Reason Morning Links: Alabama Lawmaker to Introduce Medical Marijuana Bill, Tea Party Groups Ditch Scott Brown, Fullerton Police Union Denies it Helped Manuel Ramos Make Bail

• Representative K.L. Brown, a Republican in the Alabama legislature, will propose a medical marijuana bill in the 2012 session in honor of his sister, who used pot to "ease her suffering" as she was dying from cancer. 
• Fullerton's police union denies that it coordinated a nationwide effort to help officer Manuel Ramos, who has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Kelly Thomas, make his $1 million bail.
• Unemployment claims rose by 6,000 last week to 401,000 claims total. According to the AP, they need to fall under 375,000 to signal job growth. 
• Massachusetts coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots to The Daily Caller: "Scott Brown has disappointed us a few times. So are we going to go out there and hold signs for him everyday? I don't think so."
• College professors are totally behind their Wall Street-occupying, class-skipping students. 
• The U.S. seized 15,000 boxes of documents during the ouster of Gen. Manuel Noriega from Panama. Now that he's returning home, will those documents be returned to Panama?
• For the Common Defense, a Washington estuary for permahawks, is asking Tea Partiers in Congress to stand with them against sensible cuts to the defense budget. 

New at Reason.tv: "Philosopher Matt Zwolinski on 'Bleeding-Heart Libertarians,' The Poor, and Social Justice"

Comments

[Bee Tagger]

who used pot to "ease her suffering" as she was dying from cancer.

First you have a word cloud without the word marijuana on it and now you have a bill that isn't horrible named after a dead person. My world is upside down.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I am sorry for her sister, but why the fuck does it take a legislator to be personally affected by suffering to decide maybe lawmakers should address the issue?

[WTF]

Because the little people don't count.

[pmp]

+1

🙁

[bc]

Florida Rep proposes "little people" jobs program
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/F.....77158.html

[Number 2]

So now we have a Republican sponsoring a medical marijuana bill, on grounds of "compassion," in the face of Democrat president who, in his 2011 National Drug Strategy, declared "medical" marijuana to be a clear and present threat to America's Children that has no redeeming value whatsoever and must be opposed with every fiber of our being. The politics on this issue have been completely reversed from what saw last decade. Fascinating.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Before Rep. K.L. Brown's sister succumbed to breast cancer 25 years ago, she used medicinal marijuana to ease her suffering.

Holyfuckingshit. 25 years? Well, at least the time that has passed will make it easier for her primary challenger to label her a RINO without being called insensitive.

[Quetzalcoatl]

The position itself isn't important. What's important is that it's directly opposed to the other team's position.

[Zeb]

Except on most drug policy issues, the two teams are in lock step.

[MNG]

"The politics on this issue have been completely reversed from what saw last decade."

I wouldn't make too many generalizations based on one legislator putting this forward. Alabama has a GOP legislature now, let's see how far this bill goes, then we'll talk.

[MNG]

Now that Chris Christie is officially out of the Republican primary, a national poll finds former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney taking the lead again, followed closely by businessman Herman Cain and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

In the Quinnipiac University poll, which has a 3.5 percent margin of error, Romney squeaks to the top at 22 percent with Cain at 17 percent (up from a tiny 5 percent in August). Perry, at 14 percent, saw a 10-percent drop from August.

Read more on Newsmax.com: Quinnipiac Poll: Romney on Top, Cain Closes In
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!

[MNG]

It's going to be a very fun time when Romney wins the nomination. I'll enjoy seeing John and other GO Partisan regulars here who have argued in the past (thank God for the archives search mechanism on this site) that they wouldn't "vote for Romney for dogcatcher" start to argue about the necessity of voting for him as the lesser of two evils. Also fun will be what cons like SIV, who castigated anyone here who chose Obama as the lesser of evils arguing that true libertarians would vote for the LP candidate rather than hold their nose and pick from the big two, will argue. Will they be consistent and castigate those who argue the GOP candidate should get support as the lesser of two evils?

This is going to be great I tells ya, great.

[Jersey Patriot]

Watching John, Mike M, and SIV talking up the importance of voting for Romney in 2012 is going to be hilarious.

Out of curiosity, do you plan on voting for Wall Street Suck-Up and Third World Child Murderer Barack Obama?

[John]

You will never hear me talk about the importance of voting for Romney. You can hold me to that. The best you can say for it is that Obama is becoming such a disaster that anyone would be better.

[Tony]

Why do you hate low taxes and killing Al Qaeda?

[John]

I thought you did Tony. But I guess that changed in 09.

[Tony]

I'm OK with killing Al Qaeda. Let's not confuse that with killing American soldiers in the hunt for invisible WMD.

[MNG]

First, I don't think of Obama as a "Third World Child Murderer." I disagree with most military engagements but I wouldn't even call Bush W a "third world child murderer." Many kids in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya have a much better shot at a real life because of our intervention than they would have had without.

Now, having said that, our intervention may still have not been warranted (might not have been worth the cost in American, and non-American blood and lives, might lead to worse regimes in the long run, etc).

The only way I would vote for Obama is if I were in some swing state (I'm not, MD is safely D) and the race were close between him and someone like Perry, Romney or Bachman. But yes, between him and those three I would prefer him because I think he would be the lesser of two evils (I've never argue the lesser of two evils is not a defensible ground upon which to base a vote).

[hmm]

"Many kids in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya have a much better shot at a real life because of our intervention than they would have had without."

except the dead ones...

[Chatroom Crank]

Or the ones blinded, burned, partially dismembered. Or the ones who are orphans.
Except for all of those, some kids may have a better shot at life.

[Drake]

Because no kids were getting killed or maimed in those places before we showed up.

[hmm]

And that clearly makes it okay for us to do the same, right?

[hmm]

Your justification is grand. You don't have to worry because your state is going the way you want, but if it didn't you'd vote the way you want.

You have a career in politics, or academia, waiting for you.

[MNG]

Dude, I'm not that in favor of my state going blue. In fact I find it a bit tiresome to live in such a one-party state. I've worked for GOP candidates in this state (don't worry, you'd comfortably find them to be RINOS) partly for that reason. One party rule in any state is bad news for the populace.

[hmm]

I wasn't bashing your position, just your justification. It seemed rather ridiculous.

[R C Dean]

The only way I would vote for Obama is if I were in some swing state (I'm not, MD is safely D) and the race were close between him and someone like Perry, Romney or Bachman.

Serious question, MNG: Is there any Republican you don't regard as worse than Obama?

[Fluffy]

I'll vote for the blue guy again before I vote for Romney.

I am still living down the shame of having once voted for Romney for MA governor. If I vote for him again, the devil gets to come to take my soul.

[Libertymike]

Even though you stabbed liberty in the back by voting for him, I forgive you.

[Zeb]

I'm sure that's a load off his mind.

[Pip]

"This is going to be great I tells ya, great."

Thus spoke the asshole.

[SIV]

Watching John, Mike M, and SIV talking up the importance of voting for Romney in 2012 is going to be hilarious.

When have I ever suggested ANYONE vote for the Republican nominee in the general election? Use your search function if you like.

[Bee Tagger]

I'll admit to being at least a little curious why there aren't Republican presidential candidates coming from every corner of the country. If you want to one day be president, what better opportunity is there than right now running against an unpopular president presiding over a terrible economy, poor job numbers, and a frustrated base? Are they worried that nothing will get much better in the next 4 years and their place in presidential history will be a disgrace?

What handwriting on the wall or secret signs are people like Chris Christie, Sarah Palina, Paul Ryan, Mitch Daniels, etc seeing that other people are not? Obama is stronger than conventional wisdom? The economy is screwed for more than the next 4 years so you're 1-term for sure?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

"The economy is screwed for more than the next 4 years so you're 1-term for sure?"

