Reason Morning Links: Insurgents Attack U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Murder Outpaces Car Accidents as Top Killer of Mexican Youth, NYT Considers Obama's Reelection Chances

• The U.S. Embassy in Kabul was attacked today. 
• Between 2007 and 2009, drug-war murders replaced car accidents as the top killer of Mexican youth. 
• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will release two imprisoned hikers. 
• NYT: "With waning approval ratings and a stagnant economy, the possibility that Mr. Obama will not be re-elected has entered the political bloodstream."
• Roughly 5,400 former congressional aides became lobbyists over the last decade. 
• The end of a turf war has brought the murder rate down in Tijuana. 

New at Reason.tv: "Top Threats to Civil Liberties After 9/11: Q&A w Mike German of ACLU/former FBI Agent"

Comments

[Fluffy]

"With waning approval ratings and a stagnant economy, the possibility that Mr. Obama will not be re-elected has entered the political bloodstream."

Welcome to 2010, New York Times.

[John]

They are just breaking the news to their readers gently Fluffy. If they came out and told the truth, the mass hysteria in Manhattan might not be containable.

[Lost_In_Translation]

The shear amount of drop machiattos could flood the city.

[wylie]

That's enough coffee to dunk a thirty-five foot long Twinkie weighing approximately six hundred pounds.

[Trespassers W]

That's a big Twinkie.

[Art-P.O.G.]

That's what she said

[goneGalt]

NYT to Obama:

You Suck

[Au H20]

Dogs and cats living together...mass hysteria!

[Mike M.]

Imagine what these guys will be like tomorrow if Turner beats Weprin in NY-9. Even Ohio Orrin won't know what the hell to say.

[WTF]

Even Ohio Orrin won't know what the hell to say.

Since when does not knowing what to say stop him from spouting idiocies?

[Null-Deuce]

Ther not givin us [JEEEEEEEEEERRRRBZ]!!!!111one

[John]

The answer will be that a bunch of fanatical single issue Jews voted Republican because Obama isn't kissing Israel's ass enough. If Turner wins and it looks like he will, expect a lot of nasty Antisemitism to come out of the left and for the Jews in that district to be straight up called fifth columnists.

So when did criticizing a person who happens to be a Jew for something that has nothing to do with his Jewishness, per se, become Ant-Semitism?

[Sparky]

My guess would be right about the same time that criticizing a black person for something that has nothing to do with his blackness became racism.

[Quetzalcoatl]

It seems to me that a Jewish person who is a single issue Israel-first voter has a lot to do with that person's Jewishness.

[Fluffy]

It would seem to me that if you're a single-issue voter in favor of any country other than the US, then you don't get to complain if someone calls you a Fifth Columnist.

Because that's what a Fifth Columnist is.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I thought they were lizard-aliens who fell in love with humans.

[MNG]

How could they not fall in love with us? I mean, if you were a lizard alien wouldn't you prefer a human over a lizard alien?

[John]

No. A fifth columnist is someone who blows stuff up or sabotage's the country for the benefit of its enemies.

First, I am not even sure you can be a "fifth columnist" when your favored country is a US ally. Second, voting on a single issue can never make you a fifth columnist. Suppose someone feels strongly about say Burma or the Palestinians or sub Saharan Africa or you are of Iraqi dissent and you vote based on the and vote on those issues alone. Are they a "fifth columnist"? Not in any meaningful sense of the term.

If the Jews who vote based on Israel are fifth columnists, then the Arabs who vote based on their concern for the Palestinians or their objection to the Iraq war are as well. And you would never call them that.

Look Fluffy, it is not different because they are JOOOOSS. Okay?

[MNG]

"Look Fluffy, it is not different because they are JOOOOSS. Okay?"

Ah, the old anti-Semitism lob, the first refuge of the right wing scoundrel.

Note fluffy's comments did not mention Jews specifically in any way, he was offering a general principle. But no criticism of Israeli policy in the least must even be hinted at, so let's lob the anti-Semitism charge. Awesome.

If any other country were put first by an American citizen the American left would howl with fury (flag pins!!!) but with Israel everything changes.

[MNG]

Whoops, meant to type American right, but hey, fun for the kids.

[John]

Stay out of it MNG. Or if you are going to pollute the thread at least read the posts. Read the sentence above. Unless you are willing to call Arabs who vote on middle eastern issues "fifth columnists", something I would be very surprised to see Fluffy do, then you can't call Jews who do the same thing fifth columnists.

Stop with the personal invective or go away. If you have something substantive to say, say it. Otherwise, we get it. You don't like me. Fine. Spare us a hundred post flame war explaining why.

[Fluffy]

Sure, fine. The original expression refers to the notion that as four columns of troops advanced on an enemy, a "fifth column" of sympathizers would arise in that enemy's rear. The expression, like the term "quisling", originally applied to overt treason.

I guess we need a different term for a person who favors another state's interests over his own, and then gets all huffy and resentful and calls you a racist when you say, "Hey, you're favoring another state's interests over your own." Got any suggestions?

[John]

Sure fluffy, single issue voter. When you think about it, are Jews who vote for Israel or Arabs who vote for Palestine at the expense of the larger interests of the country any different than people who vote for abortion or gun rights or whatever at the expense of the overall interests of the country? When you think about it, not really.

[MNG]

They are vastly different, the latter involve a domestic issue concerning your nation the former involves putting the interest of another nation ahead of your own.

Like I said, if it were any country other than Israel the right would how like a werewolf in heat.

[Fluffy]

Sure fluffy, single issue voter.

Well, yeah, but we need something that captures the part where they deny being a single-issue voter and fly into a rage if you suggest that they are.

[MNG]

"I guess we need a different term for a person who favors another state's interests over his own, and then gets all huffy and resentful and calls you a racist when you say, "Hey, you're favoring another state's interests over your own." Got any suggestions?"

You could call them a conservative, or how about just 'John?'

[shorter MNG]

John SUCKZ

[MNG]

John Schmon, John is not unique among conservatives in this (I didn't mention him at all in my original reply), he's typical of conservatives in general. Conservatism in our nation has had historical problems involving anti-Semitism, that plus their Cold War-Islamophobic mindset has led to this absurd Israel First exceptions to their overall worldview and their nasty habit of hurling the old anti-Semitims charge they faced so much in the past at anyone who offers any dissent on that line.

[Fluffy]

Look Fluffy, it is not different because they are JOOOOSS. Okay?

Actually, it's slightly different.

