A.M. Links: ABC to Wreck Newt with Ex-Wife Interview, Rick Santorum (Might Have) Actually Won Iowa, Kodak Finally Files for Chapter 11

• Newt Gingrich's second wife has given an "explosive" interview to ABC that will tentatively air tonight. 

• Rick Santorum may have beaten Romney in the Iowa caucuses.
• Kodak files for Chapter 11. 
• Who actually supports SOPA/PIPA? Here's a list of five rabid rent seekers. 
• WaPo editorial slams Obama on Keystone cancellation.
• Obama's first ad for re-election is a mash note to green energy.

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New at Reason.tv: "Will The Supreme Court End New York's Rent Control Laws?"

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Wow. Wednesday's P.M. Links sure are late.

[Suki]

+1

[Quetzalcoatl]

Cavendish went on some sort of bender.

[Ska]

Hilts tried to warn him, but Cavendish gave his trademark Alley-oop and crashed right through the top and bottom bunks.

[Suki]

Good morning reason!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The Federal Reserve's Secret Recipe has been stolen

The proprietary source code is associated with the Government-Wide Accounting and Reporting Program software that is used by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to keep track of the government's finances. The U.S. has spent about $9.5 million to develop the code.

$9.5M to develop code that doesn't even tell you we're broke.

[yonemoto]

these are the guys who refuse to calculate M3 on the grounds that it's "too expensive" and the "information doesn't justify the cost"

[yonemoto]

http://www.federalreserve.gov/.....discm3.htm

[Rich]

The U.S. has spent about $9.5 million to develop the code

, according to the proprietary source code associated with the Government-Wide Accounting and Reporting Program software that is used by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to keep track of the government's finances.

[JW]

Last year, I received a misdirected reply-to-all email conversation to my gmail account (which happens with alarming frequency) from a guy claiming to work in the Fed's IT dept , about how his FB and gmail accounts had been hacked. It was fascinating to watch the conversation unfold.

Now we know how.

[Quetzalcoatl]

"I left them logged in at the library and somebody hacked them! I have no idea how it happened!"

[rac3rx]

A pet peeve of mine. Being a dumbass doesn't get you "hacked."

http://failbook.failblog.org/2.....wpromocopy

[RoboCain]

"When I asked about Hobson, Lucas said, "I'm a '60s, West Coast, liberal, radical, artsy, dyed-in-the-wool 99 percenter before there was such a thing." (He was referring to his upbringing rather than his reported $3.2 billion net worth.) "And she's an East Coast, Princeton grad, Wall Street fund manager, knows all the big players, works in the big world. You would never think that we would get together, have anything in common. But when we did, we realized we had everything in common. It was the most unlikely coupling."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01.....wanted=all

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Lucas is a capitalist. He can call himself whatever he wants, but he's a capitalist.

[John]

What you mean the man who basically invented the action figure and movie product marketing isn't a pure artist? Shocked I tell you. Shocked.

[Suki]

Not to mention all of those worthless car engine products.

[Almanian]

Prince of Darkness for the win!

[Quetzalcoatl]

I'm just surprised that he's only worth $3.2 billion...

[John]

Think about it. He managed to make three of the worst movies ever made that totally discredited the most profitable movie franchise in history. And he is still a multi billionaire. Imagine what he would be worth if the prequels hadn't sucked so much?

[DJF]

But without those prequels he would not have been able to sell Jar Jar Binks action figures.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Oh, I don't know...I bet that Jar Jar is Libertymike's and StE's favorite character...

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I think Lucas and Cameron should hook up and produce a Michael Bay directed film.

It would be the most craptastic celluloid feature ever.

[John]

I still love American Graffiti. And the first hour of Star Wars is magical. And so is most of Empire Strikes Back. Where did he go so wrong?

[Discount Double Choke]

Ewoks. It all started there.

[SIV]

Yub! Yub!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

When he took full control of his scripts. Lucas cannot write dialogue.

"George, you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it."
?Harrison Ford during the making of A New Hope, referring to the script

Never mind about his overly complicated plots.

[John]

He is a living example of why we need loser copyright laws. He created a really interesting universe. Imagine if other more talented writers could make movies using that universe.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Best example of that is The Empire Strikes Back

[Loki]

Also helped that he didn't direct Empire, Irvin Kirshner did.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Don't forget the licensed fanfic.

[SFC B]

Every cinematic in The Old Republic makes me go "This is clearly what Lucas THOUGHT he was creating".

I would watch a Star Wars movie developed by Bioware with lube and Kleenex available.

[Mike Laursen]

The first clear sign that something was amiss was the Star Wars Holiday Special:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbF_ecnlyTk

[Quetzalcoatl]

I'm sure that plenty of people still bought the toys from the prequels. Children just don't know any better.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

If I were that age, I would have bought them. For God's sake, I thought Thundarr the Barbarian was the awesomest when I was a kid.

[SugarFree]

Ookla The Mok is named after a phonetic spelling of UCLA.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Ookla does resemble Patrick Ewing with a blonde mane.

[Devil's Advocate]

Thundarr the Barbarian IS the awesomest, what are you saying?!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I'm saying "Never go back and watch the stuff you thought was great when you were a kid. Your memories far exceed the actual thing."

[SugarFree]

He has a sun sword, damn you! A SUN SWORD!

[BakedPenguin]

Your memories far exceed the actual thing.

Yes. I watched Speed Racer about ten years ago, and was horrified at the gap between my memory and the show.

If I ever feel nostalgic about Johnny Quest, I'll go look at Venture Brothers.

[BakedPenguin]

"...was horrified at the gap between my memory of how good the show was and the horror I was watching."

[JW]

If I ever feel nostalgic about Johnny Quest, I'll go look at Venture Brothers.

I own both full sets of DVDs from both shows. They both rock in their own right.

[alittlesense]

I hear Andrew Lloyd Webber is writing an opera about this guy, mixing in another opera. Gonna title it "Thundarr Thais"

[Sparky]

Don't you be talking smack about Thundarr. DEMON DOGS!!!!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Sorry, Birdman kicks Thundarr's ass

[Mike Laursen]

Keep in mind that your average kid can take those toys and come up with a better script for them than Lucas.