I'm voting for this option.

[Ska]

There's also the "Fuck that, I don't want the job," reason as well (admittedly probably tied to "this economy will automatically cast me as a bad president").

[Drake]

There is also the whole having ever second of your life examined by people who hate you thing. Perry just got strung up for driving past a rock with bad words painted on it. Bush took crap for partying while in college.

Seems like Daniels stayed out due to wife troubles. Maybe there are others who didn't want to deal with it either.

[sloopyinca]

I agree. I mean, if you want to be a fuckup when you're young and then run for president, then you better be half black and have a "D" by your name, otherwise your entire life will be scrutinized.

[Maxxx]

Perry just got strung up for driving past a rock with bad words painted on it twenty seven years ago.

[Jon Schaffer`s Right Hand]

I suspect many people are scared of being the POTUS who finally had to admit that SS and medicare were a scam, the money was all pissed away, and sorry guys, we can't give you what was promised.

[Libertymike]

Not RP.

[kilroy]

Not Gary Johnson

[MNG]

"Obama is stronger than conventional wisdom?"

I dunno. I've heard analysts argue this. They point out that like last time Obama will have a huge war-chest and big organization. Off-year elections don't say much about his strategy which is to "grow the electorate", a strategy that only really makes sense in Presidential elections. He starts out with a big constintuency loving him greatly.

I don't think I see it, but many argue this. Who knows? In my years I've seen stranger shit.

[Jersey Patriot]

The problem is, the Republicans can't run out and bash Obama for a couple of reasons:

1. Obama has continued almost all of the Bush murder/death/torture/kill policies, which the GOP loves.
2. The economy has been lousy under Obama, but the Republicans have held the House for two years and haven't proposed any particular way of fixing it, either.
3. The economy has been lousy under Obama, but it crashed under Bush. (Imagine how Clinton would be remembered if the Dot Com bubble burst in the summer of 1999.)

Neither Obama nor the GOP can give any real reason why anyone ought to vote for them. I'm hoping for a 20% drop in voter turnout.

[MNG]

It's far trickier than it looks, for your reasons and others.

Still, I should think without complete stupidity the GOP should be the favorite to win in 12.

[WTF]

Still, I should think without complete stupidity the GOP should be the favorite to win in 12.

Not as simple as it seems. The GOP aren't known as The Stupid Party for nothing.

[R C Dean]

The economy has been lousy under Obama, but the Republicans have held the House for two years and haven't proposed any particular way of fixing it, either.

Sure they have. You may not think much of their ideas, but they've even voted some of them out of the House.

They all die in the Dem Senate.

[DEM]

Things may have started going south under Bush but Obama is the guy who ran in the face of that and promised hope and change, then delivered Obamacare and a massive stimulus which (a) did not work and (b) the public hates. So I don't see any downside to the Rs running on Obama's abysmal record and going on full attack. The guy's had 4 years and for 2 of them he had a dem congress. And now he's pushing another absurd stimulus (more of the same!) plus massive tax increases on the back end.

As for holding the house for 2 years, so what? Is Obama really going to run on "hey, you guys should have told me what to do and I'd have done it?" This after he has already shunned all economic advice that he did not like, including his own debt commission?

In any event, the republicans have shown a willingness to make major changes. They passed the Ryan budget. They've been open to a complete re-strtcuring of the byzantine tax code. Obama has punted on all of that.

[Zuo]

Uh, the TEAM RED frauds have only controlled the house since the beginning of this year. Not "for two years". (Some; e.g. Paul Ryan) have proposed ways of fixing shit, but the majority of the team is limp cowards. And TEAM BLUE is even worse.

[Janeane Garofalo]

They only support Cain because they're racist.

[CIA]

What documents?

[Sarah's Palin]

"Never Reload, Retreat!"

>ck my twitter feed for the upcuming MILF bus [PORNZ] tour !

[Abdul]

These Wall St. Occupiers have me questioning some of my libertarian beliefs. For example, I am no longer convinced that chronic marijuana use is completely harmless.

[Ska]

Defending their right to protest while mocking their thoughtless, inconsistent assertions is tougher than it sounds.

[T]

What on earth for? It's just like free speech. We mock people for stupid shit they say all day long and into the night here, but we never assert they should be pepper-sprayed in the face for saying it...

Okay, we rarely assert they should be pepper-sprayed for saying it. We never assert the state should be doing the spraying, though.

[John]

College professors are totally behind their Wall Street-occupying, class-skipping students.

That is really funny when one of their big bitches is the injustice of student loans. If the education system hadn't made these kids so ignorant, they would be marching on universities instead of Wall Street. Gee, I wonder why college prices are so high and where that money goes to?

[MNG]

I think their bitch about student loans is they should be more generous John, so your point doesn't make much sense...

[John]

Think harder. Why do they need such generous student loans? Could it be because college prices have risen at way above inflation for decades? Could that have happened because college professors and administrators are the new leisure class?

Wow. Right on cue you totally miss the point just like those dumb kids.

[MNG]

College profs and administrators being well paid is hardly some new innovation John. The only difference is since higher ed is so much more accessible now there are so many more profs and administrators.

[John]

College prices have gone up faster than inflation for decades. And the number of profs and administrators has risen much faster than the student population. It is called the higher education bubble. It is in all the papers.

[MNG]

Er, no shit. But college profs and administrators have always been part of the well off classes (since you quote Veblen you should know he wrote about them too in there). There are just more of them now because college is so much more accessible and demand is so high.

[John]

Woosh!!!

[MNG]

Says the guy who used Veblen's famous phrase and the word "new" seemingly ignorant that a good portion of Veblen's book was about college profs and administrators...

Whoosh indeed.

[Fluffy]

I'm too lazy this morning to chase data, but I think that, like with doctors and nurses, the "well-off" college administrator is a lot more well-off than they used to be.

This is different from the CEO compensation problem, because high CEO compensation is largely a function of equity and option grants, so the corporations are in effect printing their own currency and letting CEO's exchange that new currency for old in the financial markets. Physicians and deans can't be compensated that way, so their compensation has to come from consumers or government.

[T]

There's also more admins. The data I got for Texas (since this was just a big deal here) showed that the number of professors stayed roughly constant over the last decade, but administrative staff ballooned up hard. The colleges aren't hiring more profs, they're hiring more bureaucrats.

[T]

Ding! Here it is. I admit I misremembered the details, but the point remains.

[Libertymike]

It really started with the GI bill. Just flood the industry with federal money and poof you have double digit annual tuition hikes.

[Maxxx]

The only difference is since higher ed is so much more accessible now there are so many more profs and administrators.

LOL

Spoken like a true self serving cock sucker.

[Abdul]

Why should the American taxpayer bear the risk for someone else becoming over-educated and under-employed?

[MNG]

Because an educated populace brings benefits to us all?

Steve Jobs went to public schools, for example.

[Abdul]

Interesting. If he benefitted so much from them, how come he didn't send his kids there?

[MNG]

Because, unlike his parents, he was incredibly rich when he made that decision?

[WTF]

Er, maybe Jobs was successful despite public schools, rather than because of them? Or perhaps due to his talent his venue of schooling had little effect on his success.

[MNG]

"maybe Jobs was successful despite public schools, rather than because of them"

Maybe, it's possible. But the idea is that being exposed to a public school is better than no school, which many argue is what non-well off people would be left with sans public schools. Is that true? I guess that is debatable imo.

[oncogenesis]

a public school is better than no school, which many argue is what non-well off people would be left with sans public schools.

Weasel-word alert!

[Zeb]

I think the argument would have to be that he did better having gone to public school than he would have not having public schools available, given his family's financial situation. Of course, he may have done even better under a private or voucher system, but we will never know, will we?
Putting aside the question of whether there ought to be public schools at all, there are lots of public schools that are pretty good (at least for the self-motivated student who can ignore the bullshit).