Because in this case, if we declare that one cause of a Demo defeat in NY-9 is American Jews voting based on Middle East issues, no one will say, "Hey, people vote based on how they feel about Burma or sub-Saharan Africa and it's no big deal, so it's no big deal to vote based on how we feel about Israel, either."

Instead they'll say, "How dare you say that maybe some people voted based on how they feel about Israel? No one would ever do that and no one has ever done that! You are a racist for even suggesting that! Anti-Semite! The Holocaust! Pogroms! Blood libel! 9/11! Suicide bombers! WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH!"

[MNG]

"Instead they'll say"

Actually, not will, John et al., have already moved there.

That its a move they make so quickly demonstrates the pitiful state of their position here.

[John]

I don't think so Fluffy. I think people in that District are pretty honest about wanted to vote Republican to send a message to Obama on Israel. I don't think anyone denies that. It is when people accuse them of not being fully patriotic Americans that the language you speak of gets brought out.

MNG, I really don't care what you have to say and neither does anyone else. You have nothing to add to the conversation than tirades about me and the conservatives who live in your head. Take it elsewhere.

[MNG]

You're projecting John, my comments are substantive and general. Conservatives are usually hyper-patriotic and at the hint that someone might hold up another nation's welfare over ours they howl at the moon in rage, but then they go out and brag how many Israeli flags they have at their home and office. If Obama did the same regarding, say, Kenya they would go nuts.

David Horowtiz was on right-wing radio last week decrying Obama's plans to pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq saying his first concern was that we were leaving Israel hanging. Amazing. Any other committal of our boys for foriegn gains would be the source of major invective and cries of treason from the right, but when it comes to Israel up is down and down is up.

You're a prime example of this, but don't flatter yourself that you are anything but typical of movement conservatives on this issue.

[MNG]

"Stop with the personal invective or go away."

I didn't mention you at all in the post, my you're projecting.

[shorter MNG]

John loves JOOOS!!!

[Neu Mejican]

No. A fifth columnist is someone who blows stuff up or sabotage's the country for the benefit of its enemies.

A fifth columnist is someone who clandestinely undermines a nation from within...this can apply far short of the :blows stuff up or sabotage" bar. So, I think Fluffy's description is about right...single issue voters whose issue is the benefit of another country (Israel, Palestine, Cuba, whatever) can be called fifth columnists if their vote works against the interests of the US.

[Britt]

Fifth columnist is gonna be a hard slur to pull off in the USA. In Europe a sizable group acting in favor of an enemy country could lead to conquest and occupation. The most powerful nation in the world by a large margin, with incredibly secure borders, isn't going to face a scenario where a fifth column could topple the Republic into the hands of....dastardly Canadians? Mexico? Maybe the Chinese will build a human bridge across the Pacific?

John and MNG hatefucks are always entertaining though.

[Tulpa]

Voting is not done clandestinely and does not measurably affect policy.

[copy editor]

First, I am not even sure you can be a "fifth columnist" when your favored country is a US ally.

If you're causing the US to remain in an alliance that doesn't benefit the US, then yes, you could be. Of course it's overstating just a bit to call voters voting their conscience "fifth columnists", but people in high positions of power who manipulate us into keeping that alliance going are another matter.

[CrackertyAssCracker]

I think around 1993.

[2O]

dont care about NY9 since the district will be gerrymandered outta existence

[O2]

Department of Defense employs 1 percent of Americans By Elizabeth Flock

A chart by the Economist of the world's biggest employers in 2010 shows that governments do the lion's share of the employing ? seven of the publication's top 10 are government-run.

The biggest employer is the United States' very own Defense Department, which had 3.2 million people on its payroll last year. That number, the Economist points out, means that 1 percent of Americans work for DoD.

http://www.stripes.com/

[Quetzalcoatl]

Well, what do you expect! The US Government is the wealthiest [jobz]creatiest wealthy [jobz] creator.

[2O]

thank god for the DoD since the wealthy [JOBZ] creators dont create [JOBZ] w their tax cuts.

[PIRS]

We should have a government program that hires people to did holes in people's front lawns without the owner's consent.

[People]

We done did hole, boss.

[PIRS]

dig, ok, instead of diding try digging.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Doesn't even begin to count the number of contractors who depend on the DOD

[PIRS]

Thus creating massive malinvestment.
Imagine if all of that money could have been in the hands of private indivudals to improve their own lives. I oppose other kinds of government make-work projects also but in many cases there is at least something potentially useful at the end. If the government builds an opera house it can actualy be useful for entertainment or even business meetings. But what can you do with a bomb except kill people? Submarines? I know some treasure hunters use them but that is a very small pool of people. Tanks? Nope, not many uses for a tank either. Tanks are useless unless your goal is killing people.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You must hate the children or your country or something like that.

[PIRS]

🙂 +5

[Lord Humungus]

I would like to have a tank - you know, just for the commute to work.

[Sparky]

It would make it a hell of a lot safer that's for sure.

[Quetzalcoatl]

DIY

[Lord Humungus]

now that is good ol' American ingenuity.

[PIRS]

Sad story. I wish he hadn't killed himself.

He could have become the leader of an anti-zoning movement.

[Art-P.O.G.]

Yeah, the guy went way too far. But I can't help but to salute him, because those were the actions of a true badass.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I concur.
At least no one was hurt.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Err... no one else, that is.

[Art-P.O.G.]

At the same time, I truly hope his victims' insurance policies covered "killdozer".

[BakedPenguin]

I used to work in Property & Casualty insurance. You'd be surprised how many people sadly choose not to take the Killdozer rider.

[Citizen Nothing]

Actually, if that Wikipedia entry can be believed, it appears he was in favor of zoning away the concrete business across the street from his shop.

[Hank]

I want my Wiki page to one day say something as cool as:

"Known for: Bulldozer rampage"

[Art-P.O.G.]

...and Lone Wolf McQuade and Bob the Builder under 'related pages'.

[Restoras]

I'd like a jet fighter. Surplus is ok.

[PIRS]

I think Army Navy Surplus stores actually provide a great service to the economy. They take items that would otherwise be wasted and provide them to people whom - for whatever reason - actually want them. Some items are popular with hunters or other camping enthusiasts. Others are popular to collectors. Whatever the reasons there are people who find some of these things useful or desirable. So much the better. At least they are not being used to kill human beings.

[Pip]

I love the P38 can openers.

http://www.dansdata.com/images.....8_1280.jpg

[O2]

i have a p38 on the chain for my dogtags

[Lord Humungus]

A member of aha bought an F16 fighter.
http://a-ha.com/news/articles/.....ter-plane/

Take on Me indeed

[Art-P.O.G.]