[Palpatine]

What?... Oh, oh, "just rebuild it"? Oh, real fucking original. And who's going to give me a loan, jackhole, you?... You got an ATM on that torso Lite-Brite? Now get your seven-foot-two asthmatic ass back here, or I'm going to tell everyone what a whiny bitch you were about Padama-may or Panda Bear or whatever the hell her name is!...

[Jar Jar Binks]

Fucka you

[Loki]

The prequels pailed in comparison to the crapfest that was Howard the Duck and Indianna Jones and the Kindom of the Crystal Skulls (They're raping him!)

[John]

Yeah. We should have known something was up when he made Howard the Duck. That movie was so shockingly bad. Remember when it was made he was coming off the first three Star Wars and the first Indian Jones move. He was a god. And then came Howard. At the time it was inexplicable. In retrospect, it was George returning to form.

[Abdul]

I didn't read the article, but from the picutre it appears that George Lucas found the only straight chick in the WNBA.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

For a second, I thought he was Michelle Obama's back door man.

[Loki]

I don't really care what he does or says, just please George for the force's sake, STOP FUCKING UP STAR WARS! Han shot 1st DAMMIT! (knee jerk reaction to the subject of Star Wars)

I wouldn't at all be surprised to learn that the 3-D re-release of Ep. 1 will include "restored" footage of Jar-Jar Binks. Also, Jar-Jar will have an imaginary friend added in to make him seem less irritating by comparison.

[Joe M]

Lucas has decided to devote the rest of his life to what cineastes in the 1970s used to call personal films. They'll be small in scope, esoteric in subject and screened mostly in art houses.

That shit is gonna make me choke on my coffee. Or drown myself in it.

[RoboCain]

Third time is the charm:

"A WOMAN told yesterday how a one-in-a-million medical condition led to her being born with TWO fully-formed vaginas.

Hazel Jones, 27, said it means she has lost her virginity TWICE."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/ho.....ginas.html

[KDN]

She's cute for a freak.

[SugarFree]

Hazel, of High Wycombe, Bucks, did not realise she was different until her periods started at 14. She said: "I told friends. They looked even more confused than me."

She went to hospital four years later to learn the truth.

Someone finally got to use their set of gynecological tools for mutant women.

[SugarFree]

Are you asking if she still has her behymen?

[Live Free or Diet]

Hazel told The Sun last night she and hubby Riki visited fetish clubs, explaining: "It shows how relaxed I am.

Doesn't it mean she's the on-stage act?

Man! They didn't show it... uh... them! What's happened to British TV?

[Drax the Destroyer]

There is only one thing I'm wondering about this: DVDVDA?

[RoboCain]

Zooey Deschanel (still hot) was always annoying:

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

[SugarFree]

I think it's safe to say that ANYONE who is exceptional in some way got bullied in school at some point.

- sharon, a housewife who does cook but doesn't judge other women who don't, ny, ny, 18/1/2012 22:32

-
The projection is strong with this one.

[exceptional person]

Says you. I can totally confirm what she wrote. I think it's safe to say that people like you who are neither exceptional, nor were bullied, would not understand.

- me, a person who doesn't judge other people including others who do

[Dick Fitzwell]

Kindly go piss up a rope.

-me, a person who judges others and is totally ok with being judged by others

[John]

She does look smoking in that top photo though.

[romulus augustus]

Zooey's dad was in my grade school class. Quite a nerd but produced quite a hot offspring.

[.]

Why didn't you slap him for naming his child "Zooey" in the future?

[Nipplemancer]

He directed a handful of episodes of Twin Peaks which also featured his wife Mary Jo who played Donna's (Lara Flynn Boyle) mother.

[Ska]

The crazed mother-in-law who's also in Big Love?

[SugarFree]

No, that was Laura Palmer's mother.

[Ska]

Ah, the red-headed lady who faked being a Japanese businessman then?

[Ska]

No it's not her, just checked imdb. Man, I hardly even remember her in Twin Peaks.

[Ska]

No it's not her, just checked imdb. Man, I hardly even remember her in Twin Peaks.

[Nipplemancer]

the one in the wheel chair.

[Devil's Advocate]

She comes across like a speshul snowflake.

[John]

Most people under 35 do.

[?]

I totally believe that she regularly got the entirety of her living shit kicked out of her by the other showbiz kids at the exclusive private school for showbiz kids where she absolutely got kneed right in the pussy, every day, like nine times, by Jake Gyllenhaal.

True story.

[Devil's Advocate]

LOL. Yeah, that was kind of my reaction too. Hence, speshul snowflake.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I'd watch that show.

[RoboCain]

"JANUARY 18--Armed with flaming tampons--yes, flaming tampons--two young Pennsylvanians attempted to blow up a vehicle after severely vandalizing it, according to police"

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/d.....son-985412

[Rich]

Neither Deshong responded to Facebook messages seeking comment about the alleged tampon torching attempt.

Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Also, Metal township. War-ty! War-ty!

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't understand, are they married or brother and sister?

[SugarFree]

Yes.

[sloopyinca]

In answer to your question: yes.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I hope both of you appreciate that I set you up for that.

[Abdul]

Why can't it be both?

[Marshall Gill]

Yes.

[Marshall Gill]

Damn, last again.

[Loki]

Flaming Tampon Arsonist would be a good name for a metal band.

[End Child Unemployment]

I disagree, sir.

[SugarFree]

Kodak files for Chapter 11.

The beautiful Victorian houses in Rochester just got cheaper.

[T]

Yeah, but you'd have to live in Rochester, so what's the point?

[Discount Double Choke]

It's a good place to live if you like snow and...snow.

[SIV]

Is the George Eastman House going to deaccession? I wouldn't mind looting that place.

[SugarFree]

I doubt it. Kodak Corp. and the Eastman Family Trust aren't very entangled, IIRC.

