Obama's Chief of Staff Hits the Bricks, Snowbilly Endorses Newt, Muslim Man Charged With Plotting to Blow Up Florida: P.M. Links

• OMB Director Jack Lew will replace Bill Daley, who replaced Rahm Emanuel, as Obama's chief of staff.  

• Todd Palin, husband of Sarah From Alaska, endorses Newt Gingrich. 
• Al Qaeda fanboy wanted to blow up Florida, say Feds.
• "Millions of tax dollars may have been wasted" by DHS on Chicago security project. 
• White House plans to turn government-owned foreclosed houses into rentals. 
• Thirteen people executed in western Mexico. 

Comments

[Hugh Akston]

White House plans to turn government-owned foreclosed houses into rentals.

Jesus Christ. For a second I feared that the government would retain ownership of the houses and rent them out, thus clearly signalling the end of free society as we know it.

[Tony]

I don't see the problem. Then again, I am not a property rights extremist.

[wef]

Property rights extremist, you?

Who accused you of such free-minded thinking?

Even the idea of rights scares power-worshipping daddy-suck-ups.

[Tak Kak]

You really don't have to be an "extremist" to see problems with government management.

[TrickyVic]

""I don't see the problem.""

The problem with the government retaining ownership of the houses and rent them out would be that the houses would come with strings attached. Look at the current problems with other federal housing such as grandmothers getting kickout because grandson was busted with a joint.

Why should leases involve politics? Which they would if under federal control. While that might not be a problem for you now, when team red takes over and starts changing those strings for their political interests, you will be crying foul.

[shrike]

This appears to be an auction to private investors.

[TrickyVic]

I know. I was replying to Tony's post where it seems like he's saying he wouldn't have a problem with government renting the properties.

[Paul]

don't see the problem. Then again, I am not a property rights extremist.

We know. You're a property rights relativist.

[PapayaSF]

I'd say "property rights minimalist."

[heller]

The proper term is "thief"

[Fluffy]

Well, Tony, here's the problem:

If they really want to turn these properties over to private owners to be rented, all they have to do is engage in standard property auctions. Sell the properties at auction, and many if not most if them will end up being rented.

Since they're talking about not doing that, but about coming up with a way to find private investors to buy properties in bulk as a "pilot program", that means they're probably planning on coming up with special pricing for these investors that bypasses the standard auction process. And that of course means that:

1) Someone will get a special deal
2) The sale prices will be hidden from the market.

Both of these SCREAM "Scam" at the top of their lungs.

Exactly the type of corrupt dealing you say you oppose is just what this will accomplish.

[Mr. FIFY]

"I am not a property rights believer"

FIFY'd. No charge.

[Pro Libertate]

Rentals--for government troops! At last, the Third Amendment goes down!

[capitol l]

The third has had it way too easy way too long.

[Lewis H]

We're not at peace.

[Hugh Akston]

And we never will be again.

[Brett L]

We're not at war, either

[H man]

We are at war with the Muslims. We've always been at war with the Muslims.

[Pro Libertate]

And drugs. We're at war with those.

[Pro Libertate]

And the godless commies.

[sage]

And poverty. Victory is just around the corner!

[Pro Libertate]

I can't believe I forgot that one.

[Anonymous Coward]

So will the government be paying property taxes to itself?

[Ben Bernanke]

Don't be ridiculous.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Now this is more like it.

[romulus augustus]

Watch it, Todd. Maybe Newt's looking to get hisself another trophy wife?

[rts]

Still waiting for my T-Shirt and sticker from the Webathon, but at least PM links are on time.

[chris]

You sir, wins an internet.

[capitol l]

Your tee and sticker are in the same place as the Salty Tears Thread. You can pick them up at any time.

[Apatheist]

I got the sticker but not the shirt.

[Spoonman.]

CAPTION CONTEST:

"ok poop is coming out now"

[Ice Nine]

Why is Harold Ramis standing in front of that flag?

[JW]

Are you saying he's a Ruprecht?

[Episiarch]

OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA

[Doktor Kapitalism]

Bob never was too comfortable getting his Congressional yearbook picture.

[chris]

In the time it took me to browse the list i see four ahead of me. How does one get to be first?

[Lewis H]

You need to be on the Koch's special mailing list.

[Ice Nine]

I'd guess that browsing the list is your first problem.

[chris]

Lesson learned. I'll be ready tomorrow.

[Ska]

Links copied, pinky gently resting on the crtl key.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Obama administration, in conjunction with federal regulators and led by the overseer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are very close to announcing a pilot program to sell government-owned foreclosures in bulk to investors as rentals, according to administration officials.

HUD homes are only slightly less damaging to neighborhood property values than vacant homes.

[Pro Libertate]

Which is more likely to become a crack house? I wonder.

[CoyoteBlue]

OMB Director Jack Lew formerly of Citibank will replace Bill Daley formerly of JPMorgan, who replaced Rahm Emanuel formerly of Wasserstein Perella and Freddie Mac, as Obama's chief of staff.

Way to keep your distance from those Wall Street pigs Barry. Or is it "Keep your enemies close and your Cronies closer"?

[Phier Knott]

Meh. Consistent with: Barack Obama, formerly of the White House.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

The neohippies should Occupy the White House, if they really cared about corruption.

[mad libertarian guy]

The neohippies should Occupy the White House, if they really cared about corruption.

They don't. They only care about corruption that bothers them. They're good with the kind they agree with.

[Ice Nine]

OMB Director Jack Lew will replace Bill Daley, who replaced Rahm Emanuel, as Obama's chief of staff.

Geez, The One is going to feel like a fish outa water without a Chicago hood as his right hand man.

[Pro Libertate]

Say, that's not Florida he wanted to blow up. It's Tampa. I must object rather strenuously.

[Episiarch]

Hey, I approve!

[Pro Libertate]

Destroying Tampa is meaningless in the pizza wars. We lack an indigenous pizza of our own.

[Episiarch]

Yeah, but Gallagher is from Tampa so it's worth it. Almost. Tampa redeems itself by having been the origin of the Macho Man.