I didn't see this coming. I thought Kenny Loggins might have done so.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

My cousin bought an Iraqi tank after Desert Storm. I have a picture of him on top of it in Norfolk somewhere.

[N00b]

The executive branch employed 2.776M people in 2010. The downward trend in civilian employment ended in 2008. It is still less that what it was in the late 60s.

http://www.opm.gov/feddata/His.....ce1962.asp

[PIRS]

As someone else mentioned - there are lots of contractors. Also, many uniformed military personnel do things you might expect civilians would normally do. On military bases unifomed military personnel fill many roles on base - everything from working as firefighters, to serving chow hall food, to serving as doctors and nurses to passing out basketballs in the gymnasium.

[N00b]

@PIRS: I agree with you. The OP's numbers are off though unless he is trying to acocunt for the contractors. Even then, the DoD doesn't even know how many contractors work for it. The DoD employs ~714K civilians and ~1.6M troops.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

That number, the Economist points out, means that 1 percent of Americans work for DoD.

I wonder if that figure includes all the military contractors or just the GS employees.

[BigT]

"One-term presidents usually leave office with their parties divided, the economy in crisis, wars unresolved, approval ratings in the tank and a sullen public rejecting them. Becoming a one-term president means joining a gallery of dashed hopes and crushed ambitions. Among those who were elected for just one term were men who, like Mr. Obama, came to the White House with enormous promise."

"Nevertheless, accomplishments with lasting significance have resulted from some one-term presidencies. We live in a competitive culture that is so obsessed with measuring presidential leadership solely based on re-election that we often miss the ability of the losers, so to speak, to shape the direction of American politics. "

Translation:
Obama is great. It's the Republicans fault. You'll see!!

[Fluffy]

If you look at the list of "achievements" the columnist believes constitute success, other than Polk's it's a rogue's gallery of legislative outrages.

In fact, a significant portion of the non-FDR chicanery foisted on the American people in the last 150 years can be blamed on one-termers.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Carter? Was he that bad?

[Citizen Nothing]

Carter gave us craft beer and cheap air tickets. He's like a god to me.

[Citizen Nothing]

Actually, Carter is still eligible for another term, right?

[Pro Libertate]

Yeppers.

[Tulpa]

So is GHWB.

I'm not sure I wouldn't vote for him against the fools in the GOP race right now.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Carter honestly wasn't THAT terrible, but he suffers in part due to the illusion by many Americans that the 1970s wouldn't have been anything other than a long decade of failures if Someone Else had been in charge.

He's served as an appropriate symbol of that entire shitty decade, but things would have sucked no matter who was running things.

[John]

That is especially true if you count Johnson as a one term President, which he effectively was. He only served a year before being elected in 1964 and was eligible to run for re-election in 1968.

[Pro Libertate]

"[E]normous promise?" Of what? Where do people get these ideas from? He was known to be inexperienced and to have a socialistic streak.

What bull.

[Citizen Nothing]

Where do people get these ideas from?
The Nobel Prize committee?

[Pro Libertate]

Nah. That technically didn't happen until after he was mysteriously elected.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Translation:
Obama is great. It's the Republicans fault. You'll see!!

I like how the author is uninentionally saying that if Obama is re-elected, things will suck even more than they do now.

[Abdul]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will release two imprisoned hikers.

To celebrate their freedom, they're going to take a canoe trip down the Taedong river in Korea.

[2O]

who bought that story about hiking the mountians near the iranian border?...u know, in peaceful iraq

[Pro Libertate]

I buy it. This sort of thing happens all of the time. Kids are stupid. Kids with money and free time are stupider. Like that kid hanging out with the rebels in Libya.

[Fluffy]

I'm a little disappointed there are no links this morning to stories about how outraged Ron Paulians sacked the offices of CNN following that network's exclusion of Paul from the Federal Reserve debate question.

Why not just ask every candidate other than Romney and Huntsman what it feels like to be a Mormon?

Why not have a discussion of blacks in the conservative movement and not call on Cain?

[Warty]

'Wi-fi refugees' shelter in West Virginia mountains

Strange game...the only way to win is not to play

[SugarFree]

Diane Schou says she was forced to live in a shielded cage in Iowa, prior to moving to West Virginia

Six of one, half-dozen of another.

[Quetzalcoatl]

That actually explains a lot about West Virginia.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Hey now.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Open for Business!?

[Art-P.O.G.]

I like to think the people with electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome are beginning to act as human receptors for wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. Hopefully through successive generations, those who carry this ability will eventually be able to detect and interpret the weak induction field of the human brain.

And you know, bam, telepathy.

[Clich? Bandit]

I'm not entirly sure this doesnt exists already. There was a German study done where they strapped people with these special belts that constantly buzz them in the direction of magnetic north. Then after six weeks of constant wearing they took the belt off and took the person to an unknown local and had them blindfolded and walk a course pointing north (after the requisite turning around disorientation steps). It worked very well...as in almost perfectly.

This suggests there may be an inate ability to detect magnetic fields in humans just like migratory birds.

Also, this lady seems like a hypochondriac.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

A simple double blind test would resolve the EHS question. Funny how these articles about EM sensitivity never seem to mention that.

[Fluffy]

I have contempt for a lot of people, but I particularly despise the fucking neurotics out there who insist on making up a new bullshit "sensitivity" every fucking two minutes.

Can you people just go be crazy somewhere silently, so I don't have to hear about it?

Maybe I should start claiming that it gives me headaches and muscle pain to have to hear people bitch about made-up ailments. I'm disabled! Disabled, I tell ya! I demand that our entire civilization be dismantled in order to cater to my neurotic delusions!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The only way to win....

[Quetzalcoatl]

Can you people just go be crazy somewhere silently, so I don't have to hear about it?

To be fair, they did go to West Virginia...

[Rev. Blue Moon]

The Hills Have iPhones.

[Sparky]

Awesome.

[Fluffy]

OK, you got me there.

[Art-P.O.G.]

Yeah, that's a good one.

[Name Nomad]

These crazies have been around for a while in one form or another. There was even a character on Northern Exposure with this "condition."

[Pope Jimbo]

Just wait until I start distributing the torrent of my digitized peanut genome via Pirate Bay.

That should take out even those buggers in W VA for you Fluffy.

[Sparky]

We'll see who has the last laugh when everyone starts developing Nerve Attenuation Syndrome.

[CrackertyAssCracker]

I wonder if a tin foil hat was actually tried out here.

[2O]

that washed-out lookin fat old woman has a husband? can u imagine hitting that? talk about needing viagra...& some antiseptic

[Chatroom Crank]

The 70 year old talking about how this terrible illness shortens people's lives was especially touching.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Don't they have calendars in Kabul?

