Reason Morning Links: Ron Paul Goes on the Attack in Iowa, Medicare Set to Spend $250 Million on Penis Pumps, Congressman: DOJ Should Investigate NYPD for Occupy Brutality

• Ron Paul goes on the attack with TV ads against Newt Gingrich in Iowa. 
• Gingrich may miss Ohio ballot deadline. 
• Total Medicare spending on "Male Vacuum Erection Systems" since 2001 will top $250 million this year. 
• NY congressman asks AG Eric Holder to investigate the NYPD for police violence against journalists, Occupy protesters. 
• Donald Trump's GOP debate is falling apart. 
• The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor 70 years ago today.  

New at Reason.tv: "'Shut Up. You Don't Get a Lawyer!': The Defense Authorization Act Guts Civil Liberties"

Comments

[sarcasmic]

Chubby Chaser Special!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....rcuit.html

My eyes! Auugghhh! My eyes!

[Jason Godesky]

I'm very chubby.

My chubby gives me a chubby.

[Obesity=Civilization Syndrome]

Obes Res. 1993 May;1(3):206-22.
Visceral obesity: a "civilization syndrome".
Bj?rntorp P.
Department of Heart and Lung Diseases, Sahlgren's Hospital, University of G?teborg, G?teborg, Sweden.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16350574

Like Jason writes:

Thesis #21: Civilization makes us sick.
by Jason Godesky | 2 January 2006
http://rewild.info/anthropik/thirty/

[White Indian]

White Indian does want to thank the obsessed-about-Jason kinkster for the opportunity to:

1. Observe typical Libertarian Right-Wing Authoritarian (Altemeyer, 2006) debate tactics, and

2. Provide an opportunity to discuss the downside of civilization - an obesity epidemic caused by multiple central endocrine aberrations.

[Why is MSG in so much food?]

Capitalist profits at the expense of other people's health. Ain't that nice?

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a food additive (E-621) used as a flavor enhancer in a variety of foods. Until now it has been generally considered as one of the least offensive additives used by the food industry. But Spanish scientists have concluded that aswell as enhancing flavour, MSG also enhances hunger and as such could be one of the key factors behind the problem of obesity, especially among children.

Monosodium glutamate is widely used in all kinds of processed foods that are popular with children (sausages, chips, processed foods, crisps, sweets and pre-prepared dishes) and also in restaurants.

A team of scientists in the Faculty of Medicine at the Complutense University of Madrid has discovered that when given to rats, E-621 produces a massive 40 percent increase in appetite...

http://www.euroresidentes.com/Blogs/2.....ive-to.htm

[Appalachian Australian]

Stop blaming your inability to put down that bag of sour cream 'n' onion potato chips on the MSG in them.

[Whiner cityStatist gonna whine]

...about science, cuz it's so Reasonable.

[Fluffy]

I honestly don't care if fatties can't fight the evil addicting power of MSG.

I eat plenty of foods with MSG and I have no appetite issues and am skinny and beautiful. So neener neener neener fatties.

"But the hunger! The hunger!" Tell somebody who cares. If the hunger is so intolerable and once it arises from the MSG you're doomed...why am I not doomed? I just want to try to understand that. You know, scientifically.

[sarcasmic]

That explains why the Chinese who have been using MSG for centuries are so fat.

[yonemoto]

wrong. MSG is metabolized by decarboxylation to afford gamma-amino butyric acid. The reason why people put MSG in foods is because they want to feel horny.

[WTF]

Gaahh, I had to look, I just can't help myself. How in the fuck does she not break the goddam pole?

[Lord Humungus]

special reinforcement? lots of concrete and titanium screws?

[Colonel Kurtz]

The horror. The horror.

[Civilization is ugly.]

Civilization Syndrome, visceral obesity caused by multiple central endocrine aberrations, is ugly too.

[Fluffy]

As opposed to the beauty of putting a fucking frisbee in your lip and running around the Amazon barefoot.

[Restoras]

I'm not going there today. I can't.

[Restoras]

Ok, I went there and that was so freakin' hilarious the humor made up for the screen burn on my brain.

[sarcasmic]

Some things cannot be unseen.

[sarcasmic]

C'mon! I dare ya! I double dog dare ya!

[John]

That is just wrong sarcasmic. What are you trying to be the new Sugar Free?

[SugarFree]

No one shall take my vile crown! No one! Poop!

[sarcasmic]

Keep it. I shall earn my own crown.

[invisible furry hand]

'It's the first time I've felt sexy in years'

If only you were, my dear, if only you were

[Of course, ...]

... "Sexy" is the name of her ... cat.

[invisible furry hand]

I didn't think she could reach that far down

Hence the pole. Duh.

[SFC B]

So... is Sarcasmic declaring himself King of the North?

[Erotica Collector AuH20]

We're all friends here. Except for sarcasmic, he's a dick.

[DesigNate]

Dammit sarcasmic, I can't take that image out of my head! I like thicker girls, but damn.

[Suki]

Good Morning Links!

[pmp]

That Ron Paul ad was brutal.

[sarcasmic]

I don't know who Abbey Crouch is, but holy MILF Batman!

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

[Suki]

The condition of those Michael Antonio Mckenna Women's Ankle Boots is a felony! She should not have nice things.

[Restoras]

Fine and all but more importantly what kind of come-hither boots does she wear in the bedroom?

[Eduard van Haalen]

With those sharp heels, they aren't come-hither boots, they're get-thee-hence boots.

[Ice Nine]

Aren't you kinda embarrassed to know what brand of boots those are?

[Suki]

Embarrassed? It is one of my natural powers.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

She just recently got an unfortunate lip job. Her looks like a duck's now. Notice how she is always covering her lips in the pictures.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Gah. Her face*

[John]

It is apparently quite good to be Gary Oldman

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

[sarcasmic]

I guess so.

[Brett L]

I've always thought it would be. He gets the best parts. Or makes them the best.

[John]

He managed to be good in JFK. That is quite a feat.

[Brett L]

True Romance, The Professional, pretty much every movie he's been in he adds something to. Nobody ever has to carry him through a scene. Usually, he's doing the heavy lifting.

[John]

He was awesome as Beethoven in Immortal Beloved. I always thought he should have played Jack Kerouac if they ever made a biopick. But I think he is too old now.

[Restoras]

Great flick and yes, he was superb.

[Resto Druid FTW]

This^

Sid and Nancy and Interstate 60 were two of my favs (notwithstanding Immortal Beloved).

[Ice Nine]

I really think that the British Shakespearean actor Oldman's portrayal of Drexl, the skanky mulatto Detroit pimp in True Romance, was maybe the best acting job I've seen.

[Fluffy]

I have often wondered how much of that character was on the page, and how much of it came from Oldman.

I heard an urban legend once that says that originally Drexl was going to be played by a black actor, but that Oldman asked for the part. If that's true, that single decision helped create one of the greatest movie characters of the 90's. Because adding the layer of aggressive racial confusion to that character made it fucking brilliant.

[invisible furry hand]

cool idea, but Gary seems to say otherwise. I will however prefer to believe your urban legend

[Ice Nine]

"Breastseses"

I love to talk about True Romance, maybe my favorite flick, to people who can only say (and only see, I guess) "Ooo it's so violent." When I tell them that it is at its essence an exquisite love story they are generally non-comprehending.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I love to talk about True Romance, maybe my favorite flick, to people who can only say (and only see, I guess) "Ooo it's so violent." When I tell them that it is at its essence an exquisite love story they are generally non-comprehending.

Ehh...I got a kick out of Tarantino's stuff when I was in college, but now that I'm older I just find him tedious. At their core, they're all just derivative of 70s-era exploitation flicks, and in many cases border on being little more than snuff films with snappy dialogue.

And "Jhango Unchained" probably represents him at his lowest--the man's become so self-indulgent and self-referential that he's now ripping off his own movies. This is, what, his third or fourth revenge flick in a row? Maybe spending all that time hanging around Eli Roth and Robert Rodriguez has stunted whatever remaining storytelling ability he used to possess.

[DesigNate]

He was the best thing about that turd Lost In Space.