[Number 2]

"Steve Jobs went to public schools, for example."

Proof positive that talented people can overcome any obstacle put in their path.

[gaijin97]

yes, and if you listen to his commencement speech at stanford he pretty clearly says that college wasn't teaching him anything he needed to know.

[MNG]

Er, didn't he go to a private college?

[Fluffy]

He went to Reed, right?

Hippie school.

[Andrew]

Hippies with nukes.

[gaijin97]

he did. he dropped out because he 'couldn't justify spending all his parent's money'. It was meant more as a comment on the general thread of the value of higher education and it's costs than as a comment on public ed.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Steve Jobs went to public schools, for example.

I'm going to take that as a cautionary tale.

Disclaimer: I (mostly) went to public schools.

[DEM]

More generous in the sense that they want to default with impunity. In other words, free money.

[His Professor]

One student said on Facebook that he alone walked out of class at Santa Monica College, and was proud to do it.

And I'm proud to flunk you.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

That's what's so LOL about these dumb striver poors--they've been so emotionally coddled their whole lives, they all think they're Marco fucking Polo when it comes to self-centered, meaningless political statements.

[Ska]

I've said it before - education is the one of the few products people are happy to get hosed on.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

No shit--people will take out a loan for $40K on a truck, and will haggle with the dealer for hours to get it to that point. But they'll unquestioningly take out any amount of debt for a pointless credential, and never think twice about it.

[Drake]

I think that is starting to change. The college bubble is about to burst - then we'll see lots of unemployed Art History Professors protesting.

[Libertymike]

Perhaps the more savy of them can look forward to a bright future peddling PBS or Democracy Now memberships.

[Auric Demonocles]

I ran into a girl from my high school Monday. She was my waitress. We chatted some, and she had gotten an Art History degree. She mentioned something sarcastic about how much she was using it for work, so I asked her if the plan was to use it at all. She said no, she just "had to get a degree".

[NeonCat]

Hopefully their signs will at least be interesting to look at.

[Ska]

Imagine paying $200 for a ticket to a concert, then not going to the show to smoke a joint and play spades for a few hours.

Now replace "ticket for a concert" with "10:00 AM class" and see where it gets you.

[Zeb]

And replace "$200" with "$2000".

It's amazing how much time and money college students can waste. Somehow I managed to find time to go to all my classes (even a couple at 8 AM), do all my work and still have plenty of time to get baked and play cards while my friends all went crazy and pulled all-nighters because they fucked off for the whole semester.

[R C Dean]

The problem college and its higher costs is that the number of administrators, and the ration of administrators to professors, is completely out of control. Many schools now have more administrators than teachers.

Where's the value for the student in that?

[BakedPenguin]

Where's the value for the student in that?

The same place where the incentives to provide value for students are?

[#]

Are you telling me every college doesnt need an assistant to the assistant dean of the office of gender relations?

[SugarFree]

The Occupy Wall Street incoherency has reached campus. They tried to lead a class walk-out to protest something-or-other, capitalism is bad, man.

Some of the library school students were talking about going. They asked me if I wanted to go. My response:

"So they are walking out of class? Classes they paid for right? You might as well go to the grocery store, buy a bag of food, and throw it away as a protest of farming practices."

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Unfortunately, I think the incoherency never left in the first place.

[MNG]

Is there much of a market for private librarians, or are you going to be a "taker" when you graduate?

[cynical]

I thought he was a "taker" right now.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

He's already mentioned that he's a college professor.

[SugarFree]

You might be thinking of Tulpa. I don't teach. My life is not a complete shame spiral yet.

[Apatheist]

The library at my private university had private librarians (whatever the fuck that is).

[R C Dean]

private librarians

So hot. Tell us more.

[alittlesense]

Private Librarians - A Russ Meyer Production coming soon to a drive-in near you.

[From the trailer]

"I'd like to Dewey her Decimals!"

[rsi]

So these people graduate, without taking classes.

And you think their degree is worth something?

You think that is why they're not succeeding?

[Abdul]

You might as well go to the grocery store, buy a bag of food, and throw it away as a protest of farming practices.

Great idea, man! Time to stick it to the corporate factory farms!

[SugarFree]

And the only real way to stick it to them is to make sure you are only throwing away food produced by BigAgra, man.

[Abdul]

I forget who said it, but almost all modern protests are about people who complain of the lack of bread, and then they set about burning down the bakeries.

[SugarFree]

Jos? Ortega y Gasset

[Abdul]

You're welcome to work in my private library anytime.

Just don't color in any books I haven't finsihed yet.

[Ice Nine]

All modern protests are about Vietnam War protestor wannabes without a commensurate cause.

[Zeb]

In the US anyway. World wide, a lot of people still have real things to protest.

[Proprietrist]

To protest our unfair economic system, I walked out of class to show my solidarity and did not return. Because I was out fighting for the rights of the disenfranchised, I ended up failing all my classes and getting kicked out of school. Now I'm up to my neck in student loans I can't afford to pay, with no degree, so I can't get a job.

I am the 99%.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

If these dumb striver poors were walking out to protest the ever-increasing cost of tuition, I'd have sympathy for that. But they're walking out because they want some Jubilee that wipes out all the debt they're taking out to get their degree in Confirmation Bias Studies, and want college educations to be free of charge.

They've become so used to people just giving them what they want their whole lives, that they actually believe none of their stupid pipe dreams would have any long-term ramifications other than "it would make me feel good." That's why they're so contemptible--they're masking their blatant self-indulgence in a cloak of hypocritical piety about "fairness."

[T]

Y'know, a degree in Confirmation Bias Studies would be pretty handy in today's political climate.

[Spoonman.]

Surprisingly enough there are about 50 people in downtown Houston related to that.

[Proprietrist]

A preview of today's events!

John and MNG get into a Team Red-Team Blue bitch fight...

Tony revels in his disingenuity and willful ignorance, accuses us of the hate crimes of the monocled...

Max makes a phallic joke about Ron Paul supporters and reminds us about his racist newsletters...

O2 writes every response in a strange dialect of retard...

Old Mexican tells us to ignore all the above and then can't stop responding to them...

Someone gets raped by STEVE SMITH...

Fun and excitement guaranteed!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Stop it. You're ruining it for me.

Next you'll be telling me that St. Elsewhere was all a dream.

[affenkopf]

All of TV was.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

I want to believe!

[Lord Humungus]

^^ Spoilers ^^

and I haven't even had a chance to read the book yet!

[CoyoteBlue]

That's right - someone - I don't know who - will pimp their latest book.

[SugarFree]

You forgot about people reminding everyone that it is Thursday.

[kilroy]

Thursday!?!?? That's trash day! BRB.

[teh rael o2]

dont bother me proprietrist. im busy writing dialogue for palinz MILF porn tour...her bestest 15 minutes !

[teh rael o2]

*fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap*

[Almanian]

*ironic golf clap*

[rsi]

Don't forget the Stossel plug for a show I can't watch.

[Maxxx]

What are these newsletters you refer to?

[bosty]

*grabs bucket of popcorn*

[John]

The liberal cognitive dissonance over Jobs' death is amazing. All these people talking about how Jobs touched so many lives and made the world so much better. That is very true. But of course Jobs was also one of the dreaded 1%. He was a (gasp) billionaire. He was a CEO. He sent jobs overseas. In short he is everything they claim to hate every other day of the year.

Yeah, of course Jobs made the world a better place. And so does every other successful entrepreneur. And Apple makes great stuff and gives thousands of people gainful employment. And so does every other successful corporation. If liberals think Jobs was such a great American, and most certainly was, why do they want to tax and regulate everyone like him into oblivion?