[Pip]

+911

[wylie]

Timezones man. Kabul is like 52-timezones behind the US.

[Sparky]

No no, I think they're 74 ahead, or something.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will release two imprisoned hikers.

[Insert STEVE SMITH joke here]

[Art-P.O.G.]

Don't go, Steve! It's a trap!

[STEVE SMITH]

IT WORK FOR MY FOREST FRIENDS SALMON AND TROUT. IT WORK FOR MAHMOUD. MAYBE STEVE SMITH TRY CATCH AND RELEASE TOO.

[Bee Tagger]

Between 2007 and 2009, drug-war murders replaced car accidents as the top killer of Mexican youth.

Decriminalizing drugs would cause a rapid increase in deaths from car accidents!

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't know it would increase that much, aside from Sullum running down Bill O'Reilly's kids.

[Bee Tagger]

NYT: "With waning approval ratings and a stagnant economy, the possibility that Mr. Obama will not be re-elected has entered the political bloodstream."

If this news is alcohol, I can only assume the political bloodstream's host is a raging alcoholic.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's an infection, and a healthy dose of ObamaCare will clear that right out of the political bloodstream. Any day now.

[PIRS]

"With waning approval ratings and a stagnant economy, the possibility that Mr. Obama will not be re-elected has entered the political bloodstream."

Possibility? Near certainty is more like it - unless the GOP nominates another candidate who is ideologically indistinguishable from Obama like that did in 2008.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I'm not convinced... I think Obama has a pretty good chance of getting reelected, even if no one I know votes for him.

[PIRS]

He was elected for three reasons: 1. Let's be honest, more people who are the descendents of American slaves showed up at the poles because Obama has more melanin in his skin than most Americans. 2. He has (or had) very good speaking skills. and 3. John McCain was the nominee for the Republican Party.

[Quetzalcoatl]

1. There must be at least 20 less convoluted ways of saying that.
2. He's started bringing the brimstone back into his speeches.
3. Is Mitt Romney really more exciting than John McCain?

[Pro Libertate]

Here's an easy response to your question: McCain beat Romney with ease in the primaries in 2008.

Pithy answer: No.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Thanks, though it was rhetorical.

[Pro Libertate]

McCain is more exciting because we all secretly wonder whether he was programmed by the Vietnamese to destroy America. Or to join NAFTA--I forget which.

[DJF]

Don't forget McCains hit single, "Bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran"

[PIRS]

1. I said it the way I did deliberately.
2. I haven't seen any for about a year and it is no longer novel anyway.
3. Mitt Romney? No, I hope to the Flying Spaghetti Monster (Pasta be upon him) that the nominee is someone other than Romney. I hope it is Ron Paul.

[PIRS]

Even Huntsman would be preferable to Romney.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I don't know... at least Romney is easily manipulated.

[Pro Libertate]

The word you're looking for is "programmed."

[Quetzalcoatl]

Hey, if he were a TiVo it would be a great selling point!

[Pro Libertate]

He has empty slots where we could throw in a TV card.

[Azathoth]

" Flying Spaghetti Monster (Pasta be upon him)"

This always gets me. 'Pasta' be upon Him? Isn't He the Flying Spagetti Monster? Doesn't that mean He's made of pasta? Why would He want more? Wouldn't that just make bikini season a little more embarassing? AND harder to wax?

Why not 'Parmesan be upon Him'? Much tastier--and easily cleared up with a bit of Head and Shoulders for date night.

[Lord Humungus]

Sure, Obama still has a good shot at winning. But...

- The 'messiah' hasn't proven to be all that.
- lower novelty factor
- unless the economy vastly improves, the average voter may be willing to try something new.
- it's my gut feeling that people are starting to turn Obama off. Too many appearances, too much speechifying.

[Pro Libertate]

No, he doesn't. Regardless of the GOP nominee, Obama will lose in a way that will frighten and confuse the DNC for years to come.

[Lord Humungus]

I think you are right. The GOP candidate will be pilloried by the parts of the press, various pundits, etc etc. There will be a call to mobilize the minority voters, a cry to preserve the social "safety net"... Will it be enough to swing the election to Obama? That will remain to be seen.

[Pro Libertate]

I believe the limit on the number of permitted recessions during a term is zero, not two.

[BakedPenguin]

the limit on the number of permitted recessions during a term is zero, not two.

It's actually one, solved early in the term. See: Reagan, R.

[kinnath]

The economic projections for the next year assure that Obama will be defeated.

[Quetzalcoatl]

At the same time, most of American seems to be ignoring Obama, not hating him.
Those Americans aren't even going to vote.

[Lord Humungus]

meh, take this for what's it's worth.

Obama faces skepticism from swing voters: poll
http://www.reuters.com/article.....TB20110913

"These undecided voters, who could determine whether Obama wins re-election next year, believe Republicans are more serious about reducing budget deficits and more aligned with them ideologically, according to the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way"

[Quetzalcoatl]

I would be thrilled if swing voters voted against Obama.
This time in 2007, however, polls showed McCain trailing third behind Rudy and Fred.

[Neu Mejican]

As one of those independent swing voters, I would love to have someone to vote for besides Obama...the debate last night was not encouraging on that account. The Republicans are trying to decide between a long list of idiots.

[Bee Tagger]

Roughly 5,400 former congressional aides became lobbyists over the last decade.

Credit where credit is due, the more the government spends the more of these type of jobs will be created/saved.

[sarcasmic]

Daily Mail has nothing good for me to link.

[SugarFree]

Vegan couple will serve life sentences for starving baby to death on a diet of soy milk and apple juice

[Quetzalcoatl]

9AM and I've already reached peak-anger.

[Bee Tagger]

Compared to the number of lives that would be murdered to satiate a meat-eater, this is still a net win, right PETA?

[SugarFree]

Don't bother, PETA has no shame.

[Pro Libertate]

PETA. Is that the organization of naked women? I mean, judging from their ads and protests, it appears to be the core purpose of their charter.

[PETA really stands for]

People Eating Tasty Animals.

[John]

Justice is served. Fucking sick bastards.

[Brett L]

Good. Being starved to death slowly would be better.

[sarcasmic]

Like I said. Nothing good.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Not even Keibler?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-past.html

[Bee Tagger]

Who in the world knows who Stacey Kiebler is but doesn't know that she was a wrestler?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Who cares? More pics please.

[Art-P.O.G.]

Wow...Clooney has great taste, but I still think it's a little weird that he's dating Stacy Kiebler. That's like Shane McMahon dating Scarlett Johannson. When worlds collide.

