Reason Morning Links: Energy Department Restructured Solyndra's Loan, Prosecutors Say They Can Make Jared Loughner Sane, No One Gets Off the Terror Watch List

Mike Riggs | 9.28.2011 9:00 AM

From the WSJ: "Solyndra's cash-flow problems in late 2010 had previously come to light but it was not known that the company technically defaulted on its loan and violated its agreement with the U.S. government."
Terror watch lists are forever, according to a trove of FOIA'd FBI documents: "Even a not-guilty verdict may not always be enough to get someone off the list, if agents maintain they still have 'reasonable suspicion' that the person might have ties to terrorism."
By a slight majority, Pennsylvania voters want to preserve the state's winner-take-all Electoral College system.
DoD officials try to walk back a statement by Admiral Mike Mullen, in which he accused the Pakistani government of sponsoring violence against the U.S.
Jared Loughner will be held for an additional eight months before his trial starts. A court psychologist says she can make him sane during that time.
How to find the weirdest stuff on the Internet.

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Surly Chef 14 years ago

Morning.
The Other Kevin 14 years ago

First.
1. Matrix 14 years ago
  
  fail
2. The Other Kevin 14 years ago
  
  ... or not.
Surly Chef 14 years ago

First, nice!
Devil's Advocate 14 years ago

I always thought Fark.com was a good starting place to look for the weirdest stuff on the internet.
1. PantsFan 14 years ago
  
  No, they get their stuff from reddit
  1. hmm 14 years ago
    
    Fazed, but they are sporadic.
Lord Humungus 14 years ago

Insurance costs spike, opening new Republican attacks on health law
http://thehill.com/blogs/healt.....e-premiums

Republicans seized on a new report showing a spike in insurance premiums to argue President Obama's healthcare law has failed to reduce costs.

The report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which found that the cost of employer-provided family plans increased by 9 percent to an average of $15,073 in 2011, put the White House on defense a day after it became more likely that the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the law before the 2012 election.
Solanum 14 years ago

http://www.latimes.com/enterta.....2149.story
1. Solanum 14 years ago
  
  Oops. Damn squirrels. Yeah, that's it.
  
  George Clooney plays the President in new movie 'Ides of March'
  
  Clooney's Gov. Mike Morris is poised to take the Democratic nomination with a platform so uncompromisingly left-leaning it might make Fox News commentators burst into flames. He opposes the death penalty, foreign military intervention and even internal combustion engines and supports gay marriage, mandatory national volunteer service and higher taxes for the richest Americans.
  
  http://www.latimes.com/enterta.....2149.story
  1. DJF 14 years ago
    
    """mandatory national volunteer service""""'
    
    Ah, yes the good old "mandatory" "volunteer". Anyone who can put those two words together without laughing or crying is either stupid or insane.
    1. John 14 years ago
      
      Freedom is slavery.
      1. Pip 14 years ago
        
        "Arbeit macht frei"
    2. Groovus Maximus 14 years ago
      
      Ah, yes the good old "mandatory" "volunteer". Anyone who can put those two words together without laughing or crying is either stupid or insane.
      
      It ranks right up there with "State-Based Free Market Approach." Which, of course, belong nowhere near each other, much less the same ZIP code.
    3. Abdul 14 years ago
      
      Sadly, both McCain and Obama piad lip service to this idea. If anything, McCain was more in favor of it.
      
      If only there were some third party devoted to liberty . . .
  2. Rev. Blue Moon 14 years ago
    
    Why am I not surprised that Paul Giamatti is the antagonist?
    1. Drax the Destroyer 14 years ago
      
      What the attractive, tall, dark and suave character is the hero? And the bald, frumpy, cranky, ginger is the villain? Say it ain't so!
  3. R C Dean 14 years ago
    
    He opposes the death penalty, foreign military intervention and even internal combustion engines and supports gay marriage, mandatory national volunteer service and higher taxes for the richest Americans.
    
    I can't recall Obama coming out for national "volunteer" service, but everything else on this "hard-left" list is straight outta the O-dog's playbook.
    1. Abdul 14 years ago
      
      Is the guy who killed Bin Ladin really against the death penalty and foreign intervention?
      1. Libya 14 years ago
        
        What am I, chopped falafel?
      2. R C Dean 14 years ago
        
        Oh, he was all about getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan during the campaign.
        
        I know I've seen something on Obama opposing the death penalty. He's probably gone dark on it, publicly, at least, but like a good campus lefty, you know he's agin' it.
        
        Lord Humungus 14 years ago
        
        gone dark on it
        
        RACIST!!!!!!one!!11!!
        
        BakedPenguin 14 years ago
        
        No, he was all for Afghanistan. He criticized Bush for going into Iraq when Bush 'should have been sending troops to Afghanistan'.
    2. Fatty Bolger 14 years ago
      
      "So when I'm President, I will set a goal for all American middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of service a year, and for all college students to perform 100 hours of service a year. This means that by the time you graduate college, you'll have done 17 weeks of service.
      
      We'll reach this goal in several ways. At the middle and high school level, we'll make federal assistance conditional on school districts developing service programs, and give schools resources to offer new service opportunities. At the community level, we'll develop public-private partnerships so students can serve more outside the classroom." - Barack Obama
      
      Rahm Emanuel also talked about it during the campaign, and IIRC was clearer about how they wanted the "volunteer" service to be mandatory.
      
      This has has been a lefty wet dream for a while but they recognize that the idea is very unpopular. They tried to take an incremental step by sneaking a study into the Americorps renewal bill in 2009 (HR 1388):
      
      "SEC. 6104. DUTIES (a) General Purpose- The purpose of the Commission is to gather and analyze information in order to make recommendations to Congress to [determine] - (6)Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds."
      
      Once people started catching on, they quietly moved the language into another bill (which did not pass).
      1. John 14 years ago
        
        It is called "reeducation"
      2. Drax the Destroyer 14 years ago
        
        And yet another reason for me to become a sex worker so I can afford to homeschool my children.
      3. Enjoy Every Sandwich 14 years ago
        
        I wonder what they'll call it. "Young Pioneers", maybe?
2. John 14 years ago
  
  It might be good. George Clooney is a good actor.
  1. Mainer 14 years ago
    
    Too bad he's gay.
    
    (That's what I tell my wife about any actor she finds attractive.)
  2. JW 14 years ago
    
    Only if you like milquetoast.
3. Tim 14 years ago
  
  "Clooney's Gov. Mike Morris is poised to take the Democratic nomination with a platform so uncompromisingly left-leaning it might make Fox News commentators burst into flames. He opposes the death penalty, foreign military intervention and even internal combustion engines and supports gay marriage, mandatory national volunteer service and higher taxes for the richest Americans."
  
  HAR HAR!
4. Apple 14 years ago
  
  "If we're cut off from oil, we will find a way to power our cars. So say it and make it happen," Clooney said. "It's not ridiculous. It is possible. And these are the kind of leadership things I would love to see and could be argued about. People will say, 'It's just actors.' But I truly believe it."
  
  Just say it and make it happen! This is how things work, right? I'm good at politics.
  1. gaijin97 14 years ago
    
    "So let it be written, so let it be done"
    1. Eduard van Haalen 14 years ago
      
      Go down, Moses
      Way down to Egypt land
      Tell old Clooney
      Let our oil flow!
    2. Jon Schaffer`s Right Hand 14 years ago
      
      Cnut made a famous observation about commanding the tide to halt having no effect. I'm sure this is different though.
  2. Scruffy Nerfherder 14 years ago
    
    It makes sense that an actor would equate saying a thing and doing a thing.
  3. T 14 years ago
    
    A long time ago, in the context of CA's ridiculous Zero Emissions Vehicle mandates, one of my engineering mags referred to "Disney Engineering", aka wishing makes it so. This is also closely tied in to the concept that it's easy if you don't have to do it yourself.
    1. John 14 years ago
      
      Disney engineering. I like that. There are lots of sources of cheap available power out there. People just choose not to use them out of kindness to the oil companies I suppose.
      1. gaijin97 14 years ago
        
        I think the actual term, equally appropriate, was 'Imagineering'
        
        kinnath 14 years ago
        
        The imagineers at Disney actually build stuff. So don't tar them with the "wish it so" engineer-wanna-bes that craft public policy.
        
        gaijin97 14 years ago
        
        no tarring or disrespect to real engineers, artists and others was intended. The term, though, isn't unique, exclusive or owned by disney and seems certainly to fit in other public contexts...like the wanna be's you rightly identify. I assumed most people would make the jump.My bad.
        
        kinnath 14 years ago
        
        No problem. Disney uses "Imagineering" with a capital "I". I don't know if they trademarked the term, but they clearly promote it as part of their identity. I am not familiar with anyone else using the term.
        
        kinnath 14 years ago
        
        From Wikipedia:
        
        Imagineering is a portmanteau word combining "imagination" and "engineering" most notably used by Walt Disney Imagineering. However, contrary to popular belief, the term was neither coined by Disney, nor originated there. "Imagineering" was popularized by Alcoa around 1940, and appeared widely in numerous publications and promotional print materials throughout the decade.
        
        So much more generalized use than I was aware of.
        
        Lord Humungus 14 years ago
        
        Moon Rover Ride Narrator: No one really knows when, where, or how man landed on the moon...
        Fry: I do!
        Moon Rover Ride Narrator: ...but our Fungineers imagine it went something like this.
        [Animatronic whalers emerge from a lunar lander]
        Animatronic Whalers: [singing] We're whalers on the moon.
        Animatronic Gophers, Animatronic Gophers: We carry a harpoon.
        Animatronic Whalers, Animatronic Gophers, Leela: But there are no whales, so we tell tall tales and sing a whaling tune.
        Fry: That's not how it happened.
        Leela: Oh, really? I don't see you with a Fungineering degree.
    2. R C Dean 14 years ago
      
      There's an Iron Law for that:
      
      The less you know about something, the easier it looks.
      1. Mainer 14 years ago
        
        I love it. That's what made those "flip this house" shows so entertaining. A couple of guys figuring, sure we can rehab a house... how hard can it be to do basic carpentry, hang drywall, paint, install kitchen cabinets, lay carpet...it all looks easy.
        
        Groovus Maximus 14 years ago
        
        Don't forget re-tiling floors and having everything come out straight and parallel without globs of grout all over the place.
        