I trained up there. Rochester is beautiful. For about 4 weeks out of the year.

[RoboCain]

They have two seasons, July and Winter.

[Zeb]

I'm sure it's beautiful when covered in 6' of snow. Just not convenient.

[Pro Libertate]

My first camera was a Kodak. An Instamatic. It actually took decent pictures, which is saying something since I was 6 when I got it.

[.]

^^ every American "of a certain age" ^^

[Pro Libertate]

No doubt. They owned the "first camera" market for quite a while after that, too, I think. My brother got one that was even smaller, a flat camera using 110.

Those cameras were very simple point-and-click affairs. The film was in cartridges you popped in and out, and they used those little disposable flash bulbs (with four one-shot bulbs each).

[Ted S.]

My first camera was a Kodak Disc camera. Yikes.

[Drax the Destroyer]

And people still think giant megolithic corporations will never crumble. 10 bucks, Best Buy goes down in flames within a decade.

[Pro Libertate]

Isn't IBM there, too?

[Discount Double Choke]

No, you're probably thinking of Xerox.

[KDN]

Xerox used to be there, they moved to CT.

[Bee Tagger]

Kodak files for Chapter 11.

Mad Men didn't need any props for the upcoming season?

[Mike Laursen]

They're finally getting to the years that most people of think of as "The Sixties". Wonder if they can come up with a unique take on the era.

[RoboCain]

No word yet on a Real Doll:

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

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Creepy

[RoboCain]

"Co-founder of Pinkberry frozen yogurt 'made homeless man get on knees and apologise for sex tattoo before beating him with tire iron'"

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

[Abdul]

Left wing bias! In a more perfect world, the story would say: "True to the spirit of Ayn Rand's ideals, a heroic entrepeneur helped a shiftless tattooed hobo become more employable. Also, possibly crippled aforementioned hobo."

[poetry]

haha

[RoboCain]

"Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul announced Wednesday that he would filibuster any attempt by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring the Protect IP Act (PIPA) to a vote."

http://dailycaller.com/2012/01.....ster-pipa/

[SugarFree]

Woo! KY finally fails to embarrass nation!

[T]

The day is still young, SF. Your people have plenty of time to do something more typical before close of business.

[SugarFree]

I should shoot you with my possum moonshine shotgun, dagnabit!

[Rev. Blue Moon]

FLORENCE Y'ALL

[db]

I have a friend who thinks that water tower reads "FLORENCE MALL" and the paint has faded in strategic locations.

[SugarFree]

I regret to inform you that your friend is not all the bright.

[mad libertarian guy]

Actually he is.

The sign originally read Florence Mall, but violated a local ordinance, so they had to change it, and settled on "Florence Y'all".

[Quetzalcoatl]

When he filibusters, he should read something that is protected by copyright. Maybe he can sing some Beatles songs.

[John]

Read the script to a Lucas movie.

[.]

Or whistle the bridge from Harold and Joe for 200 hours straight.

[Loki]

Nah, you can type that shit but you can't say it.

[poetry]

A dramatic reading of Google's search algorithm

[Pro Libertate]

Aside from Lincoln, have any other Kentuckians been president?

[SugarFree]

No, but three VPs. And one of them turned traitor during the Civil War.

[Pro Libertate]

Traitor is a strong word.

[SugarFree]

John C. Breckinridge was expelled by the US Senate for his support of The South, denounced his home state and fled to the Confederacy to become a brigadier general.

[SugarFree]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Breckinridge

Breckinridge had ample reason to fear charges of treason; in 1863, premature rumors of his death prompted the New York Times to print a quite vituperative obituary arguing that Kentucky's decision to stay in the Union denied Breckinridge the notion of states' rights to justify his siding with the Confederacy.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, well, my family held, ahem, different views about treason at that time.

[SugarFree]

I don't consider all Confederates traitors, but the Confederates from Kentucky don't have a state's rights argument to fall back on. Especially components of the Orphan Brigade who were members of the Kentucky State Militia that stole their weapons under the cover of night and fled to Tennessee. (This was supposedly organization by John Hunt Morgan--someone else we have a big statue dedicated to downtown.)

[Pro Libertate]

My family was in Tennessee and northern Georgia at the time, so we're innocent. Except for that slave thing.

[R C Dean]

I don't consider all Confederates traitors, but the Confederates from Kentucky don't have a state's rights argument to fall back on.

Why not? Just because their home state didn't happen to secede, why couldn't they support state's rights in principle and go to fight on behalf of a state that did?

[MJ]

Because, by necessity, he is taking up arms against Kentucky. The State's Rights argument against Confederate treason is that a citizen's first loyalty is to his state, then to the United States. A Kentuckian fighting for the Confederate's is committing treason against Kentucky, and since Kentucky remained in the Union his is by extension to the United States.

[mad libertarian guy]

Oh, come on now, Nutrasweet.

Rand Paul regularly is on the right side of virtually everything.

He's the most pro-freedom member of the Senate by miles.

[Suki]

+ The Internet

[o3]

there aint gonna be a vote w the dems jumping ship & Paul knows it. political grandstanding like voting to affirm the national motto

[o3]

derp de derpity derp

[Nephilium]

The Dems are jumping ship? The count of people switching over I saw shows 16 Republicans changing to opposing PIPA, with only 2 Democrats changing their position. With 6 of the Republicans being former cosponsors of the bill.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm not sure why this is, and I don't think it's primarily due to Hollywood's political leanings, but the Democrats seem more generally in the bag with the strong-IP community. I encountered that when I worked in DC more than once.

This is not to say that both parties don't carry the water for Big IP on occasion, of course.

[John]

The big money in Hollywood are telling Democrats they are not going to give any more money if they back down on this. That is why.

[Pro Libertate]

It's not just Hollywood--book publishers and the music industry, too.

[Nephilium]

You mean something like this?

[poetry]

? Nope. Dems ain't jumping ship. Do some more research.

IOW: I'll affirm your grandstanding

[Jerry]

Great, now Reid will berate him for not only being a supporter of terrorists, but also a supporter of pirates.

