Reason Morning Links: Rick Scott Wants to Cut Funding for Anthropologists, Saudi Arabia Will Make Iran "Pay the Price" for Assassination Plot, Still More Holes in the Anthrax Case

Mike Riggs | 10.12.2011 9:02 AM

Reuters: "Saudi Arabia vowed on Wednesday that Iran would 'pay the price' for an alleged plot to kill its ambassador in Washington and U.S. officials said there could be a push for a new round of U.N. sanctions."
Rick Scott on Florida schools providing anthropology training: "It's a great degree if people want to get it. But we don't need them here."
New evidence in the FBI anthrax case doesn't exonerate Bruce Ivins, it is "at odds with some of the science and circumstantial evidence that the government said would have convicted him of capital crimes."
Speaking of white powders, this is an ingenious way to smuggle cocaine.
Romney unveils more supporters.
Tea Party traction is slipping: "These days the mood inside the Republican establishment is, if not quite smug, then certainly relieved."

New at Reason.tv: "Why We Still Like Ike: Biographer Jim Newton on Dwight Eisenhower's Underrated Presidency"

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

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Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago

9:00 AM. Right on schedule.
1. Rich 13 years ago
  
  Hey, it's 9:00AM *somewhere*, right?
  1. sarcasmic 13 years ago
    
    It's 5pm somewhere as well. Time for a beer.
    1. Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago
      
      (I'm trying to establish 9AM as the designated time to post Morning Links.)(Let's see if it works.)
      1. Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago
        
        (9:00 AM Eastern Time, you central losers and west coast dicks.)(And don't even get me started on foreign time zones.)
        
        Clich? Bandit 13 years ago
        
        WTF YO?! Mountain doesnt exist now?
        
        Lord Humungus 13 years ago
        
        MT is dead to me. Ever since that terrible night in Tijuana.
        
        Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago
        
        Mountain doesnt exist now?
        
        Yeah, I said foreign.
        
        Jon Schaffer`s Right Hand 13 years ago
        
        Why not just call it 1400 zulu?
        
        Ska 13 years ago
        
        Racist?
        
        Au H20 13 years ago
        
        But us Mountain Time Zone folks are cool, right?
        
        Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago
        
        But us Mountain Time Zone folks are cool, right?
        
        Ha, yeah, you're aces. That's why everyone wants to go there. That 's why I totally didn't forget you even existed.
        
        And Zulu time? What am I, in a Tom Clancy novel all the sudden? Get out of here with that.
        
        Clich? Bandit 13 years ago
        
        I will take the desolation of my time zone ANY DAY over being near Ohio.
        
        Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago
        
        Son of a bitch, I am pretty close to Ohio.
2. Suki 13 years ago
  
  Good morning Links!
John 13 years ago

Tea Party traction is slipping: "These days the mood inside the Republican establishment is, if not quite smug, then certainly relieved.

Now top men can properly manage the decline and fall of the country while stealing everything possible.
1. teh rael o2 13 years ago
  
  as if the teaparty was the diff.
  1. Gimlet 13 years ago
    
    No one Wants you here.
    1. o3 13 years ago
      
      like i give a rip
2. Drake 13 years ago
  
  Wouldn't the time to be relieved and smug be after the primaries - or better yet, after the election next year?
  
  They aren't called the Stupid Party for nothing.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    No shit. I hope Cain wins just to see the looks on those jackasses' faces.
  2. Suki 13 years ago
    
    That is when they start playing with explosives.
3. Raston bot 13 years ago
  
  Relieved b/c the economy's fixed 'n shit apparently.
4. John Thacker 13 years ago
  
  If it's Romney, then I'm debating whether it would be better to vote for a Republican Congress plus Obama. President Romney with a R Congress looks likely to be a repeat of the W years.
Warty 13 years ago

Born to Hula
Solanum 13 years ago

Guy On A Buffalo
1. Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago
  
  I can't tell if that show is a musical or just all theme song.
2. Yakov 13 years ago
  
  I'd like to see the look on the faces of the hippies when they realize their baby was abducted.
DJF 13 years ago

"""NATO says extent of resistance in Libya surprising""'

http://www.google.com/hostedne.....74e3955b69

So the NATO says they got involved in order to protect civilians because the government of Libya was attacking the civilian rebels with artillery, rockets and aircraft.

So now the new government of Libya is bombarding the civilians in the city of Sirte with artillery and rockets with NATO providing the aircraft.

So what happened to the protect civilians mandate from the UN?
1. The UN 13 years ago
  
  LOOK! Over there! It's Haley's Comet!
2. Suki 13 years ago
  
  They are there to protect the right civilians.
3. Mike M. 13 years ago
  
  And where is Ghadafi by the way?
  1. teh rael o2 13 years ago
    
    targan oasis per debka
    1. Gimlet 13 years ago
      
      No one wants you here.
      1. o3 13 years ago
        
        like i give a rip
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

Democrats wary of their unpopular president
http://news.yahoo.com/democrat.....03210.html

Four years ago, Senator Claire McCaskill was one of Barack Obama's biggest boosters in his presidential campaign. But when he recently visited her state of Missouri, she did not have time to join him.

Many of McCaskill's fellow Democrats in Congress may also decide they are too busy to be with Obama, whose approval rating of about 40 percent as the economy struggles threatens to be a drag on their own reelection chances next year.
teh rael o2 13 years ago

Marines set to ship more solar panels to Afghanistan
Posted by Michael Hoffman | September 29th, 2011 | Modern Day Marine

The U.S. Marine Corps will start shipping in December 10 sets of 20 solar panel systems to Afghanistan to power patrol and forward operating bases as part of an alternative energy initiative to cut the Corps' fuel use in half by 2025.

Marine Corps officials accelerated the fielding of energy saving systems to include tent liners, LED lights, a solar powered radio and a solar panel network that the Corps expects to save them more than $40 million per year.

Marines with India Company 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines deployed to Sangin, Afghanistan, last year and used this equipment all while engaged in some of the fiercest fighting since U.S. forces entered Afghanistan.

Their rave reviews urged Corps leaders to ship more alternative energy systems to Afghanistan faster.

"Guys didn't want to give it up," said Maj. Sean Sadlier, a logistics analyst with the Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Office. "What better review can you get than that."

Solar shades and two sets of the solar panel systems officially called the Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy Network Systems (GREENS) are still in use at Patrol Base Boldak where India 3/5 Marines used them. Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan also has five sets of solar floodlights Sadlier said have proven "very reliable."

The Marine Corps has gotten out in front of the Defense Department-wide effort to cut down fuel consumption focusing especially on small unit's energy use. Marine Corps leaders say they don't have a choice.

Marines consume 5 million barrels of oil at a cost of $1 billion per year. Even more alarming is the number of Marines wounded hauling that fuel on streets laced with improvised explosive devices in the war zone. One Marine is wounded for every 50 fuel and water convoy driven.

India 3/5 Marines saw their fuel and battery replacement needs fall significantly. Units could complete three week foot patrols without one battery resupply using the Solar Portable Alternative Communications Energy System (SPACES) along with other rechargers.
http://defensenews.com/blogs/m.....ghanistan/
_
the US military continues to convert to renewables in all branches.
1. DJF 13 years ago
  
  """'One Marine is wounded for every 50 fuel and water convoy driven.""'
  
  Or we could just bring the Marines back to the USA where fuel and water delivery is much safer
2. gaijin97 13 years ago
  
  Marines consume 5 million barrels of oil at a cost of $1 billion per year.
  
  Hey it's early and all for math, but does this mean they are paying $200 per barrel? wtf?
  1. The Administration 13 years ago
    
    That's only $200 per barrel.
    
    You're welcome.
  2. kinnath 13 years ago
    
    Costs a lot of money to haul your own fuel to the middle of nowhere.
  3. John 13 years ago
    
    That is probably counting transportation costs.
  4. Jersey Patriot 13 years ago
    
    You should see what the hammers and toilet seats cost.
  5. gaijin97 13 years ago
    
    So, upon further math, at 19.5 gallons of gas from a barrel of oil, the cost per gallon of gas is $10.25. That's a lot of transportation added, but I guess it makes sense if the nearest refinery is on the Gulf (of Mexico) coast.
    1. kinnath 13 years ago
      
      Without a pipeline, you're burning fuel to move fuel. It gets expensive really quick.
      1. gaijin97 13 years ago
        
        Serious question: Besides the cost of the fuel to transport the fuel (which presumably is baked into the total cost per gallon), what other costs would be added to make the total cost so high?
        
        Groovus Maximus 13 years ago
        
        Protection, labor and graft. Particularly graft.
        
        kinnath 13 years ago
        
        You're not paying a commercial truck driver to haul fuel down an interstate highway. You paying for a fully armed convoy to protect a highly valuable, and highly volatile, commodity through hostile territory.
        
        Gray Ghost 13 years ago
        
        This subthread really needs Lord Humongous to chime in. Afghanistan has always been a PITA for resupply of deployed forces, between the terrain, pissy natives, and being a rockpile in the middle of nowhere.
        
        I wonder how they're able to charge their batteries while on foot patrol? Most solar arrays I've seen that are large enough to charge batteries aren't flexible or small, and I think they'd be tough to camouflage in the field too.
        
        Kristen 13 years ago
        
        Afghanistan has always been a PITA for resupply of deployed forces, between the terrain, pissy natives, and being a rockpile in the middle of nowhere.
        
        Yep, just as the Soviets!
        
        Kristen 13 years ago
        
        *ask
      2. Suki 13 years ago
        
        Just wait for Obama's wind wagon solution to this one.
        
        The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
        
        I also saw a cool article (in the same vein) about the military using mobile water filters. I am too lazy to look it up.
        
        Brandon 13 years ago
        
        Is somebody's brother a pool guy?
  6. Bean Counter 13 years ago
    
    It's most likely that the oil has been processed, you know, into jet fuel, diesel, etc. That probably adds a little to the cost -DUMB ASS!!!
    1. gaijin97 13 years ago
      
      Thanks Bean Eater. You mean processed just like every other barrel of oil that results in gas costing $3.75 a gallon in the US? The same barrels of oil that cost under $80 through the open market?
    2. Brandon 13 years ago
      
      Yeah, if you're going to yell DUMB ASS in all caps, you should at least go to the trouble of being right.
  7. db 13 years ago
    
    Well actually the brokers who move fuel into Afghanistan are making a killing supplying the US military. I can't remember where but there was an interesting article on this last year or so. Maybe in Foreign Policy.
3. J.B. Say what? 13 years ago
  
  Well good for them, they stumbled upon the one economically feasible use for solar power: low demand remote power generation.
  
  Clearly this means that the government should continue to subsidize solar for homeowners already connected to one of the most reliable and inexpensive power grids in the world.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    That is the thing. If I had to risk getting killed to get power, solar would look pretty damned good. Since I don't, I will take a pass.
  2. Drake 13 years ago
    
    If I decide to move to Afghanistan, I will definitely go solar!
    1. Coal Warlord 13 years ago
      
      I kill you!
  3. T 13 years ago
    
    I'm also guessing the systems the Marines are using, like almost everything else DOD buys, are overpriced for the civilian market.
    1. Old Soldier 13 years ago
      
      Hell yeah. The used to say "built by the lowest bidder". Now it's built in the committee chairman's district.
  4. Suki 13 years ago
    
    Solar power is a great solution when oil is $200/bbl. Obama's plan is skyrocketing into place.
4. Abdul 13 years ago
  
  Why aren't we just stealing oil from Iraq? Wasn't that the whole point of blood for oil?
  1. kinnath 13 years ago
    
    Refineries
5. teh rael o2 13 years ago
  
  u fomin wingusts r miss the point the ppoint bein that soler is savin marrines $ & lifes. i shoud know i m irack vetern
  1. Abdul 13 years ago
    
    Sorry about the shrapnel you took in the part of your ass that used to process logic and commen sense.
    1. Resto Druid FTW 13 years ago
      
      "[U] fomin wingusts[.]" What does this mean exactly?
      