[MNG]

They want to tax him because they think if taxes must be paid they should for the most part be made by those who feel the sting of the taxes the least. No one wants to tax him into oblivion outside of your mind.

[John]

No they just want the government to control his business and make sure in the words of the old Swedish socialist party that he receives no or as little benefit as possible from the things he owns.

And there is no way to square the corporate hate espoused by most liberals with the praise of Jobs.

[MNG]

Anyone who is not an anarchist is going to control the business of others some John. Most liberals I know, including myself, don't want him to get as little benefit as possible from his efforts. I just think he could pay more taxes, or rather if it comes down between him and me paying them he should.

[John]

The people occupying Wall Street seem to disagree with you.

[MNG]

I've never defended those people. I think any disruptive protest sans a tyrannical regime is counter-productive at best.

Regarding these folks I've yet to hear much convincing from them about anything. Wall Street in and of itself is a good thing, full of good people.

[John]

Good for you. It still doesn't take away from the cognitive dissonance of the numerous people who are cheering on the Wall Street protesters while simultaneously saying what a great American Steve Jobs was.

[MNG]

There's a lot of knee-jerk, irrational corporate hate on the left, just like the same exists for unions on the right. But I think most thoughtful liberals don't hate corporations per se, I know I don't. Hell, all my investments are tied up in 'em!

[Libertymike]

Big mistake.

[Ice Nine]

if it comes down between him and me paying them he should.

But, but, he's no longer behind the tree.

[Au H20]

Boys, I will say this and say this once: FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP!

Now stop it, Sam and Max.

[MNG]

What's truly "Gold" about this comment is that this is one of the rare discussions where John and I actually don't disagree much.

[Au H20]

Dude, I'm just trying to head you guys off at the pass.

You and John disagree and dislike each other. We get it. Now, stop spending 60 morning links posts showing us that fact.

[Maxxx]

Yeah, just get the grudge fuck over with already and move on.

[T]

rather if it comes down between him and me paying them he should.

And there's socialism in a nutshell. That guy over there should pay more! Not me, I'm broke.

[Chupacabra]

Proprietrist was right!

[Proprietrist]

Henceforth I shall be known as Propriestradamus.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

"hey want to tax him because they think if taxes must be paid they should for the most part be made by those who feel the sting of the taxes the least."

Elizabeth Warren disagrees.

[Sparky]

That's another Jobs lost during the Obama administration. He should have seen the writing on the wall when Obama named his latest bill after him.

Too soon?

[rts]

Well said. If they had even the most minuscule amount of self-awareness many heads would be exploding at the Occupy Wall Street protests.

[WTF]

Massachusetts coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots to The Daily Caller: "Scott Brown has disappointed us a few times. So are we going to go out there and hold signs for him everyday? I don't think so."

That's smart, Elizabeth Warren will be so much better.

[Atanarjuat]

It is smart. If losing Tea Party support costs a candidate the election, that increases the power (or at least perceived power) of the Tea Party, and they can have a greater influence on more elections in the future.

[Fatty Bolger]

Now, that kind of thinking is really going to confuse people who think that the tea party movement is just Republican astroturfing. (I don't mean you, WTF.)

[MNG]

Today's Sports Topic

Michael Vick is a POS and I'm loving his woes.

Vick's leaving the game two weeks ago when his team was struggling with a "broken hand" that eventually became a "contussion" which resulted in him being at "100%" just a few days later was only surpassed by his whining and playing the race card after the game about differential treatment by the refs. That man still doesn't have an ounce of character.

1-3 dream team, 1-3.

[WTF]

I must say I agree with MNG 100% on this.

[Ska]

Absolutely. That press conference after the Giants game where he whined about getting hit too much? Fuck you pal, you're playing professional football, and you're getting paid a lot to do it.

He scrambles better than a lot of running backs rush. What are defenses supposed to do, play two-hand touch with him?

[MNG]

I didn't see any times he was hit that a flag should have been thrown. It was all within the rules. They were just rushing him a lot because he breaks down and panics. Pulling the race card in his whining was just the cherry on top of the lack of character the man exudes.

[WTF]

And as a fan of the G-men I'm glad they really smacked him around. It was a great game to watch.

[Resto Druid FTW]

^^THIS^^

[R C Dean]

I must say I agree with MNG 100% on this.

Me, too. I watch the Eagles every chance I get, because I want to be there when Vicks suffers a career-ending injury. Bastard got my hopes up with the owwie on his hand. Maybe next week!

[Libertymike]

Don't you think that MNG is assuming a fact not in evidence?

What race card?

[Karl]

Yeah, I didn't think he played the race card (though I'll admit to not paying real close attention). He sounded like a whiny little bitch, but I didn't hear the race card.

[alittlesense]

If Andy Reid ever falls on top of Vick that will be a career-ending injury; might even be a life-ending injury.
The Eagles need to ditch Andy Reid.

[Au H20]

Counterpoint: Michael Vick is screwing over my fantasy team.

[Ska]

I drafted Jamal Charles in the first round. And then there's the guy in your league who drafted Peyton Manning. Try to mock him at least twice a week.

I managed to get Fred Jackson and Santana Moss for Hakim Nicks. Yeah, I don't know how either, but it works.

[Au H20]

Actually, I'd really like to blame Yahoo Sports. All season, I wait for a big Frank Gore game. They assure me he's out for the game last sunday.

120 yards, 2 TDs.

Hey, Yahoo? Will you let me wear lip stick, because I like to look pretty while I'm being FUCKED?!

[sloopyinca]

Kenny. Fucking. Britt.

That is all.

[Resto Druid FTW]

Big Ben ruining my perfect season this past Sunday. =( Now I'm 3-1.

[Resto Druid FTW]

*ruined

[Brett L]

Now Big Ben, he'd have a legitimate bitch. I almost felt sorry for him in the 2nd half against the Texans. He spent more time on his back a whore on payday.

[DesigNate]

I don't agree with you on a lot of stuff, but damn if you aren't right about Vick.

[Almanian]

Yeah, I'd be disappointed Vick's a bitch, but, as a Lions fan, I'm more interested in seeing if the Leos can avoid complete collapse later in the season to worry about the ex con.

I will say that I am SURPRISED Vick's a bitch - truly did not expect that. He should take some character lessons from Matthew Stafford.

[MNG]

I'm glad to see the Lions doing J sub D proud. RIP dude, they are finally putting it together this year!

[Almanian]

It's only been 64 years - we're in no hurry in the D 🙂

[Lord Humungus]

"Fast and Furious" Scandal Has Justice Department in Full Panic.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/o.....z1Zz77AuUK

On top of stonewalling Rep. Darrell Issa's House investigation of the mess, Justice has floated a series of contradictory excuses:

* There was no such program.

* Even if there was, Holder never knew about it.

* Even if he should have known about it, he might not have read Breuer's memos.

* Even if he read Breuer's memos, he misunderstood the simple question: "When did you first know about the program, officially, I believe, called Fast and Furious?" . . .

There's still plenty of time for Justice and the other implicated agencies to come clean. But to date, all we've heard is dog-ate-my-briefing-book excuses and desperate attempts to change the subject.

[The Administration]

It's possible that Fast and Furious was a rogue, poorly conceived sub-operation of the legitimate Project Gunrunner, begun in 2005 to track and interdict illegal weapons traffic.

Well, there you have it. Now, back to saving the economy!

[MiNGe]

It was just a typical law enforcement sting gone awry! Why won't you people LEAVE OBAMA ALONE!!!11!1!!

[MNG]

This is silly. I've said it was a morally terrible program from the start and those responsible are guilty of criminal levels of negligence and partly complicit for murder. That's hardly glossing on it. You just can't distinguish between someone condemning it as it seems to be and spinning a fantastic conspiracy theory grounded in conjecture. Anything short of the latter=defending it in your warped lil' mind.

