...

[mr simple]

What an amazing article. It's not the rioters fault that there were riots. It's the fault of the Canucks for never winning a championship, and the city for having so many people in one spot. Isn't it really society's fault in the end?

Gotta love that no fault mentality.

[Otter]

Ladies and gentlemen, I'll be brief. The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female party guests ? we did. But you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg: isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but I for one am not going to stand here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen!

*marches off humming 'The Star Spangled Banner'*

[Brett L]

Right after we declare LA a failed state for doing this when they win?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Cars are being turned over, torched, and angry Canuck fans are ripping off jerseys to fuel the flames. Others are smashing windows and throwing bottles and even bricks at police in riot gear

Bunch of hosers. The United States didn't riot after the Olympics, and wouldn't have even if we did somehow come to care about hockey.

[Mike M.]

The myth of the ultra-polite, civilized Canadian is going down in flames.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

Pssh. This is nothing.

In 2008 Montrealers rioted after a win. In the first round of the playoffs.

[dunphy]

quebec is not canada proper. just ask them

[dunphy]

i saw a woman on CBC earlier this morning complaining about how the world condescendingly refers to canadians as nice and unimportant and essentially gloating that this proves them wrong, that "we" can riot too.

[Isaac Bartram]

People who swallow the myth about "gentle and polite Canadians" have never actually lived there and had any interaction with the average blue collar ones.

They have also never looked at the crime statistics that show Canadian rates to be higher than those in the US for most categories.

[Zeb]

It's different when hockey (and beer) is involved.

My entire view of Canadians is now defined by Trailer Park Boys anyway, so this seems fine and natural.

[Fluffy]

If this was in Detroit, we would be told that the problem was the lawlessness of a particular race.

Since Canadians are the whitest people in North America, and British Columbians are the whitest Canadians, what's the race angle here?

[Mammy Sent Dis Ovah]

White peoples.

[Zeb]

"Since Canadians are the whitest people in North America, and British Columbians are the whitest Canadians,"

Is this true? I think BC has a lot of Asian immigrants.

[Trespassers W]

This was after some sporting event?

[Citizen Nothing]

No. Hockey.

[Rhywun]

Huh, Canada really IS more like Europe.

[John]

Pelosi's wealth grows by 62%

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-th.....2-percent-

Crony capitalism is great if you are a crony.

[MNG]

Indeed.

While the majority status and chairman's gavels may have changed hands, the "people's" House is still run by millionaires.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Eric I. Cantor (R-Va.) , the GOP leaders who rode to power on the grassroots wave of tea-party activists, are multi-millionaires with financial investments in some of the nation's largest corporations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ml?hpid=z2

[MNG]

I thought this part was neat, it's like your assistant coach making more than the head coach:

Boehner had minimum financial holdings of $2 million at the end of 2010, while his top deputy was worth at least $3.4 million

[John]

They are all rich. And that is an issue. But it is a slightly different issue than the speaker nearly doubling her wealth during the worst economic downturn in 70 years.

So, stop throwing sticks for people to chase. And lets talk about Pelosi.

[MNG]

No defender of Pelosi, I wanted Shuler to replace her. I would have never chosen her in the first place as well.

[CoyoteBlue]

No, not all. The liberal blogs are tee-heeing that a lot of the teabagger freshmen have high levels of debt. [the joke is that they are working to lessen the nation's debt - see liberal humor]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....me_oneline

Give them a few years and I'm sure they'll clear that up.

[MNG]

"Among the 87 new GOP members of Congress, the documents show, at least 30 had liabilities totaling $50,000 or more in 2010...

The newcomers have helped press a simple GOP message about the public debt: The country has too much and must reduce its burden immediately. These documents seem to show that, in their private lives, some freshmen took a more nuanced view: Debt could be useful, when put toward furthering ventures in real estate, farming or other businesses."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ml?hpid=z2

In fairness you could not that debt with your money does not equal debt with someone else's money.

[John]

50K is nothing. If you own a house you probably have four times that. Millions of Americans have student loans of that or greater value.

The 50K figure just tells me they are average people rather than trust fund liberals like Pelosi or Al Gore.

[MNG]

Well, the article is double barralled: 30 of the 87 have debt, 24 are millionaires.

[John]

But how many of the millionaires have the debt? And more importantly, so what? Anyone who owns a large business has a lot of debt. It is the nature of doing business. The mere fact that you have debt doesn't mean you are irresponsible. Now, if they had a bunch of bankruptcies on their record, that might be different. But that is not what the article says. It is a bullshit smear job.