      1. You former wind gusts?
      
      Or, or you just resorting to lame name-calling? That must be it.
  2. o3 13 years ago
    
    ^moar spoofarrhea abdul
    1. Abdul 13 years ago
      
      If I were you, I wouldn't admit that it was a spoof. Traumatic brain injury is the most sympathetic explanation for you that exists.
      1. Gray Ghost 13 years ago
        
        Delightful, just delightful.
        
        I doubt I could've come up with such a great comeback, and certainly not within 5 minutes of idiot's post.
      2. o3 13 years ago
        
        doesnt change abdul's getting pwned by a spoofer.
        
        o3 13 years ago
        
        oh waits i m teh 1 geting pwned fuck im stuppid
TSA 13 years ago

an ingenious way to smuggle cocaine

We would have caught that.
1. Ice Nine 13 years ago
  
  No, you would have destroyed a unique, irreplaceable bedpost on an expensive bed, found absolutely nothing and then said "fuck you" to the bed's owner.
2. BakedPenguin 13 years ago
  
  If it was really ingenious, they wouldn't have gotten caught.
  1. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
    
    This comment reminds me of the first (?) Stainless Steel Rat novel, where he purposefully goes to prison to learn from all the 'criminal masterminds'. After a few days, he realizes the truly smart criminals are the ones who are never caught.
3. mad libertarian guy 13 years ago
  
  Except yesterday the TSA in Rapid City sent my declared firearm through to be sent without examination in any way shape or form just because I told them it was just a rifle.
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

'Average' guys are the best guys
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel.....s-2579678/

A survey of women in the UK reveals what most of us already knew: We ladies aren't looking for the tallest, best looking guy in the world. We don't want a star basketball player or the richest man in the country to sweep us off our feet and love us forever. Most of us are looking for "Mr. Average."

"Mr. Average," according to the Daily Mail, is somewhere between 30 to 45, around 5'10", dark haired, a good cook, gainfully employed, and somewhat creative. And while I'll agree these qualities are far preferable to "bad boy, lots of money," they are also far from "average."
1. Montani Semper Liberi 13 years ago
  
  Ah, that explains why I was pulling 10 different chicks a night in college while the football and basketball players were waiting til last call to pick up any chick drunk enough to go home with them.
  1. The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
    
    I detect just a hint of the sarcasm here.
2. PR 13 years ago
  
  this study assumes women know what they want.
  1. The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
    
    I truly do not believe that the average man is a good cook. Also, if men are looking for women that are good cooks and women are also looking for men who are good cooks, suddenly now the world makes sense to me.
    1. The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
      
      Also, most women say they like a man with a sense of humor, but I am troubled that I'm unsure what percentage of women consider my "humor" a valid system.
      1. Women 13 years ago
        
        That's not funny.
      2. Kristen 13 years ago
        
        I generally pass by any online dating profile that says "good sense of humor". WTF does that even mean? I think I have a GREAT sense of humor and I enjoy Jackass immensely. Somehow I don't think some boring-ass dude who puts "good sense of humor" in his profile enjoys the subtley nuanced ball kick reactions of Johnny Knoxville.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        In fairness, what are you supposed to put on those things? I feel for you dating in Washington as a woman. There are so many hot women in this town and so many dorky men.
        
        db 13 years ago
        
        If you can't express a good sense of humor in an online profile without explicitly stating "good sense of humor," you probably don't have one.
        
        Kristen 13 years ago
        
        ^^This
        
        I explicitly state my love for Jackass, and that Bad Santa is one of my favorite movies. Separates the wheat from the chaff.
        
        The guy I have been dating for the last 10 months (met him on an online dating site!) never once used "good sense of humor" in his profile.
        
        Lord Humungus 13 years ago
        
        any does anyone truly like long walks in the country?
        
        Lord Humungus 13 years ago
        
        *any = and
        
        Spot, Rover, & Fido 13 years ago
        
        We do!
        
        Gray Ghost 13 years ago
        
        Does deer hunting count?
        
        mad libertarian guy 13 years ago
        
        Antelope hunting. It's all about the antelope.
        
        Axman 13 years ago
        
        I truly like long walks in the country, carrying a shotgun and accompanied by a bird dog. Any human companions who come along may be either male or female, as long as they understand the walk is no occasion for romance.
    2. Joshua 13 years ago
      
      I'll do the cooking, I'm looking for a woman who is a good dishwasher.
      1. Apatheist 13 years ago
        
        +1, between the two cooking is far preferable.
        
        Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
        
        +1
    3. Apatheist 13 years ago
      
      These days the number of young women who can cook is astonishinly low. My fiancee, bless her, can't cook worth shit. I learned in college that if I want to eat well I'd have to learn to cook for myself, so I did.
      1. Zeb 13 years ago
        
        It never ceases to amaze me how many people are completely clueless about cooking. It really isn't that hard.
        
        Clich? Bandit 13 years ago
        
        Married foreign...excellent cook. And I aint bad myself (we have different foci however which complements well). I wasnt always fat, marrying someone who can cook and loving to eat and making your own beer all seem to be ingredients in getting fat.
        
        who knew.
3. John 13 years ago
  
  The woman who wrote that article is a shrewish cunt. So fucking what if the guy plays golf once a week? Is he not allowed any time or life of his own? I guarantee you she goes out and does things on her own that she enjoys. I pity her poor husband.
  1. The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
    
    In my estimation, "average" would probably be the guy who comes home after a long day just wanting to be alone, visits strip clubs without telling his wife, and plays golf on the weekends rather than hanging with the family.
    
    I'm trying to figure out what part of this is bad. Philandering and dealing crystal meth, yeah, but this?
    
    Maybe it's a good thing I'm single and childless, because after a long day at work, I just want to unwind, not immediately engage with my family members. Although helping junior with homework and helping the wife with the dishes sounds noble.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      This is why so many women wind up divorced and bitter. You have to support your spouse. And you have to let them have some kind of a life of their own and tolerate things that you may not like but are not drastic.
      
      A lot of these women a helicopter parents and think that neither they nor their husband should have an adult life and everything should revolve around their kids. In the beginning it has to to some extent because small children require so much attention. But once the kids get older, that attitude is very unhealthy for both parents and children.
      1. short, fat bastard 13 years ago
        
        Instead of kissing her lips, I want to staple them shut.
        
        Marshall Gill 13 years ago
        
        +1
4. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
  
  Well, this was a study of UK women. Based on the *looks of the average UK woman, they should be lucky to get ** anything.
  
  *many exceptions like Felicity Kendal
  
  **yes, I'm real popular at parties - especially Feminist parties.
  1. Chupacabra 13 years ago
    
    Do feminists have parties?
    1. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
      
      they start out a feminist parties, but quickly devolve into girl parties. At least that was my college experience.
      
      eg - the feminist ideology gets thrown to the wayside as the womyn instead concentrate on getting laid.
      1. Elspeth Flashman 13 years ago
        
        yes, it starts out as a righteous, hate-the-patriarchy kind of night; people drink, and then the next thing you know, girls are acting like women and wondering who they can go home with. Not sure how guys put up with it, myself.
  2. Kristen 13 years ago
    
    I went to a wedding last year that was mostly Brits (I think there were about 5 Americans among 150 guests).
    
    As my friends and I were giggling drunkenly in our hotel room after the reception, one of them said to me (since I'm the only single one):"you'd do really well over in England". I tend to agree (especially since I like stocky bald dudes).
    1. SFC B 13 years ago
      
      (especially since I like stocky bald dudes)
      
      Helloooooo nurse!
    2. Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
      
      I tend to agree (especially since I like stocky bald dudes).
      
      And with that remark, Kristen becomes the Dulcinea of the HnR community.
5. Fluffy 13 years ago
  
  I bet there are more guys in the US who are meth heads with domestic violence misdemeanor convictions and at least one sired bastard then there are guys who meet those criteria.
  
  The only guy I know who's dark haired, a good cook, affluent, and creative is like 5' 7". If he was 5' 10" I bet he wouldn't have had to bother to learn to cook, or to make any effort to be creative.
  
  So good luck with all THAT.
  1. short, fat bastard 13 years ago
    
    Dark hair -- check; good cook -- check; creative -- you bet; 5' 10" -- damn 4 inches to short.
    1. joe 13 years ago
      
      and that's with boots on.
  2. Zeb 13 years ago
    
    I meet those criteria. I don't think I am average (or typical).
    1. Ty 13 years ago
      
      Don't sell yourself short, Zeb: you're tremendously average.
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

Occupy L.A. Speaker: Violence will be Necessary to Achieve Our Goals
http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler.....our-goals/

Occupy L.A. Speaker: "One of the speakers said the solution is nonviolent movement. No, my friend. I'll give you two examples: French Revolution, and Indian so-called Revolution.

Gandhi, Gandhi today is, with respect to all of you, Gandhi today is a tumor that the ruling class is using constantly to mislead us. French Revolution made fundamental transformation. But it was bloody.

India, the result of Gandhi, is 600 million people living in maximum poverty.

So, ultimately, the bourgeosie won't go without violent means. Revolution! Yes, revolution that is led by the working class.

Long live revolution! Long live socialism!"

Crowd: [Cheers.]
1. Rich 13 years ago
  
  I thought the crowd cheering might be due to the lack of a "people's microphone", but then there's this, which is *probably* SFW.
2. robc 13 years ago
  
  It says something that when using examples of violent revolution, that they skip the most obvious one, because they cant acknowledge that America did something right.
3. Surly Chef 13 years ago
  
  Occupy L.A. Speaker: "Now lets invade Russia in the winter!"
  
  Crowd: "Wait, what?"
4. Surly Chef 13 years ago
  
  Occupy L.A. Speaker: "Now lets invade Russia in the winter!"
  
  Crowd: "Wait, what?"
  1. robc 13 years ago
    
    Once for Napoleon and once for Hitler?
    1. Surly Chef 13 years ago
      
      The squirrels got it right this time.
  2. Name Nomad 13 years ago
    
    The Mongols successfully invaded Russia in the winter due to the rivers and lakes being frozen over, thus more easily traversable.
    1. Apatheist 13 years ago
      
      This would be true except that Russia didn't exist at the time.
      1. Clich? Bandit 13 years ago
        
        Invading is not equal to occupying. The mongols came in fast, took tribute, made appointment for next year and then left. next year rolls around they come in fast, take tribute, etc. Rinse repeat.
        
        Not "nation building"
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Ganghis famously said, anyone can ride in and conquer a city. It is when you get off your horse that things get hard.
    2. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
      
      It was the furry clothing!
      1. kinnath 13 years ago
        
        The Furries will get you every time.
    3. Au H20 13 years ago
      
      The Mongols were some hard ass motherfuckers.
5. Matrix 13 years ago
  
  The bourgeosie is the middle class... He's arguing for an attack on the middle class. He can take his mic and shove it up his ass.
  1. Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
    
    Didn't you hear? We of the liberteosie are the problem
6. Fluffy 13 years ago
  
  What he leaves out is that after the British left India, India TRIED SOCIALISM for 60 years.
  
  If India was a shithole 15 years ago, blame this speaker and people like him.
  