        SugarFree 14 years ago
        
        Fucking grout. I'll never grout again.
        
        kinnath 14 years ago
        
        I put down 2,500 sq ft of pergo when I built my house 5 years ago.
        
        I hired someone to do the tile.
      2. JW 14 years ago
        
        Cloonysenkoism
  4. k2000k 14 years ago
    
    Clooney is a hollywood rube pure and simple. I think he understands it too when you get right down to it which is why he won't run. Much easier to let other politicians take heat for terrible ideas that you support while raking in the dough.
  5. Stalin 14 years ago
    
    You'd be surprised what kind of results you can get by shoving guns up people's asses and disregarding their starvation. Case in point, you can beat those Western Dogs into space with a glorified Radio.
5. Montani Semper Liberi 14 years ago
  
  "To me, that's why the Democrats are so bad at this game. They're always back on their heels. They're always playing defense. I would start with an offense, and I would run on this as a candidate. 'My campaign, my administration, is vehemently against the distribution of wealth by the government to the richest Americans. I'm not going to play your game of, "Are you for the redistribution of wealth?"' I want to go to these guys and say, 'Are you for distributing wealth by the government to the richest Americans?' Straight aggression ? not this wimpy stuff. Democrats have always been really bad at that kind of version of politics. I say, 'Get up, stand up.'
  
  Democrats are totally against redistributing wealth to rich people. That's why they voted almost unanimously to give billions to failed Wall St. banks.
  1. Lost_In_Translation 14 years ago
    
    I support Democrats saying the above. It ensures that no American will ever been confused by their greed ever again. Maybe Republicans need to come out and say "we're against homosexuality and brown people" while we're at it. Once the majority of Americans realize that the leaders don't really want to represent them, they might choose different leaders.
6. Montani Semper Liberi 14 years ago
  
  "To me, that's why the Democrats are so bad at this game. They're always back on their heels. They're always playing defense. I would start with an offense, and I would run on this as a candidate. 'My campaign, my administration, is vehemently against the distribution of wealth by the government to the richest Americans. I'm not going to play your game of, "Are you for the redistribution of wealth?"' I want to go to these guys and say, 'Are you for distributing wealth by the government to the richest Americans?' Straight aggression ? not this wimpy stuff. Democrats have always been really bad at that kind of version of politics. I say, 'Get up, stand up.'
  
  Democrats are totally against redistributing wealth to rich people. That's why they voted almost unanimously to give billions to failed Wall St. banks.
Lord Humungus 14 years ago

The myth of Republican unhappiness with the field
http://campaign2012.washington.....ness-field

Some Republican elites, not just members of the commentariat but also big GOP money men, are in fact unhappy with the field. But what about the voters? Is dissatisfaction with the Republican field widespread among the people who will actually decide the next GOP presidential nominee?
Tim 14 years ago

DoD officials try to walk back a statement by Admiral Mike Mullen, in which he accused the Pakistani government of sponsoring violence against the U.S.

Yeah, them guys is our friends.
John 14 years ago

This is really bad

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/.....d=14610199

Nightmare in Libya: Thousands of Surface-to-Air Missiles Unaccounted For

This is why it is a bad idea to half ass a war. If they wanted to get rid of Kadafi, they should have sent in ground forces and done it right. Instead they just randomly bombed people for three months. If one of these things shows up shooting down a 777 somewhere, this will be on Obama's hands.
1. Bee Tagger 14 years ago
  
  If one of these things shows up shooting down a 777 somewhere, this will be on Obama's hands.
  
  I'm guessing a none too furious media will fast from reporting on it.
  1. John 14 years ago
    
    They will explain it away and ignore it. Of course if a surface to air missile from Saddam's stockpile had been used for no good, the story would have been quite different.
    1. o2 live babiee 14 years ago
      
      old news. i posted this [DAZE] ago.
      1. John 14 years ago
        
        Oh ok, so I guess that makes it less bad now.
        
        o2 14 years ago
        
        more current update - the [BOOTZ] on the ground are tracing & securing these SA's...in addition to marines surveying the old embassy
        
        John 14 years ago
        
        But I thought we didn't have ground forces in Libya. I guess that lie went by the wayside too. And further, once they are gone, you are going to have about as much luck tracing them as Eric Holder had tracing guns to Mexican drug cartels.
        
        And come to think of it, maybe that is where they went. Maybe Eric Holder sold them to Mexican drug gangs.
        
        o2 14 years ago
        
        we dont have ground combat forces
        
        Pip 14 years ago
        
        They have Super Americas in Libya? That's fucked up.
  2. Ice Nine 14 years ago
    
    I blame Halliburton.
2. Groovus Maximus 14 years ago
  
  If one of these things guns shows up shooting down a 777 border agents somewhere, this will be on Obama's hands.
  
  Really, John? You really believe that? Oh looky! I happen to have a title to this here bridge...and Eric Holder is the troll sitting under the bridge.
  1. John 14 years ago
    
    I meant more in the metaphysical sense. Yes, you are correct, the propaganda machine will ensure that he doesn't receive any actual blame for it.
    1. MSMedia 14 years ago
      
      "It's important to remember that these surface to air missiles would have been destroyed but Republicans kept leaping in front of the planes of our NATO allies and spoiling their shot."
3. romulus augustus 14 years ago
  
  Why didn't he use them on Nato planes?
  Obama got cut a lot of slack because no American (or Nato) personnel were killed in this little war. A few pilot deaths and maybe there would have been a ground-swell to get out.
  [Or, knowing some gung-ho types, there would have been demands to send in the 82nd Airborne and escalate the whole conflict.]
  1. John 14 years ago
    
    Because they are old and out of date. Modern fighters are really hard to shoot down with a shoulder fired missile. But 777s not so much.
    1. kinnath 14 years ago
      
      Surface to air missles are a huge concern for air transport jets. I have been telling people for about 10 years now that someone is going to take out a jet any day now. I'm actually quite relieved to be wrong for so long.
      
      The good news is that is probably takes more than one missle to take out a large air transport jet. The missles are designed to seek the heat sources (i.e., the engines). The engines are an integral part of the air frame on a fighter and having a engine explode does really bad things for the flyability of the fighter. But air transport jets have the engines hung well below the wings. Air transport jets can, and have, suffered massive engine failures and then continued to a safe landing (the notable exception being the DC10 that crashed in Souix City -- which lost the third engine that is integrated into the tail).
      
      So far we have been lucky. But Libya is not the only place where 10s of thousands of shoulder-launched SAMs have been misplaced. I still think that it is inevitable that a commercial jet will be brought down on approach to a major airport. So we won't just loose a jet, it will take out a neighborhood or two on the way down.
      1. John 14 years ago
        
        that worries me too.
4. TrickyVic 14 years ago
  
  ""If they wanted to get rid of Kadafi, they should have sent in ground forces and done it right. ""
  
  I thought you were against sending ground troops?
  
  I don't think we were concerned with getting rid of Kadafi until the rebels started fighting. Kadafi/US relations were improving some what prior to the fighting. We just jumped on the bandwagon after the fact.
  1. TrickyVic 14 years ago
    
    If one takes the position that we should have gotten involved in the Lybian conflict, then one can't really complain that the rebels do what they want, nor not, with Lybia's weapons stockpiles.
    1. TrickyVic 14 years ago
      
      Damn. That should be shouldn't have gotten...
  2. John 14 years ago
    
    My position Vic is that we should not have gotten involved. But that if we were going to get involved, we should have gone all in and sent ground troops and ended the war as quickly as possible. As it was, we did the worst thing, we intervened and prolonged a civil war and then had no control of events on the ground once it ended.
    1. TrickyVic 14 years ago
      
      Ok.
      
      And if we didn't get involved, surface to air missles would have ended up in the rebels hand for them to do what they want.
      
      You seem to be claiming that, because we did it half ass, it's Obama's fault the SAMs are loose. But that would have been true if Obama didn't get involved.
      1. John 14 years ago
        
        If we hadn't intervened the rebels would have probably gotten slaughtered and Gadafi would still be in power and the missiles would be still be under his control.
    2. TrickyVic 14 years ago
      
      ""and ended the war as quickly as possible. ""
      
      But come on, you got to admit that is pretty funny. The Korean war is still in a cease fire, we are still in Iraq and Afganistan. I don't think we've ended a war since WWII.
      1. k2000k 14 years ago
        
        Well there is the cold war, but yeah...
      2. John 14 years ago
        
        We ended the war in Kosovo. We would have ended that one. We could have kicked Gadafi out, secured his arms and left. Now, we would have left the place in a mess, but so what? Our problem is we keep trying make victory mean "another America".
        
        shorter john 14 years ago
        
        iraq mission accomplished, libya not
        
        TrickyVic 14 years ago
        
        ""We could have kicked Gadafi out, secured his arms and left. ""
        
        We could have and we chose not to.
        
        Now, if we did Obama, would be responsible for failures. Obama was careful not to "buy it" if you will by being a limited partner. Therefore what happens on the ground isn't really his responsibility. If we invaded, it would be.
      3. Azathoth 14 years ago
        
        We are still in Germany and Japan
Lord Humungus 14 years ago

In Scramble for Land, Group Says, Company Pushed Ugandans Out
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09.....nda&st=cse

According to a report released by the aid group Oxfam on Wednesday, more than 20,000 people say they were evicted from their homes here in recent years to make way for a tree plantation run by a British forestry company, emblematic of a global scramble for arable land.

The company involved, New Forests Company, grows forests in African countries with the purpose of selling credits from the carbon-dioxide its trees soak up to polluters abroad. Its investors include the World Bank, through its private investment arm, and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, HSBC.
1. Matrix 14 years ago
  
  Yeah, there's nothing wrong with these green initiatives or carbon credits...
  1. CORPORATIONZ 14 years ago
    
    nope nothing wrong w teh [PROFITZ] !
2. Ghost of Idi Amin 14 years ago
  
  Evict? Sheeet man, you shoulda just killed 'em.
  1. Ghost of Idi Amin 14 years ago
    
    And maybe then had a barbecue. Shame to go to waste.
3. Aqua-Assault Rabbit 14 years ago
  
  So, being a "land regulator"/thug, throwing people off their anestoral lands - is this one of those fancy 'Green Jobs' the President was talking about?
  1. o2 14 years ago
    
    u mean in obama's homeland right ?
    1. Pip 14 years ago
      
      NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE.
      1. shorter pip 14 years ago
        
        lalalalala (fingerz in earz)
    2. Bobarian 14 years ago
      
      What's Kenya got yto do with this?
4. Jerry 14 years ago
  
  I saw a report on this in some current affairs program but they didn't mention the carbon credits line. I guess it didn't fit the narrative of evil Western corporation vs. hapless African natives.
WTF 14 years ago

Even a not-guilty verdict may not always be enough to get someone off the list

"Fuck you, that's why."
1. Abdul 14 years ago
  
  "Not guilty" doesn't mean "Factually innocent." It just means the defense won.
  