[MNG]

If you come in rejecting debt in general and using the hackneyed "We Americans have to live within our means at home, same for the government" lines you invite this.

[John]

Borrowing money to buy a house or start a business doesn't mean you are living beyond your means. By your standard no one who has any debt has the right to complain about government debt. And that makes no sense.

[Fluffy]

If you have debts that you are servicing out of your current income without adding additional debt, you are, in fact, "living within your means".

The government isn't doing that. It is adding to its debt every year. By the open admission of the Treasury Secretary and the Fed Chairman, the government cannot meet its obligations without piling on yet more debt essentially into infinity.

[Fatty Bolger]

In fairness you could not that debt with your money does not equal debt with someone else's money.

No shit. Ya think?

[Citizen Nothing]

Jesus. Really, people? A million bucks?
If you don't have around a million bucks in assets by the time your Boehner's age, you're doing something wrong (and are probably in trouble come your twilight years).
Plus, you don't have to drive to the store.

[Citizen Nothing]

Aquiring a million bucks in assets over 30 years on middle-class wages isn't easy, but it isn't rocket science, either.

[Ska]

A million dollars, depending on where you live, is a decent sized home and a 401 (k) account you've been contributing to for 35 years. Which, if you started doing at age 25, isn't hard to reach at all.

[Libertarian2]

I certainly don't intend to be in debt when I die at the actuarial age of 77. I was in debt on a house and the occasional car when I was younger. But the country is 235 years old. I've never understood why it has a need for any debt.

[Cyto]

2 or 3 million dollars for a 60 year old is not wealthy. It isn't even really retirement-ready. It isn't chump-change, but it surely doesn't count as wealth. A couple million is what wealthy people spend on toys.

[John]

If Boener's wealth goes up 62% while he is speaker, he deserves to be put in with Pelosi. Has it? Or was he just rich when he got there?

[mr simple]

Oh noze, teh evul corporashuns!

[Mammy Sent Dis Ovah]

And some are even JEWS!!!!!!!!!1!1!

[Rhywun]

This isn't helping my long-standing inability to stop confusing "crony" and "crone".

[Matrix]

Patent Trolls, Copyright Trolls... they all suck... leaches. Especially Patent trolls, come up with a general idea, file a patent, wait for someone to actually develop specific technology that is similar to your general idea, and sue the crap out of them hoping the settle. They are the bane of tech companies.

[Virginia]

many non-performing entities (NPEs) just buy the vague patent from someone else so they can't even claim to have brained the innovation. fortunately prior-art/work groups are forming to invalidate some of the bigger offenders.

[Matrix]

Fortunately, a few judges have been tossing out those lawsuits. But, some are still trolling the waters and throwing in lawsuits. Few tech companies are willing to fight the long, bitter fight. NPEs don't want a long fight, either. They just want a settlement, because they know they'd eventually lose. But it is more costly for many companies to fight, even knowing they would probably win, than to just pay a settlement and be done with it. Still, a brave few rise up and challenge these parasites.

[Heroic Mulatto]

The Bush White House allegedly attempted to dig up damaging personal information about the Iraq War critic Juan Cole.

They actually had to try to "dig up" damaging information about that vile little man whose entire academic "career" has consisted of hatchet jobs against the enemies of his Saudi patrons?

[John]

No one ever accused the Bush White House of being very bright.

[MNG]

Not troubled by this Nixonesque action, eh?

[Brett L]

Or Clintonesque. They all do it.

[DJF]

But the Clintons were justified because they fought against the "Vast Rightwing Conspiracy".

[KJ]

Ha! Hatchet jobs against the enemies of his Saudi patrons, eh? Do you realize that the man is a Baha'i? And that his early career was spent writing academic articles about the Shi'a and their repression at the hands of Wahhabi raiders? He also wrote two books about Egypt - what does that have to do with the Saudis? I can assure you that UM receives no Saudi money - the same is not true of Harvard and Georgetown.

[Brett L]

I had this thought, too.

[P Brooks]

The Obama White House tries to argue that the War Powers Act doesn't apply to the Libya War.

Who could possibly have foreseen this?

[Rich]

"We're not engaged in sustained fighting. There's been no exchange of fire with hostile forces. We don't have troops on the ground. We don't risk casualties to those troops."

Alrighty then.

I notice the report's Assessment of Opposition Military Groups is classified. Interesting, because the critics keep saying we don't know who these people are.

[wylie]

I notice the report's Assessment of Opposition Military Groups is classified. Interesting, because the critics keep saying we don't know who these people are.