  And the French revolution did not achieve fundamental change. Within a handful of years they had a military absolute monarchy again. And a few years after THAT, the Bourbons and the aristocrats and the bishops were back.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    All true. The French didn't get fundamental change until they lost a war and were occupied for the second time in 1872.
    1. Clich? Bandit 13 years ago
      
      You know who else gave France a fundamental change?
      
      "Ve vill just put ziss wall right here. Nobody can get around our wall."
7. cynical 13 years ago
  
  These dipshits think they're Jacobins, but most of them are just angry that they went into debt to pay the king money for venal office or a shot at the lesser nobility, and got nothing but ripped off.
  1. Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
    
    The dude thinks he's Robespierre, and forgetting that things didn't turn out to well for him.
8. MJ 13 years ago
  
  "French Revolution made fundamental transformation. But it was bloody."
  
  It also ended up trading a king for an emperor at war with everyone else. Yeah, the French revolution had such a resounding success with desirable outcomes.
Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago

Given such fast-deteriorating conditions, many Republican veterans have come around to the view that they aren't really going to need the perfect presidential candidate, and perhaps not even a notably good one.

That's good for them, because they're not getting either.
1. Bee Tagger 13 years ago
  
  The less perfect a candidate, the more important the "Republican Leadership" in the background seem.
Eduard van Haalen 13 years ago

Remember the Baptist minister who endorsed Rick Perry? Americans United for Separation of Church and State is complaining. It wants the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax exemption of the guy's church.

http://www.au.org/media/press-.....letter.pdf
1. robc 13 years ago
  
  His church didnt endorse Perry (AFAIK), he did.
  1. Eduard van Haalen 13 years ago
    
    Ah, but he put his endorsement on his church's Web site! With a disclaimer that he wasn't speaking for his church!
    
    If AU could raze this church to the ground, they probably would.
    1. Suki 13 years ago
      
      If he was at a Black Church this would not be an issue.
      1. Zeb 13 years ago
        
        Yeah, those satanists always get a pass for everything.
Bee Tagger 13 years ago

"If I'm going to take money from a citizen to put into education then I'm going to take that money to create jobs. So I want that money to go to degrees where people can get jobs in this state. Is it a vital interest of the state to have more anthropologists? I don't think so."

Pretty crafty way of intentionally limiting the supply of anthropologists so that they're worth more in the future.
1. Matrix 13 years ago
  
  I wonder if he even knows what anthropology is. Besides, there are very few people applying for anthropology degrees. I ended up dropping my anthropology major down to a minor. Still had 2 other majors, though. Just wanted to graduate before the end of the 21st century.
  1. Drake 13 years ago
    
    I was an Anthro minor too. Good clean fun that will never make you a dime.
    1. gaijin97 13 years ago
      
      Two words: Market researcher
      1. Drake 13 years ago
        
        Business School
        
        My 2 words.
        
        Sterling Archer 13 years ago
        
        I'm pretty sure somebody's already named all the different spiders, Noah!
2. Brett L 13 years ago
  
  What we are certain of is that there was insufficient demand at FSU for either the major or anthropologists.
  1. bc 13 years ago
    
    I'm tired of people putting down the Sunshine State. What about a positive story like how a Florida rep wants to create more jobs for dwarfs by making dwarf tossing legal again.
3. Au H20 13 years ago
  
  I think someone has already named all the spiders, Noah.
sarcasmic 13 years ago

After spending $1,400 in construction materials and $1,800 to the county, the county still votes to have the tree house torn down.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....house.html
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

In Egypt, a new pogrom
http://www.boston.com/bostongl.....ew_pogrom/

What happened in Egypt on Sunday was a massacre. Government security forces assaulted Coptic Christians as they marched peacefully to the headquarters of the state TV network. They were protesting the recent burning of St. George's, a Coptic church in the Upper Egypt village of El-Marinab. Yet broadcasters loyal to the ruling military junta exhorted "honorable Egyptians'' to help the army put down the protests. "Soon afterward, bands of young men armed with sticks, rocks, swords, and firebombs began to roam central Cairo, attacking Christians,'' the Associated Press reported . "Troops and riot police did not intervene.'' Graphic video of the violence was quickly uploaded to the Internet. So were even more graphic images of the murdered protesters.
sarcasmic 13 years ago

Kate Hudson looks like a dork with dark hair.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-hair.html
1. Bee Tagger 13 years ago
  
  Whoever cast her as Darlene in the upcoming Roseanne remake is a genius.
  1. Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
    
    Either that, or she's getting fashion advice from Kat Dennings.
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

Are Voters Looking for an Isolationist?
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfor.....ef=opinion

Yet Ron Paul, the only Republican presidential contender who wants to rein in military spending and keep the U.S. out of other regions' conflicts, appears far from commanding a lead in the polls.
Related

* Tea Party and Foreign Policy (Pew Research Center)
* Romney's Realist Foreign Policy Is a Lot Like Obama's (The Atlantic)

Where does that leave the Republicans and members of the Tea Party who would like to see less overseas intervention and lower military spending? Is there now an opening for a third-party candidate to marshal these voters?
1. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
  
  Preview fail. Ah well.
2. John 13 years ago
  
  There is. The problem is that they would get just enough to re-elect obama. And even if they did win, they would be friendless in Congress. The only hope is to take over one of the parties.
3. Proprietrist 13 years ago
  
  Once again, I guess Gary Johnson is just chopped liver...
sarcasmic 13 years ago

Christina Ricci still has the forehead of a beluga whale.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....an-Am.html
1. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
  
  but a nice bod.
  1. The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
    
    Yeah, well...Christina Ricci always looks great.
  2. JW 13 years ago
    
    A forehead fetish? Kinky.
    1. Groovus Maximus 13 years ago
      
      JW, you would find a dead conjoined twin on the side of her face kinky and fetish-y. Weirdo.
      
      Come to think of it, she does have more forehead than a drive-in has screen.
      1. JW 13 years ago
        
        That depends on how hot the twin is.
        
        No question that she has a big forehead, but why in Zod's name is anyone looking above her eyes? Plenty of fun below and it's like complaining that the wrong ribbon ruins the present.
        
        sarcasmic 13 years ago
        
        Polish up that forehead and it's like having a mirror in the bed.
        
        Groovus Maximus 13 years ago
        
        Finally, a use for that Sham-Wow I never bothered to use.
        
        General Zod 13 years ago
        
        KNEEEEEEEEEEEEL!!!
2. Matrix 13 years ago
  
  my roommate would say she has nothing on Peyton Manning.
3. robc 13 years ago
  
  Apparently I dont find five-heads to be a turnoff.
4. T 13 years ago
  
  "shows off her tiny waist"
  
  Yeah, it's so hard to have a tiny waist when you're 5 feet tall. All of her is tiny. Cute, but tiny.
5. John 13 years ago
  
  I think she is better looking than she used to be. She is downright hot.
  1. sarcasmic 13 years ago
    
    Reminds me too much of a particular ex of mine for me to find attractive.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      Did you see Kate Middleton's mom yesterday? Considering that she is a mom over 45, she punches way above her weight class.
      
      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....pring.html
  2. sarcasmic 13 years ago
    
    Here is "downright hot" in my book.
    
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....m-set.html
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      I wouldn't touch her with Hitler's dick. She is so annoying. She reminds me of a semi hot but awful boss.
      1. sarcasmic 13 years ago
        
        As a person I can't stand her either. Shitty actress, shitty singer, annoying personality, and a fucking smoking hot bod.
        
        Bookstore Clerk 13 years ago
        
        She and her mom were regular customers at a bookstore I worked at in the mid-90's. They are actually very nice people.
        
        sarcasmic 13 years ago
        
        I don't doubt that. There are plenty of very nice people who I can't stand.
    2. Ice Nine 13 years ago
      
      Yep, Ruffalo is a stud; no doubt about it.
      1. sarcasmic 13 years ago
        
        ?
        
        Ice Nine 13 years ago
        
        Ask a chick.
    3. robc 13 years ago
      
      Not as hot as her Mom was at same age.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        I agree. Blyth Danner was quite attractive back in the day.
        
        JW 13 years ago
        
        Blythe Danner was my first crush as a boy. So, I can say with authority that her daughter is "hot" only if you have no dick.
        
        sarcasmic 13 years ago
        
        If Gweneth gives me a chubby then I have no dick?
        
        Or do you mean only women find her "hot"?
        
        I'm confused.
        
        JW 13 years ago
        
        If Gweneth gives me a chubby then I have no dick?
        
        Or do you mean only women find her "hot"?
        
        Yes. Now, I'm going to buy you a fruit basket.
        
        sarcasmic 13 years ago
        
        At least I don't need a pill to get a chubby.
        
        JW 13 years ago
        
        If you need plain, white toast to get a chubby, pills are the least of your troubles.
        
        Here, boy, have a look at a real woman.
        
        sarcasmic 13 years ago
        
        Nah. If I want to look at the trashy type I prefer this one.
        
        sarcasmic 13 years ago
        
        "Blythe Danner was my first crush as a boy."
        
        You're old. Any older and you'd fart dust.
        
        JW 13 years ago
        
        You're old. Any older and you'd fart dust.
        
        I'll bury you in that ass dust, boy.
        
        sarcasmic 13 years ago
        
        Don't break a hip when you cut the cheese, old man.
    4. mr simple 13 years ago
      
      It's a good thing they had a close up shot to show her sweaty armpits, or something.
    5. MJ 13 years ago
      
      Actresses sweat when they work out. Who knew?
6. Ska 13 years ago
  
  I liked her better with the huge tits.
  1. kinnath 13 years ago
    
    http://kaseydriscoll.wordpress.....nderrated/
    1. Ska 13 years ago
      
      A sincere thank you, sir.
      1. kinnath 13 years ago
        
        You're welcome
        
        JW 13 years ago
        
        There's another one where she sits on a bed, buck-naked. Can't recall the movie name and I probably shouldn't look for it at work.
        
        I like her better with some meat on her bones.
        
        Ska 13 years ago
        
        Buffalo '66? She's straight chubby in that one though.
        
        The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
        
        Thick, though. In a great way.
        
        creep 13 years ago
        
        Prozac Nation
        
        JW 13 years ago
        
        Prozac Nation
        
        That's it.
    2. Troy 13 years ago
      
      yummy
7. kinnath 13 years ago
  
  http://halfdog.tumblr.com/post.....snake-moan
  
  Black Snake Moan
  1. Ice Nine 13 years ago
    
    I thought Auschwitz was closed.
8. Troy 13 years ago
  
  Who the fuck is looking at her forehead when she is bent over?
  1. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
    
    ^^this^^
9. Chinny Chin Chin 13 years ago
  
  Fun science fact:
  Christina's echolocation abilities surpass those of bats, but cannot match the beluga's.
Gimlet 13 years ago

Occupy L.A. Speaker: Violence will be Necessary to Achieve Our Goals

http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler.....our-goals/

Obama Looks To Spend 'Without Additional Congressional Authorization'

http://www.realclearpolitics.c.....e_stimulus
1. John 13 years ago
  
  Please engage in some violence. Please become the face of liberalism and the Democratic Party and then blow shit up. I don't think this country is living well enough for that to happen.
2. Brandon 13 years ago
  
  Second link doesn't work.
Pro Libertate 13 years ago

We don't care much for anthropologists in these parts. Always studying our mores and mating rituals. Meddling. Watching. Judging.
1. Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago
  
  Meddling. Watching. Judging.
  