[Erotica Collector AuH20]

See? Character actors win in the end!

[robc]

Based on last name alone, its possible she is the wife of that really tall soccer player.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

She is.

[robc]

Woo hoo, for my deductive powers.

1. Some model being treated by British press like she is someone we should have heard of.

2. Same last name as famous soccer player.

3. Soccer players marry models.

4. There is a baby involved.

QED bitches.

[sarcasmic]

Who knows the names of famous soccer players?

[T]

Closeted europhiles.

[robc]

People who watch soccer occasionally?

[.]

so, no one?

[Zeb]

Either that or millions of people in the US. Hard to say.

[Abdul]

That's the most convincing argument for closing the borders I've ever read. Lone Wacko should try that one out.

[Tony]

Pele, Maradonna, Matheus, Baggio, Ronaldo, Beckenbauer. Surely people have heard at least of Pele.

[NotSure]

Sorry I was using Tony spoof name for the soccer players.

[Suki]

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor 70 years ago today.
And people still complain that defeating them was racist.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Lacist...

[Suki]

+1

[Heroic Mulatto]

them

Them? Aren't "them"...you?

Oh, I forgot, you aren't real.

[Suki]

I am American, probably of Korean ancestry. No, we are not all the same.

[DJF]

Too bad Roosevelt did not listen to Admiral Richardson, Commander of the US Fleet when he said that forward deploying the Fleet to Hawaii hurt readiness and placed the Fleet in jeopardy. Instead Roosevelt fired Richardson and replaced him with Kimmel who got the blame for the defeat.

Too bad Roosevelt did not listen to General Grunert commander of the US Army in the Philippines and President Quexon in 1940 to call up the Philippine Army at the same time Roosevelt had called up the Reserves and National Guard in the USA. Then the Japanese would have faced an army of more then 100,000 troops who would have had more then a year of training instead of a bunch of recruits many of whom weren't called up to service until after the war started

Too bad Roosevelt split the US Fleet in to the Pacific Fleet and Atlantic Fleet leaving the US Navy in the Pacific weaker then the Japanese for the first time in decades and then decided after the split to cut off oil to the Japanese starting the clock ticking toward war. 4 of 7 US carriers were in the Atlantic when Pearl Harbor attack occurred plus the two newest BB's and the 3 most modernized of the old BB's plus many cruisers and destroyers. Maybe the Japanese would have thought twice if they had faced the full US fleet and not just a small part.

Too bad Roosevelt sent huge amounts of military equipment to Britain in 1940 and 1941 while starving US forces in the Pacific of material and did not change this policy until after he cut off oil to Japan when it was too late to change the situation

[Fist of Etiquette]

Why don't you just hop in your time machine and hand Europe to Hitler already.

[DJF]

So you support sacrificing the US military personnel in Hawaii, Philippines, Guam, Wake, plus the civilians in the Philippines and Guam to Japanese rule just so you can get a war?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't support time travel. That's as far as I'll commit.

[invisible furry hand]

Not even Doctor Who?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't trust him.

[invisible furry hand]

You'll change your mind when he saves you from the Cybermen. Or fails to. Shit happens, even in Doctor Who.

[Erotica Collector AuH20]

He'll fail to save you, but he'll save the universe and be "....sorry. I'm really, really sorry."

[invisible furry hand]

Yeah, I'm getting a bit sick of that too. The Doctor was much better with the slight streak of alien callousness and arrogance, which has been missing from the Tennant/Smith versions

[DesigNate]

Nobody can touch Chris Eccelston's Who.

[sarcasmic]

Bow ties are cool.

Stetsons are cool.

[rac3rx]

Matt Smith is a douche.

[NeonCat]

[citation needed]

[John]

I hate Roosevelt. But that is not fair. They grossly underestimated the Japanese ability to attack. People thought the Japanese would attack one of those places not all of them.

[DJF]

No, the only place that anyone thought they would not attack was Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, and Wake were known to be targets that is why the US was rushing equipment and men to them prior to Dec 7. It was just that there was too little time between July 1941 when Roosevelt cut off oil and Dec for the US to get troops and equipment to them. And it did not help that Roosevelt had stripped the Pacific of both naval and civilian shipping to support Britain.

In fact on Dec 7, six of the largest and most modern US military troop transports along with a heavy US escort of a carrier, cruisers and destroyers were being used to transfer British troops from Canada to South Africa. These ships were the exact type needed in the Pacific to build up US forces but they were being used to support Britain.

The first job of a US President is to defend the US and Roosevelt failed that job and instead starved the Pacific of US forces while at the same time giving the Japanese no choice between war and surrender

[Armchair Quarterback]

I would punt.

[R C Dean]

People thought the Japanese would attack one of those places not all of them.

Yet they failed to prepare for the Japanese to attack any of them. Sorry, Roosevelt blew it in the Pacific, and only two extraordinary strokes of luck (the carriers happened to be out of Pearl on 12/7, and the string of fortunate coincidences at the Battle of Midway) saved us from a much longer and bloodier fight.

[John]

I don't disagree. He did blow it in the Pacific. But he did not blow it in hopes we would get into the war. He blew because he fucked up.

[tarran]

John,

Read The Fleet the Gods Forgot by R Adm Winslow. He has a chapter describing some provocative patrols that obsolete ships were sent on - on Roosevelt's orders - right off the coast of Japan in a manner that invited an armed response.

Roosevelt wanted war. I don't think he wanted Pearl Harbor bombed. But, he clearly wanted a war - hell Stimson's diary documents Roosevelt's desire to maneuver Japan into firing the first shot.

[Abdul]

Pearl Harbor was an Inside Job!

[John]

Roosevelt screwed the pooch pretty much every way. I will defend him on sending the equipment to Britain. It was obvious we were going to get drug into the war in Europe. And had Britain fell the would would have been twice as hard as it was.

The rest is absolutely correct. Interestingly, when Nimitz took over for Kimmell, he didn't fire Kimmel's intelligence section. You would think after being the victim of a surprise attack the intel guy would be the first to go. But Nimitz knew the information showing a pending attack was there. The leadership just didn't pay attention to it. And that same intel section later cracked the Japanese navel codes and was instrumental in the victory at Midway.

And even with not calling up the Philippine Army, MacArthur still might have won had he not fucked up and took on the Japanese at the beaches. The Japanese were starving and dying in the jungle too. Had MacArthur stayed closer to Manilla and his supply bases, he could have starved the Japanese out rather than them starving him out.

[Brett L]

Eh. No carriers lost, and don't forget that if the Japanese had bombed the fuel depots, it would have been 1945 before we got back into the war in the Pacific.

[Appalachian Australian]

I never tire of hearing about how hideously awful FDR's presidency was.

Bloodiest war in a century, gave the world the atomic bomb, set up a war to use the atomic bomb against civilians, kept Americans mired in poverty, unemployment, and starvation for a decade, and was an ally with Josef Stalin for heaven's sake.

I still think Wilson was worse though. FDR might have instituted the payroll tax but Wilson ramrodded the income tax, ran on an anti-war platform, and then got us in a pointless war.

[John]

The war was not his fault. And someone would have developed the atomic bomb. I am glad it was the US. And I will take using the atomic bomb over invading Japan anyway.

The war was the fault of the Germans and Japanese and the feckless European powers.

[Restoras]

Dropping the atomic bombs ended the war sooner than an invasion of the Japanese home islands would have and probably saved more Japanese lives than American.

[John]

Exactly. An invasion would have ended Japan as a nation.

[PapayaSF]

Trivia: the Purple Hearts awarded today are from the huge numbers made during the war, when we thought we'd have to invade Japan.

[tarran]

Why invade Japan?

They had no fleet left!

At the end all they were fighting for was to preserve the Emperor - which obviously was not a deal breaker for the US.

[John]

Because they were not going to give up and end the war. So our alternatives were, invade, drop the A bomb or enforce a starvation blockade and allow the war to go on for years longer. Dropping the bomb was by far the least worst option.

[tarran]

Because they were not going to give up and end the war.

Except that a large faction of the Japanese government did want to end the war. The U.S. insistence on unconditional surrender drove Japanese away from the peace party, yet despite that it had enough support that Hirohito was compelled to figure out how to deal with them politically.