Why wouldn't they be able to classify completely blank pieces of paper, if, ya know, they felt like it.

[Rich]

Exactly.

"This page intentionally blank."

[wylie]

"This page intentionally blank."

That's what it would say if that line hadn't been redacted.

[Guardians of the Secrets]

"This page intentionally blank."

[wylie]

If only we could use style attributes.

[Knutsack]

See?! That's why we need to go nuclear--there's no sustained fighting, no exchange of fire with hostile forces, and we won't have any troops on the ground. No war!

[Pro Libertate]

I'm sorry, but this is flagrantly unconstitutional. Congress needs to get its balls back and take some action. If they approve, issue a resolution. If they don't, cut funding and/or impeach the president. Stop fucking around with what's left of limited government.

[Pro Libertate]

Even the godawful Bush got AUMFs.

[Libertarian2]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If Congress was doing its job, we should be able to have a complete idiot and/or criminal in the the Whitehouse, with no ill effects.

[creech]

Time to call "bullshit" and impeach this sworn defender of the Constitution.

[Trespassers W]

Berlin argues that private creditors must accept some losses, or else taxpayers would be paying the price while banks pocket the benefits.

The private creditors who loaned you the money in the first place? Those assholes? Yeah, why are you wasting money paying them those benefits?

[MNG]

I usually like Ross Douthat, but this is creepy conservatism here (selection from Douthat column, response from Kevin Drum of MJ):

We do not generally praise doctors who help dispatch their terminally ill patients, as Kevorkian repeatedly and unashamedly did. Even when death is inevitable and inevitably painful, it is not considered merciful to prescribe an overdose to a cancer victim against her will, or to gently smother a sleeping Alzheimer's patient. The difference, of course, is that Kevorkian's clients asked for it. That free choice is what separates assisted suicide from murder, his defenders would insist.

What peculiar wording. Douthat makes it sound as if this defense of Kevorkian is some kind of transparently concocted subterfuge.

But, yes, the fact that his clients asked for it is what makes assisted suicide different from murder.

http://motherjones.com/kevin-d.....your-death

[cynical]

Isn't the phrase "assisted suicide" itself euphemistic? You could just as easily call it "consensual homicide", or "voluntary euthanasia".

[Zeb]

Well, I think that in most cases, the assisting doctor provides teh means of suicide, but the patient has to actually consume the poison or whatever under his own volition. Are there any cases where the doctor actually directly administers the thing that kills?

[cynical]

Well, Kevorkian, IIRC. Though he went to jail anyway.

[TrickyVic]

""You could just as easily call it "consensual homicide", or "voluntary euthanasia".""

I think the term is "snowing".

[OO]

for wingnuts, its all about abortion. "voluntary euthanasia" is blasphemy against...TEH CUILDRENZ!

[Matrix]

"win the future" are you talking about, OO? Are you drunk or stoned at the moment? ... couldn't be. That wouldn't even explain your inane ramblings.

[OO]

sorry for the big words

[CoyoteBlue]

LulzSec attacked EVEOnline the last two days. So one group of anti-social nerds have attacked the only social outlet for another group of slightly less anti-social nerds. [disclosure: I'm a Eve player and I'm fully integrated into society.]

Also, libertarians should check out the LulzSec mascot - a figure wearing a top hat and monocle and drinking a glass of wine.

[Ska]

Their mascot would make a pretty good avatar for a libertarian troll.

Why LulzSec decided to hack Minecraft, and Eve, I will never know. Pissing off gaming geeks? Is that the point of their group?

[cynical]

I always thought that "LulzSec" was a play on "NullSec" (full disclosure: I don't play EVE).

[Virginia]

They do have a great mascot but they strike me more as anarchists than laissez-faire.

Also, better to burn out than to fade away comes to mind reading their lulz.

[John]

http://www.politico.com/news/s.....56993.html

Top Barack Obama donors net government jobs

http://www.politico.com/news/s.....56993.html

The Carney video of him trying to explain this is so bad it is funny. Scott McClellen was so incompetent you kind of felt sorry for him. Dana Perino was at least really hot. Gibbs had the oily charm of a slimy used car salesman or a corrupt school principle. But Carney, with his well groomed Ivy league douche bag looks, takes the cake. He is the most unique combination of shameless lying and sleaze Washington has yet to come up with.

[Virginia]

nearly 200 of his biggest donors have landed plum government jobs and advisory posts, won federal contracts worth millions of dollars for their business interests

Parasitic rent seekers, every last one of them.