[Libertarian (Pirate)]

Aaar!
Cunt!

[Live Free or Diet]

Ahrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Me Girlfriend's name's Peg!

[Libertarian (Pirate)]

Aaar!
Fart in a jar!

[Keystone aint dead !]

The Keystone XL project is far from resolved, as TransCanada is allowed to resubmit its permitting application, which the company says it will have ready by September or October.

Following Obama's decision, the company announced it will work with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to determine a possible new route to avoid running the pipeline over portions of the Ogallala Aquifer, a major source of fresh water for drinking and agriculture that runs under several states in the US heartland.

Last year, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican, asked Obama to block the pipeline as outlined in its current proposal, but said he would support the project if a new route were developed to avoid such sensitive agricultural terrain.

Russ Girling, president and chief executive officer of TransCanada, said in a statement that while he disappointed with the decision, he expects the pipeline to start operations in 2014.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/P.....y-deadline

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Barry is just postponing the decision to after the election. At least he'll sell it that way to the unions. Hedging his bets.

[o3]

and the nebraska legislature & governor?

[Marshall Gill]

Hopefully, Keystone will tell them to FO and run the entire thing outside of Nebraska.

[RoboCain]

Amber Heard is still hot:

http://www.wwtdd.com/2012/01/a.....aven-gala/

[SugarFree]

She's so hot, I wonder if they've ever tried using her to ignite a fusion cascade.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Hot is not a sufficient term

[John]

Wow. Your links are definitely an improvement of sarcasmic's usual fair.

[RoboCain]

So she's not to skinny for you?

[John]

No

[RoboCain]

OK, but I posted some KP, just in case.

[Live Free or Diet]

Yeah, skinny. Evidently famous, though she's definitely on my "Who?" list.

Can we go back to yesterday's weightlifters?

[RoboCain]

She's actually a very good actress, imho.

[Live Free or Diet]

Could be. Looked her up on IMDB and it looks like she's been in a lot of shows I never bothered to watch. Next time my kid wants to watch Zombieland I'll look for her.

[Loki]

She's only hot for a few minutes in Zombieland. She plays the main character's hot neighbor, who turns into a zombie and tries to kill him.

[Almanian]

"....has been blocked because...blah blah blah...SEXUALLY EXPLICIT...."

STUPID WORK!!!

[RoboCain]

It looks safe for work -- she's fully dressed in an evening gown.

[SugarFree]

It's the base site. Most celebrity gossip sites are block off them crowing about nip slips and panty-flashes even if they aren't showing them without a click through.

[poetry]

Tee hee hee

Reason threads can be so titillating

[Devil's Advocate]

She's wearing one of those dresses that squinches her boobs (see Christina Hendricks). This is not a good look, which a quick look in a mirror should reveal, but she's otherwise quite attractive.

[SugarFree]

She doesn't have very large breasts. They are probably trying to jam them together for some semblance of cleavage. If you don't have the cleavage for a dress, maybe, you know, wear a different dress.

[T]

Or get bigger tits. Whatever works.

[Loki]

I was really pissed after watching Drive Angry. Not only was it one of the shittiest movies ever made and a total waste of 2 hours of my life I'll never get back, but of all the nudity that was in that flick she never even took her top off. And she was the only person in the movie I would have actually wanted to see nude.

[Suki]

Newt Gingrich's second wife has given an "explosive" interview to ABC that will tentatively air tonight.
Whew! At least they moved on from Jackie Battley's death bed.

[poetry]

"explosive" because she farts in jars between questions

[T]

I had been hearing that Santorum actually won Iowa since the day after the caucus. I wonder why no major outlets picked up on that until now.

[Bee Tagger]

NARRATIVE!

[DJF]

Maybe they did not want to show once again how incompetent the political system is by pointing out that they can't even count votes accurately. And these are the same people who want to run the country and many of them want to run the world.

[Libertarian (Pirate)]

Yeah, probably.

[rolls eyes]

[robc]

The winner of the Iowa caucus isnt determined until June.

In 2008, McCain won Iowa in a landslide.

[kinnath]

Absolutely.

The presenditial preference poll is nothing more than a dog and pony show.

[Robert]

What's the BFD about the vote tally? It was, after all, a "beauty contest" (although I haven't heard that term used for the past couple of presidential election cycles to apply to a preference poll that doesn't elect delegates), and it was decided by a minuscule margin anyway? Is the symbolism of Romney's, Santorum's, or Paul's squeaking out a hair's breadth plurality, far from a majority, in January in a small-to-middling state's preference poll so great? OMG, one candidate got a dozen more votes than the other statewide, I guess we all gotta vote for the demonstrably most electable candidate now, huh?

[P Brooks]

an "explosive" interview to ABC that will tentatively air tonight.

This reminds me of the Monty Python "Blackmail Show" vignette.

What are the chances Newt's little superPAC shithead responsible the Romney hitjob is running around frantically bleating about how
"unfair" this is?

[Fist of Etiquette]

We almost hope this was a political call because, on the substance, there should be no question. Without the pipeline, Canada would still export its bitumen ? with long-term trends in the global market, it's far too valuable to keep in the ground ? but it would go to China.

It seems to be both a stupid ideological call and a stupid political call. I don't know what Obama's political handlers were thinking. And disputing the number of jobs it would create as inflated? Any jobs not at the expense of increased public debt at this point would be good. Idiots.

[John]

I love how they believe the claims of jobs created by any government program no matter how daft. Yet, whenever there is an actual useful private sector project, they claim it wouldn't really create any jobs.

[Mike M.]

It has been obvious for months now that Obama has decided this time around to run as what he truly is: a far-left wing, radical, anti-capitalism, big government extremist.

He has given up any hope of getting the white working class vote and is banking everything on getting a leftist turnout as big or bigger than in '08.

[o3]

poar radio entertainment. >it triez moar harder

[John]

I thought Gingrich divorced his wife as she lay dying. What did she get better?