[Pip]

Clooney's getting pretty old (just look at the pics), so I suspect he has to make compromises.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

The sad part is that she's going to end up like the rest of his girlfriends--dumped in about 1-2 years, her biological clock ticking, and wondering how on earth she failed to convince him to commit to marry her.

[Sparky]

I'd be willing to bet that she's smarter than that and is just in it for the good times as well. It would take a truly moronic woman to think she's going to change ole George and I don't think she's that.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It would take a truly moronic woman to think she's going to change ole George and I don't think she's that.

You'd be amazed what women will delude themselves into believing, especially in the This Time It's Different! category.

[Mike M.]

Yeesh, that entire web page is like a little gallery of soft core porn for 14 year old boys.

[Clich? Bandit]

in all honesty i only cliked it AFTER reading your comment.

[sarcasmic]

Nope. If it ain't Bar Rafaeli in a bikini or Samantha Fox in her undies, it ain't good in my book.

[sarcasmic]

*Megan Fox* holy 80's flashback aaaauuuuuggggghhhhhhh!

[Mike M.]

Last night during the football game I saw a commercial that showed the clip of Phoebe Cates by the swimming pool from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". Man, talk about your teenage 80's flashback moments.

[Devil's Advocate]

Daily Mail needs pics of pretty boys also. They could have a Page 3 with pretty people. I'd read it.

[CoyoteBlue]

Germans getting all snippy and not willing to "save" (translation: empty sea with giant beer stein) Europe. Now the Italians are off fellating the Chinaman to hold off the deluge for a few more weeks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09.....&ref=world

[Lord Humungus]

Small-Business Confidence in U.S. Falls to 13-Month Low as Demand Slows

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....tlook.html

"The National Federation of Independent Business's optimism index decreased to 88.1, the weakest reading since July 2010 and the sixth-consecutive decline, from 89.9 in July. The number of small-business owners saying they expected the economy will improve six months from now fell to the lowest level since 1980."

[Lord Humungus]

thread-fail.

[Fluffy]

..What you'd win would be what you've always won in the past: a postponement, one more stay of execution, for another year?or month?bought at the price of whatever hope and effort might still be squeezed out of the best of the human remnants left around you, including me. That's all you're after and that is the length of your range. A month? You'd settle for a week?on the unchallenged absolute that there will always be another victim to find.

Wait long enough, and all Rand lines come true.

[Pro Libertate]

On second thought, maybe it's best that we're Europe's military right now.

[Quetzalcoatl]

It has great job security.

[Pro Libertate]

That, it does. Europeans always want to kill each other and are not so secretly glad that we're preventing that.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Or, for a certain price, facilitating it.

[Ted S.]

The same is going on with the Finnish people, but the Finnish establishment is still trying to push the EU position:

http://www.hs.fi/english/artic.....5269145601

[$6M RoboTorso]

Life is an abyss. Scream into it and know you're alone.

That is all.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The only way to win....

[SugarFree]

I thought life was a highway and that you wanted to ride it all night long.

[Pro Libertate]

You will learn about life when you play the game of Life.

[Quetzalcoatl]

The only thing I learned from LIFE? was to go to college and never buy insurance.

[Pro Libertate]

And to have lots of kids.

[Sparky]

Scream not into the abyss for when you scream into the abyss, the abyss screams into you.

[The Abyss]

Dammit, keep it down! Tryin' to sleep in here?

[Bee Tagger]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITI.....index.html

At least the debate summary admitted Ron Paul was a participant. No other mention, of course.

[kilroy]

The latest CNN poll omits Gary Johnson as an option. So they didn't like defending their exclusion of him from the debates based on his equal or better numbers than others that were included so: Solution! drop him from the poll!!!

[Pro Libertate]

Gary who? Is he some sort of YouTube star?

[wylie]

Who?

[wylie]

And it's Pro L with the photo-finish.

[Lord Humungus]

Krugman: History's Smallest Monster
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....lenews_wsj

[Bee Tagger]

I don't want Krugman to turn into a martyr over this. The last thing the world needs is for Krugman to develop a reputation for "speaking truth, no matter the consequences."

I think it would be best to let his non-economic partisan shilling disappear into the void without comment. It would look worse for him. If a partisan hack says something offensive but no one reacts, he looks all the more foolish. Now it gets mixed in with all the other less egregious things Republicans get upset about.

[Lord Humungus]

Rick Perry on Gun Control
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seat.....ne-liners/

"I am actually for gun control: Use both hands," Perry shot back. He put on a wide old-boy grin and gave thumbs-up to his listeners.

[Quetzalcoatl]

With a candidate like that, who needs bumper-stickers.

[Pro Libertate]

Why not just elect a robot that issues one-liners? Who needs policy or decision-making capability?

[wylie]

AWKWARD.

[T]

Would that be any worse than any post-WWII president?

[NeonCat]

Will unions vote for a robot president? Or will they fear increased automation will take away more manufacturing jobs?

[Pro Libertate]

Nah, presidents are nonunion. Fuck 'em.

[Destrudo]

Bender for president. I'm in.

[Ponzi]

Only 1.75 Full-time Private Sector Workers Per Social Security Recipient

There were only 1.75 full-time private-sector workers in the United States last year for each person receiving benefits from Social Security, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Social Security board of trustees.

That means that for each husband and wife who worked full-time in the private sector last year there was a Social Security recipient somewhere in the country taking benefits from the federal government.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/ar.....-recipient

[CoyoteBlue]

Seems perfectly sustainable.
Remember that anti-Ryan commercial with him pushing the old lady in a wheelchair over the cliff.

My version has a fancy carriage full of oldsters drinking champagne, laughing and playing grab ass with Obama driving and cracking a whip. The carriage is pulled by a mass of twenty somethings.

[Lost_In_Translation]

The caveat to that is the 20 somethings still have the option of dropping the reins and walking away.

[BigT]

This is the kind of imagination that the Reps need....and will never develop.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Needs more Slurpee?.

[twenty-something]

Wow, imagine what the numbers will be once all the Baby Boomers are past the magic age for SS. Pretty soon it's going to be 1.75 retirees for every 1 private-sector worker.

[Lord Humungus]

As the boomers turn
Since the '80s, polls have found those who came of age in the '60s and '70s becoming more family oriented and conservative. If more boomers are led to embrace the GOP, it could affect the 2012 vote.
http://www.latimes.com/news/op.....ommentary+(L.A.+Times+-+Commentary)

btw, that is one of the worst pictures of Jane Fonda I've ever seen.