I miss the Macho Man. (sniffs, wipes away tear)

[Ska]

You can always get his awesome CD, Be A Man.

[Episiarch]

I know what I'm listening to when I get home from work.

[Ska]

Make sure you read the review by Dark Ninja, it's a classic.

[Dagny T.]

I was too busy listening to "Be A Man" on YouTube to refresh. Jeebus. It sounds like it was recorded on a Casio.

[Dagny T.]

The Amazon reviews are pretty awesome in their own right.

[Episiarch]

I just played "Be a Man" out loud for the coworkers. I think it may be one of the greatest songs of all time.

[Pro Libertate]

A lot of good things are from Tampa--athletes (loads of wrestlers, incidentally), actors, porn stars, you name it. We had to produce all of those to offset our great sin against humanity and watermelons.

[shrike]

The Mons Venus, Berns, and Columbia.

Tampa is vastly underrated. Atlanta (where I live now) is vastly overrated.

[Episiarch]

You are also responsible for a Backstreet Boy. Luckily, that is offset by Ray Charles.

Meatwad: No kidding. Put down Backstreet boys.

Shake: [weakly] Will you be quiet?!

Meatwad: Put down backstreet boys.

Shake: [weaker and stands on the table] Shut up! You're giving it away!

Frylock: Shake, sit down. It's not the backstreet boys.

Shake: [Normally and sits down] I know. And Don't you DARE put that down!

[Pro Libertate]

I particularly proud of our ability to make crazy baseball players--Garvey, Gooden, Strawberry, et al.

[capitol l]

How did Garvey miss the Tampa Cocaine Train?

Mr. Clean, pffft!

[Paul]

Destroying Tampa is meaningless in the pizza wars. We lack an indigenous pizza of our own.

Wait a minute. Wouldn't setting off a huge bomb in Tampa essentially do billions of dollars worth of improvements?

[Pro Libertate]

I happen to like Tampa much better than most other places I've visited in this great nation of ours.

[Pro Libertate]

Visited and lived, I should say. I was in exile for much of the 90s.

[Paul]

Sorry, I was lumping Tampa in with the rest of Florida.

[Butts Wagner]

Montu > Kraken?

[Brett L]

Eh. Once again. Nobody offers to sell explosives but Feds.

[Jar Jar]

I offer explosive flatulence.

[Ice Nine]

Todd Palin, husband of Sarah From Alaska, endorses Newt Gingrich.

The suspense is over! Finally, we can concentrate on something else.

[Pro Libertate]

What is that? A proxy endorsement by Sarah Palin? An irrelevant remark by an irrelevant person? A proposal for a new reality show? A proxy endorsement by Michael Palin? What?

And where is Bristol's endorsement?

[SIV]

Who is Rielle Hunter endorsing?

[Ice Nine]

Hell with Bristol. We want to know what Trig thinks about it.

[Shiny!]

Me!

[Episiarch]

Michael Palin only endorses candidates for the Silly Party.

[Pro Libertate]

I have to say that if Sarah Palin had turned out to be closely related to Michael Palin (even if just by marriage), I'd vote for her for whatever office she cared to run for.

[TrickyVic]

She turned me into a Newt, then I ran for office.

[Mr. FIFY]

Hey! Michael Palin is a Python trouper. Mock him not.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The guy who wanted to secede from the union is endorsing the most big government Republican available?

[Pro Libertate]

Let's put it this way: If you were a secessionist in 1860, which candidate would you have endorsed to achieve your goal?

[Ice Nine]

Thirteen people executed in western Mexico.

Thanks, Riggs. Got any news for us?

[rho]

Except for one heartwarming story about blowing up Florida, these P.M. links are lame.

[SIV]

GA Law to Make Photoshop Pr0n a Crime

[Pro Libertate]

Why not just ban Photoshop? I don't get all this pussyfooting around.

[Paul]

I don't get all this pussyfooting around.

This comment seems pornographic.

[Xenocles]

I thought it was already settled case law that you can't ban fake child porn. Fake regular porn would seem to be even easier to defend.

[Pro Libertate]

Pretty sure that's a SCOTUS opinion.

[Xenocles]

Which would not apply to GA because...?

[Pro Libertate]

I'm supporting your position, dude. Absolutely a Supreme Court position interpreting the First Amendment applies to Georgia.

[Xenocles]

Oh, sorry. Withdrawn.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

This law sort of makes sense, but if you consent to either being the head or body, then it should be completely legal. I doubt that's what he's going for, though.

[RoboCain]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikeha.....the-keytar

[Fist of Etiquette]

A Kosovo-born Muslim man was charged with plotting to attack crowded locations around Tampa, including nightclubs and a sheriff's office, with a car bomb, assault rifle and other explosives, federal authorities said Monday.

How is public transportation in Tampa? Because I have a feeling this is the kind of idiot that would plan the car bomb first.

[Pro Libertate]

We have some buses. And an Amtrak station.

[Ice Nine]

Ah, there it is; it was losing his sleazy nightclubs that ProL was upset about.

[Pro Libertate]

No, I don't partake, but they are a major source of revenue for Tampa, and, of course, many of them are historical landmarks.

[chris]

I'm in the middle of reading an article about Alan M. Dershowitz's claim that Paul is an anti-Semite. It occurred to me, if you demand that others love you, as Dershowitz does, shouldn't you at least make some effort to be lovable? Is he aware how much people hate him? My Obama lovin' mama would if Dershowitz appeared on stage with him and endorsed Obama with Obama glad-handingly accepting it, would switch to Romney on that basis alone.

[chris]

BTW, true fact, not making it up, shit you not, the 'M.' in Alan M. Dershowitz is for motherfucker.

[JW]

Al Qaeda fanboy wanted to blow up Florida, say Feds.

Looking at his picture, I would have guessed he was from Gainesville.

[Pro Libertate]

You know, I bet he was a Krishna serving food on the Plaza of the Americas.

[SIV]

The 2012 session of the Legislature isn't an hour old yet, but a bill likely to become a water-cooler favorite has already made its debut:

H.B. 680, filed by state Rep. Pam Dickerson, D-Conyers, would make it a misdemeanor to Photoshop an unsuspecting ? or heck, even suspecting ? individual's head on the nude or lewd body of another, and posting the image on the Internet.