  My mating ritual includes all three.
  1. Chance the Anthropologist 13 years ago
    
    I like to watch.
    1. kinnath 13 years ago
      
      +1
    2. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
      
      Body Double flashback.
    3. Pro Libertate 13 years ago
      
      You know all of that porn that comes from Florida? Well, it turns out that all of it has been filmed by anthropologists.
2. Abdul 13 years ago
  
  In my experience, anthropology majaors make the best baristas, but for retail sales help, you really want a psych major with a minor in political science.
  1. rac3rx 13 years ago
    
    +1
    1. The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
      
      +$45,000 in student loans
      1. AblueSilkworm 13 years ago
        
        You win the intertubez.
        
        Azathoth 13 years ago
        
        a series of nets.....
  2. Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
    
    Abdul best poster.
3. SugarFree 13 years ago
  
  Assuming that we couldn't get away with eliminating school loan guarantees and federal grants, why not just get rid of ones for non-economical subjects?
  
  No federal assistance for anthropology, archaeology, sociology, psychology, political science, English literature, foreign languages, women's studies, cultural studies, history, philosophy, art, art history, or remedial butthole-touching.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    None of those programs should even be offered in state funded schools. Maybe as the odd course but never as majors. Why are the taxpayers of (insert state here) paying to subsidize degrees that don't get their recipients jobs? It is one thing to subisidize the education of engineers and doctors and nurses and such, but not that shit.
    1. dhex 13 years ago
      
      john's right - it's a well-known fact that people only work in the disciplines they train as an undergraduate in.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        What needed skill is a political scientist or gender studies major bringing? If private schools want to offer those degrees, God love them. But state schools are created to provide the state with an educated work force. State schools ought to emphasize math, sciences, engineering, business, design, trades, and other things the state actually needs. The State of California is going broke. Why pay millions to have every UC campus have a hate studies department?
        
        Gray Ghost 13 years ago
        
        What needed skill is a political scientist or gender studies major bringing?
        
        Thought that they all went to law school after graduation. That, or to D.C.
        
        So, yeah, after thinking about it, your idea sounds even better.
        
        rac3rx 13 years ago
        
        Interesting that society apparently no longer needs historians, librarians, teachers, statisticians, or lawyers because nobody with a Political Science degree ever used it as a platform for any of these types of trades. Wow John, just to hell with a traditional, classical education; the state should force everybody to go to school to be engineers, accountants, PR hacks, and salesmen.
        
        Everybody knows that so many practical trades come directly from an undergraduate degree in Physics. Believe it or not, some undergraduate degrees, such as Political Science and the traditional hard sciences, are not intended to be terminal degrees. These disciplines are designed for those who intend to further their education beyond the Bachelors degree.
        
        How about instead of forcing kids who either can't afford to go to pricey private colleges, or who just prefer to attend state Universities into majors that you personally approve, we put on our free market hats and allow students to justify their needs for student loans on the basis of past performance and projected success. How novel to allow those who would provide the funding to judge by tangible factors whether students are viable candidates for funding?
        
        I'm usually with you on a lot of issues man, but this statement is just weapons grade stupid.
        
        Heroic Mulatto 13 years ago
        
        + all of Cantor's infinite sets.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        State subsidized schools are not the free market rac. If you are going to spend money to subsidize education, it ought to be education that produces something.
        
        Axman 13 years ago
        
        Produces cogs for corporate gears, you mean.
        
        What about government opening up spaces where individual citizens (whose interests governments are instituted to promote) can pursue their own interests? Instead you expect government to subsidize corporations by underwriting job training programs.
        
        Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
        
        Instead you expect government to subsidize corporations by underwriting job training programs.
        
        I don't completely agree with John's point, but isn't that why all these dumb striver poors are taking out tens or even hundreds of thousands in student loans--because they think their degree certifies them as jobs-qualified?
        
        When the tuition bubble pops, it's probably inevitable that something similar to what John is describing will happen--degree programs will likely contain fewer classes that aren't directly related to the degree in question, simply because people working for a chem engineering degree won't be able to afford taking classes in African history as well.
  2. Groovus Maximus 13 years ago
    
    remedial butthole-touching.
    
    It's covered in med and nursing school.
    1. SugarFree 13 years ago
      
      Isn't that advanced butthole mechanics? You can expect undergraduates to be ready for that.
      1. Groovus Maximus 13 years ago
        
        Nope. The advanced butthole mechanics are covered in a general surgery or colo-rectal surgical residency.
        
        Undergrads are expected to know the basics through independent study and field experience, though I understand with grammar and high schools the way they are today (fingerbanging, yay! math, boo!), CLEP may be a viable option.
        
        Gimlet 13 years ago
        
        What compels one to be an ass doctor?
        
        Groovus Maximus 13 years ago
        
        Assuming you aren't referring to veterinarian, there are a few motivations.
        
        One is professional longevity, as rectal fistulas, fissures and haemorrhoids are fairly common problems. Butt (heh) since proctology is no longer considered a medical discipline, it's been expanded (heh, again) to the study and treatment of colonic diseases as well as rectal and anal malformations.
        
        Two, it's profitable and the scope of surgeries are broad and challenging.
        
        Nooge 13 years ago
        
        Based on the ones I've met, it's usually "somebody's gotta do it" or "Hello, I am from Proxima Centari."
        
        Groovus Maximus 13 years ago
        
        What compels one to be an ass doctor?
        
        Assuming you are not referring to a veterinarian, there are a couple of reasons.
        
        One, the specialization has longevity and security, as common ailments such as haemmorhoids, anal and rectal fistulas and fissures and rectal prolapses can affect any age, though latter affects geriatric patients more often than not. Proctology used to be considered it's own discipline, butt (heh) has been expanded (heh, again) to include the entire colon as well as the rectum and anus, hence colo-rectal surgery as a specialty.
        
        Two, it's profitable and has potential for cross-specialization with other disciplines, such as oncology and gastroenterology.
        
        Three, the surgeries themselves, such as the excision of cancerous colon fixation of a prolapsed rectum, are challenging and address a myriad of colonic, digestive, and excretory problems.
        
        Groovus Maximus 13 years ago
        
        *...cancerous or fixation...
        
        Charlotte Sometimes 13 years ago
        
        Oh, how I wish I was transcribing you instead of this twit currently using her breast pump while dictating. (*sobs*)
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        All good points Groovus. Also consider that after you have been through med school and dissected dead bodies and done your time in the ER seeing burned people and such, nothing about the body really affects you. Doctors are just not like us.
        
        Groovus Maximus 13 years ago
        
        nothing about the body really affects you.
        
        Great eyes, a warm smile, firm bum, and a curvy figure are quite affective, John. I do have a pulse.
      2. Kant feel Pietzsche 13 years ago
        
        Exactly. Inserting a lipstick cam 10 feet into your bowels is a bit beyond "touching".
        
        Groovus Maximus 13 years ago
        
        Inserting a lipstick cam 10 feet into your bowels is a bit beyond "touching".
        
        Considering you'd perforate the small intestine at 10 feet (average length of the colon is about 5.5 feet), that's why the advanced, professional stuff administered by someone like moi.
        
        Besides, I can tell you that quite a few teens and coeds are taking this pic/sexting thing a bit too far...ever had to remove a cell phone from someone's ass?
        
        The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
        
        I had no idea you also did work at prisons, Groovus. I mean, that's the only place somebody would try to sneak a cell phone in through their bum, right?
        
        Groovus Maximus 13 years ago
        
        iPhones are pretty wide Art; anyone that could successfully smuggle one of those in their salad bowl AND manage to expel it without major tearing and damage is worthy of study. Hence anthropology.
        
        You should ask Episiarch; he studied anthropology at Johns Hopkins.
        
        The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
        
        You have to grease that iPhone up good and it'll fit. Er, uh, at least that's what I've read.
  3. Troy 13 years ago
    
    nmmmmm... can we keep the critical thinking and logic classes? If you ask me, and everyone should seek my opinion on everything, we need more critical thinking and logic classes.
    1. Kristen 13 years ago
      
      Errrmmm...critical thinking and logic classes? WTF school did you go to?
      1. The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
        
        I believe Troy went to the Lyceum at Malta.
  4. Spartacus 13 years ago
    
    Almost all health professions are non-economical (if by that you mean self-supporting financially). Clinical requirements are highly labor-intensive and do not achieve economies of scale (and I do NOT want a nurse who learned how to start an IV by watching a video). Nursing, Physical Therapy, etc., will never be self-sufficient financially.
    
    most of the social sciences are cash cows for universities because they teach massive general education courses, and require little in the way of labs or fancy equipment.
    1. Kant feel Pietzsche 13 years ago
      
      Spart, I taught in the health professions for 15 years. Hospitals, clinics, etc trade practical training for grunt work. Little or no cost for the institution as a rule.
      1. Spartacus 13 years ago
        
        They still have to be supervised, assessed, etc. by someone affiliated with the university. Maybe the hospitals in your area will do clinical supervision for free, but they don't here, and NASN would have a fit if there was someone without faculty status supervising them.
  5. Pro Libertate 13 years ago
    
    I don't make that assumption. If we'd stop forcing kids without aptitude into college, we'd have the cheap labor that made America great. [Adjusts monocle.]
    
    I think you tend to get what you reward/subsidize. If kids can go get loans to get degrees in unmarketable disciplines, then they will. It's kind of like rich kids with a free ride tending to major in Pre-Colombian Sex Trade Economics.
    
    One thing I find interesting is how innumerate kids really are. They think nothing of socking themselves with huge amounts of non-dischargeable debt, all while pursuing majors that won't pay back the loans anytime soon. Crazy, but it's definitely a prevalent view. My oldest son tried to get us to let him get student loans so he could buy a car. Considering that he's got pre-paid and is still at home for the moment, that's pretty nuts.
4. Joshua 13 years ago
  
  He likes it, just don't wanna pay for it. I just wish he felt the same way about more things.
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

The Left's Nervous Breakdown
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....TopOpinion

The left got what it wanted in 2008: a liberal president with a sweeping agenda and big Democratic majorities capable of enacting it. The result has been a great and failed experiment in progressive politics and governance. In due course, one hopes, the left will absorb some lessons--but for now, they seem to be suffering a nervous breakdown.

That is one way to understand why so much of the liberal establishment is rallying behind Krugman's Army, as the "Occupy Wall Street" protests are known. Everything they believe in has failed, so they are turning nihilistic.
1. The Left 13 years ago
  
  The left got what it wanted in 2008: a liberal president with a sweeping agenda and big Democratic majorities capable of enacting it. The result has been a great and failed experiment in progressive politics and governance.
  
  Fucking BUSH!! Fucking obstructionist REPUBLICANS!!
2. John 13 years ago
  
  That article is pure schadenfreude gold.
  1. Troy 13 years ago
    
    No kidding. I love freebasing this much schadenfreude.
3. Jersey Patriot 13 years ago
  
  That is one way to understand why so much of the liberal establishment is rallying behind Krugman's Army, as the "Occupy Wall Street" protests are known.
  