[SugarFree]

Never trust anyone over 30 40 50 60 70.

[Lost_In_Translation]

or under 50

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Never trust anyone over 30 40 50 60 70.

FIFY

[oldtimer]

Thanks, for nothing

[Isaac Bartram]

Question is, why is a picture of Jane Fonda, born 1937, nearly ten years before the first boomer, used to illustrate an article about boomers?

[Pro Libertate]

Image over substance is the Boomer mantra.

[Lord Humungus]

Dunno -

Boomer = 1960s = Hippies = Anti-War = Jane Fonda!!! Whew.

[Ted S.]

To me the political side of it isn't the Baby Boomers. It's more people born just too late to fight in World War II (say, about 1930) through to people whose formative political experiences were the riotous days of the late 1960s and early 1970s (say, born before 1955).

It really hit me when I was watching the TCM documentary on Marlon Brando several years ago, and one of the interviewees mentioned the first time he watched Julius Caesar and thought how wonderful Brando is, for what largely seemed simply because his acting was different from Olivier's. It was all about rebellion. Or, as Brando said in The Wild One when asked what he was rebelling against, "What have you got?"

[Pro Libertate]

I thought Brando was pretty good as Mark Antony, especially doing the "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech. Heck, I wanted to go kill Brutus and Cassius after hearing it the first time.

[Lord Humungus]

Revolving door of employment between Congress, lobbying firms, study shows
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

"Nearly 5,400 former congressional staffers have left Capitol Hill to become federal lobbyists in the past 10 years, according to a new study that documents the extent of the revolving door between Congress and K Street."

[Lord Humungus]

*bzzzt* another thread fail. I need some more caffeine.

[Pip]

It may look bad, but over a 10-year period, that's really only just one and one half lobbiests per day. Every day. Seven days a week. For ten fucking years.

[Sparky]

So, market responding to consumer demands or busybodies getting in other people's business?

http://moms.today.com/_news/20.....-it-for-me

[Quetzalcoatl]

Market response.
Though, for me, that shirt inspires more of a "huh?" than rage.

[Pip]

Good to see joe's working again:

Attendant Sprays Gas Hose At Would-Be Robber In Lowell

http://boston.cbslocal.com/201.....y-attempt/

[-]

Between 2007 and 2009, drug-war murders replaced car accidents as the top killer of Mexican youth.

Keep it going then. This could solve our illegal immigration problem.

[kilroy]

His economic stimulus helped to stave off a second Depression

Citation needed.

[Not an Economist]

Don't, he will only cite his own work.

[Quetzalcoatl]

It's citations all the way down.

[The Other Kevin]

Between 2007 and 2009, drug-war murders replaced car accidents as the top killer of Mexican youth.

Looks like Mexican MADD is doing an AWESOME job! Keep up the good work!

[TeaParty Army]

Let him die!

[John]

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2.....llege.html

Some evil right wing organization filed an open records request with the University of Wisconsin concerning their admissions policies. And low and behold it turns out they are flat out discriminating against Asians and whites. The report drops last night and hilarity ensues. My favorite quote

I was so upset that our students are going to have to wake up in the morning and deal with this," said Williams (the vice provost for diversity and climate) with tears in his eyes. "That's not what students came here for....

But Williams told students not to despair, for every student admitted to UW-Madison is and deserves to be a badger.

"I want students to be able to be in power; to say this is who we are, this is what we value," Williams said.

He said students should lead the university's response against CEO....

One of the first responses will occur tomorrow, when students opposing CEO's stance will hold a rally "to express their solidarity and pride in UW and a sense of togetherness," said [Sarah Mathews, vice president of public relation for the Wisconsin Union Directorate].

OMG student might know the truth about how we screw Asians and white people. They shouldn't have to deal with such things. And of course, it is an open question the taxpayers and students of Wisconsin are being asked to pay for a "Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Climate". WTF?

[2O]

so dont matriculate at UW john. jeesch

[John]

So it is okay for publicly funded universities to discriminate on the basis of race? Really? I am sure that would have been news to some people in Alabama about fifty years ago.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Frankly the alumni should be threatening to drop all support and fire the administration.

[O2]

yes, title 9 for example mandates equal female athletic scholarships which wouldnt otherwise happen

[T]

Female is a race?

[Pip]

My favorite race of all.

[Diversity & Climate Chancellor]

"So it is okay for publicly funded universities to discriminate on the basis of race?"

As long as it's the acceptable race, sure.

[Pro Libertate]

Madison has a reputation for being, well, Maoist.

[Lost_In_Translation]

..and damp

[Pro Libertate]

Damp, cold, beer-and-cheese consuming Maoists.

[Quetzalcoatl]

The great state of Wisconsin will not apologize for its cheese!

[Pro Libertate]

They have good cheese and other dairy products. I lived in Minneapolis for a while and appreciated the cheese opportunities.

[Fluffy]

If any tax dollars (including any portion of Sarah Mathews' salary) were used in order to attempt to organize a political response by university students to this report, every university employee involved should be fucking fired and imprisoned.

[John]

http://uppitywis.org/sit-prote.....Wisconsin+(Uppity+Wisconsin+-+Progressive+News+From+The+Cheddarsphere)

They are having a sitin today at the Doubletree where the organization that asked for the records is having meetings. I would be very surprised if the UW administration isn't at least helping somewhat.

And please explain to me how an organization that does nothing but make a lawful open records request and releases the result is not worthy of a bunch of dirty hippies harassing its meetings? That is flatout fascist tactics.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

I wish I lived closer to Madison. I'd make the trip to pretend like I'm one of them and join in the protest with a fake sign like:

University of Wisconsin
Only Minorities Need Apply

[Citizen Nothing]

No Irish or Chinamen!

[O2]

john - did some wingnutz radio entertainer foam u up w this agiprop? jeesch, just dont go to UM

[John]

Just like black people didn't have to go to the University of Alabama if they didn't like it. Glad to know you are such a lover of Jim Crow. And we should take someone like you who condones public racism seriously why?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Which is beside the point--a lawful open records request was made. The information was provided and subsequently made public. And the response of the Diversity Squad, some of whom are on the public dole, is to try and intimidate that organization into silence for making that open records information public.

The appropriate response by the university should have been, "Yeah, we go out of our way to exclude Asians and white applicants where feasable. So what?" It would have been despicable, but it would have been honest. Instead, we see the typical librage chimpouts that always occur when their agenda is fully exposed.

Yet another reason I can't wait for the education bubble to pop.