Such an act would be a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine or a year in the hoosegow.

You can find a hi-res image of Rep Dickerson w/ google image search. For matching bodies I'd suggest the terms "BBW" and "Ebony" are good search parameters.

[Hugh Akston]

Oh exploitable

[Ska]

She looks like She-hulk, pre-photoshop.

[W]

silverback?

[Pro Libertate]

There's something un-un--what is that thing again?

[Ken Shultz]

OMB Director Jack Lew will replace Bill Daley, who replaced Rahm Emanuel, as Obama's chief of staff.

I bet he replaces Mumbley Joe with Hillary as his running mate soon, too.

[RoboCain]

Then he might get accidentally by some crazy from Jezebel.

[John]

That means some blond dish was wasn't qualified to be the deputy is now running OMB

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-th.....top-of-omb

[Pro Libertate]

Come on, John, how can you say that when lack of qualification is this administration's motto?

[Porn taught me everything]

"Blond dish" doesn't mean what you think it means.

[John]

Google image her. She looks like she can give a proper blowjob.

[Original Grammarian]

Blond is not the same thing as blonde.

Downloading porn from BBSes taught me this unseeable fact.

[Eduard van Haalen]

'All the instability in the global economy this year has been good for the United States Mint. People in search of a safe place to put their money have been buying gold and silver coins in record numbers.

'"Precious metal coins were up $800 million dollars last year and that's approximately thirty some percent," says Richard Peterson, deputy director of the Mint.'

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money.....he-economy

[RoboCain]

PETA blames hunting for police shooting

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.c.....more-93679

[Pro Libertate]

We went to a Ringling Bros. circus this past weekend, and someone brought up PETA protesting the circus. It's amazing how little credibility they have these days, even among people who are concerned about animal cruelty. PETA is pretty much thought of as the organization that likes naked women. Which is a fine cause, but it's not the one that their name suggests, unless it now means "People Exposing Tits and Ass."

[RoboCain]

Whenever I point that out, some jackass liberal points out that they've done more than any other animal rights organization.

[Pro Libertate]

. . .for pornography? Sure, I agree with that.

[Michael S. Langston]

I would suggest to you that they exist to move the goal posts as to what is considered "extreme" in an effort to make previously considered extremes seem normal by comparison.

& I think given some new laws with regards to animal "rights" they have successes.

A second point to make is that their outlandish behavior keeps people from considering them as "real" and allows them more room to operate than the standard organization has.

FWIW - I find their organization's tactics and their leaders' stated goals completely insane.

I would prefer a world where they truly aren't successful.

[Mr. FIFY]

PETA should be disbanded for their "Your Mommy Kills Animals" agit-prop/child-shit-scaring-out-of bullshit a few years back:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EjYt.....s+animals+(2007).jpg

[John]

http://blogs.news.com.au/daily.....yang_fats/

Pyongyang fats. LOL.

[P Brooks]

White House plans to turn government-owned foreclosed houses into rentals.

That's how they do it in Limeyland, isn't it? Finally, we're starting to mature as a society.

[John]

Because the government acting as landlord is the surest way to bring back property values. Look what they did for Cabrini Green

[Pro Libertate]

I did volunteer work there for Habitat for Humanity. Absolutely unbelievable conditions.

[RoboCain]

Alyssa Milano volunteered for them.

[Team Blue]

We're pretty fuckin' proud of that, too!

[RoboCain]

Katy Perry is still hot:

http://dailycaller.com/2012/01.....slideshow/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....86011.html

[John]

She does have an amazing body.

[El Commentariosa]

ya, whatever

[RoboCain]

So what kind of make-up do they put on her tits?

[Gravity never lies]

Current bra technology is the most pernicious lie ever promulgated by society.

See: every Facebook photo, ever.

[RoboCain]

"Gary Johnson: Obama 'opposes' same-sex marriage because of black voters"

http://dailycaller.com/2012/01.....ck-voters/

[Lewis H]

If you watch one documentary this week, watch this one:
The End of Poverty? asks why today 20% of the planet's population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate. It challenges us to 'think again' if we think we can really end poverty under our current economic system. The End of Poverty? features well-known activists and is narrated by Martin Sheen.

[Xenocles]

I'm not likely to watch any documentaries most weeks. Sorry guy.

[Apatheist]

because only around 20% of the world lives in relatively free countries? Of course your solution is to bring us down to everyone else's level with stifling government rather than lifting everyone else up through free trade and commerce.

[Xenocles]

Can we end poverty under our current economic system? By any objective historical standard, we already have. True poverty (like true Scotsmen) is something that happens outside our system.

[Michael S. Langston]

Please prove 20% using 80% and consuming 30% more than possibly can be regenerated...

Forget it. I should know better than to ask.....

[Kreel Sarloo]

Well, I mean to say, don't you know that the fixed quantity of resources in the world can be computed with absolute precision.

Or at least tiresome simpletons like Lewis H think so anyway.

[RoboCain]

Cute dog alert:

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

[John]

seriously cute dog. And a tough little shit

[rho]

Corgis defy logic.

"Let's make a herding dog."

"Yeah, okay."

"Let's give him three inch legs!"

"YEAH!"

Okay, corgis define what happens when the Welsh drink.

[John]

They have short legs so they can duck when cows try to kick them. No kidding. They little suckers drive cows mad.

[rho]

Your assertion may contain facts, but mine is funnier.

Corgis and Boston Terriers are the breeds you want if you're looking for a big little dog.

[John]

All terriers think they are big dogs. They have a lot of heart.

[Angry Suburbanite]

What about pit bulls, huh?

They have a lot of heart, for sure. The hearts of murdered children.

[RoboCain]

Feminists still don't know what words mean:

http://feministing.com/2012/01.....-bullying/

[John]

Proposed bill in Tennessee would essentially legalize anti-LGBTQ bullying

Doesn't something have to be illegal for it to be 'legalized'?