[John]

But that faction had no power. The military ran everything and planned to fight to the death. Only when the emperor intervened did they give in. Saying "factions in the government wanted peace" is like saying the US wanted to leave Vietnam in 1968 because Eugene Mccarthy ran for President. So what?

[Stanley Baldwin]

It was all my fault, but everyone still blames it on Chamberlain. Ha ha!

[tarran]

Yes, the Japanese acted in a complete vacuum. Nothing the U.S. or the British did could have goaded them into horrific colonial expeditions.

[John]

We goaded the Japanese into raping Korea and invading China. We were Japan's allies in the 1920s and looked the other way while they destroyed Korea. Give me a fucking break.

[tarran]

John, we had this discussion a few years ago, and you didn't ever substantively rebut my arguments.

[John]

That is a matter of opinion.

[Cytotoxic]

Your wasting pixels John. This guy thinks the people who don't agree with him are 'uneducated'.

[tarran]

No cyto, I think you are uneducated because you are uneducated, being a superstitious member of a dying cult.

John, on the other hand, is quite educated. You would do well to read half the books and writers he references.

[cynical]

At least he didn't make segregation federal policy.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

Dr. Seuss didn't think defeating him was racist. Nope, not racist at all.

[The Grinch]

Glinch, not Glinch!

[invisible furry hand]

Please - it's Ginglich

[Lord Humungus]

Whoever's Behind Sabotage, Attacks In Iran: Keep It Up
http://news.investors.com/Arti.....rogram.htm

[Ice Nine]

In the last two years, there have been more than two dozen mysterious explosions at Iranian military facilities, including one last week that the New York Times characterized as a "major setback for Iran's most advanced long-range missile program."

But, no worries; they were nicely compensated for that last week by our handing them a top-secret RQ-170 stealth drone.

[Suki]

Isn't this about the 5th time they claimed to capture one of those?

[Ice Nine]

Not this one.

[.]

incorrect, suki is correct

[Ice Nine]

Incorrect, I am correct.

A secret U.S. surveillance drone that went missing last week in western Afghanistan appears to have crashed in Iran, in what may be the first case of such an aircraft ending up in the hands of an adversary.
If an RQ-170 drone crashed in Iran, it would mark a significant setback for the U.S. military. The United States has lost less-sophisticated unmanned aircraft in recent years over Iran, but a nearly intact RQ-170 could offer a potential windfall of useful intelligence for the Iranians and their allies.

Though, if you're inclined to not believe the Washington Post I suppose I would understand.

[.]

"Isn't this about the 5th time they claimed to capture one of those?"

Try reading what you're replying to.

SUKI is correct, YOU are not.

[Ice Nine]

If you can show me an article that reports Iran claiming to have captured an RQ-170 prior to last week, your nit-picky "point" might fly. (You do assume that would have made the news and therefore Google, don't you - or might Suki just have divined this?)

And, try blowing yourself.

[R C Dean]

It sounds like the Iranians got the damn drone almost completely intact.

What kind of genius puts a top-secret drone in the air without having a self-destruct built in if it drops its tether? Hell, you would think that it would just crash, but noooo. It sounds like it was programmed to give itself a nice soft landing if it dropped its tether.

[Ice Nine]

Yep, and one would think a couple cruise missiles after the fact would solve the problem too. (For all we know, they did.)

[Fist of Etiquette]

Newly minted front-runner Newt Gingrich has announced he will attend the Trump debate, as has former Sen. Rick Santorum.

This will be the best episode of The Apprentice yet!

[WTF]

Would love to see Trump listen to a Newcular Titties answer and solemnly intone "you're fired".

[The Donald]

You're fired ... up!!

[Lost_In_Translation]

Maybe Santorum will be fired for good. Perry, Bachmann, Santorum and Gingrich debating each other will be an epic fail. Maybe Perry will forget where the debate will be held and Bachmann will slap Donald and storm off when he tries to come on to her, leaving Gingrich and Santorum to twiddle their thumbs in agreement for 2 hours.

[Brett L]

Perry's not going to any debate he can avoid.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Yeah, he really should avoid it, especially since Romeny's not there to attack.

[Lord Humungus]

Insider: $56 Billion Later, Airport Security Is Junk
http://www.wired.com/dangerroo.....afe-skies/

The Department of Homeland Security has spent billions since 9/11 trying to keep dangerous people and dangerous explosives off airplanes, and treating us all air travelers like potential terrorists in the process. But according to a former security adviser to a leading airline, the terrorists have changed the game ? and the government hasn't yet caught on.

According to Ben Brandt, a former adviser to Delta, the airlines and the feds should be less concerned with what gels your aunt puts in her carry-on, and more concerned about lax screening for terrorist sympathizers among the airlines' own work force. They should be worried about terrorists shipping their bombs in air cargo. And they should be worried about terrorists shooting or bombing airports without ever crossing the security gates.

[TSA]

Hey, we're worried about it. We just don't do anything about it.

[Ice Nine]

Total Medicare spending on "Male Vacuum Erection Systems" since 2001 will top $250 million this year.

They presumably work better than that link.

[Suki]

Is SugarFree ghost blogging for reason now?

[invisible furry hand]

How much of that will be government spending? It's for teh floppiez!

[invisible furry hand]

How much of that will be government spending? It's for teh floppiez!

[mad libertarian guy]

I thought that government sending was already cut to the bone . . .

[sarcasmic]

Public Service Announcement: Megan Fox is still hot.

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

[Lost_In_Translation]

even with toe thumbs?

[Restoras]

We are in agreement - but are you going to post the Miranda Kerr link or make me do it??

[sarcasmic]

You can do it. She doesn't do anything for me.

[Restoras]

Ok, but only with your permission...

Miranda Kerr - the Next Body?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....azine.html

[Ice Nine]

What a porker!

[Joe M]

Same here. Quite boring.

[Lord Humungus]

Obama Now Blames The Internet For Job Losses
http://www.realclearpolitics.c.....I.facebook

"Layoffs too often became permanent, not part of the business cycle. And these changes didn't just affect blue collar workers. If you were a bank teller or a phone operator or a travel agent, you saw many in your profession replaced by ATMs and the internet," President Obama said at a campaign event in Kansas.

[John]

I always knew Al Gore was to blame.

[Tipper]

Fucking Al Gore

[Matrix]

I don't think she is anymore.

[T]

I thought you weren't doing that anymore, Tipper.

[Al]

RELEASE THE SECOND CHAKRA!

[Pro Libertate]

Jesus, what an idiot. Most of the boom times we've had over the last twenty years have been attributable to more, not less, technology. Maybe setting phasers to 'stagnate' had more to do with it?

[JW]

Hey buddy, you can be replaced by a robot lawyer, so I'd watch your mouth, if I were you.

[Pro Libertate]

Fine with me. I'll get a job as a robot lawyer butler.

[JW]

The joke will be on you, when the robot lawyer robot butler series is released.

[Pro Libertate]

Robot lawyer robot butler butler.

I can do this all day.

[JW]

A ha! Robot butlers don't have butlers.

Game. Set. Match.

[Pro Libertate]

You know nothing of robot butlers and their lifestyle. Admit it.

[Greg]

There are those who say that robot butlers can't have butlers...

[Mike M.]

Total Medicare spending on "Male Vacuum Erection Systems" since 2001 will top $250 million this year.

"That's not my bag, baby!"

[Barack Obama]

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor 70 years ago today.

Some say we should return to failed policies of the past. I say they are wrong. We will not return to the failures of my predecessor's administration.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

Meh. Needs more "Let me be clear."

B-

[John]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....l?ITO=1490

Children left to freeze in school on coldest day of the year because Headmaster wanted to show how the school could be "ecofriendly".

If I didn't know the track record of school officials stupidity I would almost believe he was trying to discredit environmentalism. "You little bastards want to be eco friendly and have a low carbon footprint, enjoy the cold".

[Suki]

+10

[Headmaster]

Group hug! But no touching!

[Appalachian Australian]

The British are so accustomed to being ruled.