  I've been following the Occupy movement for weeks on Twitter and Facebook. I visited Occupy Philly twice already, including last Saturday. This is the first mention of "Krugman's Army" I've heard of.
  1. Krugman's Army Foot-Soldier 13 years ago
    
    Veni, vidi, stercus.
  2. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
    
    It's one of Taranto's things. He has basically made it one of the goals of his career to get rid of Krugman.
4. Scruffy Nerfherder 13 years ago
  
  John Stuart
  1. Scruffy Nerfherder 13 years ago
    
    Threaded comments, how do they work?
    1. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
      
      Also: Jon Stewart, how is it spelled?
5. Ska 13 years ago
  
  "Vaginal monologist"? LOL
6. Mike M. 13 years ago
  
  Someone really needs to make a sitcom called "Krugman's Army". It would put McHale's Navy to shame.
  1. The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
    
    Yup. And Col. Krugman's beard is out of regulation in just the right waggish way.
Joe M 13 years ago

Morning survey: we're expecting our second son next year, and I've been trying to come up with some good pro-liberty names. Names that my wife has already turned down include Frederick and Lysander. My other boy is named Henry, which was a major coup for me. Calvin and Franklin are already on the maybe list. Any suggestions?
1. John 13 years ago
  
  Patrick for Patrick Henry.
  1. Joe M 13 years ago
    
    Yeah Patrick was an option too, but we're not fond of the nickname "Pat".
    1. kinnath 13 years ago
      
      Padraig then
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        I like that.
        
        The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
        
        Magnumpeeaye.
        
        EDG reppin' LBC 13 years ago
        
        Goddammit Art! Now I'm off to Best Buy to replace my laptop. Apparently spitting grapefruit juice into the keyboard is bad for laptops.
      2. Zeb 13 years ago
        
        I don't know if "Paddy" is much better.
    2. T 13 years ago
      
      Then call him Rick.
    3. rac3rx 13 years ago
      
      So, don't allow it. It takes a bit of diligence, but it's possible. Anytime anyone uses "Pat" you immediately correct them, "no, he's Patrick". He will pick up on this, and by the time he's old enough to speak, he will correct people for you. I have one of those given names that is shortened to something awful, and this method works.
      1. short, fat bastard 13 years ago
        
        So you don't care for "Dick"?
    4. Rhywun 13 years ago
      
      Yeah, you don't want to saddle your kid with "Pat" - trust me.
2. Too Obvious? 13 years ago
  
  Patrick?
3. 13 years ago
  
  Ron-Paul
  1. Joe M 13 years ago
    
    Paul is a possible middle name.
4. Solanum 13 years ago
  
  STEVE
5. Sting 13 years ago
  
  I was always partial to Gordon.
6. Abdul 13 years ago
  
  I'd go with Koch.
7. SugarFree 13 years ago
  
  Looking for a son's name? Why not Zoidberg?
8. Poopy 13 years ago
  
  John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
  1. T 13 years ago
    
    You left out a Joseph, Poopy.
    1. Poopy 13 years ago
      
      Stalin?
    2. Ska 13 years ago
      
      He left out Joseph and A. Barton Hinkle.
  2. The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
    
    Xerxes
    1. Marshall Gill 13 years ago
      
      I attempted to get my wife to let me name my son William Wilberforce. Few names are as synonymous with human liberty.
9. Pro Libertate 13 years ago
  
  Cincinnatus.
  
  Calvin is great, as it also evokes Calvin & Hobbes.
  1. Ska 13 years ago
    
    My friend convinced his wife to agree to Aurelius as their son's middle name. I thought that was pretty slick on his part.
    1. Pro Libertate 13 years ago
      
      My grandfather's middle name was Julian. I thought that was awesome.
10. Montani Semper Liberi 13 years ago
  
  Patrick (Henry), Thomas (Jefferson or Paine), Frederick (Hayek or Bastiat, Americanized of course), or my personal favorite, Nick (Gillespie). Lots of good choices really.
  1. sarcasmic 13 years ago
    
    Jacket.
    The.
  2. Clich? Bandit 13 years ago
    
    If Michael Jackson has Blanket, you can have Jacket. He will be endowed with powers beyond human comprehention and spend his days fighting the solar STEVE SMITH.
    1. Clich? Bandit 13 years ago
      
      damn refresh.
  3. Joshua 13 years ago
    
    Frederick is also good for Douglass.
11. Kristen 13 years ago
  
  Can't go wrong with Milton. I'm sure he'll be the star quarterback and get to fuck the big-titted head cheerleader with a name like that.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    And he is named after a great poet too.
  2. Joe M 13 years ago
    
    Ha, no, Milton is right out. As is Ludwig.
    1. Tim 13 years ago
      
      How 'bout "Tom Cruise Missile"?
  3. Elspeth Flashman 13 years ago
    
    I am partial to "Montgomery," or Monte for short.
12. Scruffy Nerfherder 13 years ago
  
  John Stuart M
13. Ice Nine 13 years ago
  
  Rambo
  
  (Though Pro Libertate is obviously the sentimental favorite.)
14. JW 13 years ago
  
  Benedict?
  
  Go bold. Name him Number 6.
  1. Pro Libertate 13 years ago
    
    How about Senarium?
15. Mongo 13 years ago
  
  Name him after a freed (or trying-to-be-free) slave!:
  ~Dred
  ~Kwako
  ~Cinque
  
  Teacher: "Judy?" Student:"Here."
  "Nevaeh?" "Here."
  "Patrick?" "Here."
  "Dakota?" "Here."
  "Kwako?" "ME KWAKO! ME HERE!!" (pounds chest)
  1. FlyoverCountry 13 years ago
    
    Or Toby?
16. romulus augustus 13 years ago
  
  Ragnar
17. SugarFree 13 years ago
  
  Harrison Bergeron M.
  1. Joe M 13 years ago
    
    Oh yeah, Harrison is already on the list.
    1. The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
      
      Gotta hyphenate that middle name. Bergeron-Ford.
      1. Joe M 13 years ago
        
        Right? Although the latter is already doubly covered by Henry, both Ford and Dr. Jones Jr.
18. Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago
  
  ...I've been trying to come up with some good pro-liberty names.
  
  How about Rand? Short for Randy, my neighbor. He's totally into liberty and shit like that.
  1. Joe M 13 years ago
    
    Rand was already nixed.
19. Fluffy 13 years ago
  
  Ragnar
  1. PS 13 years ago
    
    Ragnar Joeson
20. Troy 13 years ago
  
  Obi Wan
21. Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago
  
  Jesus Quintana.
22. Bee Tagger 13 years ago
  
  Who names their property? He can choose a name for himself when he emancipates himself (or you abandon him), as Murray Rothbard prescribes.
  1. Fluffy 13 years ago
    
    -Flips through book-
    
    -Points at - CAESAR, bitches!
    1. Mongo 13 years ago
      
      The book by Pierre Boulle??
  2. Joe M 13 years ago
    
    I've actually considered Murray as a first name.
23. Brandon 13 years ago
  
  Aragorn?
  1. Joe M 13 years ago
    
    Haha, she likes Sam, so I said how about Samwise? Big no. Also didn't care for Jubal.
24. Gimlet 13 years ago
  
  Obama has a nice ring to it.
25. Spoonman. 13 years ago
  
  Frederick Douglass was awesome and I like the name "Douglas" just fine, but my wife hates it.
  
  Us having children is a few years away though.
26. Azathoth 13 years ago
  
  Not one Lucifer? The angel who opted for Hell over slavery?
27. Pro Libertate 13 years ago
  
  The Urkobold has advised on baby names before:
  
  Urkobold's Recommended Baby Names for New Parents
  
  Girls' Names:
  
  1. Miesha Sue-Horn?t
  2. Oben Ohne
  3. Womby
  4. Fecunda
  5. Oprah
  6. Oki Opai
  7. Medusa
  8. Mammalia
  9. Queen Elizabeth
  10. Lamentatia
  
  Boys' Names:
  
  1. Raymond Luxury Yacht (pronounced 'Throatwobbler Mangrove')
  2. The Shat
  3. Gro?e Einheit
  4. First Name
  5. KHAAAN!!! (optional middle name KHAAAN!!!)
  6. ?????
  7. Little Squirt
  8. Dred/Dread
  9. Gozer the Gozerian, Gozer the Destructor, Volguus Zildrohar, Gozer the Traveler, and Lord of the Sebouillia
  10. Bumfodder
  1. Joe M 13 years ago
    
    I'm liking Gozer. Or maybe the name of a Great Old One.
    1. Pro Libertate 13 years ago
      
      Baal.
  2. John 13 years ago
    
    You forgot Theodora and Boudicca for girls. You philistines.
    1. Pro Libertate 13 years ago
      
      Top Ten means Top Ten.
28. T 13 years ago
  
  Llewellyn. Definitely.
29. cynical 13 years ago
  
  Mal.
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

Wall Street's Gullible Occupiers
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

There is no mystery where the Occupy Wall Street movement came from: It is an offspring of the same false narrative about the causes of the financial crisis that exculpated the government and brought us the Dodd-Frank Act. According to this story, the financial crisis and ensuing deep recession was caused by a reckless private sector driven by greed and insufficiently regulated. It is no wonder that people who hear this tale repeated endlessly in the media turn on Wall Street to express their frustration with the current conditions in the economy.

Their anger should be directed at those who developed and supported the federal government's housing policies that were responsible for the financial crisis.
1. Jersey Patriot 13 years ago
  
  Quoting the Wall Street Journal about a left populist movement is like quoting Pravda about the Chechen uprising.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    Is any of it not true? I don't think so.
    1. Jersey Patriot 13 years ago
      
      Of course you don't think so. When your right-wing masters speak, you repeat. Enjoy pulling the lever for Mitt.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        If you don't think it is true, tell us what is not true and why. If you can't do that, STFU.
        
        FlyoverCountry 13 years ago
        
        Plus, wasn't a story reported on here not long about about how the WSJ was one of the most 'liberally biased' papers - based on their reportage? I believe Op-eds weren't included in the study.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Yes. Its news stories are very liberal. Its editorials very conservative.
  2. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
    
    Note - this was posted to invite discussion. It's also an Opinion piece, not a news item from WSJ.
    
    If you have any specific arguments, then let's hear them - beyond the Ad Hominem response.
2. teh rael o2 13 years ago
  
  false RW meme
  
  the CUNA & AIG lawsuit against BoA cites gross [MALFEASENCE] & [MISREPRESENTATION] to investors & shareholders.
  1. Gimlet 13 years ago
    
    No one wants you here.
    1. o3 13 years ago
      
      like i give a rip
The Other Kevin 13 years ago

In the near future, will we have Tim asking if we've won in Iran yet?
1. John 13 years ago
  
  If the government of Iran actively planned a terrorist attack on US soil, that is a real problem. What do we do? Nothing? Just tell the world that everyone gets a free shot at whacking Americans in America with no hard feelings?
  1. Groovus Maximus 13 years ago
    
    Just tell the world that everyone gets a free shot at whacking Americans in America with no hard feelings?
    
    Well, there was that recent Al-Alawaki (sp?) thing.
    
    If the government of Iran actively planned a terrorist attack on US soil, that is a real problem.
    
    That's a big "if" John. I'm not given to conspiracy theories, but my spidey sense is going off. With all these situations, such as Fast and Furious and the Green Energy Scams popping up like dandelions, I find it a bit convenient that all of a sudden Iran is getting uppity. AG Holder is in deep shit up to his eyeballs and it really wouldn't surprise me if this was yet another page out of the previous admin's playbook, a la "WMD's" so Holder and the 'Bama can save some sort of face here via distraction.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      That is a big "if". And we better have iron clad proof that is the case. If it is probably, then we let it lie. But if the proof is there, it is a real problem. You can't let that stand.
    2. Tim 13 years ago
      
      I say we take a page from Reagan: send the Ayatollah a BIble and chocolate cake. And we spit in the cake.
    3. Gray Ghost 13 years ago
      
      More tin-hatty goodness:
      
      The important part of this story for me is the Zetas connection. We've already established with Al-Awalki that the President can order anyone killed if they're a member of an org that falls under the AUMF, and are beyond the reach of a friendly sovereign. We have a very nasty insurgency that's been going on in Mexico for at least the last 15 years, and has gotten really bad in the last 5. They've proven difficult for LE to apprehend or stop.
      