[RoboCain]

I think it's in response to a law outlawing bullying. But apparently, simply expressing an opinion or feeling is "bullying".

[Xenocles]

Only a proscribed one.

[P Brooks]

It challenges us to 'think again' if we think we can really end poverty under our current economic system. The End of Poverty? features well-known activists and is narrated by Martin Sheen.

You know who else had a cure for overpopulation?

[Xenocles]

Paul Erlich?

[Teh Bugs]

RAAAID?!

[SIV]

Margaret Sanger?

[mad libertarian guy]

Sign the petition to make the taxpayers of Lexington, KY pay for a sign that denotes Lexington as the best place to Occupy Wall Street!!

That I know many, many people on that list, and have hung out with a great many of those, makes me feel like such a loser. Why did grad school have to be so cruel?

[Michael S. Langston]

They're just trying to lower the curve for other cities, so things like "Home of the world's largest ball of string" doesn't seem so stupid anymore.

[Michael S. Langston]

*don't seem...

[Dagny T.]

Kenny Madden believes so much in spending other money on stuff he likes he signed it twice for added protest-y goodness.

In fact, it seems economic illiteracy and other-people's-stuff-takin' runs in families. Round up all the Madden boys for a quick lesson, would you MLG? Maybe you can see if Sug would be willing to help educate them, Pelosi Porn-style?

[mad libertarian guy]

That's a fight I dare not enter. I have brain cells to save so that they can be later killed by pot. Why do you hate my brain cells?

[Fletch]

I went for the "Iyama Fookin Idiote" ID... I don't think it was accepted.

[John]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ingtonpost

Rat population has exploded around occupy DC camps.

[RoboCain]

I know they are filthy, diseased parasites, but it still isn't fair to call them "rats".

Because it isn't fair to rats.

[Paul]

Both campsites had working kitchens for weeks until last week, but protesters at McPherson Square voluntarily closed down theirs after health inspectors pointed out unsanitary conditions during an informal monitoring visit.

Is it irony that OWSers are getting nickle-and-dimed by the regulatory state?

[John]

They had an informal visit. I am thinking the food trucks and restaurants get more than an informal visit and suggestions.

[Paul]

When the weather goes bad suddenly we're watching a tragedy unfold in the middle of Washington, D.C. "

AKA: a presidential campaign.

[El Commentariosa]

A bill of rights that protects people and nature, but not corporations? Your community could be next.

When communities try to keep corporations from engaging in activities they don't want, they often find they don't have the legal power to say "no." Why? Because our current legal structure too often protects the "rights" of corporations over the rights of actual human beings.

If we are to elevate our rights and the rights of our communities above those of a corporate few, we, too, need to transform the way laws work.

WHERE ARE YOU BARFMAN

[Dagny T.]

Shit, EC, that magazine is lame. Instead of repeatedly punching yourself in the gut, go check out the sidebar "I subscribe" photos. Smarmy yet "fired up" would sum up most, if you wanted to go beyond "douchebag" or "Van Jones" in describing them.

[John]

Come on Dagney. Brett Dennen doesn't pull your trigger?

[El Commentariosa]

but Raffi!

[barfman]

I say, good sir. I don't much care for being typecast.

[rho]

Hitler?

(See, threaded comments have value. Get in line, iconoclast.)

[P Brooks]

"Millions of tax dollars may have been wasted" by DHS

Wait, what? Is that even possible?

[P Brooks]

Close, but no.

Lizzy Borden was the answer I was looking for.

Better luck next time.

[John]

How civilizations die

http://gawker.com/5874047/

[My Little Bronie]

Would you rather we were breeding?

[Brett L]

Jesus, they look like guys who got their asses kicked by the Comicon crowd for being too geeky.

[Dagny T.]

Someone on Gawker said what I was thinking: Bronies are Furries in denial. But please no one link to My Little Pony slashfic. Some things are better left unknown.

[Ice Nine]

Geez, I know I'm terminally unhip but still, what?

[RoboCain]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoor.....ny-fan-art

[Bingo]

I seriously wonder wtf is going on with young adult men these days. Sure seem to be a lot of them caught up in fantasy worlds and clinging onto childish things.

I know 3 dudes that are at least 20 yrs old that avidly watch anime, that is fucked up.

[Priestess]

My youngest daughter's fiance is a Bronie. Should I be worried? He's a ginger too....oh Gods my grandchildren are going to be mutants!

[rho]

I hate you.

[P Brooks]

But apparently, simply expressing an opinion or feeling is "bullying".

Ya big bully. I know a bully when I see one, mister, and you are exactly that thing!

[The Ghost of Teddy Roosevelt]

Bully!

[Eduard van Haalen]

Aggressive marketing in Japan:

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3688

[John]

http://www.nationalreview.com/.....nordlinger

Jay Nordlinger makes a fair defense of Romney and the stupid attacks on him for being a CEO including this gem

Over and over, Romney defends and explains capitalism. And he's supposed to be the RINO and squish in the race? That's what I read in the conservative blogosphere, every day. What do you have to do to be a "real conservative"? Speak bad English and belch?

[chris]

There was a weird moment in the debate Saturday when Newt dismissed Romney's private sector background as being relevant experience for the presidency. A technocrat through and through.

[capitol l]

What do you have to do to be a "real conservative"?

Ummm, not force people to buy health insurance?

[John]

True. But I don't think being a CEO disqualifies you. I dislike Romney. But Nordlinger makes a fair point.

[capitol l]

No, I wouldn't say that being a CEO disqualifies a person from being president, but how many supposed capitalist titans are of the crony/socialist variety?

Mark my words, Romney is going to get the McCain treatment. He'll be touted as the great conservative hope for the American free-market system. To me, though, there ain't enough difference between Mittens and The Anointed One to justify pulling my ass off of a barstool to vote for either of them.

[chris]

Mittens is just Obama with a better on average pool of talent to draw court appointments from.

[capitol l]

I don't know, I don't really think we'll have any good appointments either way.

I think I'll get wasted like I do every election day.

[Tulpa]

Smearing is easy.

Making an argument is hard.