[DJF]

Maybe divorcing Gingrich is the cure for death?

[SIV]

Wife #2 interview
Wife #1 did get better despite being abandoned with small children and no support payments. Her Church stepped in with food and a Judge finally ordered Gingrich to pay the light bill.

[Suki]

Do Libertarians believe support payments are proper or even desirable?

[DJF]

I think it would depend on the marriage contract that you made. Instead of relying on government to write the contract, each couple would chose the contract that suited them. It would also prevent the government from changing the contract after marriage without the permission of the married people.

[John]

But but the children. I think you would still need family law and child support laws because you will still have cases where idiots forget to sign or lose their contracts. But that would be just a fall back. I think letting people opt out of the family law system via contract would be a good thing for both families and marriage. You could even sell it to the SOCONs. It would allow them to have their own ecclesiastical courts.

[Suki]

You should be legally responsible for supporting your children. The government messes this one up a lot too.

[John]

We currently have 50,000 in jail every day in what amounts to debtors' prison over child support. Do you really think this is smart?

[RoboCain]

"We currently have 50,000 in jail every day in what amounts to debtors' prison over child support. Do you really think this is smart?"

No, not at all. It's turned unemployment into a felony.

[poetry]

When I got married, the minister forgot to sign the papers. Nobody noticed until a few years later, when my wife renewed her passport.

Best part? The minister was her dad.

[Spoonman.]

Maybe he didn't forget.

And, obligatory preacher's daughter question.

[poetry]

The answer is absolutely.

So, yeah, when I said "best part" earlier, I was lying.

[poetry]

Although, technically, he was only a "preacher" for about five years. He's still an ordained minister, but works as a substance-abuse and marital counselor.

[Suki]

Scroll up.

[rac3rx]

http://www.creators.com/conser.....aight.html

Their daughter states none of these stories are true.

[Bee Tagger]

Uh, Perry's out:

http://politicalticker.blogs.c.....-thursday/

[Fist of Etiquette]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. You better not get a hat tip.

[RoboCain]

Today or next Thursday?

[Tim]

Time for libertarians to line up and push Mitt Romney to the White House!

[poetry]

i'll push your line

[JW]

Huh. I would have figured him bi, at most.

[MNG]

"Rick Santorum may have beat Romney in the Iowa caucuses."

I posted here the morning after Iowa that I thought it stank. Up until about 2:00 am Santorum was leading, then we wake up and 'ta-da' Romney had eked it out. And of course the momentum Romney got from that in N.H. is now a moot point. Thanks Iowa GOP establishment!

[Nebraska]

Like Iowa matters.

[MNG]

It did to Romney, it was supposed to be a weak finish for him, declared the "winner" played to his meme of "inevitable nominee."

[Nebraska]

Oh, OK. So now that he has "lost" Iowa, he'll lose SC too?

[poetry]

maybe. perry is going to endorse titties in about an hour.

[MNG]

A majority of Americans believe that former President George W. Bush is more responsible than President Obama for the current economic problems in the country, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Fifty-four percent of respondents said that Bush was more to blame while 29 percent put the blame on Obama; 9 percent said both men deserved blame while 6 percent said neither did. Among registered voters, the numbers are almost identical; 54 percent blame Bush, while 30 percent blame Obama.

Independents, widely considered the most critical voting bloc this fall, continue to blame Bush far more than Obama for the economic troubles. Fifty-seven percent of unaffiliated voters put the blame on the former Republican president, while 25 percent believe the blame rests more with Obama.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/....._blog.html

[Bee Tagger]

The glass half full way of looking at this is at least both Bush and Obama are being blamed.

[John]

I guess they will never vote for that guy again. And it does make a good case for re-electing Obama. He needs another four years to discredit big government liberalism once and for all.

[mad libertarian guy]

I had a friend, who once described himself as a libertarian yet has turned out to be full blown progressive statist, say that Obama DESERVES another term so that he can have a fair opportunity.

To add to this utter stupidity, he said that "Obama hasn't really done anything objectionable, except "a couple of judicial things", and that in no way, shape, or form are we worse off now than the day before he took office. I wanted to puke, but decided to let it be as I don't have the power to fix willful ignorance.

Their belief in him is strong.

[T]

Damn. I guess Obama blaming Bush at every opportunity has stuck in the minds of the gullible.

Wait, didn't we cover voters are gullible and easily led yesterday afternoon?

[MNG]

"I guess Obama blaming Bush at every opportunity has stuck in the minds of the gullible."

I'm not sure it's so irrational or guillible. Here is the unemployment numbers. The upward trend certainly started under Bush. It's not crazy for people to think that the effects and trends started by policies can last for years, and take years to take effect. This shouldn't be hard for people who think decades old housing policies suddenly caused the recession thirty years after their passage..

http://www.ncsl.org/issues-res.....pdate.aspx

Thoug this is no defense for Obama. He's failed by his own stated criteria.

[John]

Wasn't Obama elected to stop that? Even if you say "it is all Bush's fault", you can still say "Obama failed at fixing it".

[MNG]

"Thoug this is no defense for Obama. He's failed by his own stated criteria."

[T]

First law of holes, MNG. Obama is certainly responsible for doubling down on shitty policy choices and digging the hole deeper.

[Drax the Destroyer]

In a way, Bush and Obama are the new Hoover and FDR (Hoover started New Deal type shit, FDR gave it a name and tripled-down), except both look exceptionally shitty by comparison since we can view them without the beer-goggles of government-scripted education.

[romulus augustus]

Proposition: George Bush is solely responsible for the great recession that started in 2008.
This was after two years of Democratic control of both houses of Congress.

Show your work.

[gaijin]

The fact that anyone would answer such an absurd question is troubling. An entire economy's troubles laid at the feet of one man, red or blue? Simplistic.

[BigT]

There were lots of cooks on this one. But almost all were govt employees.

[o3]

bush is too stupid to mess-up the economy alone. >it takes a village

[MNG]

It takes a family

[o3]

and wall street gamboling degenerates

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

It takes a Congress.