[DesigNate]

It's not a conspiracy theory when you have written proof.

And just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't after you.

[Britt]

It really isn't a fantastic conspiracy theory at this point though. We know an ATF agent bought guns without going through the background check process, with only a letter from his supervisor. The fed doesn't have the guns anymore. The only piece of evidence missing is him selling the guns to agents of the cartel. That's it.

Is it really a conspiracy theory if you've got tons of evidence backing it up?

[bosty]

Death Panels are real

[o2]

just a becktard meme to foam the wingnutz

[John]

RTFA you half wit.

[Chupacabra]

Do you really think he can read?

[teh rael o2]

^john relpied to a half-wit spoofer!

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahaha(breath)hahahahahahahaha

[The Real o2]

For those of you who would like to know which 02 is the "real" o2. If the poster misspells simple words like "real" it isn't me. If the poster pluralizes with a "z" it isn't me. If the poster does not begin a sentence with a capital letter ? it most certainly is not me. Please ignore these mock o2's and only reply to the real ones who use proper English. Thank you.

[teh reelz o2]

kthxbai lol

[teh rael o2]

poor spoof johnz. tries moar harder

[Resto Druid FTW]

John, calling him a half wit is far too charitable.

[o2]

and eyes dont take charity

[o2]

my ass takes charity dick though

[DesigNate]

That is some scary ass shit right there.

[SugarFree]

I am the 99%

[WTF]

He has no clue why no one will hire him.

[John]

They are always drinking PBR in those pictures. Why not mix in a Natty Bo or a Milwaukee's Beast once in a while?

[SugarFree]

The rigid conformity of non-conformity.

[Ska]

Do they still sell Meister Brau? How can you go wrong with a name like that.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The rigid stupidity of bad taste.

[John]

The funny thing is that Natty Bo is actually drinkable beer. I guess it has to take like horse piss to be properly ironic.

[teh rael o2]

natty is drinkable? maybe for [CHULDRENZ]

[John]

Of course it is you philistine. Drink on a hot day with craps and so much old bay that it cakes on the can.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I thought drinking Nasty Bo was what gave you the craps.

[Isaac Bartram]

Yes, actually Natural Lite was given the CU best lite beer designation a few years ago. I think it's since been supassed by Michelob Ultra.

I still find NL better tasting and better value and it is still my choice for lawnmower or utility beer.

The main thing now, though is that I can actually afford good American craft beers which I find better than most imports. Mass market imports are not really that great, frankly [cough]Fostah's[cough] and beer doesn't really travel well, so even the best beers have a way of getting skunky.

Why CU is rating lite beers, though, is something of a mystery to me. It's not like a sixpack of beer represents a huge investment and most people are, I think, capable of trying different ones til they find the one that they like, rather than one some "expert" taster tells them is the best.

[BakedPenguin]

Issac - National Bohemian, not Natural Light. (I thought it was a reference to NL as well, but I Googled it b/c I didn't get the "Bo[h]" part.)

[Ska]

Whoa, hold up - National Bohemian is the natural mate of Utz pretzels?

[Isaac Bartram]

Thanks, BP.

[Zeb]

I like PBR for cheap pils beer. Narragansett is the best cheap ass beer (in NE anyway, I'm sure there are other good regional ones).

[marlok]

I don't know how I feel about the gansett. It's not bad. But you have to drink it in a hurry, because it gets pretty unbearable around 50 degrees F.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A young Nicholas Gillespie spies in the distance an unclaimed leather jacket. It is that very moment his life takes a not really all that dramatic turn.

[WTF]

A young Nicholas Gillespie spies in the distance an unclaimed leather jacket. It is that very moment his life takes a not really all that dramatic turn.

Until he put The Jacket on later that evening, and discovered The Jacket had powers. Dark, unspeakable powers...

[Post-Coital Rat]

I'm stunned by how many gay hobos make up the 99%.

[John]

This is interesting.

He (Jobs) told a reporter that taking LSD was one of the two or three most important things he had done in his life

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2.....d-was.html

[Lord Humungus]

Democrats Propose Another Surtax on Millionaires
http://www.theatlantic.com/bus.....es/246212/

According to the Wall Street Journal, Democrats are attempting to revive the president's jobs bill by proposing a 5% surtax on all income earned above $1 million--capital gains, dividends, whatever. I'm not seeing how this revives the bill, since the GOP is probably going to filibuster it anyway. But it's certainly an interesting proposal.

newsflash - millionaires suddenly start making $999,999.99 a year.

[John]

Hey by the time the Fed is done destroying the currency we will all be millionaires.

[Raston bot]

or however the loophole is structured to exclude Buffett, that is how the rest of them will receive their compensation.

[Lord Humungus]

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City
http://www.nationofchange.org/.....1317784408

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

[John]

We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

Hey, that can't be true. That must be a forgery. MNG just told me up thread that no one hates corporations.

[MNG]

"MNG just told me up thread that no one hates corporations."

Where?

Show.

Or are you full of shit YET AGAIN?

[John]

No one wants to tax him into oblivion outside of your mind.

I guess that was a spoofer and not really you.

[MNG]

"No one wants to tax him into oblivion outside of your mind."

And where do you see that in that statement?

[kilroy]

it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights

Just yesterday I ordered more ammo.

[sarcasmic]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....razor.html

Don Lapre the infomercial douche slit his throat in a jail cell while awaiting to be tried for fraud charges.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

[J.B. Say what?]

He slit his own throat?!
Top Tip: going cold turkey off anti-depressants is not a great idea.

[OJ Simpson]

He slit his own throat?!

It's been known to happen.

[cynical]

He was trying a hard sell and got way too literal.

[John]

http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/.....hy-contest

This is way cool.

[J.B. Say what?]

Economists have demonstrated that the pipeline, by offering new markets for the tar sands oil, is likely to substantially raise the price of gasoline in the Midwest, an effect that may be large enough to kill more jobs than the pipeline creates. It could also delay for more years the job-rich transition to green power sources.
Wow...more oil equals higher gas prices... Oh and green power equals jobs...what was that Solyndra thing again?

[John]

The job rich transition to green power sources? No wonder The Onion isn't funny anymore. These people really do believe in unicorns.

[Marshall Gill]

You SF'ed the linky

[J.B. Say what?]

well look at that...
properly done?

[Marshall Gill]

Thanks, I was curious at to the depth of idiocy offered. Bill McKibben as co-author was pretty much a giveaway that it would be a chicken little story.

[teh rael o2]

and yet...

The US Navy has successfully flown its MQ-8B Fire Scout Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) on biofuel. The unmanned helicopter became the Navy's first UAV to use biofuel technology when it took-off on Friday over Webster Field in St. Inigoes, Maryland, running on a blend of JP-5 aviation fuel and plant-based camelina.

>The Navy says that the use of this blend cuts carbon dioxide output by 75 percent when compared to conventional aviation fuel.

http://www.gizmag.com/fire-sco.....uel/20011/
_
so why does john [HATEZ] the navy?

[John]

No. I just think their job is to kill people and break things not worry about their carbon output. And since they are the government and print their own money, it doesn't matter if the stuff is more expensive.

[teh rael o2]

tell that to the navy...admiral john

[Jersey Patriot]

Where do they get the biofuels? Farms. What do farms use to operate? Oil.

Biofuels. LOL

[teh rael o2]

how do u know the farmz dont use their own biofuelz ? or are u just ranting?

[Britt]

So they produce biofuels with the biofuels they produce with the biofuels they produce? But how do they produce the biofuels?

[o2]

chicken or egg huh? hummm...

[bc]

Chickens all the way down.

[Metazoan]

Huh? It's theoretically possible to produce biofuels, then use some of that production to operate the plant. I'm not saying anyone does it, or that it's currently economically viable. But there isn't much of a chicken or egg problem here, except maybe for startup.