[capitol l]

What are you prattling on about now?

[Tulpa]

The "person" before you repeating the line that Romney and Obama are the same.

[chris]

Who knows, it's Tulpa. He doesn't know what the word 'smear' means, so where ever he thinks an argument would lead him is completely off course in the first place.

[Tulpa Gump]

I am not a smart man, but I know what a smear is.

[Maxxx]

What do you have to do to be a "real conservative"

Oppose government mandates to buy anything.

Oppose the WS bailouts.

Veto a bill as governor.

Cut (not grow) government.

Appoint judges and eb officials that are not raving statist fucks.

Cut (not raise) taxes.

Know something about the constitution.

Seriously what the fuck makes Romeny a conservative? He made a lot of money as an investor, by that fucking standard, Rohm Emmanuel and Hillary Clinton for conservatives.

[Maxxx]

What do you have to do to be a "real conservative"

Oppose government mandates to buy anything.

Oppose the WS bailouts.

Veto a bill as governor.

Cut (not grow) government.

Appoint judges and eb officials that are not raving statist fucks.

Cut (not raise) taxes.

Know something about the constitution.

Seriously what the fuck makes Romeny a conservative? He made a lot of money as an investor, by that fucking standard, Rohm Emmanuel and Hillary Clinton for conservatives.

[chris]

Anyone care to make predictions?

Corey Feldman to name 2 celebrities that molested him

http://www.wwtdd.com/2012/01/c.....ested-him/

My two: Charlie Sheen & Stephen Spielberg

[El Commentariosa]

Can 1 be Corey Haim or is that too soon?

[chris]

That's just gay sex because they are peers.

[chris]

Were peers. Poor little Hammy.

[John]

Michael Jackson is one.

[chris]

I predict he sticks by his story. He was pretty detailed about what he thought Jackson did that was inappropriate (explained VD to him at thirteen with an illustrated book).

[John]

i bet he is telling the truth. Hollywood is full of pedophiles.

[chris]

Note how defensive so many of them were when Roman Polanski got arrested? That reaction was not normal. 'Rape, but not rape rape'. Sorry Sister Act, but roofies means rape rape.

The girl who played the spoiled blonde in Little House on the Prairie said everyone knew the two Cories were passed around like cheap whores from one mogul to another. Hollywood is going to blow wide open one day.

[RoboCain]

Was rohypnol even invented yet?

Anyway, I think what Woopie meant is that she was underage, not that she said "no".

[chris]

Whoopi didn't know anything about the case. She assumed it was only a matter of statutory definition.

[Tulpa]

He really liked thin chicks, didn't he?

[Episiarch]

Jerry Sandusky and Michael Bay?

[chris]

The later would be almost as satisfying as seeing Spielberg go down. I'm sorry, SS. I loved Empire of the Sun, but too many movies glorifying the Good Cause. It has to end.

[chris]

BTW, I picked Charlie Sheen because he'll fuck anything. At some point in time its even probable, Corey's ass got in the way of Sheen's dick and the general direction it was pointing.

Better than Sheen or Spielberg as far as the fallout, Tom Hanks. Please make it so! But, damn, it will probably be someone I like that most everyone else hates like Tom Cruise and/or John Travolta.

[Episiarch]

I seriously doubt it's Charlie.

Hanks would be pretty good, but I would guess it's going to not be an actor, but more likely some big ass producer, director, or agent, or maybe even a studio bigwig or head.

[chris]

Likely so. The woman I referenced did point to studio bigwigs as the problem. I've heard pretty much the same from a stripper who moved back East a few years ago. Said Moguls tended to be sadist.

[Tulpa]

They're getting more and more desperate, too. They used to get a steady flow of would-be starlets willing to do anything to get roles, but in recent years a lot of those girls are winding up in the porn industry, where the number of guys they have to have sex with is much smaller than in Hollywood.

[STEVE SMITH]

CHARLIE SHEEN FUCK ANYTHING, BUT STEVE SMITH FUCK EVERYTHINGER THAN HIM!

[Brett L]

You know the dad vampire from Lost Boys is one.

[Indiana Jones Child Molester]

http://www.cracked.com/article.....cters.html

During a 70s brainstorming session for Raiders, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas seriously considered the idea that Indiana Jones' backstory should totally include the time he had sex with a girl who still had most of her baby teeth. Lucas commented that it would be "amusing," to which Spielberg immediately added that it would be even funnier if Marion was this 12 year-old slut who came on to Indy and seduced him!

Of course, the first movie wouldn't actually show Indiana Jones molesting a tween, but the terrifying implication would have still been there.

Other ages were also suggested, but Lucas made it clear that they shouldn't go higher than 16 with the sex, because then "it's not interesting anymore."

Read more: 5 Insane Early Drafts of Famous Movie Characters | Cracked.com http://www.cracked.com/article.....z1j1OAFT1S

[Indiana Jones Child Molester]

http://www.ramascreen.com/indi.....d-molester

George Lucas: I was thinking that this old guy could have been the mentor. He could have known this little girl when she was just a kid. Had an affair with her when she was eleven.

Lawrence Kasdan: And he was forty-two.

George Lucas: He hasn't seen her in twelve years. Now she's twenty-two. It's a real strange relationship.

Steven Spielberg: She had better be older than twenty-two.

George Lucas: He's thirty-five, and he knew her ten years ago when he was twenty-five and she was only twelve. It would be amusing to make her slightly young at the time.

Steven Spielberg: And promiscuous. She came onto him.

George Lucas: Fifteen is right on the edge. I know it's an outrageous idea, but it is interesting. Once she's sixteen or seventeen it's not interesting anymore. But if she was fifteen and he was twenty-five and they actually had an affair the last time they met. And she was madly in love with him and he ?

[El Commentariosa]

What is Meathead?

[Butts Wagner]

Emmanuel Lewis and MC Hammer

[NAACP]

That's racist, Wagner!

[John]

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/20.....-beatings/

[RoboCain]

That's just wrong.

[Massa, I's firsty!]

it be just good maths

i's learned da metric system from weed, nawmsayin?