  It's not uncommon for people acquitted of crimes to fail background checks for security clearances, etc.
Apple 14 years ago

Thirteenth
1. Apple 14 years ago
  
  Dang, just missed it.
Fist of Etiquette 14 years ago

Jared Loughner will be held for an additional eight months before his trial starts. A court psychologist says she can make him sane during that time.

Isn't sane a legal term? Can't we just make him sane by declaring it so. Which is, I guess, how psychiatry works in general.
1. John 14 years ago
  
  Yes it is. It means he has to be aware enough of reality to assist his defense. At this point the guy is obviously nuts. Why don't they just commit him and call it a day? No one is a bigger hard ass about these things than I am. And even I realize the guy is a lot more insane than a hardcore criminal.
  1. Lost_In_Translation 14 years ago
    
    The defense will just try and prove he was insane during the shooting, so why would him being sane during the trial help that defense?
    1. wylie 14 years ago
      
      *take the 4, carry 10, divide by zero...*
  2. Ice Nine 14 years ago
    
    Am I understanding you? Does that mean he can be nuts at the time he commits his crime but if he can be made not nuts for a trial he can be tried for the crime? Surely not. If that's the case, a little Thorazine here and there would obviate all insanity defense.
    1. John 14 years ago
      
      Yes. Think about it. Suppose I am suffering from some untreated mental illness and think that the woman next to me is a alien trying to steal my brain. So I kill her not knowing what I am doing. And I have a good insanity defense. So they arrest me and I start getting treatment. The treatment is successful and I get a grasp of reality again. The fact that I am no longer insane does not preclude me from claiming that I was insane at the time of the crime.
      
      Further, if the treatment fails and I am still such a whackjob I can't appreciate the charges against me or meaningfully assist in my defense, I by definition can't get a fair trial and can't be tried. In those cases, the defendant sits in a mental ward until he is well enough to have a trial.
      1. Groovus Maximus 14 years ago
        
        The fact that I am no longer insane does not preclude me from claiming that I was insane at the time of the crime.
        
        Perhaps so, John. Loughner did record his adventures into the mental abyss, but if he is presented to a court and jury with most of his cans of a six pack handy, it would prove very difficult to convince a jury of the depth of his mentally ill state at the time of the crime.
        
        "Well, he seems perfectly lucid now! FRY HIM!"
        
        Ice Nine 14 years ago
        
        Yeah, there is something inherently wrong with this. A little Vitamin H and you're good to go. Sheeesh.
        
        John 14 years ago
        
        Insanity defenses are notoriously hard to win.
    2. Groovus Maximus 14 years ago
      
      Ice, one of the commenters here, Tulpa I believe, actually made the claim that sanity was superfluous, and forced medication was entirely permissable.
      
      What matters here is JLL's intent, regardless of whether JLL wanted to whack someone in "our world of reality" or "Loughner-Land."
      
      I, for one, found that line of reasoning, as well as Loughner's forced medication, repugnant.
      1. gaijin97 14 years ago
        
        Aren't mens rea and actus reus the predominant judgements in cases like Loghner's (or any other 'insanity' defense)?
        
        Gray Ghost 14 years ago
        
        There was a lot of decent commentary about Loughner's insanity defense in this thread a few months ago.
        
        Arizona has a particularly tough difficult burden for a defendant to successfully claim insanity as a defense. Clark v. Arizona is a fairly recent Supreme Court case that looks at the AZ insanity defense in detail.
        
        Cliff's Notes version: If Loughner knew the difference between right and wrong and knew his acts were wrong, he can't successfully claim the defense. This is an incredibly high hurdle to overcome. Keeping him incompetent to stand trial may be his best bet to keep him out of prison/death row.
    3. Hazel Meade 14 years ago
      
      I see the Reason commentariat is finally coming around to my position.
      
      At the time of the shooting the people here all wanted to fry him, because even schizos aren't necessarily violent or incapable of moral judgement.
      
      But IMO...THIS GUY? This guy is so barking at the moon crazy that if he can't use the insanity defense, nobody can. That's not because you'd have to be crazy to shoot five people, it's because he thought that Gabriel Giffords was using grammer to control his mind.
      
      It doesn't get crazier than this guy, people. Of course, that doesn't mean the jury won't be on a witch hunt to fry someone for shooting a congress woman. And it doesn't mean that certain portions of the public won't be in total denial and insist that he's a right winger driven by Tea Party rhetoric.
      
      I'd say his chances of getting off on the insanity defense are about 50/50. They should be 100%.
2. Bee Tagger 14 years ago
  
  It won't be good enough to remove him from the FBI's Insane in the Membrane* list, though.
  
  *relic of the Clinton Years
Lord Humungus 14 years ago

Euro Crisis Makes Fed Lender of Only Resort as Funding Ebbs
http://www.businessweek.com/ne.....-ebbs.html

The Federal Reserve, chastised by Congress for lending money to foreign institutions such as the Central Bank of Libya, is once again the lender of last resort for banks around the world it knows little about.
1. Raston bot 14 years ago
  
  and the Fed's own futile actions will bring about its end as it attempts to prop up a failing global system. i guess the only question left is why bother?
  
  BEAUTIFUL
Bee Tagger 14 years ago

Solyndra's cash-flow problems in late 2010 had previously come to light

Good one, guys.
l0b0t 14 years ago

THREADJACK

Last night I linked the H&R article about Elizabeth Warren to the C-SPAN Facebook page. Here is the response I received from one Boris Tadethsky (a fellow who, the previous day, was insisting that government never intervenes in markets, they only intervene in society because korparayshuns can't be trusted to "act like markets"). I leave it here for all our amusement. The stupid, it burns the eyes.
"1)You missed the point there. The point is the mantra of objectivism or what I call, "being an Aynhole" is so overly simplitic that a semi snarky tone needs to be added so goofball right wingnuts don't take themselves so seriously that they drive off a bridge....or in an Aynhole's case a "not bridge".

2)It's only class warfare when she fires back. Remember she represents "government intervention" to you.

3)No the question is much much more complicated than that. How much? Of course. Captains of Industry? It's a shame that you even limited it to those folks. The question is: What is fair? Fair and mandatory if you want to be a citizen of this country. Because if you do, then you must realize for over 2 hundred years we have found reasons to tax. Tax is just one of those sad facts of life, like death. Hey! That's pretty good! Someone ought to make up some sort of expression that has taxes and death together in a figurative way of illustrating the inevitiability of obligations. But any way I've been looking at your numbers and how you divide the "class" in "class warfare" and I have to call bushit on you. You've taken a great number of "the rest of us" class away from what tax increases have been proposed lately. So, BULLSHIT!

4)This is overly simplistic as well when considering taxes are under scrutiny for being raised or decreased. I say raise, on only certain incomes, over a certain amount. But I also say we, the people, have the power to audit your foreign accounts and that before you go get one, you have to have it reported from the place you are putting your money. No more hiding it.............of course the GOP is trying every way possible to prevent that from happening. And the GOP are the same who spout Randy dandy slogans.

5)You want more for the same money?

6)You keep calling profiteers "employers". Where is that codified that anyone with a business has to hire workers?

7) Your idea of steep is the 4th lowest steep in the world. If you think you can't compete in the 4th lowest taxing country on the planet, then go try your luck in Turkish markets. And "the industiralist"? next you're going to speed away in your 2 horse buggy. Seriously, the profiteers do owe society payment of all lawful taxes. Not just for the sake of revenue, but for the sake of fairness, order etc. That's part of the contract.

8) We live no where near the state of paranoia that 21st century right wingers whine about....constantly. But I'm curious, is our popultaion getting smaller?....Hmm? No? how about wealth? Is wealth not being created? Well then how about technology? What about anything that we are? What is shrinking that government should just revert to the size it was when we had 1/100 the GDP, 1/100 the population etc etc? This is a huge country. To think that silly slogans like "small government" could mean anything real is beyond crazy. It's extreme. Besdie small government could mean a King. And look how good that worked last time. One really really wealthy "industrialist" taxing as he sees fit. You'd flip your buggy."
1. l0b0t 14 years ago
  
  Ah Facebook, a never-ending stream of economic illiteracy. Another response to the Warren takedown -
  "Crystal Vega-James - You are doing circular reasoning. According to your premise, we have the farmer to grow the food, to feed the worker to work in the factory, the garment district to make the clothes, the construction worker to build the house for the worker, the school to educate or train the worker, the automobile factory to build the car, the machinists to create the nuts and bolts, the engineers to build the engine and design the brakes, the oil companies to find the oil to put in the car, it's a miracle the worker got to work, the factory was successful, and both should be compensated for their worth and value. I see value with the worker, not just the Factory owner. In the Norwegian Countries the minimum wage is about I think $17-$19 per hour. We pay one of the lowest minimum wages, then an inmate we clothe, provide shelter, healthcare, and education, food, and utilities. This cost society much more than $17 - $19 an hour. How can we afford to house in jails 743 per 100,000, people, While Americans only represent about 5 percent of the world's population, one-quarter of the entire world's inmates are incarcerated in the United States. That is than 1 in 100 adults. Something is very wrong."
  1. teh rael o2 14 years ago
    
    arent the majority drug-related ? if so, another GREAT VICTORY in the FAILED war on drugz
  2. Mainer 14 years ago
    
    Crystal Vega-James, what the f*ck are you talking about ?
    1. l0b0t 14 years ago
      
      What Crystal fails to realize is that the Scandinavian countries have no minimum wage laws. Of the European countries with minimum wages, the US minimum is higher than all but 6 of them: Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, the UK, and Ireland.
  3. oldtimer 14 years ago
    
    Seems like her math is a little shaky as well. 743/100,000 is not 1 percent, let's try about 3/4 of 1 %.
2. Old Mexican 14 years ago
  
  Re: l0b0t,
  
  "What is shrinking that government should just revert to the size it was when we had 1/100 the GDP, 1/100 the population etc etc? This is a huge country. To think that silly slogans like "small government" could mean anything real is beyond crazy. It's extreme. [Besides] small government could mean a King."
  