[Jersey Patriot]

Ethanol has a lower energy density than oil, about 1/3 lower. You need 1/3 more ethanol than oil to get the same amount of energy. Further problem, ethanol production (at least from corn) produces barely more ethanol than the oil it consumes.

Biofuels are a dead end.

[BakedPenguin]

Biodiesel is economically viable, but only from recycled oil.

[Metazoan]

There are far more biofuels than corn ethanol. There are other alcohols, like butanol and isobutanol. There are terpenoids, and there are fatty acid esters... the list goes on. I never understood why being libertarian seems to imply some sort of allegiance to petroleum. I do understand why it means the government shouldn't force people to stop using it, but that doesn't mean I have to love it. As for biofuels being a dead end- try letting the market decide that.

[Upgrayyed]

They don't because biofuels are horseshit. Farmers around here wouldn't be caught dead putting bio diesel in their shit.

[Brett L]

Just to be clear, I heard at a conference last week that they paid $65/gal for that biofuel. Most of that is because they had to pay that premium because they can only do 1 year bunkering contracts. But that's a 1000%+ markup.

[Jersey Patriot]

Here's why:

Currently, the oil that's pumped in the Mid-West and Alberta is sent to storage in Cushing, OK. Because tar sands and shale oil production have increased, there's not enough pipeline out of Cushing, so there's a bottleneck there. That's probably the most significant reason that West Texas Intermediate oil is ~$75/barrel, while the rest of the world's oil is ~$100/barrel.

Building the pipeline will extend pipeline capacity from Cushing to the Gulf Coast, where the oil can be more easily exported. That means instead of the Mid-West bidding on the tar sands and shale oil, the whole world will be bidding on it. 100 times more buyers and 1.2 times as much product means higher prices for WTI, which means much higher prices for Mid-West consumers.

Hope this helps.

[Houston]

but if we have a problem, then the output is subject to national security

[Apatheist]

but it'll be nice for those of us in coastal Texas.

[kilroy]

I guess there's no way more supply could put downward pressure on the global price. Oh, and getting the oil from Texas to China is essentially free.

[Jersey Patriot]

It will put downward pressure on world oil prices but upward pressure on mid-west oil prices. The additional oil from Alberta will be relatively minor - Canada's net oil exports are increasing about 50,000 barrels a day a year - about 48 seconds worth of daily world oil consumption. It's just not going to make that much difference in world oil markets.

[J.B. Say what?]

The vagaries of pipeline capacity aside, only 200,000 bpd of the initial 700,000 bpd will be headed to Cushing. The rest seems to go to the PADD III refinery in Texas, where I would guess its only a truck drive away from most midwest customers.
see here

[J.B. Say what?]

well it looks like PADD III is not a single refinery, but a grouping of all the refining capacity in the South-Central US (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and New
Mexico)

[R C Dean]

So, the theory seems to be that because of current kinks in the supply chain, we Americans have a big chunk of Canadian oil essentially trapped here, and it holds prices down.

Of course, if the pipeline isn't built to the US, it will be built somewhere. I can't see even the Canucks leaving tens or hundreds of billions of dollars on the table, when its only a pipeline away.

[Jersey Patriot]

Maybe, maybe not. The path to the Pacific Ocean runs through a lot of First Nations territories (essentially, Indian reserves) and through the Pacific Northwest social-democratic greenie province of British Columbia. Both the Indians and the BC populace are likely to oppose it, which will cause further problems.

For libertarians, though, opposing the pipeline is pretty easy on standard libertarian boilerplate: corporate welfare, eminent domain, uninsured risk, and public funds likely to be used for any clean-up.

[Libertymike]

Again, underscoring the practical as well as philosophical differences between the federally funded transcontinental railroad and the privately financed Great Northern Pacific RR.

[Fluffy]

Isn't that a bit like arguing that if we just blew up the highways and ports, nobody could export anything, and the prices for food and domestic manufactured goods would drop and we'd be better off?

[Lord Humungus]

Labor's death wish
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/o.....ZiaI7Mr9cK

Organized labor joined the Wall Street Occupiers yesterday, milling about Downtown, snarling rush-hour traffic and fundamentally working against the unionists' long-term best interests.

It was no doubt a pleasant way to spend a glorious autumn afternoon. But even as the demonstrators were targeting Wall Street and other financial firms for their "corporate greed," City Hall was getting set to trim its budget sails -- chopping some $500 million through this year and $2 billion more in Fiscal 2013.

Seems Wall Street and other local financial firms -- that is, the part of the economy smack in the protesters' crosshairs -- aren't strong enough to pump out sufficient tax revenues to keep the city afloat.

[MNG]

It's utterly stupid for labor to join up with this, utterly.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Stupid like a fox.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Remember when labor unions were opposed to things like this? I guess it shows just how desperate they are to remain relevant.

[SugarFree]

I am the 99%

[WTF]

99% equals the odds he will never get laid.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

We are the 99%

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Dude, the actual "I am the 99%" photos are way more amusing than what you're posting. It's not often you see grown-ass men and women display their self-sabatoge and self-justifications in public for everyone to see.

What's even funnier is that they're not completely stupid--with a few exceptions, they don't mention what their degrees are in, because they understand they'd be open to immediate mockery if they did so. It's a lot easier to take on the victim mantle if you don't show all your cards.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You're right.

http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

Some winners:

"Childless by conscious effort and love animals"

"My illness allows me no restraint of my emotions..."

"I spent time writing emails to our representatives and received spam emails in return..."

The only sympathetic ones are those who were diagnosed with cancer. Of course, affordable critical care insurance would be answer to that, but that's not an option under ObamaCare.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

And those don't even scratch the surface. I've seen winners like this:

"I am 19 years old. I have $17,000 in student loans. I have a $8000 car loan. I have $10,000 in medical bills."

"I can't send my daughter to college because I lost $70,000 when the housing bubble blew up."

My favorite:
"Lost my inheritance in WorldCom stock"

[Proprietrist]

I guess I'm confused. All the people that purchased houses at the height of the bubble when all economists were warning "it's a bubble" deserve their fate for not paying better attention. But even the underwater - if you still pay off your mortgage, the assets are still yours, and a bad economy will not be permanent (hopefully). Not paying on your mortgage and thus letting your home get seized for nothing because you don't want to pay $30k more than the current value while the market at rock bottom is the stupidest possible idea. You'd likely end up paying that money to someone else as a renter after you're foreclosed upon anyway.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I guess I'm confused.

The point is that he lost all that money in housing speculation.

[Proprietrist]

The question is did they lose money (they somehow forced by some greedy banker to sell their house at the bottom of the market at a loss), or did they "lose" money (meaning the house value came down from its 2005 peak and they're counting that as a "loss" even though they still own the assets, which will likely regain value in the future...)?

And frankly as a renter, I have little sympathy for homeowners who are foreclosed upon for not paying bills and then claiming that as a "loss" of money - the bank likely took the actual loss, you essentially paid "rent" with the amount you already paid in and likely lived in the house a year or two before your foreclosure without even paying for it. If I skip my rent a month or two for whatever reason, I'd get an eviction notice pretty darn fast.

In fact, the bank did you a favor by taking your unaffordable debt off your back. Now the money you would have otherwise spent on your malinvested house can go to something better.

[Proprietrist]

I like that there are multiple people who think they shouldn't have to pay for college. Those damn greedy professors, wanting money to teach people...Knowledge should be free!

All these people have sob stories (some admittedly less sympathetic than others), but what do they have to do with Wall Street, specifically? If it weren't for these banks, these people with underwater mortgages wouldn't have had houses in the first place. Students wouldn't have gone to college in the first place. They wouldn't have even had a chance to fail at a startup in the first place. Now that the economy's bad, it's suddenly the bank's fault that your risky gambles didn't work out? Is it the bank's fault you snoozed through consumer finance and don't understand variable vs. fixed rates or compounding interest?