      So, why not try to tie the cartels to 'international terrorism' and use all of the Patriot Act-type toys in the military and LEO toy box? Anyone think there won't be a connection to AQ that'll be leaked on background in the next few weeks? It's a short step from a Zeta informant (which, incidentally, sounds like the world's worst job.) saying he was approached by a guy to do a job, to screaming about border security and demanding a giant buildup of infrastructure and personnel on the border.
      
      And it's just such a moronic thing for the mullahs to try and do. Especially the way they were supposedly going to do it (large car bomb). You're telling me they couldn't kill him in the Kingdom a lot easier than that?
      
      Christ, imagine if the plot went through? A large car bomb on Embassy Row, with 10s of deaths and 100s wounded. I think we actually would declare war. Or another AUMF. And I thought that was a part of the world that understood what it meant when you treated ambassadors roughly?
      1. Brandon 13 years ago
        
        Enough drones to block out the sun over Tehran!!!!!
        
        Pro Libertate 13 years ago
        
        Don't you love force?
        My fault, I fear.
        I thought that you'd want what I want -
        Sorry, my dear.
        But where are the drones?
        There ought to be drones.
        Quick, send in the drones.
  2. Pro Libertate 13 years ago
    
    Everyone has been saying that we'd have another war before Obama was done. Looks like everyone might've been right.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      I have always said that we are more likely to get into a big war with Obama as President than with McCain. People would have been afraid of McCain and been less likely to miscalculate. The problem with a weak President like Obama is that country's get bold and miscalculate and do something, like this, that not even Obama can ignore.
      1. o3 13 years ago
        
        false RW meme.
        
        only wingnutz believe this rubbish after obama killed ObL, alawaki, & attacked Libya.
        
        MNG 13 years ago
        
        We truly live in a world of irony where the Nobel Peace winning "peace" candidate is going to with a straight face to tout as one of his only successes a war he started and several assassinations.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        I have to give you credit MNG. That is pretty good.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Obama didn't kill Bin Ladin, he was just in office when we caught him. And Obama didn't attack Libya, he let the Europeans bully him into a war that was illegal under US law.
        
        Obama is the weakest President in living memory. Weaker than Carter if that is possible. And assuming the Iranians did this, they did it because they figure Obama can't do anything about it. That is why weakness causes wars.
        
        o3 13 years ago
        
        pure wingnutz rubbish that neither or friends or enemies believe.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        No one believes it but the Europeans and pretty much all of our allies.
        
        MNG 13 years ago
        
        OBL was killed during and under the order of the Obama administration.
        
        I know that sticks in the craw of GO Partisans and they would like to somehow credit the man who had been out of office for years, but that's what happened. Deal with it.
        
        If OBL had been killed under a GOPers watch we would NEVER hear the end of it.
        
        MNG 13 years ago
        
        If I were Obama I would come out almost every day and be like "Hey, you know the number one priority of the Bush administration, to get OBL, well I'm the muthaf*cka who actually accomplished that! I succeeded where they failed despite their fevered, relentless efforts. Me, that's ME, the OBL-slayer"
        
        o3 13 years ago
        
        in fact, team boosch was so demoralized at NOT killing or capturing ObL that they reversed themselves by declaring ObL unimportant & retired. >fact is the captured docs establish the opposite
        
        Britt 13 years ago
        
        I mean, not taking anything away from it, but the idea that he would have not ordered the raid is kind of preposterous. If he'd demurred it would have gotten out, and that would have destroyed him politically. This was a case where the right thing to do and the politically popular thing to do were one and the same thing. Not exactly a hard call.
        
        I mean, we are hard veering into the category of "giving people credit for shit they're supposed to do" when we praise Obama for the Bin Laden takedown. The guy planned the murder of 3000 people and bragged about it. You shouldn't get praised to the heavens for doing what almost anyone in the country would have in the same position.
        
        Now, if he'd personally led the attack with a pistol in each hand and a knife between his teeth, that would be one thing. If there had been a situation where OBL was inside a hardened target, that would be another thing. The problem with getting OBL was always finding him, and the credit for that goes to some nameless analyst grinding it out in some windowless cubicle in Langley or Ft. Meade. The credit for getting him goes to the SEALs.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        It doesn't stick in my craw at all. I am glad we got him. The only thing that bothers me is the same people who would have had a fit, had Bush done it, all became flag waiving Americans. It is they hypocrisy that is the problem.
        
        And of course the only reason he got Bin Ladin was because he continued all of Bush's policies. Bush was an international war criminal for those policies. And Obama is an American hero.
        
        MNG 13 years ago
        
        "And of course the only reason he got Bin Ladin was because he continued all of Bush's policies."
        
        Oh, bullshit. He kept some and changed some. Bush wanted this more than anything and tried his damndest and failed to achieve it under his administration. It happened under Obama.
        
        The man who did 9/11, 9/11, the entire organizing principle behind national security conservatism for years, and it was this "weak" Democrat who got him, not your boy after seven years of trying.
        
        Chatroom Crank 13 years ago
        
        OBL was a gimme. What kind of idiot wouldn't make that call? At least the mission to capture him.
        
        Question 13 years ago
        
        The brass warned him not to release the Irbil Five but he disregarded their warnings. That eff up was 'a gesture of goodwill' toward the Iranians. The Iranians responded to his 'goodwill' by nominating one of the guys indicted by Interpol for a bombing in Buenos Aires to be the defense minister. And then they went on a tear in AfPak.
        The Iranians are also flying one of their few remaining 747s into Venezuela roughly twice a month; have been for three years now.
        Something very bad is heading our way, and I don't mean a new season of Glee.
        
        Cytotoxic 13 years ago
        
        Great points from Question!
        
        FlyoverCountry 13 years ago
        
        True, but frankly, another season of Glee scares me far more than Ahmanidnajadanotgonnaworkhereanymore
    2. Jersey Patriot 13 years ago
      
      Jersey Patriot|6.23.11 @ 2:08PM|#
      1. Saudis announce they want to open the spigots to "crush" Iran.
      
      2. T-Prompt speechifies about troop drawdowns in Afghanistan.
      
      3. IEA releases 60 million barrels of oil.
      
      Saudis set the agenda, US frees up the troops, US & EU free the oil. All we need now is the Gulf of Tonkin incident: I'm guessing "terrorist" attack on Iraq or Saudi Arabia.
      
      --
      
      A little early, but not a bad little prediction.
  3. Ice Nine 13 years ago
    
    If the government of Iran actively planned a terrorist attack on US soil, that is a real problem. What do we do?
    
    Release the Israeli Air Force.
    1. Lost_In_Translation 13 years ago
      
      How about,
      
      "Release the Kraken!"
  4. kilroy 13 years ago
    
    Just tell the world that everyone gets a free shot at whacking Americans in America
    
    The Saudi ambassador to the US was an American?
    1. Esteban 13 years ago
      
      They were ready to kill American civilians and Senators dining in the same restaurant.
      1. kilroy 13 years ago
        
        I thought the US regarded collateral damage differently. I'm pretty sure I heard some administration people make that argument very recently...
  5. Troy 13 years ago
    
    What do we do?
    
    Send them fast and furious guns?
2. Tim 13 years ago
  
  ARe we at war with Iran yet?
  1. DJF 13 years ago
    
    It depends on how the President defines war. These days the US could drop a nuclear bomb on Iran and deny it was war. Probably call it "forceful constructive engagement" or something like that.
    1. Tim 13 years ago
      
      Does assasinating people fall under "interstate commerce" ?
    2. MNG 13 years ago
      
      Kinetic death panels.
      1. Clich? Bandit 13 years ago
        
        HOLY CRAP! MNG had two posts that were actually quite funny.
        
        The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
        
        MNG and John are both usually wittier when not in a prolonged argument with the other guy.
        
        Clich? Bandit 13 years ago
        
        They are in love Art, undying love.
John 13 years ago

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ch.....he-misery/

Left moves from spread the wealth to spread the misery. That is where it always ends up isn't it?
1. o2 13 years ago
  
  lol ilk the midle class waznt miserlb to bign wit
  
  tipical wingnutz
Gimlet 13 years ago

http://dailycaller.com/2011/10.....8eoo1_500/
1. John 13 years ago
  
  Those are great.
2. kinnath 13 years ago
  
  Thanks for those
3. # 13 years ago
  
  whats the 53% in reference to?
  1. FlyoverCountry 13 years ago
    
    I think it's the 53% of people who pay taxes to support the 47% of citizens who don't...
    
    Is that right?
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

OT: time for some ol' Link Wray
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMJE98wANv4

btw, Link Wray suffered from TB which caused him to lose a lung.

He also had a strange 'roots' period in the early 70s, recording in his brother's '3-track shack'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXrV9mBM7Pk
1. heller 13 years ago
  
  Why is Link Wray not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame???
  1. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
    
    considering he 'invented' (or popularized) the power chord, that's a good question.
  2. Crickets 13 years ago
    1. The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
      
      Don't get me started on the Hall, man.
Ice Nine 13 years ago

You know all of that porn that comes from Florida? Well, it turns out that all of it has been filmed by anthropologists.

You shortsighted clowns can mock and laugh at anthropologists all you want. Just don't come crying to me when there are no more "groundbreaking discoveries in the African American heritage" being made in Florida.
1. T 13 years ago
  
  Just don't come crying to me when there are no more "groundbreaking discoveries in the African American heritage" being made in Florida.
  
  We won't know they aren't being made, so why would we cry? No one weeps for the unfulfilled potentiality.
John 13 years ago

There I was with a friend, and she was shopping for T-shirts for her daughter's Sweet Sixteen party.

We went to a store in Brooklyn, which did silk-screening. The owner had examples of his artwork on various articles of clothing in the window. These featured beautiful portraits of President Obama, and other compelling images.

My friend explained her needs, and the owner quoted her a price for the lot: shirts, artwork, silk-screening. "But," he said, "I could do better if you pay in cash."

Cos? fan tutti, which, as I understand it, means "So do they all."

But the man voted for higher taxes. Reminds me of the old joke that Oklahomans will vote their state dry as long as they can stagger to the polls.

What of taxes? Nobody likes 'em, everybody knows they are, in the main, waste, all try to avoid or defray the expenditure by means of varying legality, and yet 53% of the country voted to raise them.

Granted, many voted Democratic for reasons other than taxation, but one would think such votes may have been cast reluctantly, or as a choice of the lesser of evils, but no. Barack Obama was voted in, as far as one could see, in raptures.

http://online.wsj.com/article/.....TopOpinion
1. heller 13 years ago
  
  Taxes for thee but not for me. Put that on a tee.
2. Matrix 13 years ago
  
  You mean a liberal voter is hypocritical? I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you!
3. Jersey Patriot 13 years ago
  
  The flip side of this is the conservative voter who wants to invade the world but doesn't want to pay the taxes to fund it.
  1. Matrix 13 years ago
    
    Shocked!
  2. 0x90 13 years ago
    
    "and yet 53% of the country voters voted to raise them."
MNG 13 years ago

Just checking in to see if or how the "We've got to support Romney as the lesser of two evils" narrative is going to be floated by the GO Partisans who've sworn they wouldn't vote for him under any circumstances around here.

Too soon?
1. o3 13 years ago
  
  yep, too soon but its coming no doupt
  1. MNG 13 years ago
    
    You can be sure they are working on it.
    