  Worse yet, it could mean a midget king!
  1. l0b0t 14 years ago
    
    Then we'll see who truly runs Barter Town.
  2. H man 14 years ago
    
    Only if it's Tyrion Lannister.
    1. Ska 14 years ago
      
      Lamprey pie and Dornish hookers for all!
3. l0b0t 14 years ago
  
  Boris Tadethsky responds again (this is fellow who also claims that "class-warfare was the crux of the Enlightenment", so he well be a graduate of Patrice Lumumba University)
  
  "you read more into Warren's statment that what is actuallybeing suggested when it comes to taxes. If you are willing to pigeon hole Warren, at least put her in the correct slot. The issue isn't about so monsterous tax increase that wipes out mom and pops little factory. The entire point Warren is trying to make is that if "YOU" (wealthy and profitable business owner) are going to continue to make ever increasing amounts of profits while paying your workers less, then the government needs to step in and give you a tax increase, so government can maintain our way of life. Because "YOU" the wealthy person, are merely taking from this country and leaving it worse than what was provided to you, in order for you to thrive. "YOUR" success was at "OUR" expense, so "WE" get to impose a slight tax increase on "YOU"."
  1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
    
    Re: l0b0t,
    
    Boris Tadethsky:
    
    "The entire point Warren is trying to make is that if 'YOU' (wealthy and profitable business owner) are going to continue to make ever increasing amounts of profits while paying your workers less, then the government needs to step in and give you a tax increase, so government can maintain our way of life."
    
    How quaint. It's been some time since I've seen a clueless bastard use the old, tired, debunked (and left for dead) Marxian theory of wages. I thought only Latin American college professors still espoused this claptrap, but I guess not.
    
    Oh, by the way, for the Tony's of the world: The theory states that capitalists make their profits by underpaying their laborers. This idiocy was easily debunked by Eugen von B?hm-Bawerk by pointing out that wage levels are a function of time preference, that is: laborers are paid in advance at a discount because it is the industrialist who takes the risk of selling the product in the future. The laborers could perfectly share on the total sale of the product - all they have to do is wait until it sells. Tell that to auto workers - see if they would like to be paid when the cars they make actually sell.
    
    Does this mean Marx was an ignorant boob when it came to economics? YES, that is what it means.
    1. shorter old mex 14 years ago
      
      teh [CORPORATIONZ] export teh [PROFITZ] fm selling durable goods made by chinese slaves
      1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        Re: Double Asshole,
        
        You would be at least a meaningfully competent spoofer if you typed real words, O2. You simply suck.
        
        shorter Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        esp writz words i licks...err, likes
    2. l0b0t 14 years ago
      
      No surprise,in our previous encounters, Boris has been the most ardent defender of the LTV with whom I have ever interacted. BONUS - Boris at his best:
      
      Boris - Business owners are not job creators. They hire and fire folks as it lines their own pockets. If they could figure out how to get cheap machines to do your job, you are history to them. Get rid of one, another will come to take his/her place. This is the very theory Uncle Milty put forth. You either support it or you don't.
      
      Me - Of course they are the job creators, to deny that basic fact is really silly. Those jobs may go to a person in one geolocation or another or it may go to a machine. Regardless, it is in fact the business owner creating jobs. This not the CCCP, you do not have some sort of 'right' to employment. The onus is on the individual to posses a skill-set for which someone else is willing to exchange something in a voluntary transaction. Remember, the LTV has been thoroughly discredited for more than a century.
      
      Boris - If it goes to a machine, it isn't really a job, the way "job creator" is meant by the currenct crop of right wingers who are using the term. Of course no one has a "right" to employment, but you are passing over most of the implicit meaning in "job creator" to support weak rhetoric. Labor value has not be discreditied. It has been offered by right wingers as meaning less that what it truly means. This is the typical ploy of the right to find the smallest segmnt of meaing which can be applied to a term and then inflate that meaning to be the entire significance. And of course that is too easy to smack down. So let's say corporations one day adopt a policy of laying people off, in order to boost stock prices.....OOPS! Too late! I guess those businesses aren't really job creatrs at all. They are merely looking for the easiest way to make profit and make stock prices go up. Therefore we can call business and business owners, "self serving". That would always apply, regardless of any Austrian economics theory that has been debunked.
      
      Me - First of all, I must stress that "the current crop of right wingers" is composed almost wholly of blithering idiots who posses only a rudimentary understanding of economics. Of course individual actors in a market are pursuing enlightened self-interest, that is exactly how markets are supposed to function. The question becomes how best to ameliorate negative forces. I posit that unfettered competition is the best remedy for the trend to monopoly that results from growth. We have a very long history of empirical evidence that government regulation leads to rent seeking and regulatory capture. This is bad for the consumer. Corporatism and mercantilism benefit no one but the few large players currying favor with the state. As for the drive towards increased efficiency and automation, that is pressure exerted not so much by greedy tycoons as it is by the mass of consumers who are pursuing their own enlightened self-interest through paying less. This is good, it is good for business to change and even fail. This is the heart of creative destruction, the market signaling to participants that capital is being misallocated and should be put to better use elsewhere. Attempts by the state to prevent this change only result in opportunity costs for everyone.
      
      Boris - And so every automated system that replaces a wage earner creates more unemployment. You can't have it both ways. If consumers want goods and servces that cost less, it's partially because they earn less than what consumers, who are also wage earners, deem necessary. See? Your limited theory cuts both ways. To your pont about state intervention, the states role IS to intervene and regulate.
      
      Me - No the role of the state is to guarantee the protection of natural rights. Market interventions are merely a way to aggrandize power to a select elite. As for a limited theory, not so much. You are completely disregarding creative destruction and the more productive allotment of resources thereby produced. It is a GOOD thing that fewer people can produce more goods in shorter time. That frees up labor and capital to do more productive things. Also, some consumers may desire lower prices because of their own reduced wage, many desire lower prices because they would prefer to allocate their resources elsewhere (opportunity cost is the reason the broken-window fallacy is a fallacy) and others will pay more for brand cache, product quality, or intangibles like jingoistic patriotism; this all self-interest and it is good.
      
      Boris - The state does not intervene in markets. The state intervenes in society. A business that is creating a product or service is a part of society. It is not acting like the market when it is operating. Again you are conflating apples and oranges. What you are saying about allotment of resources is a diminshing return.
      
      Me - So things like minimum wage laws, professional licensing requirements, zoning laws, compulsory unionization, price supports, subsidies, loan guarantees, grants, ad nauseam are NOT market intervention? Why would you think that? What do you think they are?
      
      Boris - Those are societal. Professional licenses are in place not to limit markets. They are occupational requriements to fit the standard, in order for quality to be maintained. They offer a way of tracking unethical behaviors and subsequesntly, but not functionally, create a safeguard for markets. When businesses are not acting as the market, they are not the market. When businesses are going about trying to make money, they are members of society. It is entirely goverments role to regulate and intervene in society.
      
      Me - Nonsense, things like licenses for barbers, bartenders, and interior decorators are nothing but artificial scarcity created at the behest of entrenched players. But please, continue to shuck and jive, tell me how price supports, subsidies, loan guarantees, grants, and the entirety of monetary policy are not intervening into markets? Boris, you may not want to admit that government routinely intervenes in markets but government does. Here is link to the website of the Federal Reserve where they explain in great detail how they intervene in markets - http://www.newyorkfed.org/abou.....twedo.html The Fed even has a program named U.S. Foreign Exchange Intervention. From its webpage - "Congress has assigned the U.S. Treasury primary responsibility for international financial policy. In practice, though, the Treasury's FX decisions typically are made in consultation with the Federal Reserve System. If the monetary authorities elect to intervene in the FX market, the intervention is conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. When a decision is made to support the dollars' price against another currency, the foreign exchange trading desk of the New York Fed buys dollars and sells the foreign currency; conversely, to reduce the value of the dollar, it sells dollars and buys the foreign currency. While the Fed's trading staff may operate in the FX market at any time and in any market in the world, the focus of activity usually is the U.S. market.
      Because the Fed's purchases or sales of dollars are small compared with the total volume of dollar trading, they do not shift the balance of supply and demand immediately. Instead, intervention affects the present and future behavior of investors. In this regard, U.S. foreign exchange intervention is used as a device to signal a desired exchange rate movement."
      
      Boris - Once again you are referring to regulating business. Not picking winners with governmnet money. Businesses are not obligated to do good in markets if they get a subsidy. Businesses make their own way with watever they are lawfully able to obtain. That's what every right wingy dingy tells me. Your one size fits all just doesn't match reality.
      
      Me - Boris Your attempts to move the goalposts are amusing. We are not talking about the government picking winners, we are talking about government intervention into markets. You claim government does not intervene into markets, you are incorrect. I have shown you many ways in which government intervenes into markets, even providing a link to the Fed's website wherein they explain in great detail some of the ways in which they intervene in markets (including a program that has MARKET INTERVENTION as part of its bloody title). Give up already, you have lost this argument.
      
      Boris - I understand what you are claiming, but when business does not act like the market, it isn't the market. If government give a loan, grant etc to a person,organization, business etc, then government is intervening in society, not markets. Just because the limitations of your thinking make you conflate the two, doesn't make your idea any more accurate.
      
      Me - Businesses "don't act like the market", whatever that is supposed to mean, they are participants in the market. ALL businesses are part of the market, always and forever. You have been going through these ridiculous semantic gyrations on this and other threads to avoid admitting facts that conflict with your preconceived (and wholly nonsensical) notions of how economics works. Fair enough, you are welcome to wallow in your economic illiteracy.
      