[Brett L]

Gibbs and Carney actually have made me reconsider my stance on Scott McClellan. I thought he was going to be a lock for worst press secretary of the century, now I doubt he'll make the top 5.

[TrickyVic]

Since when does top donors NOT get government jobs?

[MNG]

Catholic Bishops: Your Life is Not Yours

On Thursday the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will release a new document that calls for the end of legal aid in dying. To Live Each Day with Dignity marks a nationwide effort by the Roman Catholic Church to influence how patients will be cared for at the end of their lives. Citing a Death with Dignity bill that passed in Washington in 2008, a ruling protecting the right to aid in dying by the Montana supreme court in 2009 and a spate of state initiatives, a June 1 press release states, "The Church needs to respond in a timely and visible way to this renewed challenge, which will surely be pursued in a number of states in the years to come."

But much more than the legality of aid in dying?commonly known as assisted suicide, which misrepresents the practice, limited as it is to patients with a terminal illness?is at stake. Even if, as Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the USCCB's Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, contends, Thursday's document is a moral statement and not a kick-off to a political campaign to end legal aid in dying, it will serve as marching orders in the coming years for already-mobilized and funded "prolife" activists?whether Catholic, evangelical, Mormon or unaffiliated?who will use it to determine how they vote and organize. That means, as veterans on the abortion rights front will tell you, a heightened assault on end-of-life rights.

I asked Doerflinger, Is it immoral to end a dying life? Even if it is one's own?

"If what?" he asked from a cell phone in Seattle.

"One's own," I repeated.

"It isn't one's own."

http://www.thenation.com/artic.....-aid-dying

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

"It isn't one's own."

Thus explaining the Bishops' economic liberalism.

[Mockingbird]

Dick Doerflinger, what a great name!

[db]

This is totally unsurprising. Catholicism is a very collectivist religion. Of course they say your life isn't your own--it, along with everything you produce above your basic survival level, is supposed to belong to the church. They've never grown out of the feudal stage. One of the reasons I stopped calling myself a Catholic many years ago.

[ProRata]

http://niv.scripturetext.com/1.....s/6-19.htm

It's actually an explicitly Biblical position. The idea is that one's life belongs to God, not to the Church. Hence, it has nothing to do with Catholicism in particular, or any "feudalism" thereof.

For what it's worth.

[db]

But for Catholicism, which regards Papal wisdom as the represented will of God, essentially God=His Church, which conveniently means that you belong to the church. The church relies entirely on the idea that it is the sole legitimate representative of a Deity.
It's one thing if a person believes that the bible teaches him to dedicate his life to God's will, and a somewhat different thing to preach that God's will is represented by a large bureaucratic organization and happens to favor policies that increase the wealth and power of that organization.

[Boxbot]

+1

[ProRata]

Though the line between "God" and "God's representatives on Earth" may get a little shaky in practice, I think it's still a distinction worth making.

[Zeb]

So basically the Catholic Church still thinks it owns everyone. They just can't get the hang of this separation of church and state thing.

[John]

http://abovethelaw.com/2011/06.....o-recover/

More whining about law school debt from Elie Mystal. No Ellie, if you had done drugs and been unlucky, you would be doing your 20s and 30s in some federally run prison.

[mr simple]

I marshaled what autonomous power I had and chose not to pay back my loans in a timely manner. I decided to go down on my own terms, not the terms set out for me in a promissory note.

Don't oppress him. You have to be tolerant of his lifestyle choice.

[rather]

If Righthaven does not have "standing," or the right to file a lawsuit, then who does?

Righthaven and Stephens Media entered into an agreement in January 2010 that gave Righthaven the right to bring and profit from copyright infringement cases involving Stephens Media content.

But Hunt ruled that the agreement was insufficient to give Righthaven legal standing in such cases.

The judge also ruled that Righthaven previously failed to disclose a portion of the agreement that granted Stephens Media a 50 percent interest in any damages recovered, minus costs.

I would have preferred a 'tough shit' decision over the 'no standing' but it will discourage some sharks

[WTF]

The Obama White House tries to argue that the War Powers Act doesn't apply to the Libya War.

Cry "manmade temporary disruption!" and let slip the muzzled canine unit
of Kinetic Military Action.

[MNG]

+1

[cynical]

I award you one internet.

[Pro Libertate]

Excellent.

[Boxbot]

Nice.

[EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy]

O! For a muse of environmentally friendly LED lighting!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The report came on the same day a bipartisan group of lawmakers filed suit in federal court against Obama seeking to end the U.S. participation in Libya, pushing what has been a slow-moving confrontation over the power of the president at a time of war toward the center of the political debate.