A mother, whose 12-year-old daughter goes to the school, said: 'My daughter was physically shaking when she came home.

'When I heard about this eco day I was absolutely furious.

'I wanted to take my daughter out of school but I was worried I'd get into trouble with the authorities.'

[John]

Poor Britain.

[Ska]

We are trying to catch up, you know.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's a shame they don't rebel just riot and loot. The Redcoats are even less a challenge now than they were back when we told them to piss off, but they won't do it. Throw off the chains of King George! America, FUCK YEAH.

[James Ard]

I knew it was over for Britain the day I saw that No Pressure bloodbath ad.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

'The idea was actually thought up by a small group of pupils from our student eco-group.

That line is more telling than anything else--the new nannyist elite being groomed from the start.

[Sparky]

'The kids could get sick I can't believe any of them learnt anything.

Best quote in the article. Because, you know, cold air makes people sick.

[Lord Humungus]

Illinois: State Of Embarrassment
http://www.newgeography.com/co.....arrassment

Most critics of Barack Obama's desultory performance the past three years trace it to his supposedly leftist ideology, lack of experience and even his personality quirks. But it would perhaps be more useful to look at the geography ? of Chicago and the state of Illinois ? that nurtured his career and shaped his approach to politics. Like with George W. Bush and Texas, this is a case where you can't separate the man from the place.

The Chicago imprint on Obama is unmistakable. His closest advisors are almost all products of the Windy City's machine politic: ConsigliereValerie Jarrett; his first chief of staff, now Chicago Mayor, Rahm Emanuel; and his current chief of staff, longtime Chicago hackster William Daley, scion of the Windy City's longtime ruling family.

[Suki]

"supposedly leftist ideology"

Is this from the ministry of ROFLMAO?

[Zeb]

Depends where you put the center. There is no absolute scale for political labels.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Next to Kim Jong Il, he looks conservative!

[Rich]

Library of Congress to receive entire Twitter archive

They had better get the entire Onion archive, too.

[Suki]

So, how many more Library of Congress units of measure will that be?

[Rich]

Dunno, but I'm sure it'll create many jobs.

[robc]

the national party requiring all states that hold March primaries to award delegates proportionately

I was unaware of this. Good for the GoP.

[T]

Anybody that holds primaries before March, actually. I think we may see a brokered convention because of it. If RP can consistently place second and nobody can get a lock on coming in first, it's entirely possible for Ron to control a significant chunk of delegates at the convention.

Of course, if that does happen, you can bet the rule will get changed about 30 seconds after the convention.

I am told this is largely a reaction to the early states having too much sway in the process. Iowa should not be this important.

[robc]

I assumed that was the reason, but still good to here.

Democrats do all their primaries this way and they dont end up with brokered convections, so I still doubt it will happen.

KY primary isnt is May, Im just hoping my vote for RP still matters at that time.

[robc]

isnt until

[kinnath]

IIRC, all primaries/caucuses before April must proportionally allocate delegates.

[Pro Libertate]

They're pissed about Florida moving up its primary. That's what this is mostly about. No one much cares about the tiny states going early, but they do care when the fourth (very soon to be third) biggest state does.

[robc]

didnt Florida lose 1/2 their delegates?

[Pro Libertate]

It would be complete insanity for that to hold up, of course, so I imagine the GOP will relent.

[Brett L]

In '08, yes. I think we would have again if we tried to step in front of IA and NH. January 30th is okay for some reason. FL is also hosting the '12 GOP convention, so I expect everyone will end up bitching but playing nice.

[John Thacker]

Not just IA and NH-- SC and NV are also privileged according to the GOP rules.

[John Thacker]

The issue is that now about 10 states are going before the March deadline. But as long as everyone lets the first four go first, they probably won't penalize the delegates.

[Brett L]

Thanks for clarifying.

[John Thacker]

List of the rule here, along with states orders and who violates the rule.

A couple of notes: the 4 official early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada are not required to go proportional. This affects South Carolina, which has a "winner take all for statewide delegates plus winner take all by congressional district for district delegates" mixed system. The former would be barred, but, as noted below, the proportional requirement doesn't apply to CD allocated delegates.

Delegates who are bound to Presidential candidates based on the statewide vote may not be bound "winner-take-all" before 1 April 2012. However, a state may set an up to 20% qualification threshold (that is, a candidate must receive 20% or more of the statewide vote in order to qualify for delegates) and a state may set a 50% or more winner-take-all threshold (that is, if a candidate receives 50% of the vote, that candidate receives all of the statewide delegates).
The proportional allocation rule does NOT apply to Congressional District delegates bound according to the vote in a Congressional District, National Convention delegates directly elected in a primary, or National Convention delegates who are NOT bound to vote for a particular candidate.

[John Thacker]

Here's a good list of how each state does it.

The Dems have a centralized rule system of proportional with a 15% minimum.

The GOP is a confusing mix where each state gets its own rules, though in some states Democratic-dominated legislatures have passed laws forcing both parties to use the standard Democratic rules. Some are even proportional with no minimum percentage required.

[DesigNate]

Why am I not surprised that the Dems have a centralized rule system?

[Lord Humungus]

Fed Is "Ruining an Entire Class of Investors"
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs.....15477.html

In a pyrrhic victory for America, Rogers believes things will eventually get so bad that Americans will finally vote for real change and economic progress. Alas, the measures he feels are needed to cure our economy are so harsh that those same officials will also get tossed out when voters realize just how harsh the road back to prosperity is.

Regardless of the necessary suffering, spending cuts are needed in order to save the most fiscally responsible citizens, those whose savings are funding this disaster.

"What the Federal Reserve is doing now is ruining an entire class of investors," says Rogers. By forcing rates down and keeping the economy on a flatline, he believes the Fed could cause another lost generation of investments. Suffice it to say, vaporizing those who faithfully accumulated savings over the years is no way to restore confidence in our financial markets.

[John]

Fuck the responsible I guess.

[Lord Humungus]

Fuck the responsible all the way down.

[Satan]

** pumps fist **

[WTF]

That is pretty much the statist motto right there.

[Jordan]

That's pretty much the only thing the Fed is capable of doing.

[R C Dean]

Pretty much the only way to even attempt to salvage the national debt is to engage in "financial repression" - suppress interest rates while inflating the currency. So that's what the Fed is doing.

[JW]

What could possibly go worng?

[Fluffy]

http://online.wsj.com/article/.....picks=true

US Whining That Mexico Tortured American Citizen Suspected of Drug Cartel Membership.

The Mexicans should fucking laugh in our face. The cartels represent about 1000x more serious a threat to Mexico as a state than any terrorist group represents to the US. If we can torture people to fight the scary, scary threat of pipe bombs, Mexico damn well can torture Americans who support the drug cartels.

And I say that as a legalization advocate. Until legalization happens, the cartels are a clear and present danger to Mexico up to and including threatening its territorial integrity and its ability to continue functioning as a polity. "Wah! Torture isn't nice!" Talk to the fucking hand, USA.

[John]

Pretty much. If the drug cartels were doing to this country what they are doing to Mexico, I and about 95% of the American people wouldn't have a problem with torturing people suspected of being involved with them. WTF is Mexico supposed to do when fighting an enemy who kills police, judges, witnesses and their families?

[cynical]

Batman?

[Lost_In_Translation]

Ahbed?

[Neu Mejican]

I and about 95% of the American people wouldn't have a problem with torturing people

Fucking John. His fantasy seems to be that some day the USA will make torture legal and he will be able to torture hippies and liberals who don't agree with him. He needs to find the number of a good BD SM club. I am sure they've got some in the DC area.

[Sparky]

Depending on your definition of torture, it already is legal.

I more often than not don't agree with John. However, I don't make a point of chasing down his every post just to call him an idiot. What's with the fixation? Does it somehow make you feel like more of a person to call someone out over the Internet? Or, to take a solipsistic approach, the voices in your head? I'm honestly curious because I want to understand why my brain keeps coming up with stuff like this and making me respond to it.

[Neu Mejican]

Sparky,

The answer to your question is within you. Why have you bothered with this post? As for chasing down his every post...I have a life. I doubt I respond to a half of 1% of his posts.