[Neu Mejican]

And please explain to me how an organization that does nothing but make a lawful open records request and releases the result is not worthy of a bunch of dirty hippies harassing its meetings? That is flatout fascist tactics.

Dirty Hippies? [sigh]
John, CEO's report is hardly unbiased truth. It looks at one of the nation's least diverse campuses and screams "it teh reverse discimination!"

[Red Rocks Rockin]

The argument that "diversity" on a university campus is needed is nothing more than question-begging. They should be a lot more concerned with whether or not a particular applicant will be successful in their programs or not.

[Neu Mejican]

The argument that "diversity" on a university campus is needed is nothing more than question-begging.

It is a value judgment. UW-Madison seems to feel they need more diversity and have crafted policies that attempt to increase their diversity. The idea that there is something improper in what they are doing is a judgment call as well. Not question-begging.

They should be a lot more concerned with whether or not a particular applicant will be successful in their programs or not.

In your opinion.

[Neu Mejican]

"Yeah, we go out of our way to exclude Asians and white applicants where feasable. So what?"

Encouraging diversity does not entail exclusion of Asian and white applicants.

See my link below. More than 85% of the students that UW-Madison admits are white, and less than 3% are black. 60% of white applicants make it in (72% of black applicants make it in).

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It is a value judgment. UW-Madison seems to feel they need more diversity and have crafted policies that attempt to increase their diversity. The idea that there is something improper in what they are doing is a judgment call as well. Not question-begging.

Baloney--otherwise their university reps wouldn't have bothered chimping out about the study.

In your opinion.

Yeah, it's not like college is costing thousands of dollars a year or anything like that.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Encouraging diversity does not entail exclusion of Asian and white applicants

If it means a more academically qualified white or Asian applicant is rejected while a less academically qualified black or Hispanic one is admitted, then yes it does.

[Neu Mejican]

Yeah, it's not like college is costing thousands of dollars a year or anything like that.

What's that got to do with anything from UW's perspective? They are willing to take the risk based on their admissions criteria...it is a value judgment.

If it means a more academically qualified white or Asian applicant is rejected while a less academically qualified black or Hispanic one is admitted, then yes it does.

You are making a false assumption. According to the UW admissions policy...the more academically qualified students are being admitted. You are focusing on a narrow set of criteria while they are looking at a larger set of criteria for what make a candidate "qualified." The whole "reverse discrimination" gambit is question begging at its most pure. You say they are more qualified based on a different set of criteria than the UW uses and try to justify your position by saying your criteria are the correct ones.

[DJF]

""""'"Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Climate"""'

Why not just call it "Vice Chancellor for leftwing causes" that way they won't leave any out.

[Lord Humungus]

just for fairness sake, we need a Vice-Chancellor for Explosions and Titty Bars.

[Citizen Nothing]

I laughed.

[Sparky]

I'd like to nominate myself for this lofty position. I feel I could handle the responsibility with the due respect it deserves.

[Art-P.O.G.]

You've got to look like the lead singer of Clutch if you're going to hold that office.

[Pro Libertate]

Clutch. Is that like Clutch Cargo? Does the lead singer's face stay unmoving and cartoonish, while the freakish real mouth moves?

[Art-P.O.G.]

I had to Google 'Clutch Cargo'. I had no idea what you were talking about, hee hee.

[Pro Libertate]

You missed a great moment in animation history. I highly recommend finding a full episode and watching it. You'll question whether this is the real world for the rest of your life.

[Ska]

Is that what young Butch is watching in Pulp Fiction before Walken tells the "so he gimme da watch" story?

[Pro Libertate]

Tarantino? I'm familiar with his work.

[Warty]

the vice provost for diversity and climate

The what of the what now?

[Quetzalcoatl]

She used to be the Vice Provost for Diversity and Warming.

[Art-P.O.G.]

+1

[Pro Libertate]

That raises an interesting question. Will AGW proponents, frustrated with the public's refusal to totally accept their claims, work instead to actually increase warming? In other words, strive to say, "See? We told you so!"

[Quetzalcoatl]

It's less work to just massage the numbers.

[Pro Libertate]

I suppose you're right, but I wouldn't be surprised if Al Gore turns out to have a secret island with a facility emitting excess greenhouse gases at an enormous rate.

[Quetzalcoatl]

It's not an island.

[Pro Libertate]

He's foolish to put his lair out in the open like that. Maybe in Chattanooga, where there are mountains to protect him, but in Nashville? Madness!

[kilroy]

emitting excess greenhouse gases at an enormous rate.

I think that was his 24hr speech thingy.

[John]

Why work to increase warming when you can just adjust the temperature readings to show whatever you want? That is what they are going to do. They own the people who read the temperatures.

[Citizen Nothing]

After further review, apparently "climate" in the job title refers to sociological "climate", not, like, global warming.
So while it's funny, it's not as funny as it could have been.
Come on, UW-Madison! You're just not trying hard enough!

[Fluffy]

Well, I guess half of his job is making sure there's diversity, and the other half is making sure no one complains about the university's methods for attaining diversity.

What else can "sociological climate" really mean? The frickin' cafeteria menu? The number of Black History Month posters?

[Pro Libertate]

You remember how the Soviets used to have political commissars to make sure the purity of that instant's official Communism was preserved?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Well that's just pathetic.....

[Pip]

"vice provost for diversity and climate"

Diversity and climate? Jesus fucking Christ.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Just another example of why college students are worthless--they never even stop to think that bullcrap positions like this are big reason why their tuition goes up every year.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

The racial double-standard and librage handwringing over being exposed is contemptuous, but at the same time, resident tuition alone at UW is over $4000 a semester. To be quite honest, those Asians and whites are being done a favor by not being accepted.

[Neu Mejican]

According to the executive summary of the CEO report examining undergraduate admissions at UW-Madison: "In 2007 and 2008, UW admitted more than 7 out of every 10 black applicants, and more than 8 out of 10 Hispanics, versus roughly 6 in 10 Asians and whites."

But according to Sara Goldrick-Rab, a UW-Madison associate professor of education policy studies and sociology, "those numbers don't add up."

She notes that figures available on the UW-Madison website show that "in 2007 and 2008, UW admitted about 4 in 10 black applicants, 6.5 in 10 Hispanic applicants, and nearly 6 in 10 white applicants."

http://host.madison.com/news/l.....03286.html

Every time I go to Madison I think..."why aren't there any whites or asians on this campus" /sarcasm.

[Neu Mejican]

The CEO report seems to downplay the differences in the number of applicants from each group. Much ado about nothing.

[John]

Only much ado about nothing if you don't believe in due process and equal protection. Imagine if they found this out about black applicants. Would your response be but there are tons of black people on campus? I think not.