[poetry]

+1

[Loki]

6 percent said neither did

So, only 6% of people polled are not dumbfucks who think the president is the supreme commander of the economy or some such bullshit? Anyone else completely unsurprised?

[Bee Tagger]

Newt Gingrich's second wife has given an "explosive" interview to ABC that will tentatively air tonight.

Let me guess, it will actually help Gingrich's campaign in the short term. Airing it so close to the SC vote and a topic perceived as being very personal will almost guarantee sympathy from voters, especially when the attack comes from the mainstream media. Of course what happens after that is anyone's guess, see: Cain, Herman.

[MNG]

For all people in the NYC area:Former New Mexico Governor and presidential candidate Gary Johnson will be in New York City Saturday, January 21, to participate in the Manhattan Libertarian Party's annual convention. Johnson will speak to the convention as part of the event's presidential candidates' forum.

http://www.garyjohnson2012.com.....january-21

[poetry]

I have every intention of supporting Paul financially until he drops out, and then I'll start giving those dollars to Johnson's general election campaign.

And of course I'll be voting for the big Schlong, too.

[P Brooks]

A majority of Americans believe that former President George W. Bush is more responsible than President Obama for the current economic problems in the country, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Tar and feather them both.

See if I care.

[T]

I care, especially if it's available on pay-per-view.

[Nebraska]

I don't care, and I commenting to make sure you know that I don't care.

[Pro Libertate]

That smells like Democratic bullshit to me, because they so want it to be true, but even if it were, I don't think anyone is voting for Bush. Trying to push the "It's all Bush's fault" message failed quite a while ago, and it's a huge loser for the election.

No logical person looking at the facts could say Obama is an improvement over Bush. He does almost everything people hated about Bush, plus loads more. He's a worse president than Bush, period. Which is really saying something profound.

[SugarFree]

A majority of Americans mentally deficient, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

[Pro Libertate]

Wouldn't it be funny if it turned out that something we all started consuming 100 years ago--say, Coke--actually made us stupid? And that all of the idiocy that's been going on is actually and mostly attributable to that?

[Sparky]

Just shut up and have another glass of Brawndo.

[Pro Libertate]

While it does have electrolytes, it didn't cause the intellectual downturn in America.

[JW]

Being a Moxie man, I can get behind this theory.

[H man]

That wouldn't have happened if they left the reall coke in it.

[gaijin]

When did public education become the law of the land again?

[Pro Libertate]

Egad. You're right!

[RoboCain]

Best SHOT Show news so far:

"Rock River Arms is showing off their LAR-47 rifle. It's built on a brand new lower receiver designed to take AK-47 7.62?39 magazines and fire them in a 7.62?39 upper."

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.c.....more-97003

[T]

Great. So you can buy an AR where almost nothing is interchangeable with other ARs. Kind of defeats the whole purpose of the platform, doesn't it?

[RoboCain]

No, almost everything else is just as interchangeable -- stock, fore end, grip, trigger group, control handles, etc.

[Almanian]

I heart the SHOT show.

HEY! EVEN BETTER IDEA THAN A AK/AR/VCR+! How about someone ELSE introduce another "new" 1911!! Much as I love the 1911, I'm feeling kinda 1911'ed out - everyone makes one.

How about a Glock knockoff? Anyone? A single-action revolver in Colt .45 from FN? A Beretta AK knockoff? A Taurus Judge, Jury and Executioner in 50BMG?

Guns R Kule....

[db]

If you want a Glock knockoff, check out Lone Wolf Distributors. They have some awesome Glock style receivers and tons of barrels, slides, and accessories.

[db]

I know a guy who has an MGI lower (the one with the modular swappable mag wells). He put a RDIAS in it and rips 7.62x39 out of a 9" barrel on full auto. That thing is a total flamethrower. Completely impractical, but he loves his noise and muzzle flash.

[T]

I bet it turns money into noise real good. That sounds like an absolute blast (literally) to shoot.

[db]

It makes your forehead feel like Animal from the Muppets is using it for a practice pad.

[db]

I have a 10.5" upper for my '16 and it makes for a good headache too but it's tons of fun.

[End Child Unemployment]

MSRP of $1,400? Seems awful rich to me.

[P Brooks]

Without Bush paving and widening the ROADZ!!! to Hell, Obama couldn't have gotten away with most of the shit he has done.

[COXSWAIN HARDY]

Schools 'spy' on fat kids

[SugarFree]

"They can't read for shit, but by God we'll make sure they walk 10,000 steps a day!"

[John]

We are undeserving of our freedoms. If a school put that on one of my kids, it would end up so far up some brain dead school administrators ass he would have to have surgery to get it removed. I know a lot of good lawyers and would be out of jail before he got out of the hospital.

Nothing surprises me about school.s They are run by the worst sort of filth imaginable. But that parents would allow this without revolting makes me weep for this country.

[o3]

obviously the parents dont agree w ur over-the-top foaming reaction.

[John]

Which is why we are undeserving of our freedoms. If you would allow the school to monitor your kid 24/7 you are just a slug.

[o3]

my kids are monitored for physical activity much longer than mere school hours since they're both student-athletes. >no biggie, cept for fat sluggos

[John]

Why don't you just send them to prison. No biggie as long as they don't have anything to hide. And I was an athlete clear thought school. No one ever monitored me. But I had this thing called personal responsibility.

[o3]

teh [FATZ] belies personal responsibility

[Question]

How do you remember to breathe?

[John]

Not all of us have been turned into mindless sheep like you.

[Perpetual Commentator]

Hahaha.

[Perpetual Commentator]

We are undeserving of our freedoms.

Wow, John. That's bizarre even for you. Freedom to make mistakes is still freedom. Unless you have a superior overlord in mind? Perhaps yourself? After all, if your priceless commentary here doesn't qualify you, then who?

[John]

If you are not willing to fight for your freedoms and will not stand up when they are taken away from you, then you are unworthy of having them. Thirty years ago a school would have never dreamed of doing this because the parents would have revolted. A hundred years ago, they would have burned the school down. Today they quietly accept it. That tell you all you need to know about why we are turning into a police state.