      Boris - That's a typical limited right wing frame. Businesses are part of society.
      1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        Re: lObOt,
        
        That was a great exchange! Your replies were cogent, coherent and well thought out. It is clear the Boris character conceded he lost the argument by relying on the Ad Hominem "That's a typical limited right wing frame."
        
        l0b0t 14 years ago
        
        Thanks (blushes). It's amazing how much serious economic and political theory I've learned by lurking here at H & R. Also, some great beer recommendations, clever nicknames for the POTUS (Hopey McChange is my favorite), and a thorough disrespect for all those who stand athwart Homo sapiens' quest for individual liberty.
    3. BakedPenguin 14 years ago
      
      This idiocy was easily debunked by Eugen von B?hm-Bawerk by pointing out that wage levels are a function of time preference, that is: laborers are paid in advance at a discount because it is the industrialist who takes the risk of selling the product in the future.
      
      Not always and perfectly true, though, since many companies are quite sure their product will sell.
      
      However, you see this a lot with start-ups who offer stock in lieu of wages.
      1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        Re: Baked Penguin,
        
        Not always and perfectly true, though, since many companies are quite sure their product will sell.
        
        You misunderstand - the wage is a function of time preference regardless of how sure or sanguine the company is about the product. The product has to be produced first, then sold. This is regardless of payment terms: Even with an advanced payment, you cannot secure the cash until the exchange of title happens, and you still have to pay your laborers - if that was the deal.
        
        However, you see this a lot with start-ups who offer stock in lieu of wages.
        
        Yes, that is correct. But both cases are subject to time preference regardless - that was Bohm-Bawerk point.
4. Joe M 14 years ago
  
  #6 is just incredible. In-fucking-credible.
o2 live babiee 14 years ago

>another downside of using mercenaries IN ADDITION TO BEING 4 TIMES AS EXPENSIVE AS SOLDIERS

Injured war contractors sue over health care, disability payments
By T. Christian Miller ProPublica
Published: September 28, 2011

Private contractors injured while working for the U.S. government in Iraq and Afghanistan filed a class action lawsuit in federal court on Monday, claiming that [CORPORATIONZ] and [INSURANCE COS] had unfairly denied them medical treatment and disability payments.

The suit, filed in district court in Washington, D.C., claims that private contracting firms and their insurers routinely [LIED, CHEATED, & THREATENED] injured workers, while ignoring a federal law requiring compensation for such employees. Attorneys for the workers are seeking $2 billion in damages.

The lawsuit, believed to be the first of its kind, charges that major insurance corporations such as AIG and large federal contractors such as Houston-based KBR deliberately flouted the law, thereby [DEFRAUDING TAXPAYERS & BOOSTING PROFITS].
http://www.stripes.com/news/us.....s-1.156334
1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
  
  Re: Double Asshole,
  
  another downside of using mercenaries IN ADDITION TO BEING 4 TIMES AS EXPENSIVE AS SOLDIERS
  
  Because of the nagging fact that mercenaries can quit...
  
  You sure are stoopid, you direct result of the Amerikan Pulbic Skool Seistem. You don't even read what you post, thinking yourself the cleverest person in the whole goddamned world.
  1. o2 14 years ago
    
    i m militery vetern and have 27 confirm combot kills so i know wut i m talkin about old mix so stop talkni out youre ass
    1. John 14 years ago
      
      You are clearly not a veteran of US military. They still require recruits to be able to read and write in English.
      1. teh rael o2 14 years ago
        
        u responded to a spoofer sherlock^
        
        John 14 years ago
        
        Hard to tell the trolls apart these days
    2. Old Mexican 14 years ago
      
      Re: Double Asshole,
      
      i m militery vetern and have 27 confirm combot [sic] kills
      
      Well, I have stepped on a few toy robots myself! Killed a few combots in PS3 as well! Why, those combots are mean machines.
      
      Or - learn to TYPE.
      
      Look, you proud killer, don't give me this false outrage/editorial: Mercenaries are 4 times as expensive because you want to keep them there, as they can QUIT. Soldiers may enlist voluntarily (so far....) but they can't quit lest they want to be thrown in jail, which is why the US Gov can pay them much, much less (indentured servitude, anyone?) Which way is more moral, you lousy sack of pus? Go fuck yourself.
      1. o2 14 years ago
        
        ^and another sherlock responding to old mex's spoof
        
        the real o2 14 years ago
        
        ^a nother spoff ^^
      2. the real OO 14 years ago
        
        that waznt me that waz some1 spoffing me this is the real me
        
        the real OO 14 years ago
        
        i been spoffin my nob all day
        
        old mex spoof translator 14 years ago
        
        im closet [GAYZ]
    3. Maxxx 14 years ago
      
      Huh,
      
      I thought you were a Harvard English professor.
  2. teh rael o2 14 years ago
    
    im not the author einstein
    1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
      
      Multiple personality disorder troll.
      
      All of the manifestations are double assholes, either way.
      1. o2 14 years ago
        
        no since old mex is the ongoing spoofer. want me to try?
        
        Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        HA HA HA HA!!!
        
        Now, THAT'S funny!
        
        But since you're not teh rael o2, the real O2 cannot take credit for it. The joke's on you.
        
        old mex 14 years ago
        
        i luvs my jokes cause i am a jokes
        
        o2 14 years ago
        
        even my spoffs are tarded well mom alwayz sed i wuznt too brite
        
        Fatty Bolger 14 years ago
        
        no since old mex is the ongoing spoofer. want me to try?
        
        I would love to see you try to spoof OM. I doubt you are capable. You do understand that the point of the spoof is to make it look like it could have come from the person you are spoofing, and not your own dumb self, right? Hah, look who I'm talking to... of course you don't. But hey, give it a shot anyway.
        
        shorter fatty 14 years ago
        
        me luvs some old mex
        
        dumber o2 14 years ago
        
        iz not possible
2. tarran 14 years ago
  
  Oh look, another handle to click ignore on!
  
  And the gibberish magically disappears - just like walking away from the homeless guy threatening to tell the wall's wife about how the wall's been going behind her back..
  1. teh rael o2 14 years ago
    
    if only the insurance cos could ignore!...all would be well in the libtoid fantasy that financial crime doesnt exist
    1. teh rael o2 translator 14 years ago
      
      herp! Herpity flerp derp gluble snarg!
      1. old mex translator 14 years ago
        
        i hatz me some lawsuitz
3. Matrix 14 years ago
  
  most contractors are not mercenaries.
Groovus Maximus 14 years ago

How to find the weirdest stuff on the Internet.

Paging Saccharin Man...Paging SugarFree...Please pick up the white courtesy phone...
1. Marshall Gill 14 years ago
  
  I was thinking the same thing. That one guy who thought he was God's physical son and that the Bush administration was spying on him? Absolutely, brilliantly bizzarro.
  1. SugarFree 14 years ago
    
    Sadly, his blog is no more.
2. SugarFree 14 years ago
  
  I do what I can.
  1. Mainer 14 years ago
    
    And I, for one, thank you.
sarcasmic 14 years ago

Scientologists are idiots.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....human.html
1. John 14 years ago
  
  I will give them credit. That is a lair worthy of a super villain.
  1. PantsFan 14 years ago
    
    Tonight on a new "Househunters: Supervillains"
  2. kinnath 14 years ago
    
    The difference between an ordinary villain and a super villain is presentation.
    1. Groovus Maximus 14 years ago
      
      And a snazzy velvet cape, diamond topped cane, top hat, and monocle. Or so I have been told.
      1. kinnath 14 years ago
        
        That would be included in "presentation".
        
        Groovus Maximus 14 years ago
        
        Ah, so sorry. I thought you were referring strictly to the domecile without the inclusion of duds.
        
        kinnath 14 years ago
        
        Presentation covers the entire package.
        
        OO===============D 14 years ago
        
        Not always.
    2. Pip 14 years ago
      
      So true. I watched Batman last night. The version with Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Heath Ledger's performance in the Joker role showed me what a shitty actor Nicholson is. Ledger was awesome.
      1. sarcasmic 14 years ago
        
        That's not fair.
        
        Remember that Nicholson's Joker was directed by Tim Burton (Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Mars Attacks!), while Ledger was directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Inception).
  3. hmm 14 years ago
    
    I prefer the Old World villainous layer styling of the Freemasons.
2. alittlesense 14 years ago
  
  I wonder who cleans up the barf when they use the "antigravity similuator" to develop their superpowers?
3. Tim 14 years ago
  
  A theme park for the nucking futs.
4. Sparky 14 years ago
  
  I, for one, will welcome our new Scientologist overlords.
  1. NeonCat 14 years ago
    
    Under President Cruise, at least presidential motorcades will move much faster.
Fist of Etiquette 14 years ago

And voters say 51 - 38 percent that the switch will diminish Pennsylvania's importance as a key presidential swing state.

Otherwise, presidential hopefuls would forget the Commonwealth even existed.
P Brooks 14 years ago

"There has been a lot of criticism about the watch list," claiming that it is "haphazard," he said. "But what this illustrates is that there is a very detailed process that the F.B.I. follows in terms of nominations of watch-listed people."

Right.
1. John 14 years ago
  
  They are real good about nominating the right people. The problem is that once someone goes on the list, everyone with a similar name and birth date goes on with them.
  1. Rich 14 years ago
    
    Fucking Social Security numbers, how do they work? /sarc
    1. John 14 years ago
      
      Many of them are not citizens so they don't have SS numbers.
      1. Rich 14 years ago
        
        They jolly well *should*. We're just making the terrorists' job easier by not providing SS numbers to *everyone*.
Fist of Etiquette 14 years ago

"If an individual is acquitted or charges are dismissed for a crime related to terrorism, the individual must still meet the reasonable suspicion standard in order to remain on, or be subsequently nominated to, the terrorist watch list," the once-classified memorandum says.

And, since Federal law enforcement is known as the standard-bearer of reasonable judgement...
1. John 14 years ago
  
  No worries. Thanks to the new Obama/Gadafi supply of shoulder fired surface to air missiles, they won't have to get on the plane to take it down. They can do it from the comfort of their own backyard. Hijacking is so 2001.
  1. Gray Ghost 14 years ago
    
    Admittedly, didn't Saddam have a pretty good stash of MANPADS too? And it's not like we were practicing that much inventory control of his materiel when we invaded. Airliners haven't been falling out of the sky since OIF, so perhaps the Libyan SAM threat is overstated? Not to mention that the very large engines on airliners like the 777 may be less vulnerable to the small warhead on a e.g., SAM-16/18 than you'd think at first. It'll still scare everyone half to death though, even if you don't cause the airliner to crash.
    