I'm a proud renter, studied practical subjects in college instead of my favorite ones, avoid credit cards, drive a passable $2000 used car that I repair myself, have delayed having kids with my wife, etc. but I live a generally comfortable life within my means and have a decent amount of savings thanks largely to my frugality, hard work and good decision making. I also feel for people who have had unfortunate health issues, but beyond that, your unwillingness to adapt and your bad past decisions that limit your capacity to adapt are largely your own fault. Stop blaming people who got their crap together for you not having yours together.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I have a feeling some of these people complaining about their medical bills are getting meds for "stress" and other bullshit Munchausen-type ailments.

[marlok]

You are not the 99%.

[bc]

We are the 1%ers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix8qr5rv7bI

[Fist of Etiquette]

Fullerton's police union denies that it coordinated a nationwide effort to help officer Manuel Ramos, who has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Kelly Thomas, make his $1 million bail.

I'm not sure why this needs a denial. Is there a legal issue with the union doing this?

[DesigNate]

They are denying because of public perception. Everything they do will be to save face.

[John]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....miere.html

Evan Rachel Wood admits to playing on both teams.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Christie Brinkley is rockin' it.

Billy Joel is an idiot.

[John]

No kidding. She is over 50. Is she ever going to age?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Somewhere, she has a portrait that looks like this.

http://www.cfnews13.com/articl.....ounger-man

[John]

I think every woman considering plastic surgery should be shown that picture before deciding.

[Rhywun]

OMFG I was just about to go to lunch.

[Fist of Etiquette]

More like her publicist suggested something was needed to add buzz to her career.

[Fatty Bolger]

Wouldn't you have to be bi to be attracted to Marilyn Manson?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You just have to hate your parents more than you love anything else.

[John]

I think you have to be into inter species dating. And honestly as attractive as she is, I am not sure I could sleep with someone who had been with Mansion.

[T]

Somebody made the comment about Katy Perry: Knowing she's been with Russell Brand is like looking at a bowl of candy when you know cockroaches were crawling all over it 5 minutes ago.

[marlok]

I always wondered about how Nicholas Cage could go for Lisa Marie Presley after she'd been married to Michael Jackson.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

But many were shocked when she spoke candidly about her sexuality and revealed she had no boundaries in the bedroom in a provocative interview in Esquire earlier this year.

Yeah, I'm sure it was a HUGE surprise that the ex-girlfriend of Brian Warner plays for both teams.

[Lassie]

"But many were shocked when she spoke candidly about her sexuality and revealed she had no boundaries in the bedroom in a provocative interview in Esquire earlier this year."

WOOF WOOF!

[Lord Humungus]

Post Office's Rescue Plan: Junk Mail
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....orsPicks_1

Many consumers are irked by the catalogs, credit-card pitches and other "junk mail" they receive. But the U.S. Postal Service loves it?and wants to deliver more.

The agency, beset by historic losses and a plummet in first-class mail, is running promotions, easing rules and planning television and radio ads to encourage more businesses to send pitches by standard mail, the official term for bulk mailings used by marketers to prospect for customers.

[John]

I have an idea to save the post office. Have a program where for five dollars a month they only deliver first class mail to your house, no junk mail, catalogs or anything that is not first class. I bet millions of households would sign up for that. I would. If say 20 million households did it, that is a hundred million a month and 1.2 billion a year, which if you got rid of Saturday mail would go a long ways to making them profitable.

[MNG]

I guess I just don't buy into the assumption that the Post Office is even supposed to make money or even break even. We don't expect the police to break even. Either the services of the post office is something government should make available to people regardless of ability to pay like the police operate or the government should get out of the business altogether.

[John]

It is a public service and because it has to deliver to everyone, not just the most profitable places, it will never make money like FEDEX. But there is no reason for it to lose billions either.

[MNG]

"But there is no reason for it to lose billions either."

Well, write it down, I guess I agree with John again today. I'd like to keep the Post Office, but nothing wrong with measures to limit its cost, especially in these times.

[John]

I do agree with you about that. I would not want to get rid of the post office.

[Fatty Bolger]

I would not want to get rid of the post office.

Not overnight, perhaps. But it should be discussed as an ultimate goal.

[sarcasmic]

My stepbrother is a mail carrier and according to him the problem is that once you get into management you've got a job for life.
He joked that if they closed an office and laid off everyone, the manager would still get a paycheck to manage nothing.

[John]

They are killing the golden goose. UPS makes money and its employees are treated very well. There is no reason why the postal service can't make money. It just can't treat their employees as well as they are.

[sarcasmic]

There is no reason why the postal service can't make money.

Yes there is. It's a government run monopoly.
Show me a government run monopoly that isn't a poorly managed money pit.

[sarcasmic]

The post office is a jobs program for inept managers that coincidentally happens to deliver mail.

[Tony]

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (passed by a Republican congress) required the post office to prefund healthcare benefits to retirees for the next 75 years over a 10-year span. Without this law the post office would have at least a $1.5 billion surplus.

[DesigNate]

Congratulations, you figured out that Republicans are just as bad as Democrats. You do remember we are libertarians right?

[Mr. FIFY]

Funny how he's bitching about how the Post Office has to pay healthcare benefits to its employees... when it's convenient for him to do so.

[sarcasmic]

He's only bringing it up because the Republicans were involved.
Had the same bill been passed by Democrats he'd plug his ears and sing "La la la laaaa I can't hear you!"

[Tony]

For 75 years, meaning for people who don't even work there yet. No private business would have to do anything remotely similar. It's a horrible law and the only reason the Post Office is in trouble.

[Libertymike]

If you are the real Tony, you must know that you hurt your argument with asseverations like the subject legislation is "the ONLY[emphasis mine] reason the Post Office is in trouble."

[sarcasmic]

the only reason

Of course Tony.

There can be no possible explanations other than a law that was passed by Republicans.

Electronic mail has nothing to do with it.
Poor management has nothing to do with it.
People using electronic bill pay has nothing to do with it.

Nope. It's all because of one law passed by Republicans.

You're so full of shit it's dripping out your ears.

[Tony]

Those things affect the Post Office but the fact is without this law, instead of being $20 billion in the hole, they'd have a $1.5 billion surplus.

[sarcasmic]

Feel free to take it personally if I don't believe you because you've proven yourself to be a liar in the past.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Those things affect the Post Office but the fact is without this law, instead of being $20 billion in the hole, they'd have a $1.5 billion surplus.

So why didn't the Dems repeal it after Obama was elected? It's not like anyone wasn't aware of the problems the Post Office has.

[Tony]

So why are you so touchy about it?

[Mr. FIFY]

It's STILL amazing you're against this, Tony.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I don't think he was joking.

[Skr]

I would pay that

[Zeb]

I'm sure a lot of people would love that option. But I am not sure it would help the USPS bottom line. As I understand it, they actually make most of their money from junk mail and I doubt those advertisers are going to want to keep paying if their crap gets dumped at the local post office and not delivered.

[Lord Humungus]

Lawmaker Files Bill to Repeal State Ban on Dwarf Tossing in Bars
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/F.....77158.html

"To me it's an archaic kind of Big Brother law that says, 'We don't like that activity,'" Workman told the Florida Current. "Well, there is nothing immoral or illegal about that activity. All we really did by passing that law was take away some employment from some little people."

[John]

First they came for the dwarf tossers and I said nothing because I usually tossed midgets...

[MNG]

"Lawmaker Files Bill to Repeal State Ban on Dwarf Tossing in Bars"

It's a small measure...