John (below),
Rhetoric? You have a consistent position that torture is an acceptable practice. Dozens of posts defending it, excusing it, or trivializing it. Your contention that your position is the position of the majority of Americans is ludicrous.

[John]

No my position is that if we had the problems that Mexico has, the American people would be willing to do a lot of things that they are not willing to tolerate now. Would they actually tolerate torture? Depends. But that is why it is called a "rhetorical device". It wasn't meant to be taken literally only to make a point that apparently went right over your head.

And I have not defended or excused torture on here. If you say I have, produce the posts showing it. I hope that accusation didn't hurt too bad when you pulled it out your ass. Of course since you pull pretty much everything you say out of there, I doubt it did.

[Neu Mejican]

John.

Your "rhetorical device" means "most Americans", and this is the point I am refuting. You are wrong that most Americans would support torture to combat increased criminality by drug cartels. Your rhetoric was not confusing. Your point is inaccurate.

As for me throwing your own words back at you...give me a break. You have a well established position on this issue. Here is you putting forward the exact same point 5 years ago.

http://reason.com/blog/2006/12.....ent_611166

For YEARS you have been trying to convince people that Americans are okay with torture and that waterboarding and other techniques are not torture. You are just wrong. You're okay with torture. Your neighbors and most Americans aren't.

[Sparky]

I guess I need a dolphin with some high-tech mods to help me hack my own brain to figure out why I bother.

[John]

Rhetoric, how does it work? I am really sorry that whole AGW thing isn't working out for you NM. But it doubt it will help to be a literalistic prick about everything else. It may make you feel better. But it is a short term solution.

[Citizen Nothing]

Neu's just trying to construct some understanding, John. Why can't you see that?

[Neu Mejican]

I think 6 years of hearing John make the same points over and over again should have taught me to ignore him, but... He has always been the worst troll on H&R. He is the one that claimed the comfy spot under the bridge and never left. I guess he could claim property rights if he could show he's made any improvements during his stay.

Yadda Yadda.

[Neu Mejican]

And yes, I see the irony of the statement....but I never claimed to be an insider around here. I will never try and stake claim to H&R property rights.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Our congress just voted to say people can be randomly rounded up and tortured for sneding money to an aid group that sends money to areas where al qeada is operating, and we're lecturing mexico?

[Mike M.]

Is it wrong that I now wish we could turn Eric Holder over to the Mexicans?

[R C Dean]

It is wrong that you haven't wanted to do so for quite some time, yes.

[Fist of Etiquette]

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler said there were "troubling reports" of possible misconduct by police.

If he's not going to resign, at least put Holder to use.

And Congressman Nadler better steer clear of the city for, oh, ever.

[cynical]

"If he's not going to resign, at least put Holder to use."

At first I thought this was a response to the "Mexico tortures American suspected of aiding cartels" story. Now I am disappoint.

[Lord Humungus]

Obama, Canadian PM meet under Keystone pipeline cloud
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wi.....ght-energy

Canadian officials say they will seek to export oil sands to Asian markets in the absence of an agreement to expand pipeline access to U.S. markets. And on Friday Harper appeared to take a shot at the Obama administration over the pipeline delay.

"It is not in this country's interest that we are a captive supplier of the United States, of energy products, especially when we see some of the politics that are going on south of the border," he said Friday, according to press accounts.

The White House has denied the delay of the pipeline permitting decision was motivated by politics.

[Maxxx]

The White House has denied the delay of the pipeline permitting decision was motivated by politics.

Yeah, it's just coincidence that it was delayed until after the next elections.

[Lord Humungus]

and now, news you can use - today!

Irish Accents Surpass French Accents As The World's Sexiest, Supposedly
http://www.thefrisky.com/2011-.....upposedly/

Zut alors! French, the language of l'amour, is "the world's sexiest accent" no more. According to a poll of 5,000 women worldwide, cited in the UK's Daily Mail newspaper, ladies most desire to be whispered sweet nothings in an Irish lilt, followed by Italian declarations of amore. Scottish was named the fourth sexiest accent, followed by French, Australian and then English. Now, anyone who has heard Chris O'Dowd's adorable acecnt in "Bridesmaids" won't disagree with these findings. But you know who does disagree? My French dude, who sniffed, "Misinformation, that's a British newspaper, they hate the French because their women love us." So there you go.

[Lost_In_Translation]

hell yeah, Cockney accents are still the least sexy however, followed by turkish.

[Cockney Girl]

A bit 'airy today, ain't it?

[Lost_In_Translation]

I always picture large moles and missing teeth.

[invisible furry hand]

Naaah, Cockney have nothing on Brummie accents

[Lost_In_Translation]

Lowland Brits are truly horrific in their speech.

[Trespassers W]

All female English accents make my skin crawl. Ever since I divorced one of them.

Where the hell are the Slavic accents on the rating scale? Having grown up during the Cold War, they evoke a delightful frisson for me.

[Restoras]

I'd disagree - the least sexy is Long Island.

[Brett L]

Jersey. Loud, big-haired Jersey.

[Restoras]

Aren't they just cousins separated by a few bridges and tunnels?

[Brett L]

Yep. But there's something about knowing they're from Jersey. Long Island at least has a couple outposts of class. Of course, most of the girls from there go to schools where they're taught not to sound like newyawkas.

[Lost_In_Translation]

what about the nasally yupers?

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

What came in third? I'm just dying to find out if it's "deep south" or Texas.

[invisible furry hand]

thefrisky.com got it wrong. According to the Daily Mail:

The sexiest accents are: 1 Irish; 2 Italian; 3 Scottish; 4 French; 5 Australian; 6 English; 7 Swedish; 8 Spanish; 9 Welsh; 10 American.

This sounds like bollocks, if only because there's such variation in accents in each of these countries, as you have rightly noted with your deep south vs Texas point. Is the sexy Australian accent Hugh Jackman's? Strine? Bogan? Wog?

[Lost_In_Translation]

French female accents are ok. The male accents make me want to hit someone. Swedish accents remind me of a sine wave of pitches, not really sexy. Welsh!?! And there is no American accent unless they're just referring to the generic midwest...

[Zeb]

I assume that with the foreign languages they are talking about their accents when speaking English, so it is all more or less similar. But within any of the English speaking countries there are accents that differ far more than the difference between, say, standard mid-west American and English received pronunciation.

[John]

There is a BBC documentary that is on PBS once in a while called "Paris". The narrator is this french art historian named Sandrine Voillet. She is really not that pretty. She is very Gaulic looking. She is not unattractive. But not classically pretty. But her accent is so fucking sexy she immediately becomes beautiful.

[RoboCain]

So you mean she's fat?

[John]

Nope. Not even by your strange standards.

[Zeb]

Female French accents can be great. But listen to a woman screaming angrily in French for a while and you get a whole new perspective.

[Pip]

How about the worst? I'd say Puerto Rican.

During KBEM's (jazz radio) pledge drive, two Puerto Rican roman were squealing at a mile a minute. It was so annoying that I considered calling the station telling them I would donate $1,000 if they would promise to shut those two bitches up.

[Zeb]

Yeah. I like Spanish. I could speak it pretty well if I put a bit of effort into it. But a lot of native speakers (and Puerto Ricans do seem to be among the worst) need to slow the fuck down.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Texas, god no, too much twang from true texans. No, northern georgia has a much better regional accent.

[R C Dean]

The soft Southern accent of Richmond, VA natives may be my favorite.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

Having spent many years in Richmond, I'd have to agree.*

*Even moving from the RIC to Augusta, GA cannot change my mind on this one. Of course, living in CA now, I just miss any southern accent.

[Britt]

Good to see some love for the River City.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

The Fan: Represent.

[Britt]

It has all the Stuff White People Like. Cool neighborhood.

Actually I live on the south side, which I'm sure when you were living there was shitty all over, but this is actually a pretty nice neighborhood.

[Lost_In_Translation]

I do not disagree.

[Pip]

"Scottish was named the fourth sexiest accent"

WTF???

[Lord Humungus]

Me Haggis!