[Binky]

The first asked, "Each tree had 56 oranges. If eight slaves undocumented workers pick them equally, then how much would each slave undocumented worker pick?" The other said, "If Frederick got two beatings per day from the police, how many beatings did he get in one week?"

Better?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Some non-controversial questions for math class:

If there are 1,400,000 slaves and slaves count as 3/5 of a person for purposes of congressional representation, how will these slaves count for purposes of congressional representation?

If Jerry Sandusky rapes two boys a day for eight years, except on weekends when he only rapes one boy per day, how many boys does he rape? (add two leap years)

How many Armenians would Hitler have to kill every day, from 1941 to 1945, in order to get to 6,000,000?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Yes, the last one was a trick question - which is bound to be controversial.

[STEVE SMITH]

SANDUSKY ONLY RAPE TWO BOYS A DAY? SANDUSKY LAY DOWN ON JOB! STEVE SMITH RAPE THAT MANY BEFORE GATHER MORNING HITCHHIKER MEAL!

[P Brooks]

Newt dismissed Romney's private sector background as being relevant experience for the presidency.

Forgive me if I don't bother to feign surprise.

[chris]

Agree. Disgust is the appropriate reaction.

[OWS-VPS]

INDIANS 101--MOUNT RUSHMORE
-----------------------------------------

While Europeans tended to build the places they considered to be sacred?churches, statues, memorials?for American Indian people sacred places were often not places constructed by humans, but places which were naturally sacred. In looking at the landscape around them, Indian people did not see a landscape that needed changing, nor did they see it as a landscape which they were to dominate: rather, they saw a landscape filled with living things. The living things within this landscape included the plants and animals, as well as the rivers, the rocks, the mountains, and the hills. Sacred places in the landscape were often portals through which Indian people could make contact with the sacred.

The Black Hills in South Dakota is an area which is historically linked to several tribes, including the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Kiowa. As a sacred area, it was used for making contact with the spirit world and obtaining spiritual power. It was here that many Indians conducted ceremonies such as the vision quest, the Sun Dance, and others. It was here that they gathered the sacred medicines?the plants?that they needed for healing and for ceremonial use.

By the 1870s, Americans were spreading rumors that that Black Hills were unoccupied, that they were an area which Indian people did not use. Illegal expeditions into the area somehow ignored all of the Indian hunting parties which they encountered, and which were reported in their journals, and told of an empty area waiting for "development" by non-Indians who would redeem the area from its paganism and make it a part of modern America.

The theft of the Black Hills from the Sioux has been widely reported by both historians and the popular media. The theft, however, involved more than just taking the land: it also involved renaming it. All of the geographic features within the Black Hills had Indian names in 1877, but over the next couple of decades these names were replaced by non-Indian names.

In 1884, New York City attorney Charles E. Rushmore came to the Black Hills to check on legal titles to some properties. On coming back to camp one day, he asked Bill Challis about the name of a mountain. Bill is reported to have replied:

"Never had a name but from now on we'll call it Rushmore."

With that offhand comment, the mountain known to the Sioux as Six Grandfathers became Mount Rushmore. The Sioux name had been an important part of their oral tradition and their association with the land. The new name reflected the American lack of concern for the history of the land and the importance of attorneys in their society.

The wealth generated from the gold and the cattle in the Black Hills was not enough to satisfy American greed. By the 1920s, people were looking for new ways of exploiting the Black Hills. In other parts of the country, tourism was proving to be an economic asset, and so, in 1923, Doane Robinson, the South Dakota state historian, came up with an idea to bring tourists (and their money) into the state. His idea was to commission a sculptor to transform one of the tall narrow, granite rock formations in the Black Hills into memorials of major figures from the mythic narrative of the American west. In his vision, he saw giant memorials to heroes such as George Armstrong Custer, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and perhaps the Sioux chief Red Cloud, which would stand along a new highway and lure tourists away from Yellowstone National Park.

The next problem was how to bring the vision into reality. To solve this, Robinson turned to Gutzon Borglum, the son of Danish Mormon immigrants who had made the ten-week trek along the Mormon trail through Indian lands to Salt Lake City. Borglum was one of the most famous sculptors of the time. Borglum had been involved with the carving of a massive bas-relief monument to the heroes of the Confederacy at Stone Mountain, Georgia. Borglum was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and Stone Mountain was used as a site to revitalize the Klan.

Robinson had initially envisioned the carvings on a series of geological features known as "The Needles," but Borglum found them unsuitable for carving and selected the Six Grandfathers (Mount Rushmore) instead. The new plan was assailed by naturalists who pointed out that it would desecrate the natural beauty of the Black Hills. Robinson replied:

"God only makes a Michelangelo or a Gutzon Borglum once in a thousand years."

Borglum changed the original vision of the project and proposed a "Shrine of Democracy" which would focus on Presidential portraits. He would later state:

"The purpose of the memorial is to communicate the founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the United States with colossal statues of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt."

In 1926, Borglum began carving the faces of four presidents out of a mountain in the Black Hills, land sacred to the Lakota people. The sculptor, who admired Manifest Destiny and saw the conquest of the Lakota and the theft of their sacred land as justifiable, dedicated the sculptures to the Expansion of the United States. From Borglum's perspective, Manifest Destiny, an expression of racial superiority, was an expression of the rightful order of the world.

The following year, President Calvin Coolidge dedicated the construction of the monument to Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. While the Black Hills were sacred to the Sioux and other tribes, Coolidge made no mention of Indians in his dedication speech.

In 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the nearly completed monument to Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt at Mount Rushmore. As with the earlier Presidential dedication, the President made no mention of Indians. The general public who read about the new monument, and the tourists who came to it, were oblivious to the fact that Mount Rushmore had once been Indian land, and that it was still sacred to them.

From the Indian perspective, the monument at Mount Rushmore was a symbol of the dominant culture's arrogance, racism, and spiritual insensitivity. Carving icons of Presidents who were known for their insensitivity to Indian issues into a living sacred mountain be similar to painting anti-Christian graffiti inside of cathedral, or anti-Semitic symbols inside a synagogue.