So now we're going to drag a third branch of government into this? I thought when we elected a blackish president we were beyond racism but I guess not.

[Mainer]

Congressmen suing the President...it just seems nonsensical. Doesn't Congress have some enumerated powers relating to this issue...grow a pair and use them.

[MNG]

So the WH argues War Powers does not apply "because of the supporting role most U.S. forces are playing there."

Iirc the WP Act does not mention this as an exemption. Furthermore, it's simply not true; any check of the actual resources used will see the US is the major player. Lastly, even were it true this should not be controlling, as long as there was any ally an administration could just "officially" put them in charge and declare our efforts as support thereby making this law toothless.

[MNG]

Liberals should be furious about this. They complained about Bush's "unilateralism" but Bush at least got Congressional approval for his wars; for Obama we have the worst kind of uni and multi-lateralism: he gets permission from other nations but not from our other branches of government (and the ones with the actual power to declare war!).

[WTF]

Liberals should be furious about this.

And yet they are not. Most of them, anyway. Do you think this is simple Team Blue partisanship, or is there another rationale they are using that somehow justifies this to them?

[MNG]

And yet they are not. Most of them, anyway.

How do you figure this?

[WTF]

Because I have seen no protests, no outcry, no complaining among my liberal friends, few editorials in the MSM, etc. And I remember how vocal they were up until 2009.

[db]

My many liberal Facebook friends are stone silent on the issue, while they were howling at least weekly about Bush's many real and perceived transgressions.

[dunphy]

hey, there's at least a couple of outraged diaries at dailykos!!!!!

[Somalian Road Corporation]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....040611.DTL

get a load of the commentariat here

[cynical]

Maybe liberals should be upset, but I don't see why progressives would. They have as much of a hardon for centralizing power as conservatives (if not moreso -- conservatives are fans of church and crown at heart, but progs are totalitarian technocratic utopians). An unaccountable executive is the ultimate form of centralization.

[James Ard]

Kucinich was on cspan this morning crying about it. But his solution is a lawsuit? I believe the proper process for this sort of behavior are impeachment proceedings.

[Pro Libertate]

Screw politics. This is an abuse of power committed for no good reason. Present the case for action to Congress and ask for authorization. Otherwise, get out.

This kind of thing would allow one man to take us into a full-blown war. That's a bad idea, and the division of war powers is screwed up enough without giving presidents more power.

[John]

The sleazy part about this is that the White House is trying to have it both ways. If they want to use the McCain "the whole act is unconstitutional the President can do what he wants" argument, fine at least that is consistent. But they don't want to do that because they want Dems to be free to use the Act against future Republican Presidents. But they don't want it used on them, so they won't submit to the Act. So instead they make nonsense arguments.

[creech]

So right. Wait until President Palin or President Christie try to pull this shit.

[Boxbot]

Next time I talk to a prog about the latest blatantly unconstitutional and Bushesque thing Obama's doing, I'm going to tell them President Palin did it. Maybe some of the momentary rage and betrayal will slip in before cognitive dissonance takes over.

[Fist of Etiquette]

New York's state assembly passes a bill to legalize gay marriage.

No more hushed and hurried wedding ceremonies conducted in dark basements and back allies in the dead of night.

[MWG]

Hey, get rid of the prohibition and the black market in gay marriage will disappear on its own.

[John]

Doesn't the whole "this isn't a war just a supporting action" argument cut against it being a bad idea for Congress to just cut off funding? I understand that it is a bad idea to cut off troops in the field. But Obama says we don't have any troops in the field. So what is the danger of Congress just ending funding for Libya and calling it a day?

[WTF]

Good point - there seems to be little if any downside to congress just pulling the plug on this. So why won't they?

[John]

Because Boehner has no balls and they would rather whine than do something about it.

[MNG]

Because for some incredible reason the conventional wisdom is that will be interpreted as the Congress leaving our troops hanging, though any reasonable person should put the blame on any President who would keep troops in harms way when the funding is cut.

[WTF]

[...]that will be interpreted as the Congress leaving our troops hanging[...]

But since there are no troops on the ground in Libya, even that wouldn't really gain any traction. So I'll have to go with Boehner has no balls. Plus they don't want to hamstring a future republican president.

[Rich]

Perhaps partly because some of TPTB believe it improves their image to present a "civil", if not actually, "unified" front. Like parents not arguing in front of the children.