[Almanian]

Finally, one of the powerful doing something for the little people

[o2]

a midget chick wanted to do it w moi last time i was at coney island.

[o2]

she knew my needle dick wouldn't hurt her

[Brett L]

Fucking A. I hope this takes the whole session to settle and they work on little else.

[Fatty Bolger]

A couple of worthy reposts:

Is CBS News Silencing Fast and Furious Reporter?

A Jobs Agenda

[mb]

as an MA resident, I can say the only reason I will vote for Brown is if Elizabeth Warren gets the nomination. He did what expected, opposed ObamaCare and was a MA "republican" - so I can;t say I regret voting for him. But he gave me no reason to continue to support him.

[Worried Libertarian]

Officer Manuel Ramos...charged with second-degree murder in the death of Kelly Thomas

I thought that never happened. But he will go free. Won't he?

[John]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....r_embedded

Wow

[Warty]

joe from Lowell says:
September 16th, 2010 at 9:38 am
Matt,

Don't get suckered by the IJ. They seize on cute, fuzzy poster boys in order to push radical changes to the law in the service of corporate deregulation.

"Simply put, the government is not allowed to require people to get a license in order to talk."

Simply put, this outfit is committed to eliminating the distinction between commercial speech and individual speech.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I wonder, is that our beloved joe?

[SugarFree]

Yes, that's his handle on the smattering of blogs that don't ban him.

[Libertymike]

Once, Joe posted that I was a racist and I challenged him to find one post of mine wherein I supported any government law, policy, regulation or rule predicated upon race or any post wherein I supported any idea / proposal calling for some state sanctioned law / policy predicated upon race.

I also asked him to cite one post in which I asseverated that one race is superior to another.

He could not and he admitted that he would not be able to do so; however, he said that my "instincts [were] racist". He was pissed off because I had pointed out the truth that Detroit had suffered miserably under black rule.

Some people just want to tag others with the politically correct nuke: the charge of racism or anti-semitism. Joe, like so many other inferior intellects, can't resist.

To be fair to joe from lowell, there are many here who claim to be friends of liberty who do the same thing.

[Warty]

I like to remind everyone what a vile sniveler he always was.

[Episiarch]

Was? Still is.

[Warty]

He's dead as far as I care. Was, I says.

[JW]

I wonder if he still thumps his chest for "winning" with Youtube commentors? It's like boasting of beating up 3 year olds.

[Episiarch]

Guaranteed. I remember him going after people on H&R that were clearly defenseless, and the glee with which he would attack them. Nothing like a 5'6" pussy being a bully.

[JW]

I wish I could find that Highclearing link where Thoreau banned him for being a supreme dick. Delicious.

[JW]

Found it:

http://highclearing.com/index......1/10/12347

[Warty]

There are a few comments from joe after that, but not many. The idea of joe rectaling from a smartphone is delicious.

[Libertymike]

It doesn't appear as if he was banned? Thoreau denounced joe's "douchebaggy" way, but i did not see where he was banned.

Wouldn't it be nice to have him back?

[Jersey Patriot]

Once Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize but continued incinerating Third World children, joe's mental breakdown was assured. It was like Jesus being like, "Whoa wait, I'm going to be crucified? Never mind that shit, I'm moving to Thracia."

[Mr. FIFY]

Fuck Joe AND Lowell.

Wherever that is.

[Marshall Gill]

This gives law enforcement officials a direct and perverse financial incentive to abuse the forfeiture power

Wow is right. Yet another example of the separation between the governing class and those whom they would rule. There is a financial incentive to abuse people's rights and the abuse is on the increase? Who would have guessed? I fear what I would do if I were the target of one of these takings. I can imagine it might lead me to "going postal".

[Almanian]

"going postal"

ELIMINASHNISZZT RHETORICKS ZOMG HATESPEEEECH SAINT GABBY GIFFORD LIBERTARDIAN HATE SPEEKERZ PROTECT ME MOMMY!!!111!one!!a billion!!

[jtuf]

Rutgers students cut class while GWU students kept studying. That sounds about right.

[Warty]

Annoyance threshold test

I made it almost a minute. Give it a try.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

42 seconds

[SugarFree]

I made it a couple of minutes. The creepy cult chanting is the worst part. I get Marxism garbage like her spiel preached to me at least once a week around here.

[Warty]

It's like the shittiest church service imaginable. If you're going to be in a stupid cult, why not just pick a conventional one?

[Abdul]

I think they were trying to amplify the speaker's words in the absence of a microphone.

I remember reading about medieval lectures, where artificial sound amplification hadn't been developed, using the same technique to reach large crowds.

[SugarFree]

I know why they are doing it, but it doesn't really change the creepy, you know?

[Abdul]

You two were lucky. She whips off her top at 1:57.

[JW]

36 seconds.

[Episiarch]

5 seconds. I have a low annoyance threshold, which is why I can't stand How I Met Your Mother.

[JW]

The chick making the intro is annoying as fuck, but she is also kinda cute, so I stuck it out. I regret this decision.

[Episiarch]

As with anything Warty tells you to do. Why can't you learn this?!?

[JW]

It's like the lottery, dude, it has to pay off at least once, no matter how many thousands of times I lose.

[Almanian]

You dumbasses played "Man or Mouse" in Middle School, didn't you?

*declines Warty's SugarFree-like invite*

[Warty]

You don't get to decline my invitations. That requires you to win a guitar duel against my champion, and we know that just isn't going to happen.

[Episiarch]

I choose Ralph Macchio. You can have Steve Vai.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Actually played by Vai, of course.

[Warty]

I love that his fuckups don't sound anything like real fuckups.

Steve Vai and Frank Zappa duet

[Episiarch]

DO NOT RUIN IT FOR ME, ASSHOLE.

This.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Barbituates are a hell of a drug

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Don't worry Epi, I'll make it up to you.

Why Argentina's "Dancing With The Stars" is wayyyyyyy better than America's

[Warty]

That's the second nekkid Argentinian TV dance I've seen this year. Between that and their steak, I may have to move there.

[WTF]

But do we really want to see Chaz Bono doing THAT?

[BakedPenguin]

Why Argentina's "Dancing With The Stars" is wayyyyyyy better than America's

Why English newspapers (one, anyway) are way better than American ones.

[BakedPenguin]

NSFW

[Warty]

Nickelback shreds

[Almanian]

Well FUCK

[Kristen]

~5 seconds...I just had to read the names in the opening.

[dJ]

Prisoners being held for the peaceful,non-violent possession,sale,transport or cultivation of cannabis must be released http://wh.gov/gf3
I just started a petition on the White House petitions site, We the People.
Will you sign it? http://wh.gov/gf3
We the People allows anyone to create and sign petitions asking the Obama
Administration to take action on a range of issues. If a petition gets
enough support, the Obama Administration will issue an official response.

[Episiarch]

If a petition gets enough support, the Obama Administration will issue an official response

If you believe this, you are functionally retarded.

[Warty]

It's adorable and sad, like a mother cat trying to wake up its dead kitten. Don't kill his dream just yet.

[Episiarch]

That train left the station a long time ago, dude.

[Warty]

Well, he's clearly retarded if he still believes Obama is any kind of decent human. I know you love to make retards cry, but I don't. Well, I do, but not as much as you.

[JW]

Functionally?

[Episiarch]

Semantics.

[cynical]

The official response will be some diplomatically worded variant of "Fuck you."

[Retired at Thirty-Seven?]

What. The. Fuck?

A retired St. Paul police officer claims another cop who is a former friend unlawfully accessed her records in the state Driver and Vehicle Services database.

Anne Marie Rasmusson, 37, filed a petition for a harassment restraining order against Jill Loonsfoot, whom she described as a Minneapolis police officer.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_1.....ost_viewed

[sarcasmic]

Squirrel porn!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ewers.html