You are a liberal so you only care about favored groups and don't care about objective fairness. We got it. But the rest of us are pretty appalled by this. And you should be too if you had any decency.

[Neu Mejican]

I am not liberal and couldn't care less about UW-Madison's diversity. They, however, care and have appropriate policies to encourage diversity on their campus.

Imagine if they found this out about black applicants.

Found out what? That They outnumbered whites by 20 to 1, so the institution had decided to make it easier for whites to join the campus? Yeah. I would be outraged/ sarcasm.

[Pip]

I saw the CEO of Gibson on TV last night. He says the Feds essentially want him to close down his plant (1,200 workers) and move the operation to Madagascar. He said that he had all the necessary documentation from the Indian government for the imported wood, so no laws were broken.

The Obama administration can not be removed soon enough.

[Pro Libertate]

Business bad! Kill! Kill!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The results of job justification by the bureaucrats and a federal register tens of thousands of pages long.

[BakedPenguin]

Think of all the economik stimululz as guitarists, bassist, banjo and mandolin players buy up the remaining stock of "American made" Gibsons.

[Pip]

Texas company blames EPA regs in layoff of 500 workers

Texas energy company Luminant announced on Monday new burdensome Environmental Protection Agency regulations are forcing it to close several facilities, which will result in about 500 job losses.

The company will be idling ? stopping the usage of ? two energy generating units. It will also cease extracting lignite from three different Texas mines.

The EPA regulation Luminant cites as too burdensome is the new Cross-State Air Pollution rule, which requires Texas power generators to make "dramatic reductions" in emissions beginning on January 1, 2012.

"We have hundreds of employees who have spent their entire professional careers at Luminant and its predecessor companies," Luminant CEO David Campbell said in a statement. "At every step of this process, we have tried to minimize these impacts, and it truly saddens me that we are being compelled to take the actions we've announced today. We have filed suit to try to avoid these consequences."

http://dailycaller.com/#ixzz1Xq7TVq1k

[Sparky]

But the people in charge could just take pay cuts to save these jobs. Those filthy rich job owners are just looking for more reasons to put people out of work obviously.

[Tim]

Unemployment = a green economy.

[CoyoteBlue]

Didn't want those jobs/watts anyway.

[Spoonman.]

Today's announcement that Luminant will cut 500 jobs in Texas because of the EPA's new Cross-State Air Pollution Rules is a sad confirmation of the TCEQ's previous statements. These rules, imposed on Texas without adequate notice and without adequate scientific justification, will kill jobs, put the brakes on economic growth, increase energy costs and impair our energy security?all with little or no positive environmental effects. The new rules will not lead to cleaner energy, but rather to significantly less energy. These rules are shutting down electrical generating plants, after a summer when the state came very close to suffering serious, widespread power shortages.

http://www.tceq.texas.gov/news.....inantreact

[WTF]

Texas' economy was making Obama look bad, there was no other choice.

[Texas]

its all about me babiee ! eff louisiana & the gulf coast

[Lord Humungus]

Hatch to Craig Becker: Did You Write the SEIU Intimidation Manual?
http://hatch.senate.gov/public.....e2b37b8ebe

"U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) today wrote to National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member and former Service Employees International Union (SEIU) official Craig Becker to inquire about his involvement in union intimidation efforts. The letter sent to Becker comes after the SEIU's "Contract Campaign Manual" was made public. The handbook tells union members to purposefully try to damage their employers' reputations by coming up with allegations against their employers and managers and to even break the law to gain leverage in contract negotiations."

[Quetzalcoatl]

Good ole Utah Orrin.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Good ole Utah Orrin.

[Pip]

So card check is a fair and good thing then, right?

[robc]

Im surprised we havent had anything in Morning Links about commutageddon in Louisville yet.

Over the weekend, the start of a maintenance project found fundamental flaws in the I-64 bridge across the Ohio, shutting it down.

Its one of 3 bridges (and one of 2 interstate bridges) connecting southern Indiana to Louisville. The 3 bridges already backed up at rush hour.

On the Louisville side, a friend of mine said yesterday was the most traffic-free commutes he has had in a long while.

Good thing is at least we avoided a Minnesota style collapse.

[Quetzalcoatl]

That sort of thing only deserves 24/7 coverage if it happens in L.A.

[Fluffy]

I saw somebody at Kos blame that on Rand Paul.

[robc]

The bridge thing in Louisville is literally a 30+ year battle. Rand has been senator for what, 8 months?

Look at google maps, look at I-265 in KY and in IN. Guess where a new bridge should go, in the most obvious fashion. Guess what isnt happening.

[robc]

I have to say, the opponents of the east end bridge make me want to support ED.

Now, I oppose all ED, but roads is one of the cases for it that would at least be constitutional, a true "public use".

The whining isnt over the small number that might lose land. Its NIMBYism, they dont want a road/bridge in their end of town. It might lead to "development". BTW, that development is happening anyway, and they hate it.

Plus, it would lead to Hoosiers driving thru their neighborhood. I get that part at least, I understand why that would be upsetting.

[robc]

The UW story makes me glad I went to a school with a large wash-out percentage. There may be questions about how some students got in*, but there are no questions about the ones who got out.

*The biggest affirmative action program was for in-state students, they had significantly lower admission standards. And washed out faster.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

There was a bunch of hand-wringing in the paper this morning about 1 in 4 freshman from the 2010 class at the University of New Mexico dropping out after the first semester. Predictably, there was the standard remark from goo-goos that maintaining tougher admission standards was unfair.

[Neu Mejican]

*The biggest affirmative action program was for in-state students, they had significantly lower admission standards. And washed out faster.

Affirmative action is supposed to provide opportunity, not a guarantee of success. Most states favor in-state students...NM has a lottery scholarship that students lose if they don't maintain GPA. Large %'s lose it quickly.

[MNG]

Djokovic takes the US open, the Serbs finally get their vengance...

[Fluffy]

I was delighted to see Nadal lose.

I would root for Zombie Milosevic against Nadal.

It's just too bad Roger couldn't convert one of those set points the other day.

[Ted S.]

Except that Federer probably would have lost to Nadal, since his one-handed backhand can't handle Nadal's shots the way Djokovi?'s two-hander can (among other matchup problems).

[CrackertyAssCracker]

What is about Nadal that is so hate-able? I pretty much just root against him all the time.

[Ted S.]

Eva Asderaki is attractive on the outside and on the inside.

[Nike Dunk High]

thanks
http://www.lovedunk.com/nike-dunk-high

[Nike Dunk High]

thanks