    Save your bookmarked condemnation of Romney for the occasion, I know I am 🙂
    1. heller 13 years ago
      
      So you have WhichMitt.com bookmarked?
      1. MNG 13 years ago
        
        Nah, everyone should know by now that Romney is the biggest flip-floper since Old Navy. I'm talking about bookmarking the GO Partisans around here comments on Romney.
        
        Gimlet 13 years ago
        
        Clearly there is something wrong with you. I actually pity you. How sad.
    2. o3 13 years ago
      
      ha hah so tru MGN the romey wingutz r all ready foming lol
2. John 13 years ago
  
  Fuck you. I hate Romney and I won't vote him. Go talk to Tulpa if you want Romney love. And I assume you will be voting for Obama as the lesser of two evils. So are you projecting?
  1. MNG 13 years ago
    
    Ah, but I've never argued against basing one's vote on the lesser of two evils.
    
    But nice try 🙂
    1. o3 13 years ago
      
      MNG - bookmark john's quote for later
    2. John 13 years ago
      
      Then what is the point of your post. And frankly I am starting to think that Democrats would be better off with a sell out like Romney in office, which would allow them to blame all of the world's problems on Republicans again, than they would be with an imploding second Obama term.
      
      What happens to the Dems in Congress if Obama wins? The only way he is going to win is by tearing down his opponent. And if it looks likely Obama is going to win, people will probably split their tickets hoping for a divided government meaning an even bigger blowout for Republicans at the Congressional level. Then comes 2014. It is hard to imagine an incumbent President not losing seats in the mid term of his second term. And Obama has shown no political ability to either move the country's opinion or out maneuver a hostile Congress. A second Obama administration would be a death by a thousand cuts for Democrats. A Romney Administration would be a do nothing centrist administration that would only marginally help things and allow Democrats to put a Republican stamp on everything that is wrong with the country.
      
      That is why I won't vote for him.
      1. MNG 13 years ago
        
        "And if it looks likely Obama is going to win, people will probably split their tickets"
        
        Has that ever happened?
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        In 1996 it did. Clinton killed Dole but the Republicans easily kept control of Congress.
        
        MNG 13 years ago
        
        Did they WIN seats? Increase their control?
        
        MNG 13 years ago
        
        "Clinton's Democratic Party won a net of nine [2] [3] seats from the Republican Party,"
        
        Like I said, I don't think a winning Prez's party has EVER lost seats John.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        I think he would this time. Can you see any possibility of the Dems regaining the House or retaining the Senate. Nelson and Carnahan are dead Senators walking. And the Republican edge in the House is huge. No way does Obama get the House back.
        
        And even if he retained the Senate, what good would it do him? His days of cramming stuff down the country's throat are over. If anything, having a closely divided but Democratic Senate would be even worse because it would totally prevent Republicans from getting any of the blame.
        
        MNG 13 years ago
        
        "meaning an even bigger blowout for Republicans at the Congressional level"
        
        Wait a minute, before we go further let's just stipulate that you were flat wrong about this in 96 (and can't point to it ever happening actually).
        
        Fluffy 13 years ago
        
        I hate to say "This time is different" but the staggering of Senate elections makes each election cycle a unique snowflake for Senate seats.
        
        The seats up for grabs this time around are overwhelmingly Democrat seats. Obama could win and even have positive House coattails and the Dems could still lose seats in (and control of) the Senate.
        
        MNG 13 years ago
        
        I don't disagree there, I could see a net loss in the Senate, but not in the House as John (wrongly) said happened in 96.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        So what if they pick up a few votes in the House? He still won't have even a close majority. The GOP edge is huge in the House. It will take at least two elections to reverse that.
        
        MNG 13 years ago
        
        Wait a minute, before we go further let's just stipulate that you were flat wrong about this in 96 (and can't point to it ever happening actually).
        
        C'mon John, you can work through this problem of yours...One step at a time...
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        I said
        
        "In 1996 it did. Clinton killed Dole but the Republicans easily kept control of Congress."
        
        I never said the Republicans gained or lost seats. I said they kept control of Congress. Clinton won a big electoral victory that year. Clearly, there were a lot of House districts that voted for Clinton for President but re-elected their Republican rep and a lot of states that went for Clinton but re-elected their Republican Senator. That means a lot of people ticket split, which is all I was saying.
        
        MNG 13 years ago
        
        "meaning an even bigger blowout for Republicans at the Congressional level."
        
        Keeping control does not equal "an even bigger blowout"
        
        Gimlet 13 years ago
        
        ^^Pity^^
        
        John Thacker 13 years ago
        
        Wait a minute, before we go further let's just stipulate that you were flat wrong about this in 96 (and can't point to it ever happening actually).
        
        Luckily, I can point to it happening, both newly elected and re-elected, both House and Senate, both Dems and Republicans.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        There are 20 or so Dems up and around ten Republicans up. The only real possibility of a Dem pick up is in Mass. And they are up for election in places like Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska and Louisiana. The Senate is looking very bad for the Dems.
        
        And since Obama has such low approval numbers, the only way he wins is by tearing down his opponent meaning he will no mandate and even fewer coat tails.
        
        Gray Ghost 13 years ago
        
        As one poster noted yesterday (I forget who), four more years of Obama means he probably gets to choose Scalia's and Kennedy's replacements. And probably Ginsburg's, now that I think about it. He won't be able to get Cornel West in the chair, but anyone else would probably make it in.
        
        I think a Romney Administration, with a GOP House and probably Senate too, would look a lot like some of the worst excesses of W. God knows we'd never get rid of Obamacare; it'd just be renamed and set up to favor a different set of cronies.
        
        Try It, You'll Like It! 13 years ago
        
        The hate sex between John and MNG would be phenomenal.
        
        At least think about it!
        
        John Thacker 13 years ago
        
        Like I said, I don't think a winning Prez's party has EVER lost seats John.
        
        Bush, 2000. GOP lost 4 Senate seats, including some squeakers like Slade Gorton in WA, and 2 House seats.
        
        John Thacker 13 years ago
        
        Like I said, I don't think a winning Prez's party has EVER lost seats John.
        
        Wrong:
        
        Bush, 2000.
        
        Reagan 1984: GOP lost 2 Senate seats, but gained 16 in the House
        
        Nixon 1972: GOP lost 2 Senate seats, but gained 12 in the House.
        
        When it comes to the Senate, MNG, it happens ALL THE TIME.
        
        John Thacker 13 years ago
        
        Kennedy 1960: Dems lost 1 Senate seat, Dems lost 20 House seats.
        
        Eisenhower 1956: Senate net result of zero, GOP lost 2 House seats
        
        MNG, you're not even close.
        
        Gimlet 13 years ago
        
        All the more reason to pity the little fella.
        
        MNG 13 years ago
        
        Besides those instances, it's never happened.
  2. Barack Obama 13 years ago
    
    I appreciate your support!
  3. Jordan 13 years ago
    
    He's a utilitarian. He has no problem voting for evil.
MNG 13 years ago

From what I understand a lot of anthropology today is physical anthropology, like forensic anthropology.
1. heller 13 years ago
  
  Well that's the anthro you hear about nowadays. That doesn't mean that most anthro degrees are going into that.
2. Gimlet 13 years ago
  
  See how the pittiful man changes the subject immeadiately after John Thacker reams his smarmy little ass?
  
  Pathetic.
  1. MR 13 years ago
    
    It's an illusion of the threaded comments (check the time)
MNG 13 years ago

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in a case testing whether prison guards may constitutionally strip-search even minor traffic offenders when they are arrested and taken to jail.

Albert Florence, a finance director at a car dealership, had no criminal record. He had just one brush with the law, years earlier, stemming from his leaving the scene of a traffic stop. He had been fined $1,500, and when he fell behind in his payments, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest, prompting Florence to pay the amount due in full.

The problem was that the warrant had never been purged from the computer system.

Florence, however, could prove he had paid the fine. He kept the document showing he had paid in his car, and he showed the paperwork, complete with a state seal, to the state trooper. The officer apologized but said he still had to arrest him.

However, in Florence's case, despite the best efforts of his wife, he did not get a hearing and remained in jail for a full week.

At the Burlington Country jail where he was first taken, he was told to shower and was inspected by a guard.

The guard "was at about arm's distance," Florence recalls, "and he instructed me to turn around, squat, cough, lift up my genitals, and then put on the orange jumpsuit."

Florence says he pleaded with jail authorities to check with Essex County, where the warrant originated, and he kept waiting for his hearing. But it didn't happen. Meanwhile, his anxiety was growing. By the fourth day, he says, he was "pretty messed up" and scared about not being there for his wife, who was seven months pregnant with a condition that put her at risk of a premature birth.

After five days, he was transferred to Essex County, where he expected that everything would be straightened out.

Instead, Florence found "the same hell all over again.

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/12/.....p-searches
1. MNG 13 years ago
  
  Infuriating. Part of this thing can be laid at the feet of the following justices:
  
  Souter, joined by Rehnquist, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas*
  
  Who wrote the majority in this case:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.....Lago_Vista
  
  * Yep, that's Clarence "The Most Libertarian Justice" Thomas carrying water for the police yet again
  1. John Thacker 13 years ago
    
    OTOH, as the article you linked notes, that holding was limited by Arizona v. Gant, where Souter, Thomas, and Scalia were part of the 5-4 majority there.
    
    The first decision allowed an arrest; the second decision restricts searches.
  2. MJ 13 years ago
    
    You do realize that which justice is most libertarian is a relative measurement, correct? Who would it be, if not Thomas?
  3. Gimlet 13 years ago
    
    John Thacker is slapping you silly today, MNG.
  4. CrackertyAssCracker 13 years ago
    
    I met those people. Nice normal people. Fuck the state.
Solanum 13 years ago

Dear Prudie,

Q: I'm angry because my boyfriend finds me more physically attractive since I've lost weight. What should I do?

A: Dump him, natch.
1. Warty 13 years ago
  
  That moron blundered into her trap by doing a thing. What a moron. Everyone knows never to do things around womerns.
2. John 13 years ago
  
  The better one from that article are these two
  
  Did you see this in Dear Prudence?
  
  Q. Asking for my money back ...?: My friend, who is the same age as me (18), was involved in a car accident that has left her with serious head injuries and permanently disabled. Shortly before the accident, we were planning to take a trip across Asia. On the day we were due to pay the travel agent, she was short of almost $1,000, as her boss had delayed her wage payment. I paid it for her and told her to give me the money when her boss paid her. I don't want to be insensitive when her family is dealing with something like this, but that is a lot of money for me. We picked the cheapest package deal, so it's nonrefundable. Is there a way I can ask her family for the money?
  
  and
  
  Q. Zombie attending my wedding?!: My fiance and I are getting married in a few short months in a traditional, full-blown Catholic ceremony. Our entire wedding is fairly small, and I made an exception for my friend who begged me to let her come. Now, she informs me that while wearing a dress, she will be wearing "zombie" leggings? ones that make her legs look gorey and slashed. I tried asking her politely to not wear them, due to it basically being too strange for me. She insists that I am suffocating her individuality, but I feel she is being disrespectful of my wishes. I loosely defined the attire as "business casual." Am I being too unreasonable?
  1. Abdul 13 years ago
    
    How can a good Catholic object to someone rising from the dead?
    1. The Art-P.O.G. 13 years ago
      
      Ha ha, that chick with the zombie leggings is RL trolling her friend so hard. Awesome.
3. Apatheist 13 years ago
  
  Love the extravert biased answer to the next question. Speaking as a "quiet type," if I don't speak to you at first its because I'm quiet around new people, if I don't speak to you after 2 years its because I don't like speaking to you. Its not because I'm a "rude, hostile, ungrateful type" its because I don't like YOU in particular. Jesus it you are friends with everybody you are friends with nobody.
Enjoy Every Sandwich 13 years ago

I don't buy this "assassination plot" bullshit.