[cynical]

Or arguing about who got a blowjob from his intern in front of the children.

Oh, wait.

But we can't impeach this motherfucker over this? Flagrant violation of the constitution and congressional law and such a hilariously weaksauce bullshit defense? Fuck me.

Put Obama and Powers in jail, let Biden run shit for a while.

[J Biden]

Choo choo!

[Mammy Sent Dis Ovah]

Clinton was impeached for lying, not for getting a blow job.

Never forget that.

[OO]

clinton was NOT convicted.

never forget that either.

[wylie]

Lying in office, no less. (lying on the campaign trail is no big deal though. you HAVE to lie there, so it's OK. and there's no blowjobs involved. well, not many.)

[dunphy]

no, actually lying in official court proceedings, no less.

he didn't merely lie about sex, he lied about it pursuant to a sex harassment complaint and in official court proceedings

sex harassment is very important to liberals - except when bill clinton is accused of it

[dunphy]

also, iirc, clinton ultimately took a contempt of court plea and was disbarred.

note that even though lying about sex with a worker/underling IS "material" in a sex harassment case , he didn't get a perjury rap. that's for little people like furhman

[T]

That's correct. He took disbarment over having it go to trial.

[TrickyVic]

""he didn't get a perjury rap. that's for little people like furhman""

I wouldn't call Scooter Libby a "little person".

[cynical]

I was more taking issue with the "wanting to avoid arguing in front of the kids".

And Obama is also lying about this (well, the administration is). Their legal defense is not made in good faith.

[P Brooks]

"The inspections will touch on employers of all sizes and in every state in the nation, with an emphasis on businesses related to critical infrastructure and key resources," ICE public affairs spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said in a written statement.

The audits are focused on industries considered vital to U.S. domestic security, including agriculture, banking, energy, information technology, health care and transportation systems.

I'm going to crawl out on my favorite limb, and suggest some sort of co-ordinated lobbying and PR effort by the unions intended to show those companies how unionization could "help" them avoid these sorts of problems with their awesome union employee-vetting super powers.

I'm sure the NLRB will assist.

[JoshInHB]

Just what an economy in depression needs.

[R C Dean]

The inspections will touch on employers of all sizes

So they'll be using the TSA?

[TrickyVic]

Zing!!!

[Rich]

the U.S. government sent notices to 1,000 companies on Wednesday alerting them that auditors will be examining their hiring records.

I'm amazed the government is passing up so many no-knock SWAT raids.

[P Brooks]

These documents seem to show that, in their private lives, some freshmen took a more nuanced view: Debt could be useful, when put toward furthering ventures in real estate, farming or other businesses."

Jesus Q Christfag on a platinum cross.

Leveraged investments in income-producing assets are just like out-of-control government spending. Only worse.

Is there a maximum IQ test at the Washington Post?

[John]

Not sure. But there certainly isn't a minimum IQ to work there.

[MNG]

Well, when the Congresscritters use lines like this they invite that:

Among those with credit card debt was Rep. Blake Farenthold (Tex.), who has pressed for major action to control the national debt. Earlier this year, Farenthold issued a statement rejecting any increase in the debt limit without major spending cuts.

"Like the rest of America," the statement said, 'the government needs to tighten its belt and work within its means."

Farenthold's 2010 disclosure forms show credit card debt of $45,000 to $150,000.

[Sir Roderick Glossop]

ad hominem attack.

[Mammy Sent Dis Ovah]

It's all the little fucker knows.

[Zeb]

Actually that is not an ad hominem argument.
Ad hominem would be "this guy is a jerk, so everything he says is wrong." The reasoning of the attach might no be good, but it is based on things he actually said, not irrelevant personal qualities.

[cynical]

It might call their sincerity into question, but there's a difference between the way you use your own money and the way you use money entrusted to you. I mean, if a guy working for a company busted a lot people for expensing hookers and blow, despite spending a lot of his personal income on hookers and blow, I don't actually see that as hypocritical -- there's a consistent principle there.

[Fatty Bolger]

Is he going to steal money from his kids to pay it off?

[OO]

facts are NOT ad hom. try again

[db]

Fact: You choose to spell like an idiot 10th grader.
Ad hom attack: Your opinions are worthless and dishonest because you write like an idiot.

See the difference?

[the real oo]

fact: the lack of caps is NOT spelling.
ad hom: 3rd grade grammer is beyond db.

see the diff?

[db]

That's pretty fucking funny!

[Zeb]

Hate to say it, but OO is right. Broken clock and all that.