[rac3rx]

Australians sound like a British talking through a mouthful of diarrhea.

The Cockneys and the Australians are to the British Accent what Jersey and the deep South are to the Americans.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

Crikey! That's a bloody misrepresentation, mate. I'll brain you if'n you don't take that back.*

*IRT him disparaging the deep south, not the Cockneys, Dingo-fuckers, or scumbags from Joizey who rightly deserve the ridicule.

[Erotica Collector AuH20]

So, the other day, I decided to look at a queer, feminist-approved porn site.

I have never seen a less appealing group of people involved in porn in all my life. Seriously... just... ewww. There are the ones whose heads are clearly men and whose bodies are pasted on from some ginormous fat woman. There are the "gender queer" ones who have distended tits and shit. There are WAY too many butches and bois(think butch but actively trying to look like a young, prepubescent man... like Justin Beiber!). And then there is the gay sex.

AND ALL HAVE WAY TOO FUCKING MANY PIERCINGS AND TATOOS. Seriously, tattoos are bad enough in straight and lesbian porn, but these people just have excessive amounts of ink.

Of course, not all the "characters" (it tries to bill itself as a series) are bad looking. Some are rather conventionally attractive women. These are the ones who you can not find nude pics of on their character pages (which says to me that even the good and noble queer feminists actually prefer, or are willing to shell out for, women who, y'know, actually look female).

Anyway, for those who want to burn their eyes, it's a site called crashpad series. Google it, SugarFree, you know you want to. Obviously, it is NSFW.

Also, anyone looking for actually good porn, I would like to recommend Sweetheart Video and their brother studio, Sweet Sinner. They are a lesbian porn outfit that actually does real orgasms, which sound a whole lot better than a lot of porn's overly faked and kinda gross sounding female orgasms. Also, because it's lesbian, you don't have that annoying overfocus on the money shot that straight porn seems obsessed with.

[John]

You ever watch that show on the History Channel "American Pickers"? The office girl Danielle in that show would be so damned cute. But she is totally covered in ink. It just ruins her. What is wrong with people.

[sarcasmic]

Chubby chaser

[John]

Homo. NTTAWWT

[sarcasmic]

More cushion for the pushin', eh John?

[John]

Women have hips and breasts. If you don't like that, there is an entire team that will gladly have you. All you have to do is listen to a little Judy Garland once in a while.

[sarcasmic]

To her credit Danielle has dropped a few sizes since the show started.

[John]

She used to be fat. But she is not anymore. I think she had just had a kid when it started. This season at least she looks pretty good.

In fairness I always thought of her as fat until the last few episodes.

[sarcasmic]

Just looked her up on the magical internets and (except for all the ink) she is looking pretty good these days.

[Jason Godesky]

"Chubby chaser"

You rang?

[Suki]

Something like this?

[Restoras]

Your thoughts intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Hate Potion Number Nine]

I don't see anything wrong with that

[Ska]

One man's ruination is another man's treasure. Isn't that the lesson of American Pickers anyway?
I'd say the tats work on her. Quirky artist types with interesting tats make sense to me. It's the trashy club chicks with tramp stamps and tribals that look like shit.

[Devil's Advocate]

think butch but actively trying to look like a young, prepubescent man... like Justin Beiber!

Justin Bieber is the world's cutest Lesbian.

[Erotica Collector AuH20]

Seriously, this country has gone downhill. In the 70s, Young Snake Pilskin was a teen idol. Now, Young Ellen Degeneres is a teen idol.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

To be fair, in the 70s Shaun Cassidy and Leif Garrett were also teen idols.

[Greg]

When my wife first saw Bieber she called this lookalike

http://www.buddytv.com/article...../dani.aspx

[SugarFree]

Yay! We finally found something that will get those TSA goons fired!

[invisible furry hand]

So a stuff-up with a sick dog gets you the sack but not feeling up a distressed six year old? Why am I not surprised?

[The Ghost of Paul Harvey]

The rest of the story: The dog was in bad shape because it had a bomb sewn into it.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

She was just a baggage handler. If she had in fact worked for the TSA, she would have gotten some remedial training and a new taxpayer-funded education program would have been implemented where all TSA employees are required to take a three-part course in how to spot animals that may be in need of rescue. The sessions would be held in various resorts across the country and would require a 6% growth in TSA staff to accommodate for security needs during the seminars. The newly hired staff will also require the training, resulting in another 1% increase of staff, to be hired within the next 6 months.*

*The Congressional request for additional funds will be inserted as a rider to the Only A Child Hater Would Vote Against This Bill Bill, which is designed to install cameras in school bathrooms.

[invisible furry hand]

Sloopy, you entirely forgot the cost of the dog handlers needed to wrangle pets during the training! Or is that dealt with in the stimulus bill for the dog industry (dog groomers / walkers / trainers / psychics)?

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

First off, there is going to have to be an ADA impact study done at each prospective location to determine if they are:
1. Helper animal accessible.
2. Wheelchair accessible
3. Really fucking nice

Then, they will have to send out advance booking teams to ensure they are being charged the government rate. Further, a logo will have to be commissioned so the attendees can get swag bags full of cool logo'd gear. There will have to be a committee formed to ensure the logo really captures the spirit of the event. That committee will need to meet someplace nice...Hawai'i ought to work...so they can contemplate the impact without interference. Once the logo is approved, the various items to be logo'd will have to be bid out. That process will be closely managed so the bidders can be rated on important criteria such as: % of company owned by minorities, % owned by women, cost of goods how many retarded, poor or paroled people they have working for them.

I could keep going, but I'll just get more pissed off.

[invisible furry hand]

But that's when your genius flows like a fine wine. Or flat Dr Pepper on a warm day

[Appalachian Australian]

I'm surprised the TSA didn't call in the cops to shoot the dog.

[KDN]

Kick a ginger day was especially rough this year. My head still hurts.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Stop your ginger cheatin' ways.

[Sarah Palin]

Keep Obama's death panel away from the penis pumps!

[Lord Humungus]

Mythbusters: TV Stunt Goes Awry, Sends Cannonball Rocketing Through Homes
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com.....ugh-homes/

"This cannonball was supposed to go through several barrels of water and through a cinder block, and then ultimately into the side of the hill," said J.D. Nelson of the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.

Instead the cannonball flew over the foothills surrounding Camp Parks Military Firing Reservation, before spiraling back toward Dublin like a cruise missile.

[Appalachian Australian]

Instead the cannonball flew over the foothills surrounding Camp Parks Military Firing Reservation, before spiraling back toward Dublin like a cruise missile.

Does that mean the cannonball ultimately ended up undamaged and in Iran?

[robc]

Not quite a first. They lauched a car over an embankment once. They started laughing, then realized they had no clue what was on the other side and kinda panicked. But, nothing was on other side.

[Zeb]

You know what I hate? The way people use the word "spiraling" these days. Metaphorical uses are even worse than this, but come on. A canon ball follows a parabolic curve, it doesn't fucking spiral anywhere.

[robc]

Depends on your frame of reference.

[robc]

And, of course, my favorite xkcd.

I used to go off on people who claimed that centrifugal force didnt exist for this reason, but since this came out, people dont make that mistake as much.

[Zeb]

That's pretty great.

[Zeb]

Well, presumably in most cases occurring on the surface of the earth the canon and the person observing the ball are in more or less the same inertial frame of reference.

[Lord Humungus]

sure, get technical on us.

[Elspeth Flashman]

it's spirals all the way down.

[Zeb]

Well, for one thing, when something "spirals down", say an airplane missing a wing, it follows a helical path, not a goddamn spiral.
Spiral staircases? Also bullshit.
OK, I'm being silly now.

[P Brooks]

Thanks for the Jim Rogers link, Humungus.

It's amazing how many people look at me like I'm crazy when I say that.

[Joe M]

Gingrich may miss Ohio ballot deadline.

I'm pretty sure he's already missed multiple ballot deadlines, which is a time bomb waiting to explode for his campaign.

I'm tellin ya, despite all the efforts of the establishment GOP and the media to marginalize him, Paul is enjoying a fateful concordance of events this campaign.