    Then again, if you can get a submarine load of coke into this country, you should be able to get enough ordnance here to do quite a lot of damage. I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet.
    1. John 14 years ago
      
      Actually we did a tremendous amount of inventory control in Iraq. They spend a good year or so cleaning out Saddam's weapons stockpiles. They did a great job on that. That said, it only takes one to get out. And surely some got out of Iraq. Yet, nothing has happened.
      
      Perhaps they are not that big of a threat. I certainly hope they are not.
      1. k2000k 14 years ago
        
        Or they simply made it to Afgahnistan or bought by some third world shit hole like North Korea.
      2. TrickyVic 14 years ago
        
        ""Actually we did a tremendous amount of inventory control in Iraq.""
        
        Not always.
        
        http://www.usnews.com/usnews/n.....eapons.htm
        
        It is believed someone those weapons were used against US troops. Would that mean Bush is responsible?
Old Mexican 14 years ago

From the WSJ: "Solyndra's cash-flow problems in late 2010 had previously come to light but it was not known that the company technically defaulted on its loan and violated its agreement with the U.S. government."

It's the gift that keeps on grafting!
Old Mexican 14 years ago

Jared Loughner will be held for an additional eight months before his trial starts. A court psychologist says she can make him sane during that time.

You mean he will be able to know the difference??? Wow! What a medical genius!
1. R C Dean 14 years ago
  
  Jared Loughner will be held for an additional eight months before his trial starts.
  
  Didn't there used to be something about speedy trials?
  1. John 14 years ago
    
    Not if the delay is because you are too crazy to assist with your defense. Then it is your fault not the government's.
PR 14 years ago

Paging Gaius Marius, please pick up the white courtesy phone....

http://dailycaller.com/2011/09.....s-on-jobs/
1. John 14 years ago
  
  That woman is criminally stupid. And I love how the media is excusing her as "well it was just a joke". I am sure they would be so forgiving if Michelle Bachman made such a joke.
  1. teh rael o2 14 years ago
    
    so the daily caller is teh [MEDIA] ?
    1. John 14 years ago
      
      Daily caller is what? You are getting closer to English, but you are not quite there yet. We need to work on your articles and capitalization.
      1. o2 14 years ago
        
        made equal sense as ur post calling one publication "the media"
      2. o2 14 years ago
        
        inglish is teh langage of oprezzion
        
        Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        Just like kenyan socialist oprezzion
  2. Mainer 14 years ago
    
    Her press secretary says "obviously" she was using hyperbole to make a point. I suppose it's as obvious that Rick Perry is OUT OF HIS MIND when he said SS is a Ponzi scheme.
    1. o2 14 years ago
      
      except perry wrote that in his book & continues to claim he is serious
      1. teh rael o2 translator 14 years ago
        
        herp derp!
      2. o2 14 years ago
        
        btw wat is ponzi? iz it like ping-pong? man dat perry dood is stoopid lol lol lol
        
        old mex 14 years ago
        
        i luvs me some ponzi
2. Scruffy Nerfherder 14 years ago
  
  Wow. She makes John Edwards look good by comparison.
  1. o2 14 years ago
    
    edwards alwayz looks gud so dreemy sigh
    1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
      
      Edwards is another socialist kenyan like Obama
3. John 14 years ago
  
  http://jammiewearingfool.blogs.....ed-in.html
  
  Apparently she has other problems as well.
4. Troy 14 years ago
  
  As one of the commentators pointed out, this is a trial balloon.
5. Old Mexican 14 years ago
  
  The original news report:
  
  http://projects.newsobserver.c.....he_serious
  
  Perdue's full statement:
  
  "You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things. I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that. The one good thing about Raleigh is that for so many years we worked across party lines. It's a little bit more contentious now but it's not impossible to try to do what's right in this state. You want people who don't worry about the next election."
  
  "I really hope that someone can agree with me on that."
  
  More people than you think, Ms Perdue - remember Bill "Let's have a dictator!" Maher??
  1. John 14 years ago
    
    Or Thomas, if we could just be the Chinese for a day, Friedman.
    1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
      
      Re: John,
      
      ... And a cast of thousands. It's quite revealing that self-labeled "liberals" would have no qualms about placing an illustrated and wise notable (in their minds, of course... nobody has seen Obama's SAT score yet...) yet call a democratically elected representative a Nazi or a dictator if he happens to be from the other team.
      1. John 14 years ago
        
        And at the same time they will bend over backwards to defend people like Chavez and Castro.
        
        Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        Both socialist kenyans like Obama.
6. Tonio 14 years ago
  
  There are some things you just don't joke about if you are a state governor - this is one of those. "Joke" or not, still a huge error in judgement.
Old Mexican 14 years ago

"Even a not-guilty verdict may not always be enough to get someone off the list, if agents maintain they still have 'reasonable suspicion' that the person might have ties to terrorism."

Please send your letters of outrage to the FBI at: Lubyanka Square, DC.
1. FBI 14 years ago
  
  To help save your government money in these difficult economic times, please send in three copies of your letter of outrage and several manila folders for it to be filed in - compliance will be noted in your favor.
P Brooks 14 years ago

But Mr. Healy said the government could not reveal who was on the list, or why, because that would risk revealing intelligence sources. He also defended the idea of the watch list, saying the government would be blamed if, after a terrorist attack, it turned out the perpetrator had attracted the suspicions of one agency but it had not warned other agencies to scrutinize the person.

Your rights are completely meaningless in the face of a government agency chief's need to cover his ass.
Ice Nine 14 years ago

How to find the weirdest stuff on the Internet.

You've found the writings of Sugarfree; you can stop searching now.
1. Ice Nine 14 years ago
  
  Damn! Sorry Groov, didn't see you up there.
PantsFan 14 years ago

Win A Baby contest stirs controversy
1. Scruffy Nerfherder 14 years ago
  
  I've got plenty, thanks for asking.
JOhnny MAckson 14 years ago

How to find the weirdest stuff on the Internet.

I've been to the end of the internet, and it's just one big fart joke. And there's a sign that reads, "We apologise for the inconvenience." Wow!

Jess
http://www.anymouse.com
1. Ramsey 14 years ago
  
  AnonBot stepping up the game.
  
  Nice
Rich 14 years ago

I just have to get this into the mix for those yet unaware: NC Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue recommends suspending congressional elections. This is *truly outrageous*. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a video, which I imagine will put an end to the "she was only joking" spin.
1. John 14 years ago
  
  Even if she was joking, you can't as an elected official joke about that kind of stuff.
  1. The Ghost of Ronald Reagan 14 years ago
    
    The bombing starts in ten minutes.
    1. John 14 years ago
      
      He said in private before a radio show started. This women said it in a public speech to the Rottary club.
      
      And beyond that, even if there wasn't, "they did it too" is not a fucking defense.
      1. John McCain 14 years ago
        
        "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb-bomb iran"
        
        John 14 years ago
        
        Then I guess McCain isn't fit for office either. Since no one here thinks he is anyway, that is hardly news.
        
        Once again "they did too" is not a defense past the third grade you fucking half wit.
        
        o2 14 years ago
        
        they're all jokes einstein
        
        OO===============D 14 years ago
        
        No one wants you here, you know.
        
        T 14 years ago
        
        Since no one here thinks he is anyway, that is hardly news.
        
        No one? I mean, I agree he's not fit, but surely someone will stand up for Johnny Mac and his inability to understand the Constitution, right?
        
        John 14 years ago
        
        The best you can say for McCain is that he might not have been as bad as Obama and he objects to torture.
        
        T 14 years ago
        
        I'll go with he objects to torture. That's about all the praise I can manage for the guy.
        
        o2 14 years ago
        
        wy du you hat mavkerick
        
        Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        mccain knows nada about tortures
        
        k2000k 14 years ago
        
        Well and the fact he actually flew combat missions and acquited himself well as a POW. Doesn't mean he should be an elected official though.
2. Tim 14 years ago
  
  Secretly they all yearn for that kind of power.
3. Lost_In_Translation 14 years ago
  
  She was joking about the jobs part...
  1. John 14 years ago
    
    +1
  2. Fatty Bolger 14 years ago
    
    +9.1% unemployment
4. Rich 14 years ago
  
  Upon more careful reading, I see that PR had already mixed it up @ 9:26. Et tu ...?
John 14 years ago

http://www.people.com/people/a.....10,00.html

Normally don't follow the local murder stories that hit the national media. But this case is flat out creepy. I am thinking the poor woman figured out her husband and father in law were deviants and they whacked her to keep her from going to the cops.
Sparky 14 years ago

http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....-economic/

NC Governor suggest that since the people in Congress are incapable of fixing unemployment and the economy we need to keep them in there until they do something.
1. Sparky 14 years ago
  
  Bah, I see Rich beat me to it.
2. Clich? Bandit 14 years ago
  
  Not only was this mentione twice above but yesterday also...comn people this is the TUBES!!!
  1. Chupacabra 14 years ago
    
    Has anyone heard about that mosque they want to build in NYC?
    1. Clich? Bandit 14 years ago
      
      Mosque? Nope not heard anything.
Old Mexican 14 years ago

I'm blind! Nancy Grace graces eyes with a glancing shot.