[Zeb]

If he can afford the bills, I see no problem. The government can't afford its bills.

[John]

http://www.bostonherald.com/ne.....id=1345878

The third consecutive speaker of the Mass house has been convicted on federal charges. Now that is a culture of corruption.

[MNG]

Long time one party rule is terrible.

[John]

I don't even think Illinois can touch that record.

[MNG]

Pretty high bar.

NY?

[John]

NY and CA are more incompetent. But I don't think they are the outright criminals they have in MASS>

[WTF]

As a lifelong resident I nominate New Jersey.

[John]

But even a one party cleptocracy like pre Palin Alaska was not that bad. This is the same state the re-elects Barney Frank every two years. The people in Mass need to look themselves in the mirror.

[tarran]

John,

Here in Mass (I actually live in the Romneys' town) they look themselves in the mirror and give themselves high fives as to how enlightened they are.

From inaugerating government "public" schools to prevent parents from teaching their children the wrong type of Christianity, to executing Quakers to taxing farmers to the point of rebellion, to spawning the worst excesses of Progressivism, etc ad nauseam, to driving industry out with usurious taxes the citizens of Massachusetts have proven themselves to be ready to eagerly support any movement that promises to bring about heaven on earth, contingent on a few of the right skulls being smashed.

This culture seems to have no understanding of the concepts of rights, or respect for the idea that people are better off being left alone.

Don't forget that this was the state where no one blinked an eye after an unhappy police officer's superiors dispatched a SWAT team to lay siege to her house, kick in her door and rough her up, claiming that she had barricaded herself in her apartment when in fact she was merely taking a nap.

Frankly, having lived amongst the Socon's of Florida, the unionized industrial workers of Ohio, the high-school-football-worshiping farmers of Indiana, the shipyard workers of Washington and the nut-jobs of Berkeley, I can tell you that MA is easily the most intolerant, backward place I've ever lived in.

If not for the excellent colleges that bring in top talent from all over the world, Boston would be the Youngstown of the eastern seaboard.

[John]

My wife is from Boston. And I pretty much have to agree. My redneck family in western Kansas is more worldly and more tolerant in most ways than her North Shore Boston family.

[Sparky]

The problem is, Bostonians consider Worcester to be western MA and anything between Worcester and NY doesn't really count. Once you actually get out past Worcester into the real western MA, things aren't quite as bad. That is to say we're not directly under the king's thumb so while we still get all the taxes and whatnot the common citizenry is a little less hardcore.

[mikey]

Not so sure about that. Live in a small town north-west of Woostah and the townies are every bit as inbred and ignorant as any of your stereotypes of WV or Mississippi. The "blow ins" (aka 'Granolas') are the typical provincial NE nanny busybodies.

[Syd Henderson]

Twice is a scandal. Three times is a tradition.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The audits are focused on industries considered vital to U.S. domestic security, including agriculture, banking, energy, information technology, health care and transportation systems.

Does lawn care count as agriculture? Do cabs count as transportation systems? Where do housekeepers and nannies hired by lawmakers fall? Vital to national security?

[The ICE Man Cometh]

Hey, just a doggone minute!

[P Brooks]

It's not the rioters fault that there were riots. It's the fault of the Canucks for never winning a championship, and the city for having so many people in one spot. Isn't it really society's fault in the end?

Duke: The lights are growing dim. I know a life of crime led me to this sorry fate... And yet, I blame society. Society made me what I am.
Otto Maddox: Bullshit! You're a white suburban punk, just like me!

[Pro Libertate]

Yeah. Let's go get sushi and not pay.

[wylie]

Where, when, and who's drivin? WOOOOO, Dine'n'Dash...errr, Sushi'n'Scurry?

[db]

But it...still...hurts!

[Ska]

Shit, Otto had a last name?

[dunphy]

unlike quincy

[TrickyVic]

That wasn't his last name?

[Mammy Sent Dis Ovah]

But you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg - isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America.

[DJF]

Especially after the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.

[John]

http://dailycaller.com/2011/06.....-ad-sales/

Google, your government run and approved search engine. Assholes.

[cynical]

Makes a good point -- if we're going to regulate political contributions and force disclosure (SLD), then surely those who run political ads should have to disclose how much they charge -- charging more to one candidate than another, for whatever reason, is basically a contribution.

[P Brooks]

Farenthold's 2010 disclosure forms show credit card debt of $45,000 to $150,000.

Meaningless in isolation.

Get back to me when he introduces legislation calling for me to pay it off.