[Appalachian Australian]

I worked a third party campaign as a young lad. The amount of paperwork and signatures needed to get on the ballot was unbelievable. (Of course, Louisiana just cost $500.)

Gingrich can't get on the ballot, but Ron Paul is the unelectable/fringe/non-serious candidate.

[Name Nomad]

Crazy conspiracy theory time! *cue Twilight Zone and/or Jesse Venture-style paranoia music*

Maybe Mitt's strategy was to pay off Newt to run a failed campaign in order to take away Tea Party votes from other contenders and distract people from his own wishy-washiness.

Nah. He's probably not that smart.

[Lost_In_Translation]

somehow, I think they'll find a way to put gingrich on the ballot, deadline or no, if he doesn't implode before February...which is a high likelihood.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I hope Newt does implode. By the time Super Tuesday comes around (when I get to vote) the field gets so narrow sometimes it is pathetic.

[Groovus Maximus]

Tipper|12.7.11 @ 9:13AM|#

Fucking Al Gore

Verb or adjective? You decide!

[Bones]

This is why Twitter was invented. We need to know what is happening at all times!

[John]

At this point, how is the BATF anything but an international criminal cartel?

Undercover American narcotics agents have laundered or smuggled millions of dollars in drug proceeds as part of Washington's expanding role in Mexico's fight against drug cartels, according to current and former federal law enforcement officials.

The agents, primarily with the Drug Enforcement Administration, have handled shipments of hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal cash across borders, those officials said, to identify how criminal organizations move their money, where they keep their assets and, most important, who their leaders are. ?

Agency officials declined to publicly discuss details of their work, citing concerns about compromising their investigations. But Michael S. Vigil, a former senior agency official who is currently working for a private contracting company called Mission Essential Personnel, said, "We tried to make sure there was always close supervision of these operations so that we were accomplishing our objectives, and agents weren't laundering money for the sake of laundering money."

Another former agency official, who asked not to be identified speaking publicly about delicate operations, said, "My rule was that if we are going to launder money, we better show results. Otherwise, the D.E.A. could wind up being the largest money launderer in the business, and that money results in violence and deaths."

http://pjmedia.com/blog/gunwal.....neywalker/

[RoboCain]

http://www.nationalgunrights.o.....un-rights/

[cynical]

I like the tyrant wing's argument that they had to break the law and conspire against the country because the law constrained them from acting. I mean, it's not like Congress just left the issue unattended, they said "no".

It's pretty much the logic of a guy who tells a girl "If you had just said 'yes', I wouldn't have had to put roofies in your drink".

[rather]

The next Nanny State Issue, even if you don't swallow

[Old Soldier]

Was it ever (except for the international part maybe)?

[John]

They have gone global.

[John]

William Russell Meade on the new age of Hamilton. Very interesting read.

http://blogs.the-american-inte.....-hamilton/

How is someone as smart an interesting as Meade end up writing on blogs when people as obviously stupid and silly as Friedman, Brooks and gang get to write for our largest newspapers?

[invisible furry hand]

Same way Celine Dion makes more cheese than Kate Bush - the marvellous desire many people have for more shit just like the last lot. See also: [insert almost any politician's name here]

[cynical]

NYT readers.

[John]

True. Meade would write things that went right over their heads. And when it didn't go over their heads it would give them a case of "he can't possibly believe that" vapors.

[Appalachian Australian]

I wish politicians like Hamilton would still kill each other in duels.

Duels were the best part of early American politics.

[Zeb]

Dueling should be legalized and encouraged, but only for people who hold elected office.

[Brett L]

I think dueling was finished when
the Navy lost Stephen Decatur to the incompetence of his second William Bainbridge. Bainbridge being known primarily for surrendering his ships with alacrity to everyone but the British.

[PapayaSF]

The guy is good, isn't he?

[RoboCain]

"A new analysis throws even those skewed numbers into perspective. It explains how the ATF used eTrace to build a case for U.S. gun control out of thin air: by registering the Fast and Furious guns as crime guns before they were used in crimes. In other words, it didn't matter if the guns were or weren't used by murderous drug thugs; the weapons would be reported as "crime guns" regardless."

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.c.....more-85203

[John]

Isn't that the smoking gun that proves Fast and Furious was designed to let guns go to Mexico in order to justify gun control in the US?

[WTF]

C'mon, now, John, MNG has amply demonstrated that it was just an innocent sting gone awry, and all this political agenda stuff is just paranoia on our part.

[MNG]

Don't be so paranoid john, it's just standard police procedure.

[Warty]

If that's true, then there need to be mass arrests at BATFE.

[RoboCain]

But don't hold your breath...

[Apatheist]

Rush is right in a way. Ron Paul does seem to have little in common with the Tea Party anymore as they've become just another statist wing of the Republican Party. Still a lot of hackery here though:

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/da....._tea_party

[Appalachian Australian]

Rush's chief complaint with Ron Paul is... too much pork? I believe Paul's position is that he'll vote for any tax credit or deduction, no matter how silly, if it means some of the taxes stolen from his constituents get returned to them.

Is Rush anything other than just entertainment these days? I stopped being able to listen to AM radio in the mornings a while back.

[robc]

Actually, Paul votes against them. He just passes it on to the committee unless it is outrageously silly.

The committee puts the pork in the bill, he votes against the bill, it passes anyway, his constitutents get some monies back.

[R C Dean]

Rush has always been entertainment.

And I suspect his main beef with Ron Paul is over foreign policy.

[robc]

Its funny that clips of Rush are in the anti-Newt commercial. That probably pisses Rush off too.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I'm not a Rush listener anymore but I used to be. Mark Steyn is better, for sure. But he's only there once in a while. (I worked at a UCC church when I was a Rush listener, that was my dirty pleasure on Fridays) . . . But really, Rush is entertainment, and a way to get lightning bolts.

[cynical]

I don't think the Tea Party really has a foreign policy. It's not really a party in the political sense (they're mainly already in a party, after all), it's more of a movement.

[Fluffy]

Rush's beef is that he claims that Paul doesn't properly support the Tea Party foreign policy.

Of course, if Rush is right, that means that all those times that people told me that the Tea Party was only about economic and budget issues and HAD NO social policy or foreign policy component, those people were lying. Either that, or Rush is an ass. One of those two.

[robc]

The latter.

There are some people trying to turn the Tea Party into the GOP, but it was never meant to be that.

[Appalachian Australian]

Supreme Court keeping us safe from Miranda warnings in a capital case.

The rationale the police used was the the first time they gave the suspect a Miranda warning, he didn't want to talk, so they interrogated him later without a warning. Lower courts consistently rule this is inadmissible. Eventually the suspect got worn down, waived his Miranda rights, and confessed. SCOTUS rules that prior Miranda violations don't make a later confession inadmissible if it had a valid Miranda warning right before it.

For a bit of extra fun, SCOTUS throws in a reminder that it's totally cool for the police to lie.

[John]

That is the problem with having Supreme Court justices who are all from the same schools, worked the same jobs, and have very little experience doing day to day legal work. The people on that court really have no idea how the real world works. And what is worse, they are so smug that they don't know how removed from reality they are. I am sure Scalia thinks he is the worlds smartest man (after all he did go to the best schools) and knows exactly how actual police work and actual criminal trials are conducted by the dint of his incredible guinea intellect.

[cynical]

Ok. So?

[Warty]

Pittsburgh Dad

I find myself amused against my will.

[Warty]

What the fuck, squirrels? That's supposed to be its own post.

THREADING DELENDA EST

[RoboCain]

The squirrels are nuts today.

[Fluffy]

I'm a little confused on this one.

If they Mirandized him and told him about his right to remain silent, and the guy didn't invoke it, so they talked to him again later and he confessed...isn't that procedurally OK?

Isn't it only if he invokes the right that they can't go back later and try to interrogate him again?

[John]

Basically the court is saying one warning is enough. It is up to the accused to remember that he doesn't have to talk.

So what happens is, we arrest fluffy and read him his rights. Fluffy invokes. So we stick fluffy in a cell and let him think on it for a while. Then bring fluffy back into the interrogation room and tell him a bunch of lies about how we have all of this evidence against him and all his buddies have ratted him out and tell him if he just confesses it will be the best for him. And we don't re read him his rights again. Fluffy signs confession and goes to death row.