And your comment was below even your normal and admittedly remarkable level of stupidity.

[Perpetual Commentator]

Thirty years ago a school would have never dreamed of doing this because the parents would have revolted. A hundred years ago, they would have burned the school down.

Citations? Oh, that's right, you don't have any, because you're making it up as you go.

But we digress. You said that we as a nation are "undeserving of our freedoms." If that is so, then who is deserving? You? Or did you have some other dictator in mind?

your comment was below even your normal and admittedly remarkable level of stupidity

So soon? You usually wait several comment-and-response cycles before resorting to the name-calling. And you wanted to be our dictator!

[John]

I have no doubt you will get more stupid as the day goes on as hard as that is to believe.

[Kwanzaa Cake]

Most of the parents view public school as free daycare, so I'm sure they don't really care about this. John is right. And this is yet another reason why my kids will never be subjected to public school.

[Marshall Gill]

If a school put that on one of my kids, it would end up so far up some brain dead school administrators ass he would have to have surgery to get it removed. I know a lot of good lawyers and would be out of jail before he got out of the hospital.

How can you know what happens to your children in public school? You can't. Reason # 876,908 to home school.

[John]

I would hope you would notice the ankle bracelet when they came home. But yes, I can't see how you send your kids to public school these days.

[DesigNate]

Unfortunately, there are some of us who don't make enough to afford private school and don't have the option of home-school. I would let my kid just run around all day doing god knows what but the state won't allow that.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Don't have kids until such is an option? I suppose that's a suggestion coming a bit too late in your case, but after what I went through and saw others go through in public school, I have no desire to see any more put through that, and it's certainly much worse now than when I was there.

[mad libertarian guy]

Public school is a place that will surely kill any spirit one has.

Fuck those gulags. Neither of my children will ever see the inside of one.

[T]

John, you're just not imaginative enough. I'd take it off the kid when he got home and strap it to one of the dogs. Kid get home, his heart rate spikes up and all of a sudden he's running around like a madman, then crashing with a still elevated heartrate. The school's going to think the damn thing's broken. The tech support calls are gonna be priceless.

[John]

+100

[T]

I strive to always throw a little sand in the gears.

[Loki]

Either that or they're going to think you're doing something to your kid and call child protective services on you.

[Rich]

It tells kids, in real time, 'Am I active?'

You can't fool *me*, COXWAIN. That's from The Onion.

[R C Dean]

If you have to ask. . . .

[Loki]

"I didn't even know it was going on, and I'm active in the school," said Beth Huebner, of St. Louis.

Here's a novel idea: try talking to your little shitstain once in a while. Something like "What's that wristwatch like device on your wrist?" might be a good conversation starter.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Employees at just ONE Paris hospital are owed 2 million vacation days

I was going to think of a witty comment, but I think this speaks for itself...

[Jerry]

Wow, talk about an early retirement opportunity.

[Almanian]

NOT FIRST!!!

[Suzy Creamcheese]

an "explosive" interview to ABC that will tentatively air tonight.

For the love of God, someone alert Homeland Security!!

[P Brooks]

Bloomberg is reporting Perry is dropping out. They further say he will likely endorse Newt Kuan Yew.

I like how the political class assumes their "followers" are mindless zombies who will obey unquestioningly. Of course, if they're dumb enough to really want Perry as President, the "mindless zombie" characterization is not implausible.

[John]

I am sure Newt will appreciate the extra four votes.

[Pro Libertate]

If Gingrich somehow becomes president, I'm going to have a presidential seal made with "Newcular Titties" emblazoned on it somewhere, then send it to him as an inauguration gift.

[Apatheist]

+1 for Singapore reference

[P Brooks]

A Taurus Judge, Jury and Executioner in 50BMG?

Nice. With explosive bullets warheads.

[John]

http://moonbattery.com/?p=6973

The owner of a discount store in Brooklyn says the city is holding him up for $30,000 in fines he can't afford ? all because he stocked six toy sheriff sets that included plastic guns.

And now the .44-caliber fines for the orange-tipped, obvious fakes are forcing him to close for good.

"It doesn't make any sense," said Khaled Mohamed, 23, manager of 99? Target in Flatlands, which has been ordered to pay a staggering $5,000 fine for each gun offered for sale ? the maximum under the law.

[RoboCain]

Toy guns are illegal in NYC?

[John]

Apparently so. That is the problem of having a city full of ignorance and superstition.

[Perpetual Commentator]

John, what's your opinion on aluminum bats? Good or bad for baseball?

[John Sabotta]

I can see why you'd like to deflect discussion of this particularly disgusting example of state injustice. And yet, no doubt, secretly stories like this make you very happy; people like you love to identify with authority and actually get off on imagining it being abused. "take that, gun nuts" you moan, just before you soak the wad of tissue paper.

Wash your hands afterwards, though.

[o3]

saw a sign in the subway which read "its illegal in NYC to paint a gun to look like a toy AND also illegal to paint toygun to look real".

>perhaps the writer doesnt live in NYC & cant relate to large urban issues

[Mr. FIFY]

Whatever, stOOOpid.

[o3]

like i made that up. hick

[JD the elder]

I believe you can still have them if they're largely in unrealistic colors, like green and orange. One of the weird side effects of cracking down so hard on replica guns is that it's about as easy to legally own a real gun as it is to get a replica, which has a strange effect on local theatrical armorers. Usually it's pretty simple to get nonfiring theatrical replicas, but in NYC, few people want to bother with them, since they're almost as legally fraught as real guns.

[RoboCain]

Btw, that site is most excellent.

[P Brooks]

It tells kids, in real time, 'Am I active?'

What does it do if you strap it to the blender while you're making an ultra-thick milkshake?

[Precocious Johnson]

Oh, I've been strapping it to the blender for years.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

So any predictions as to what horrific secrets Newt's ex-wife will reveal about him?