In 1970, a group of about 20 Sioux from the Pine Ridge Reservation under the leadership of Leo Wilcox, a tribal council member, asked to conduct a prayer vigil at the amphitheater at Mount Rushmore. The request was granted. The group explained to tourists and the news media that they had come to protest the failure of the United States to return land taken from the Pine Ridge Reservation for a gunnery range during World War II. They pointed out that Mount Rushmore, a part of the Black Hills, had been illegally taken from them a century earlier.

In a separate demonstration, members of the American Indian Movement demonstrated at Mount Rushmore. Several of them camped on the top of the monument just behind the head of Theodore Roosevelt. A highly respected Sioux spiritual leader, Frank Fools Crow, came to Mount Rushmore and performed a ceremony to purify the land. In doing this ceremony, he re-established the Sioux religious relationship with Mount Rushmore.

In 1971, the American Indian Movement symbolically renamed the monument Mount Crazy Horse. Sioux spiritual leader John Fire Lame Deer planted a prayer staff on top of the mountain. From the viewpoint of AIM and many Native Americans, Mount Rushmore should be considered as the Shrine of Hypocrisy rather than as the Shrine of Democracy. Mount Rushmore symbolizes to them the treaties broken by the United States.

By the end of the twentieth century, there was no doubt that Mount Rushmore was a successful tourist attraction. The non-Indian businesses in the area were earning about $100 million annually. This prosperity was made possible by an initial investment of about $1 million in federal tax money. Just 60 miles east of the monument, however, the Pine Ridge Reservation, home to many of the Sioux who had been the aboriginal owners, was one of the poorest areas in the United States with an unemployment rate of about 80%.

In 2004, Gerard Baker (Mandan/Hidatsa) became the first Native American superintendent of the park. He had previously been superintendent at the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana. When he was offered the position at Mount Rushmore, he called the elders and asked their advice. He was expecting them to tell him not to take the job, but instead was told that this would be a good place to start the healing.

Under his leadership, Mount Rushmore opened more avenues of interpretation and moved beyond the single focus on the four Presidents. Baker opened up a dialogue with Native American groups, asking them for feedback and input about the monument. As a result, Heritage Village, a small cluster of Sioux tipis, was established at the monument. During the work week, Native Americans provided demonstrations of Sioux culture and handicrafts. They also provided insights into the aboriginal Sioux culture.

In 2008, Baker invited several tribal elders to a tribal council held on the park grounds of Mount Rushmore. In the council the park rangers and staff listened to the concerns and issues of the elders. Three main ideas came out of this dialogue: (1) to place Sioux language translations on several signs as a way of indicating the Indian presence, (2) to distribute pamphlets with an accurate description of Sioux culture and spirituality; and (3) to have Native American college students collect oral histories from elders about the park.

Baker, who suffered a stroke in 2009, retired early from the National Park Service in 2010.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/.....-Rushmore-

[mad libertarian guy]

Dude. You gonna have to work on your etiquette. The very last thing you want to do if you're trying to get a point across is to write a comment on a blog as long as fucking War and Peace.

I'm mean it isn't as if I'm going to read a single word, because I know you're full of shit, but still.

[chris]

It's likely no one reads it. It would be nice if Reason limited the visible portion of our post to say eight or ten lines so we can scroll through that shit more quickly.

[mad libertarian guy]

Reasonable FTW!!

[RoboCain]

They should make that for FireFox.

[mad libertarian guy]

Just download Chrome. It's not nearly the hog Firefox is, and works great.

[PapayaSF]

And also redid the CSS on the comment container so that people who lean on the keyboard (like thissssssssssssssss but more so) have their comment cut off instead of having it stretch the page wide.

[capitol l]

Jesus Titty-Fucking Christ, that was the most boring trolling I've ever seen.

Fuck man, throw some feces or something.

[Fluffy]

Look, you can get me to acknowledge that the Indians got a raw deal in material terms due to the lack of enforcement of treaty terms and gross malfeasance by federal officials given control of Indian assets in trust -

- But fucking spare me the "sacred space" nonsense, OK?

Indian concepts of the "sacred" were no better than anyone else's, and that makes them (ahem) stupid.

"That pile of leaves over there is sacred!" Yeah. OK. Whatever.

Spirituality has zero value.

Next topic.

[Eduard van Haalen]

The OWS people have smoked the peace pipe with WI, and now they're launching a joint assault on Hit and Run.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Whatever they put in that peace pipe must be some powerful shit.

[mad libertarian guy]

It's not what they pit in the pipe, it's the power of the pipe itself.

[Mr. FIFY]

Go. The. Fuck. Away. Godesky.

[OO=======D]

Put me back into your mouth!

[Anonymous Coward]

Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) grants were funneled from DHS to the State and on to Cook County. The report concludes, "FEMA did not adequately ensure that the State of Illinois effectively monitored Cook County's expenditures..."

Fucking slush funds! How do they work?

[Hassan Hobobber]

lol, them silly Muslims never cease to amuse me lol.

http://www.Plus-Privacy.tk

[capitol l]

Romney was born in Detroit, Michigan.[1] He was the youngest child of George W. Romney, who by 1948 had become an automobile executive, and Lenore Romney (n?e LaFount). His mother was a native of Logan, Utah, and his father had been born in an American Mormon colony in Chihuahua, Mexico.[2]

Dude, is Mittens an anchor baby?

[invisible furry hand]

Shouldn't there be a "w" in that?

[Binky]

No. Apparently you're thinking of "wanker baby".

[Sweating Bourbon]

No, he's the youngest, so it's okay.

I'd just like to say, though, WTF -- Mormons have colonies?

[Tulpa]

In case you didn't know already, Jon Huntsman is a douche.

"I want individuals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy," Romney said. "It also means that if you don't like what they do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. You know if someone doesn't give me the good service I need, I want to say, you know, I'm going to go get someone else to provide that service to me."

In Concord, Jon Huntsman used the statement out of context to contrast his candidacy with Romney, whom he called "out of touch."