Nancy Grace has made a career of baring her teeth. Now she's baring something else. TheDC's Michael Watson reports: "During Monday's episode of 'Dancing with the Stars,' HLN host Nancy Grace had a nipple-slip moment after the final move of her quick-step routine with dancer Tristan MacManus. ABC cut from the shot of Grace to a shot of the stunned audience. When the camera re-focused on Grace and MacManus, she hid her face in his chest. During the cut-away, Grace re-adjusted her clothing. Host Tom Bergeron joked about the wardrobe malfunction, saying that 'On the European version that would be perfectly fine.'" This kind of thing never happens to Judge Judy.
1. John 14 years ago
  
  I never realized she was such a large woman. And they had some pics in the NYPOST the other day of her leaving a workout without makeup, it was like having bleach poured in your eyes.
  1. o2 14 years ago
    
    and grace's beauty is enhanced by her venom
    1. John 14 years ago
      
      Ok, now that is actually funny.
      1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        Remember that he's the spoofer, John, not teh rael O2. So the real one cannot take credit for that one.
        
        the real OO2 14 years ago
        
        this is teh real me old mix taht othere me isnt the real me
        
        Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        There's no point in clearing that up, double asshole. The joke's on you now.
        
        o2 14 years ago
        
        take ur spoofer malox old mex
    2. Jerry 14 years ago
      
      At least she wasn't a contestant on the Voice of America.
2. Devil's Advocate 14 years ago
  
  Huh, I never realized she had such a huge rack. She usually dresses pretty conservatively; I guess that is why.
  1. SugarFree 14 years ago
    
    She's bloated on the human misery she has feed on for decades, and ripe. She'll slim back back after she lays thousands of bile-filled eggs in Bergeron's thorax.
    1. Devil's Advocate 14 years ago
      
      Either that, or burst.
    2. Chupacabra 14 years ago
      
      vomit
3. Warty 14 years ago
  
  She's much fatter, older, and uglier than I realized. No wonder she's such a vile spitewhale.
  1. John 14 years ago
    
    She looks like one of the pigs in Angry Birds. She actually might be as physically unattractive as she is personally unattractive.
    1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
      
      Re: John,
      
      She looks like one of the pigs in Angry Birds.
      
      Now we all know what you do in your spare time, John 😉
      1. John 14 years ago
        
        That game is worse than crack.
Lord Humungus 14 years ago

Hmm... Planet Rand? Planet Reason? or perhaps "The Jacket". Let's go start a colony.

One-Third of Sun-Like Stars Have Earth-Like Planets In Habitable Zone
http://www.technologyreview.co.....EQ.twitter
1. SugarFree 14 years ago
  
  Glibertopia.
  1. T 14 years ago
    
    Are us inarticulate fellow travelers welcome? I'm not glib like you, SF.
    1. Warty 14 years ago
      
      Only if you're a truly disgusting creature like the rest of us. Are you?
      1. T 14 years ago
        
        I've been here for years, Warty. Something must have rubbed off on me by now.
        
        R C Dean 14 years ago
        
        Have you tried wiping it off with Clorox?
    2. SugarFree 14 years ago
      
      I believe that you could be glib, as glib as any of us. It's time for you to believe in yourself.
      1. Groovus Maximus 14 years ago
        
        Yes, whether you believe you can, or you can't, you're right!
        
        SugarFree 14 years ago
        
        "I don't care what you make fun of, as long as you make fun of something. Now, go on boy."
MNG 14 years ago

With friends like these, Part I.

What does the US get for its unprecedented economic, tactical and diplomatic support for Israel? The face-slap.

US expresses deep disappointment as Israel announces new settlements

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html
1. o2 14 years ago
  
  the netahyahu coalition remains teh [GODZ] of incompetence
  1. MNG 14 years ago
    
    Supposedly he was under pressure from his right to 'respond' to the Palestinian statehood request at the UN. What's remarkable is how little Israel's government cares about slapping us in the face relative to its domestic political concerns. They're like a welfare recipient who feels entitled to it rather than grateful to the giver.
    1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
      
      MNG,
      
      Please, don't feed the troll.
    2. o2 14 years ago
      
      kadema are israeli wingnutz
2. Proprietrist 14 years ago
  
  Due to Israel's obvious lack of interest in not exacerbating the situation with Palestine, the US should let the Palestine vote pass the Security Council. At first, I didn't think rushing the peace process was a good idea and Netanyahu made good points in his speech, but I see no hope of it ever happening with the idiots in control of both governments. Israel continuing to encroach on Palestinian land with military-defended settlements is a provocative act of war, as far as I'm concerned. It's really no different than an invasion.
  1. teh rael o2 14 years ago
    
    i agree. unfortunately the netanyahu coalition has driven off all their regional allies & continues to unnecessarily complicate US regional efforts.
  2. R C Dean 14 years ago
    
    Israel continuing to encroach on Palestinian land with military-defended settlements is a provocative act of war,
    
    I wouldn't have authorized more settlements, either, but:
    
    (1) Technically (and pedantically), you can only be at war with another sovereign nation. The Palestinian areas are currently stateless.
    
    (2) Aside from that, I think its pretty clear that a state of war (or at least armed conflict) has existed between Israel and the Palestinians for quite some time now. Compared to randomly mortaring and rocketing Israelis, building some apartments is pretty tame.
    
    The first order of business should be drawing the borders. If the Palis aren't willing to agree to borders, then the Israelis should set their own, and defend them. And not go outside of them without permission or provocation.
    
    Of course, the Palis will never agree to borders, so this approach gets around that. Once Israel has announced its borders, it should also announce that it will have no objection to the recognition of a Palestinian state. And that it will regard attacks from the territory of the Palestinian state as acts of war, and will respond as necessary to terminate such attacks. Permanently.
    
    That's my middle east "peace" plan. Israel gets defensible borders, the Palis get their state, and I suspect it would result in peace, after a brief but intense escalation of violence.
    1. o2 14 years ago
      
      "a state of war (or at least armed conflict) has existed between Israel and the Palestinians for quite some time now"
      _
      u mean hamas ?
    2. Proprietrist 14 years ago
      
      "Technically (and pedantically), you can only be at war with another sovereign nation"
      
      So technically (and pedantically) the American Revolution, Texas Revolution and the Civil War weren't really wars because they were over disputed, non-sovereign territories?
      
      "Compared to randomly mortaring and rocketing Israelis, building some apartments is pretty tame."
      
      Not when you consider the fact that Israel takes their military deep into Palestinian territory to "protect" these settlements, I don't see how it is any different from an armed invasion. That doesn't justify how Palestinian terrorist groups target innocent Israeli citizens, but if they merely defend their terrority by engaging the Israeli invaders, Israel will simply bomb their cities and kill lots of civilians as well.
      
      Your solution may not be the worst idea, but I would bet Israel would try to hold on to every last settlement and continue to slice up and invade Palestinian territory even if that country is nominally independent.
3. MiNGe 14 years ago
  
  JOOOOOOS!!!!1!111!!!1
  
  ......./\.........
  ___/__\___..
  \.../......\.../
  .\ /........\./...
  ../\........./\...
  /__\___ /__\
  ......\.../......
  .......\./.......
MNG 14 years ago

With friends like these, Part II.

As we welcome the Arab spring one of our 'key allies in the region' answers with this bit of enlightened policy

Two days after Saudi King Abdullah's decision to allow women to participate in elections, two Saudi women were punished for breaking the ban on female driving: One was sentenced to 10 lashes by a court in Jeddah and another was detained in Riyadh.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....1A74E9.DTL
1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
  
  Re: MNG,
  
  Two days after Saudi King Abdullah's decision to allow women to participate in elections, two Saudi women were punished for breaking the ban on female driving: One was sentenced to 10 lashes by a court in Jeddah and another was detained in Riyadh.
  
  Seeing how frightenly incompetent some Arab female drivers are here in Houston, I'm almost driven to take them out of their minivans and give them 10 lashes myself... Maybe the Saudis are on to something here...
  1. T 14 years ago
    
    Seeing how frightenly incompetent some Arab female drivers are here in Houston...
    
    Don't be racist and stuff, OM. We have shitty drivers of every race, creed, nationality, color and species here in Houston. It's truly a multi-cultural smorgasbord of incompetence.
    1. Warty 14 years ago
      
      Whenever I'm in a real city, I like to play the "guess the age/sex/race of the shitty driver" game. Here in Cleveland, our racial choices are pretty limited, and you can tell if the driver is black or Puerto Rican by the car having temporary tags or Puerto Rican flags everywhere.
    2. Bill Clinton 14 years ago
      
      I would *never* volunteer to wield the lash against some of those hot female Saudi drivers, so just get that idea out of your heads.
  2. MNG 14 years ago
    
    Actually, I find where I live the best predictor of slow, awful driving is a US flag and/or yellow ribbon on the back of the vehicle. If any vehicle with that turns out in front of you, give yourself an extra five-ten minutes travel time.
    1. Proprietrist 14 years ago
      
      Yeah, it was really bizarre. After 9/11 an American flag was almost a guarantee that the driver would be crappy. I pointed it out to my parents and they came to agree with me.
      
      I can't tell you how many of those drivers would swerve and cut me off while driving at about 20 miles per hour.
    2. rac3rx 14 years ago
      
      Nope...the ichthys. Or people who physcially have a phone pressed to the side of their heads.
    3. k2000k 14 years ago
      
      You know I have come to the conclusion that by and large any sort of bumper sticker, or magnent on a car signifies a shitty driver.
    4. l0b0t 14 years ago
      
      Here in NYC, the red-flag is the Zip-Car logo. You are now driving behind someone who doesn't own a car, in all likelihood hasn't driven one in several years, and is utterly unprepared for our traffic.
MNG 14 years ago

Quick question about Herman Cain's "9-9-9" plan which I heard discussed on NPR this morning. It was said the plan aims to lower corporate taxes to 9% and institute a 9% sales tax while doing away with capital gains and estate tax and setting income taxes at 9%. Does this mean if someone makes his living through profits other than income they will only pay the sales tax?
1. Abdul 14 years ago
  
  Income, as defined in the tax code, means "all income from whatever source derived." Unless Cain proposes to change the statutory definition, I don't see where you would get "profits" that aren't also "income."
2. Proprietrist 14 years ago
  
  Yeah, I'd guess income from capital gains would be essentially subject to the 9% rate as well, just would be folded into income.
o2 14 years ago

Veterans attempt citizens arrest of Rumsfeld in Boston Posted on 09.27.11
By David Edwards

Several members of the group Veterans for Peace were escorted out of the Old South Meeting House in Boston Monday night after they attempted a citizen's arrest of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"I went down in front and looked Donald Rumsfeld in the eye and said, 'I'm making a citizen's arrest,'" protester Nate Goldschlag told WCVB-TV.