Maybe that he liked to wear patent leather bustiers with a garter and fishnet thigh-highs while she tapped him from behind with a big black strap-on?

Or more likely just that he was an obnoxious egomaniac, which we all know already?

[John]

The bustier part might actually make him seem more human. My guess is that it is a total fizzle. The only interesting thing I could see coming out of would be if it turned out Newt was some kind of mad wife swapping swinger in the 70s. That would be funny. But otherwise it will just be a jilted wife whining about her ex was mean to her, as if everyone thought Newt was some kind of a Tom Hanks character before hearing this.

[Devil's Advocate]

Unless it really is something along the lines of him being physically/ mentally abusive. On the other hand, if that were the case I am surprised it hasn't come out before now. It isn't as if people haven't been trying to crush him for years.

[SugarFree]

Probably just smart, keeping something in reserve to sink him in case he might have a shot at becoming president.

[John]

Short of wife swapping, homosexuality, or physical abuse, I can't see that "something" being anything that would change people's opinions. The mental abuse charge would be too amorphous. It would wind up sounding like something out of Jezebel

[sloopyinca]

Either way, America needs to be reminded regularly that Newt is a creepy, scumbag cocksucker. I just hope NBC and CBS have her scheduled so they can keep this going for weeks.*

*Obviously, Fox have no interest in this.

[poetry]

Agreed. I'm tired of his smarmy jowls wobbling as he vomits out some sanctimonious tirade full of five-syllable adverbs.

Fuck him in his fat folds.

[Jerry]

Weren't the divorce papers sealed?

[Mr. FIFY]

Ask Jack Ryan about how hard it is to keep divorce records sealed.

[sloopyinca]

Which character? I could see Pep Streebeck or Sherman McCoy doing this, but not Josh Baskin or Forrest Gump.

[SugarFree]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for evidence he toured around performing truck stop blumpkins.

[Jerry]

That he had an affair with Monica Lewinsky as well?

[sloopyinca]

Did he and Bubba play finger-cuffs with her?

[R C Dean]

She'll probably go into great detail about what a lying, cheating scumbag he is.

IOW, old news.

[robc]

Yep. This is to Newt as the newsletters are to Paul.

Old news, hashed over repeatedly, isnt going to change anyone's minds at this point in time.

[.]

The revelation will be that titties made the wifey wear a Barney Frank mask in the bedroom.

[Mitch]

Whats funny that this comes out so early, while in 2008 the Edwards story didnt come out till he wasnt a factor in the primaries.

Gotta love the double standard here.
Anyways, if the media did the proper job, it would have been interesting to see what (besides red herrings) would have come out about teh wun.

[rac3rx]

I read somewhere that he asked her for an "open marriage", which I guess makes him at least more considerate than Bill Clinton...for asking, I mean.

[sloopyinca]

Rosie O'Tub-o-shit puts hypocrisy on display. America blissfully unaware.

[RoboCain]

I posted that over a week ago. Anyway, yes, she has always been a total hypocrite. Like she says no one should be allowed to own guns, but has armed security.

[sloopyinca]

I was in the clouds this time last week because I was in falling in love with Banjos.

Come to think of it, I still am in the clouds!

[RoboCain]

Awww, that's sweet.

[Devil's Advocate]

WaPo editorial slams Obama

The comments there are enragening, although I am surprised the WaPo itself has slammed The Annointed One on anything.

[tarran]

Apparently Kelly Rose is a jealous bitch who would fuck up her son in order to make her ex feel bad.

Why I'll NEVER let my ex's new girlfriend meet my son

[tarran]

BTW, check out the kid's 1000 yard stare.

[sloopyinca]

Is it more likely that this kid:
a. tortures kittehs
b. tortures puppies

[T]

That stare says says 'future sociopath' better than anything else in the accompanying article.

[Pro Libertate]

That's nothing. You know that famous picture of Santorum and his kids? The one with the weeping daughter? Look at the son with the glasses. Kid must've been in the shit in 'Nam. Maybe a sniper.

[0x90]

Pretty sure that picture was the template for Frodo's character in Sin City.

[Pro Libertate]

I look at it, and I hear Jim Morrison singing "The End" in the background. It's quite odd.

[0x90]

mein einziger freund, das ende

[John]

That kid looks like Damian. President of his future assassins of America Club.

[rac3rx]

"I am adamant that whatever the future holds, my son will not be raised with step-parents, step-siblings and a host of other people who have been brought into his life as the result of a flight of fancy..."

Then don't separate and divorce...

[RoboCain]

We are living in the end times:

"Vajazzling and vattoos it can accept... But Real Housewife Cindy Barshop's neon fox fur merkins are one fad too far for PETA"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....-PETA.html

[T]

I think Vice prophesied this with an off-handed comment about a Merkin Pride Parade.

[o3]

who?

[rac3rx]

Citation: http://www.vice.com/vice/dnd/33990

[Brett L]

This should be entertaining: T.O. to co-own and play for IFL team.

[P Brooks]

If Newt's ex-wife can shed some harsh light on his financial dealings (Sources of Income in particular), it might have a beneficial boat-rocking effect. Do out-of-work Congresspersons remain immune from insider trading laws?

I can dream, can't I?

[poetry]

WAKE UP

[A Secret Band of Robbers]

SMBC on price fixing.

[A Secret Band of Robbers]

Inline image.

There.

[tarran]

🙂 I laughed.

[sloopyinca]

OK, we've gotten into it and have come up with this so far. We will be adding to it regularly at least through the weekend. Some of the selections are pretty obvious [points at wifey-to-be].

[db]

That's ans awful lot of cannng supplies. I think someone should alert DHS as having more than 7 days' food stored in your home makes you a terrorist.

[sloopyinca]

Thank got we didn't put our victory garden seed collection on there.

I fucking knew it was smart to pay cash for that.

[Clich? Bandit]

love the beach towel.

[sloopyinca]

Then you know what to do!

(I keed. I keed.)

[Ted S.]

After 38 years in the parasite sector, the US Representative from my district is retiring

(This probably makes redistricting in NY easier too.)