[Mammy Sent Dis Ovah]

Judgement day: Weiner's wife returns home to confront errant husband as new images emerge showing congressman cross dressing and 'oiled up'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....z1PRgnxMwM

[mr simple]

The New Castle County Police Department arrived at the girl's home on Saturday around 4:30pm and asked to speak with her mother about the daughter's contact with Weiner.

I don't think I can top that.

[P Brooks]

Against my better judgement, I actually attempted to read that excrescence about law school debt.

How did somebody that fucking dumb even get into law school? That's the scary part.

[John]

It gets better Brooks. He spends most of his time blogging about how anyone who didn't go to a top 20 law school is stupid.

[Lord Humungus]

I've read AtL since my wife is currently in law school (pardon me while I dodge the rotten fruit). She certainly isn't in a top-tier law school - who wants all that debt? - but she actually loves the subject matter.

Of course my reasoning for wanting her to attend law school is partly selfish. In this day and age, you need a personal lawyer to help protect you against the power of the State, HMOs, and various other parasites.

[T]

Yup. I love having in-house counsel available for almost everything.

[R C Dean]

I thought the bit about how he should be able to return his degree for a refund, because you can return stuff to Macy's, was particularly yummy.

[Brett L]

Fungibility is not a concept they teach in law school?

[wylie]

It's not like it's Mycology 101.

[Butts Wagner]

I liked the part where he complained that no adults explained student debt to him when he was at the precocious age of 22.

[wylie]

"But, but but, they just GAVE me the money, nobody every said ANYTHING about me paying it back. L-o...L-ooaa....yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a made up word, I've never heard of this 'Loan' thing before."

[dunphy]

apparently, you haven't met many lawyers

[wylie]

Some people like to avoid stepping in shit.

[Nigel]

Let me tell you about the lawyer (I mean barrister, he was English) who thought the best thing about the Matrix movie was the idea of an AI using humans as batteries. OK, this is basic physics, not law, but still...

[PS]

Damn spoof name.

[P Brooks]

the proper process for this sort of behavior are impeachment proceedings.

But Shirley! You cannot tie the President's hands in time of war! How will he get those gloves off?

[hmm]

http://www.stltoday.com/news/l.....176cd.html

So if a district is hiring and has a choice between a teacher with no experience and a bachelor's degree, or a veteran teacher with a master's, the economic equation favors the first candidate.

"I understand the economics of the situation. I really do. You can't be angry about it," Rein told me when I called him in Berlin this week.

I guess he never learned collective bargaining and price floors and the connection to unemployment. Or he might actually understand what is happening to him.

[Fluffy]

In the absence of a warrant detailing probable cause of a specific and named crime, any business that gets an ICE letter should tell them to go fuck themselves and throw the letter in the trash.

[WTF]

I don't know - does ICE have SWAT teams?

[cynical]

Yeah, they should probably hire a PMC for protection first, then tell ICE to go fuck themselves.

[TrickyVic]

They probably do. I work next to ICE headquarters (so to speak) in NYC. I see many ICE officers tactically dressed.

I like the cars that say Federal Protective Service. In my fantasyland, that would be someone to protect me from the feds.

[hmm]

Stick a fork in it. The Weiner is done.

[Mike M.]

Goodbye little Weiner, we'll all miss you. You showed stiff resolve there for a while, but in the end you couldn't rise to the challenge.

[db]

Thrust into the spotlight and subsequently jerked off the scene by the slick machinery of politics, Weiner is an object lesson in why politicians normally try to keep their personal lives buried in the warm, dark caverns of privacy.

[Fatty Bolger]

Why businesses are spending money to automate instead of hiring more people: ATMs and Other Machines are Exempt from ObamaCare.

[Mammy Sent Dis Ovah]

Weiner to resign over sexting scandal

http://www.twincities.com/ci_1.....ck_check=1

[Troy]

Fuck, so we won't have any Weiner to kick around?

[P Brooks]

Weiner, I am disappoint.

[Michael]

New iPhone technology blocks recording of live events:

http://www.syracuse.com/news/i.....vents.html

I suspect that the next order of business will be to equip cop cars with this.

[Matrix]

I really hope Apple does not do this...

[P Brooks]

we won't have any Weiner to kick around beat on?

[P Brooks]

"WEINER SPENT, WITHDRAWS"

[db]

Well played with.

[WuxBobo]

Looks like its going to be a crazy kinda day dude. Wow.

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

[OO]

so what's weiner gonna do w his weiner now? wait - rehab right? like tiger

[hazeeran]

Coulter's new ghastly piece on libertarians:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=44209