It's awful interesting how these diabolically clever terrorists who threaten our very existence always manage to fall right into the waiting arms of the FBI. They've been doing covert ops for how long now, but don't have a clue about operational security? Really?

And Iran wouldn't gain squat by executing such a plot.

And now we suddenly think Eric Holder is truthful just because he includes the word "terrorist" in a sentence?
1. John 13 years ago
  
  True. I want to hear the whole story. And I hope the government of Iran was not behind it.
2. Just Dropping By 13 years ago
  
  +1 I called BS on this as soon as I heard about it last night. What could Iran possibly gain by assassinating the Saudi ambassador on US soil? Even if it had succeeded, it would have had zero strategic impact on anybody and would have just pissed off the American and Saudi governments even more. This has "false flag" written all over it.
  1. Mike M. 13 years ago
    
    Even if it had succeeded, it would have had zero strategic impact on anybody
    
    There's no way you can possibly know that with certainty. Who the hell knows who this ambassador really is; he could be a spy or something.
  2. Eric Holder 13 years ago
    
    "This has "false flag" written all over it."
    
    Ixnay.
3. kilroy 13 years ago
  
  Nice Op article at aljazeera.
Gimlet 13 years ago

Protesters in Chicago paddled their kayaks in the Chicago River to protest. Only in the U.S. can 'poor' protesters afford their own kayak!

http://151.215.238.97:15871/cg.....4157506505
1. o3 13 years ago
  
  who sez they're poor?
2. Proprietrist 13 years ago
  
  Fool! Freegans came upon these kayaks while dumpster diving.
Mongo 13 years ago

Agreed!

What could be possibly be gained by whacking the Saudi ambassador on US soil??

This is a very high-risk/low-reward op by Iran.

It doesn't make sense but I'll wait for the evidence...
Fluffy 13 years ago

You know, I'm offended if the Iranians planned to assassinate this Saudi on US soil, but I don't really give a rat's ass if the Iranians are out there planning assassinations.

SOMEBODY is out there assassinating Iranian scientists. The only suspects that make any sense are us, the Saudis, and the Israelis. Assuming for a moment that it's not us, if the Iranians want to assassinate Saudis or Israelis I honestly can't get that outraged about it.
1. John 13 years ago
  
  The problem is what are you going to do about it? Do you go to war over that? Probably not. And if you are not going to go to war, what other option do you have? But we are playing with fire here. What happens when they finally do off the Saudi ambassador and take a few Americans with him? Do you get outraged over that? How many Americans on American soil do you let them whack before you do something about it?
  1. Mongo 13 years ago
    
    The operation doesn't make any sense.
    
    It sounds (so far) like rogue operative, if it's true.
    1. MNG 13 years ago
      
      "The operation doesn't make any sense."
      
      Well, then the REAL purpose MUST have been to push national gun control measures!!!!
      1. Mongo 13 years ago
        
        I think 'they' were going to use a bomb.
  2. Chatroom Crank 13 years ago
    
    So they have a right to be outraged about Iranians being whacked on Iranian soil? How about the US giving aid to a terrorist group operating in Iran? Should Iran do something about that?
    1. Enjoy Every Sandwich 13 years ago
      
      LOL, you know what they'll say to that! "Teh American Exceptionalism!!! It's not wrong when we do it--it's just wrong when anybody else does it!"
  3. Obama Fan 13 years ago
    
    "How many Americans on American soil do you let them [Iran] whack before you do something about it?"
    
    I guess it all depends on whether the Americans in question were accused of being members of anti-Iran groups, and posted angry rants about Iran on youtube. 'Cause, if they did those things, I say whack away!
Fluffy 13 years ago

You know something?

I follow politics quite a bit, and until last night I had no idea that Cain had been head of the Kansas City Federal Reserve.

Now, that's my failing for not looking into it more. But why the F is that not talked about more?

Doesn't "Federal Reserve bank head" kind of belong on the same resume line as "CEO of minor pizza chain"?

It's like if Romney had been a Supreme Court Justice and nobody ever talked about it and kept calling him "former MA governor" all the time.

I don't see how you can hold such a position and still claim to be some kind of system outsider.
1. John 13 years ago
  
  One thing to remember is that the Presidents of the regions are not the Chairman. There is a lot of dissent on the Fed board. At least some of the regional people objected to Bernarke and Greenspan's policies.
  
  I have no idea if Cain was one of them. It is something I would like to know. But don't assume that just because Cain was a regional fed President that he is a Greenspan clone.
  1. Fluffy 13 years ago
    
    I don't assume that.
    
    I'm not making a policy judgment here.
    
    I just think that it would be natural for the press to treat "Federal Reserve Bank President" as Cain's nom de guerre, instead of "CEO of Godfather Pizza".
    
    But it never gets mentioned and Cain never mentions it.
    
    It's almost as if a) Cain is ashamed of it and b) the GOP political press is actively conniving with the Cain campaign's transparent claims to being a total political outsider.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      It could be that. Or it also could be that they don't want to let on he has that much political experience and think that is bad for him. I don't think the GOP press has any love for Cain.
      1. MNG 13 years ago
        
        I actually think John is on to something here. Referring to him as the "CEO of Godfather's" pizza sounds kinda funny for whatever reason and they like the sound of that. On the other side Cain doesn't mind because it helps him sell his outsider image. So the punditocracy gets to demean him and he gets to perpetuate the outsider image, everyone "wins"
        
        John Thacker 13 years ago
        
        He also has a bachelors in Math from Morehouse and a Masters in Computer Science from Purdue, and worked as a ballistics expert (with job title mathematician) for the Navy.
        
        But yeah, always described as "pizza guy."
        
        I kind of buy the "both sides are happy with it."
        
        cynical 13 years ago
        
        Wait, he's CS? Hmm, maybe I should look into him a little more.
2. MNG 13 years ago
  
  I think it is messed up that Perry has been stuck with the law and order nut label when Romney has bragged that he never pardoned even one person as Governor. What a pandering fool that man is.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    That is because people think in cartoons. Just because Texas executes people and Massachusetts doesn't, doesn't mean that Massachusetts is somehow soft on crime or its former governor some kind of Libertarian.
    1. MNG 13 years ago
      
      To me it is nuts that a man could serve four years and never come across a person deserving of a pardon. That man is a terrible, horrible human being.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        One word, Amirault.
      2. Abdul 13 years ago
        
        To be fair, the kenedy's never get convicted of anything.
3. # 13 years ago
  
  regional banks are headed by fed bank presidents, like Geithener when he was at the NY Fed... Cain was the chairman of the board of rhe Kansas City fed which acts more like a normal corporate board. Its oversight, not chief of operations.
  
  Still, I too have been wodnering why this doesnt come up more.
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

Detroit Police Impound Suspected Mobile Strip Club
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/new.....lub-101211

Detroit police have impounded a party bus they say operated illegally as a strip club for reveling football fans at a popular tailgating spot.

The Detroit News and WDIV-TV report that the "Booty Lounge" bus was parked Monday near Ford Field, where the Lions played the Chicago Bears. Police say it was cited for not having a state safety inspection and because the driver didn't have a commercial license.
1. MNG 13 years ago
  
  Mobile strip club?
  
  Awesome, I am so proud to be an American.
2. Clich? Bandit 13 years ago
  
  Why in the hell didnt I think of this.
3. Pro Libertate 13 years ago
  
  As usual, Tampa is way ahead on all things stripping.
4. JW 13 years ago
  
  I felt like saluting the flag when I read that.
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

Global warning: climate sceptics are winning the battle
http://www.independent.co.uk/e.....68617.html

Climate sceptics are winning the argument with the public over global warming, the world's most celebrated climate scientist, James Hansen of NASA, said in London yesterday.

It is happening even though climate science itself is becoming ever clearer in showing that the earth is in increasing danger from rising temperatures, said Dr Hansen, who heads NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies, and is widely thought of as "the father of global warming" ? his dramatic alert about climate change in US Senate hearings in July 1988 put the issue on the world agenda.
1. Matrix 13 years ago
  
  Winning the battle with the average person, but the alarmists are winning the battle with policymakers.
2. Jersey Patriot 13 years ago
  
  A lie is not truth simply because it is pleasant.
Crackers Boy 13 years ago

" Perhaps you are unaware that anthropologists are leaders in our nation's top science fields, making groundbreaking discoveries in areas as varied as public health, human genetics, legal history, bilingualism, the African American heritage, and infant learning."

Or rather, perhaps he IS aware of it... and doesn't want ANY of that...

CB
1. Jordan 13 years ago
  
  All I had to read was "public health" to know it's utter horseshit.
R C Dean 13 years ago

ARe we at war with Iran yet?

They are certainly at war with us, if that counts.
1. Mr. Mark 13 years ago
  
  "ARe we at war with Iran yet?
  
  They are certainly at war with us, if that counts."
  
  Yep. Since 1980. But don't worry - right now, our government is very seriously thinking about considering discussing the possibility of potential additional sanctions which, as you no doubt have observed, work so very effectively to solve these sorts of problems.
  1. Isaac Bartram 13 years ago
    
    Well, you could say we've been at war with the Iranian people since we overthrew their domocratically elected president and reinstalled the hated absolute monarch they'd just managed to get rid of.
    1. Isaac Bartram 13 years ago
      
      That would make it that we've been at war with Iran since 1953. But who's counting?
2. cynical 13 years ago
  
  Maybe in general, but this "terror plot" smells. The guy just happens to talk to the Mexican drug cartel guy who works for the feds, and the whole thing just happens to get blown open, pardon the phrase, right while the administration is up to its balls in scandals (including a major one involving, wait for it, its dealings with Mexican drug cartels)?
  
  Cui bono? Obama, Hillary, Holder, Napolitano. Iran? Not so much. Even if the plotter was a legitimate terrorist, it's likely that the idea itself was hatched by the feds; perhaps this is why his alleged Iranian counterpart is "at large", having revealed himself as a CIA plant to his superiors.
Mr. Mark 13 years ago

Rick Scott rocks.

He had that unblinking Jean-Bertrand Aristide look going - which kinda freaked me out - but his policies have largely been OUTSTANDING.

The Left HATES him with feverish irrationality that makes feel so good all over in a sort of hedonistic schadenfreude. Almost anything that the Left hates with a passion is wonderful and great, bringing happiness and joy to relatively decent folks everywhere.
1. Pro Libertate 13 years ago
  
  What I find interesting is that they didn't hate Jeb Bush as much, even though he had some pretty "limited government" moments, too. I guess it was okay with him, since he was part of the political class and not some evil capitalist.
2. Ben P. 13 years ago
  
  What about those of us who a) are not leftists, and b) hate him for purely rational reasons?
Spartacus 13 years ago

Rick Scott--and many of our other political leaders--actually believe that there are thousands of smart, scientifically capable high school graduates in Florida who would make good engineering students, but who are choosing instead to major in social sciences, beacuse...well, they don't really know why. But they are convinced that if we just shut down social sciences, all those students will seamlessly move into STEM fields and do quite well.

This is what they really believe.

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Reason Morning Links: Rick Scott Wants to Cut Funding for Anthropologists, Saudi Arabia Will Make Iran "Pay the Price" for Assassination Plot, Still More Holes in the Anthrax Case

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