"He lied us into Iraq. He lied about weapons of mass destruction. He lied about Saddam Hussein being involved in 9/11."

http://www.rawstory.com/rawrep.....in-boston/
1. John 14 years ago
  
  The Boston Herald story on that contained what can only be described as one of the best comments ever. It read as follows:
  
  "One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
  --President Bill Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
  
  "If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."
  --President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998
  
  "Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."
  --Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998
  
  "He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."
  --Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998
  
  "[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
  Letter to President Clinton, signed by:
  -- Democratic Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others, Oct. 9, 1998
  
  "Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
  -Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998
  
  "Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies."
  -- Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999
  
  "There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies."
  Letter to President Bush, Signed by:
  -- Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), and others, Dec 5, 2001
  
  "We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and th! e means of delivering them."
  -- Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002
  
  "We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."
  -- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
  
  "Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
  -- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
  
  "We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."
  -- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002
  
  "The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
  -- Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002
  
  "I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force -- if necessary -- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
  -- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002
  
  "There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
  -- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002
  
  "He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do"
  -- Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002
  
  "In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members ... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."
  -- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002
  
  "We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction."
  -- Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002
  
  "Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..."
  -- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003
  1. o2 14 years ago
    
    all based on intentionally misleading "intel" cooked-up by rummy's team.
    1. John 14 years ago
      
      LOL You are funny. So Rummy was misleading Bill Clinton, Madaline Albright and Nancy Pelosi in 1998 and 1999 when he wasn't even in public office? Wow. He is a regular super villain.
    2. o2 14 years ago
      
      the 9/11 commission & the senate select cmte BOTH reviewed team boosch's "intel" & concluded:
      
      1) no evidence of an iraq/aQ connection.
      
      2) no evidence of nukes...like the IAEA warned.
      1. John 14 years ago
        
        An no claim that Iraq was ever involve din 9-11. I suppose they also concluded Libya wasn't involved. And of course none of the statements above relate to AQ.
      2. o2 14 years ago
        
        also neither cheney, boosch, nor rummy can travel to some EU nations, like the UK, because of war-criminal indictments
        
        John 14 years ago
        
        Do they plan to indict Obama for continuing the war and killing civilians with drone strikes in Pakistan and engaging in an illegal war in Libya?
        
        o2 14 years ago
        
        no [BOOTZ] on the groud so it not real war so it is not unlegal
        
        John 14 years ago
        
        But what about all the Marines who are allegedly accounting for all those surface to air missiles you told me about above? No boots on the ground? And yes, bombing someone is a war and illegal.
        
        o2 14 years ago
        
        no the marines are doing embassy surveys.
        
        teh rael o2 14 years ago
        
        old mex spoof^
        
        teh rael o2 14 years ago
        
        our [BOMBZ] in libya only rain flowerz on the heds of libyan civilyunz its bootiful
        
        Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        libya shot the illegals so we should too
      3. Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        Re: The unreal Double Asshole,
        
        the 9/11 commission & the senate select cmte BOTH reviewed team boosch's "intel" & concluded:
        
        1) no evidence of an iraq/aQ connection.
        
        2) no evidence of nukes...like the IAEA warned.
        
        And yet the Dems voted for the war! With glee! Imagine that....
        
        John 14 years ago
        
        They were fooled Old Mexican. Double asshole's only defense of the Democrats is that they might actually be dumber than he is.
        
        o2 14 years ago
        
        except that the intel was cooked
        
        John 14 years ago
        
        In 1998?
        
        o2 14 years ago
        
        is that when iraq had nukes?
        
        Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        Don't you read?
        
        o2 14 years ago
        
        i cooked intel wunce didnt taste gud atall
        
        Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        my illegal relatives cook good
John 14 years ago

Here you go Sugar Free. My fiance wants a sex change operation.

http://dearwendy.com/?p=5535
1. Warty 14 years ago
  
  How the fuck is the response not, "Dump him, you stupid girl?"
2. SugarFree 14 years ago
  
  I've been with my fianc? for three years. We're both at least 21. I care about him more then anything, but he recently informed me that he was really considering getting a sex change and becoming a woman. I only want him to be happy, so I would never keep him from this decision. I also recently lost my virginity to him,
  
  Unless you are hyper-religious a 18-20 year-old guy who is OK not having sex for three years is a huge red-flag. Of course, if having sex with her convinces him it's time to geld himself, there might be something wrong with her too.
  1. Solanum 14 years ago
    
    I wonder how much crying on his part was involved on that special night.
    1. SugarFree 14 years ago
      
      "Why are your eyes closed? Don't you want to look at me when we make love?"
Eduard van Haalen 14 years ago

I still contend that Roy Cohn wasn't a HUAC lawyer as claimed in a previous article.
1. John 14 years ago
  
  How so? I thought that was how he got famous.
P Brooks 14 years ago

Dispatch from the fainting couch.

the country will probably be wrung through several more near-shutdowns as the 2012 budget process stumbles along, all prompted by conservatives in the House who will use any choke point to achieve their obsessive goal of shrinking government.

----

The next fight is likely to be over bigger issues. House Republicans have already made it clear that they want to slash the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency and curtail its regulation of air pollution through the appropriations process. They also want to cut back severely on a nutrition program for low-income women and children. And guess what is likely to happen if they don't get their way? Another shutdown fight, and yet another, over more stopgap spending bills.

Each one of these confrontations has a high cost. They eat up valuable legislative bandwidth; they add uncertainty to the lives of federal workers, those who depend on federal programs, and the financial system; and they contribute to a cynicism and lack of confidence in the political system that damages everyone. They are a principal reason for the nation's low esteem of Congress.

Republicans should think of the broad American public, rather than catering to the extreme elements of their base, the next time they push the government to the brink.

Maybe we should dissolve the Congress; then we could get this country on the right track.
1. John 14 years ago
  
  Eat up legislative band width. How are they supposed to complete the task of regulating and controlling every aspect of every person's lives if they spend their time fighting over the budget? Think of the bureaucrats. Does anyone think of the bureaucrats?
2. Mainer 14 years ago
  
  The worse things get, the better. In an emergency, it may well be necessary to suspend elections, dissolve Congress, completely ignore the constitution (90% there anyway)
P Brooks 14 years ago

How the fuck is the response not, "Dump him, you stupid girl?"

What? How could you get any more cosmopolitan than a gay transgender relationship with your "ex-boy"-friend? That's lkie the trifecta of empathy politics, dude.
PantsFan 14 years ago

Nothing on Andy Rooney retiring?
1. John 14 years ago
  
  He is still alive?
2. R C Dean 14 years ago
  
  Meh. He retired in place decades ago.
Old Mexican 14 years ago

From above, but still very funny. How libs think (with l0b0t's permission):

Re: l0b0t,

Facebook post from Boris Tadethsky - a leftist boob:

"The entire point Warren is trying to make is that if 'YOU' (wealthy and profitable business owner) are going to continue to make ever increasing amounts of profits while paying your workers less, then the government needs to step in and give you a tax increase, so government can maintain our way of life."

How quaint. It's been some time since I've seen a clueless bastard use the old, tired, debunked (and left for dead) Marxian theory of wages. I thought only Latin American college professors still espoused this claptrap, but I guess not.

Oh, by the way, for the Tony's of the world: The theory states that capitalists make their profits by underpaying their laborers. This idiocy was easily debunked by Eugen von B?hm-Bawerk by pointing out that wage levels are a function of time preference, that is: laborers are paid in advance at a discount because it is the industrialist who takes the risk of selling the product in the future. The laborers could perfectly share on the total sale of the product - all they have to do is wait until it sells. Tell that to auto workers - see if they would like to be paid when the cars they make actually sell.

Does this mean Marx was an ignorant boob when it came to economics? YES, that is what it means.
1. old mex translator 14 years ago
  
  me luvs some chinese slavez
  1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
    
    Interestingly enough, there's NOTHING in the above statement that relates to anything I wrote, before or now. Double Asshole is just showing how incompetent and lazy a thinker he is.
    1. o2 14 years ago
      
      lulz grampus go wahtc sienfield
    2. o2 14 years ago
      
      btw ho many slaevz do u haz?
      1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
        
        Where's the funny O2? Or was that the spoofer of O2 being funnier than any of O2's iterations? What a sad comment about a troll whose spoof is funnier than him.
        
        Shorter old mex 14 years ago
        
        i spoof my own spoofs
2. John 14 years ago
  
  I hear that claptrap all of the time. People who should know better will tell you the problem is that corporate profits are going up while wages are going down.
  1. shorter john 14 years ago
    
    chinese slaves good
    1. John 14 years ago
      
      shorter troll. I am too stupid to engage in a debate so I just shit on everyone. Isn't that funny?
      1. John's not shorter 14 years ago
        
        i cant counts words
3. R C Dean 14 years ago
  
  Slow down - wages have gone down?
  
  The BEA tells me total private industry wages in 1Q 2009 were $5.11BB, and in 2Q 2011 were $5.46BB. That looks to me like an increase of nearly 3.5% per year.
  1. o2 14 years ago
    
    ya fr rich wite guys
    
    wat bout the [workrz]?
    1. Old Mexican 14 years ago
      
      yellow workers pay low
  2. Old Mexican 14 years ago
    
    Re: R C Dean,
    
    Slow down - wages have gone down?
    
    That is what the post implies. Remember, this is some lefty with whom l0b0t is arguing on Facebook. He [the lefty guy] really seems to think wages have been going down overall and whence the 'profiteers' (as he calls them) get their profits. Forget about selling products with added value, no: Companies make their money by shortchanging their laborers.
    
    This is the kind of economics ignorance one finds in books like "Nickled And Dimed" despite the fact that a) Wages have been going up and b) It is NOT true that companies obtain their profits sorely by paying their laborers decreasingly less. That's a Marxian fallacy which was very elegantly debunked by Bohm-Bawerk, in such a way that anybody who espouses such claptrap ends up looking the most pitiful of fools.
  3. Ramsey 14 years ago
    
    Population growth. Per capita wages have been stagnant or shrinking after adjusting for CPI (and getting crushed if using a real measure of inflation) for decades.
R C Dean 14 years ago

And the BLS tells me that private industry wages increased by 2.3% year over year for 2Q 2011 (most recent data).
P Brooks 14 years ago

Don't you want to look at me when we make love?

The jiggling makes me seasick.
Dan Howser 13 years ago

At the Solyndra hearings today, the implication was that DOE did not perform good due diligence. That was a totally erroneous assumption. This has nothing to do with good or bad due diligence. What this is about is that in a 2008 meeting: Lachlan Seward, Matt Rogers & Steve Spinner pointed to a piece of paper and, essentially, said: "these are our friends, they will get money. These are their competitors and our lobbyists competitors, they will not get money." All so-called due-diligence thereafter was purposely non-existent or steered towards those friends and against those competitors. I was there!

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