"It's become abundantly clear over the last couple days what differentiates Gov. Romney and me," Huntsman said. "I will always put my country first. It seems Gov. Romney believes in putting politics first. Gov. Romney enjoys firing people, I enjoy creating jobs."

[Tulpa]

Wow, Ron Paul hating on Pittsburgh on C-SPAN, saying the rivers are sewers.

[capitol l]

If you disagree then take a cool dip in the Mon on a hot summer's day.

[Sarah Nghetti]

You know who else always put their country first.

[Binky]

The leader of Abkhazia?

(Certainly not anyone from Zimbabwe.)

[juris imprudent]

Rufus T. Firefly - hail Freedonia!

[El Commentariosa]

Boris Pasternak?

[Sweating Bourbon]

So -- Monocles.

It's joked about. And now I get ads for monocles on hit and run.

But seriously... anyone got a good source?

Here's what I want from a monocle:

1) gold finish
2) gold chain
3) slight magnification
4) looks ostentatious enough that I don't feel bad wearing it while drinking cognac.

Anyone got a place to recommend for monocles?

[.]

Just get yourself some John Lennon specs and pop out the lenses. Two lenses, so you've got yourself a built-in backup. No chain, but you can draw one on your cheek with a Sharpie (color to taste).

It's the t-shirt tuxedo of capitalist eye wear.

[Cleetus]

You can't have just one. You also need to ensure your valet is educated in proper monocle cleaning and storage techniques.
This is not a trivial responsibility, but your butler has more important tasks.

[Sweating Bourbon]

Fair enough, anyone have a good source for enough monocles to keep my manservants occupied?

[Cleetus]

I get mine from hobos and vagrants that wander onto my property.

[Sweating Bourbon]

hobos and vagrants don't wear monocles, unless they stole them from libertarians.

[Cleetus]

They may have been monocle salesmen.

[heller]

You have to find a good custom eyeglass shop in your area if you want a quality monocle.

[Dame Veronika]

Stop asking questions and shut your mouth. You will do as you are told. You will be given no gold chains, but in chains you will be bound. When I say...

Oh wait, monocles. Sorry. kthxbai.

[Mr. FIFY]

You'll need some spats, and an ascot, and a puffy shirt.

Also, a penny-farthing bicycle.

[Priestess]

I can't believe I'm posting this link

Also please don't let me SugarFree this...

[Oh]

Al Qaeda fanboy wanted to blow up Florida

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? A Kosovo-born man was charged with plotting to attack Tampa-area nightclubs and a sheriff's office.

Florida...nightclubs...whatever.

[TheRightRadical]

""Osmakac was arrested Saturday ? the day officials said he was planning his attack ? after he allegedly bought explosive devices and firearms from an undercover agent.""

Another government abetted terrorist plot. Can someone tell why we have to have the Patriot Act to protect us from FBI sting operations?

http://www.thenewamerican.com/.....nstigation

[mad libertarian guy]

Because if there were no FBI sting operations, the government wouldn't need to "protect" us from anyone.

[El Commentariosa]

Roll Tide.

[BigT]

Poor Ben.

http://m.deadspin.com/5874213/...../gallery/1

[Last Son of Krypton AuH20]

Oh, do I have links tomorrow for y'all. Have fun with the wide world of microagressions...

[Last Son of Krypton AuH20]

Oh, I couldn't resist just a preview. From the Microagressions Tumblr:

"It's okay to have a vagina. It's not okay to be a vagina," says an close male friend to me after I remarked that a TV show might be too violent for me to continue watching. "What makes you think it's okay to say that to anyone?" I ask. "It's a common colloquialism I use," he says. I feel utterly betrayed, hurt, and silenced by this.

[chris]

I feel utterly betrayed, hurt, and silenced by this.

But most of all she saw an opportunity to aggrandize her shallow existence.

[juris imprudent]

That's what you get for having a close male friend (that you aren't fucking).

[chris]

Bethesda reaches a deal to acquire the sole rights to the Fallout franchise. According to this, Bethesda will pay Interplay $2 million, and Interplay no longer owns any Fallout rights aside from two more years of selling their three previous Fallout games:

Under the terms of the settlement, the license granted to Interplay to develop the Fallout MMO is null and void, and all rights granted to Interplay to develop a Fallout MMO revert back to Bethesda, effective immediately. Interplay has no ongoing right to use the Fallout brand or any Fallout intellectual property for any game development. ZeniMax will pay Interplay $2 million as consideration in the settlement, each party will bear its own costs of the litigation, and Bethesda will continue to own all Fallout intellectual property rights. Interplay will be permitted to continue to sell the original Fallout ?Tactics, Fallout? and Fallout? 2 PC games through December 2013, after which time all rights to market those games revert to and become the sole property of Bethesda. Under the original agreement pursuant to which Bethesda had acquired the Fallout property, Interplay was granted certain merchandising rights to sell those original Fallout games, but those merchandising rights will now expire on December 31, 2013.

[Last Son of Krypton AuH20]

Eh, this doesn't bother me too much. When was the last time Interplay released a new game again?

[chris]

I'm pretty glad this occurred. When I first read sometime ago that Interplay was suing Bethesda for the media resources used in Fallout 3 so they can use those resources for the basis of a MMO, I thought 'uh oh.' If they don't have the talent to build their own resources they don't have the talent to put together a decent game.

[chris]

Minor issue: in my cut and paste, there is a summary at top above the italicized part that should have appeared as block quotes, but I flubbed it.

[Mr. FIFY]

Sweet!!!

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

I'd likely never vote for him, but I do admire how he doesn't take shit from hecklers.

[D. Letterman, Esq.]

Plus he can't stop eating. Cuz he's large.

[Team Blue]

Plus it's okay when we call people fat.

[Paul Shaffer]

Haaaaaaa!!! You're the man, Dave!!!! *smooch* He's fat!!! That cracks me up.

[Mr. FIFY]

http://www.salon.com/2012/01/0.....xist_joke/

[Mr. FIFY]

Dig this... some HuffPosters and other morons are trying to say Christie verbally sexually assaulted the OWStard chick.

Shit. We. Are. Fucked.

[Tulpa]

Words are like penises.