In theory I can understand where the court is coming from. They told the guy his rights. It is up to him to remember them. But in reality it opens the door for police abuse and false confessions. If I say I don't want to talk, the police shouldn't be able to come back and ask me to talk again. That should be it. Allowing them to talk to me just gives them time to break down my will and make up more convincing lies. Basically it allows the police to wage war against my invocation of my rights. But since the Supreme Court is made up of people who have never seen the inside of a trial court and never done anything at the lowest level, they don't understand that.

[Fluffy]

But isn't the point here that he didn't invoke?

So they came back later and just kept interrogating him?

[John]

No. The point is that he did invoke the first time they talked to him. And then they came back later and talked to him again without giving him the warning. If he had never invoked, the case would be easy. If you don't invoke, they can question you.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

And to make matters worse, Warty was the one who really murdered and sodomized the man.

[Sparky]

It was my understanding that that behavior is just Warty being Warty.

[Matrix]

Why are the police allowed to lie about having evidence if they don't or receiving testimony from friends/relatives/whatever and they don't, but if you lie to the police, you get jail time?

[John]

I totally agree. All lying does is produce false confessions. It gets people to think "sure I didn't do it, but they are going to screw me anyway so I might as well confess".

[Elspeth Flashman]

it's because the police are involved in the competitive business of ferreting out crime . . .

[Gray Ghost]

Look at the time frame. On Nov. 4, Dixon gets Mirandized and questioned about Hammer's disappearance. He invokes his right to remain silent and leaves. 5 days later, he gets arrested for forgery, booked, and placed in an interrogation room. The detectives admit they didn't Mirandize him because they thought he'd lawyer up. Eventually he confesses.

5 days strikes me as a little long for his previous Mirandizement to still hold. Particularly when the cops admit that they didn't Mirandize him because they thought he'd shut up. Clearly the Supreme Court did not agree. How hard is it to just read him his rights when he gets arrested?

It looks like another, "The cops fucked up, but this is a really bad guy, so we're going to make an exception. That of course, won't be used in any other case." Why else did the SCOTUS opinion go so far into the facts of the murder? What does Dixon burying Hammer alive have anything to do with the Constitutional issues of the case?

[Lord Humungus]

*ahem* a little reminder -

Silence, especially when dealing with the police, is golden.

[Stanley Baldwin]

Why does Riggs bother to post links?

[DesigNate]

Are you upset that the commentariat post their own links? If that's the case you must be new here, that's kinda what this blog post is for.

[robc]

Entirely off-topic, but the woman I bought my house from 4 years ago is on the Institute for Justice mailing list, so "she" still receives stuff from them all the time.

As random mailings for the previous resident go, its nice. Better than the scientology stuff that used to infest one of my previous addresses.

[robc]

Speaking of mail, Maker's Mark sent me a christmas sweater for my bottles.

[Fluffy]

The first time I read this, I thought you were claiming that Mark Wahlberg had sent you a Christmas sweater.

[robc]

And you are assuming that would be unusual why?

[Normally just get a card from the Wahlbergs]

[Bones]

Swiss Colony catalog came a couple weeks ago. Swiss Colony Beef Log, baby! It's what Christmas is all about!

[R C Dean]

That's what she said?

[T]

You know what you can do if you want to screw with someone via the USPS? Fill out a subscription card for Playgirl, check 'bill me later', and have it sent to their house.

The real bonus fun comes in after Playgirl sells their mailing list. Apparently a lot of gay men subscribe to Playgirl. So a few months later, your target will start getting gay porn solicitations in the mail.

I pass this along in the hope that someone may learn from my unfortunate experience. This was done to me about a decade ago.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

I'm gonna go do this to Elena Kagen right now.

[RoboCain]

"SlutWalk: Manufacturing Myths about 'Myths'

Radical feminists claim that they are exposing myths about sexual violence. What they do not say is that they are conjuring myths about myths."

http://theonlinecitizen.com/20.....ths-about-'myths'/

[RoboCain]

"SlutWalk: Manufacturing Myths about 'Myths'

Radical feminists claim that they are exposing myths about sexual violence. What they do not say is that they are conjuring myths about myths."

http://theonlinecitizen.com/20.....ths-about-'myths'/

[P Brooks]

If that's true, then there need to be mass arrests executions at BATFE.

[RoboCain]

SlutWalk: Manufacturing Myths about 'Myths'

Radical feminists claim that they are exposing myths about sexual violence. What they do not say is that they are conjuring myths about myths.

http://anonym.to/?http://theon.....ths-about-'myths'/

[RoboCain]

Oh, for fucks sake! I've tried five different ways to post the same link to an article and I keep getting this:

Your post (#2677941) has been marked as spam by a third-party spam filter. If this is a mistake, please email [e-mail].

[RoboCain]

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/12/

slutwalk-manufacturing-myths-about-'myths'/

[RoboCain]

Now just put those two lines together.

[Who]

cares?

[RoboCain]

It's an excellent article worth reading.

[Colonel_Angus]

Whoever made me aware of the musical outfit Anal Cunt in the metal thread, I owe you some gratitude.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

I think it was Ken Shultz.

[Zeb]

"musical outfit Anal Cunt"

Loosely defined. I've long been a big fan of AC's existence, but very rarely listen.

[John]

The sometimes entertaining Mickey Klaus on the Obama Kansas speech

It's pathetic if the mighty U.S. is really forced to beg corporations to produce here out of Warren-Buffetesque philanthropic urges. But it's especially pathetic for American liberalism, which has always been most appealing when it stood up against the condescension of "alms givers"?but which now celebrates wealthy philanthropists with nauseating ease (a trend I blame, in very small part, on my old employer Slate, with its annual "Slate 60? charity porn feature). "Giving back" is the credo of Hollywood celebrities, not New Deal liberals. Democrats are supposed to be the party of government?government that establishes a foundation for the essential dignity of working people?not the party that sucks up to the Google guys and the Gates Foundation.

At least Elizabeth Warren only wanted rich businessmen to pay higher taxes. It's a sign of liberalism's humiliating inability to do enough with those taxes that left-wingers now seek to substitute The Giving Pledge.

A patriotic Charity Economy is a conveyor belt to corporatism! After all, what happens when the factory of celebrated businessman X who recognizes his patriotic obligation to employ Americans at $20 an hour is faced with competition from uncelebrated, selfish businessman Y who employs Chinese ex-peasants at $2 an hour? Businessman X is going to need trade protection and special treatment a "partnership" with government, sort of a pre-bailout bailout. Obama doesn't seem to have a problem with this sort of cozy arrangment.

The president's Charity Capitalism is just one of two unnecessary paths to corporatism contained in his Kansas speech. The other is his passing invocation of unionism as a means of "building" middle class wages. It used to be that unionized firms were considered more productive (because, for example, they gave employees an efficient internal "voice). You don't hear that argument much anymore. Now unions exist mostly where government has protected them, either because a) government is the employer or b) government has bailed them out when they've lost in the market to non-union or overseas competition?bailed them out through direct subsidies (the UAW) or regulations (Davis-Bacon construction workers). If Wagner Act unions are going to continue to exist in the private sector, the government will seemingly have to find a way to favor unionized firms over the competition.

http://dailycaller.com/2011/12.....apitalism/

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

If hindering a police investigation is a crime, how come when a cop does it, he gets 8 hours off with pay yet when somebody not in the system does it they get to go to prison? No big deal, though. It was only a fatal hit-and-run by a cop.

[John]

http://www.businessinsider.com.....ce-2011-12

The military is giving yahoo suburban sheriffs free tanks.

[Maxxx]

But we can't cut defense spending one fucking dime.

[Zeb]

Well, you know 10 years ago we were completely incapable of responding to threats halfway around the world in a rapid manner.

[Johnny Mack]

lol, Ok thats pretty funny when you think about it dude.

http://www.ano-toolz.tk

[Joe M]

Santorum: I'd love a head-to-head with Gingrich

The jokes write themselves.