A.M. Links: Seven States Sue Over Contraception Mandate, NYPD Muslim Fetish Exposed, Bill Maher Slams Money in Politics Then Gives $1 Million to Obama Super PAC

• Seven states are suing the Obama administration over the contraception mandate. 

• Bill Maher gave $1 million to the Priorities USA Action super PAC last night.
• NYPD wanted to have spies in "every mosque within 250 miles."
• You can get gay married in Maryland now.
• Eliot Spitzer gets back into prostitution politics.  
• Santorum surge "is God's will," says Mrs. Santorum. 
• Afghans still rioting over a book/occupation of their country by imperialists.  

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New at Reason.tv: "The Great Gibson Guitar Raid: Months Later, Still No Charges Filed"

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Bill Maher gave $1 million to the Priorities USA Action super PAC last night.

Like the good libertarian he is.

[mad libertarian guy]

I'm not a True Scotsman? kind of guy, but I'm not sure how even he ever thought he was a libertarian.

[John]

Or politically incorrect. That most ironic title in TV history. A show that featured nothing but politically correct conventional wisdom but called itself the opposite.

[shrike]

You're full of shit again. Maher pissed off the feminists, Holy Rollers, towel-heads, and flag-wavers alike.

That is why ABC fired him.

[Almanian]

Yeah - Bill Maher is the definition of "edgy". He's right out there.

[shrike]

Well his act is a little stale now. But in the day he would put on great panels of disparate guests - a Christine O'Donnell or Ann Coulter with a David Cross or Chris Hitchens type.

[John]

Putting Christine O'Donnell on to laugh at her is not politically incorrect. And Hitchens was beloved by the left.

Try again.

[Tony]

Maher is a rationalist. Being rational inevitably leads an American to something lie Maher's current beliefs. I realize you postmodern relativists of the right think things like scientific fact are just a political matter.

[shrike]

We laugh at you, John. In much the same way.

[Joe M]

Except when he flipped them off that one time.

[Jeff]

Don't you fucking dare put David Cross in the same category as Hitchens, shriek.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Who's politically worse: Patton Oswalt or David Cross?

[JW]

I'd have to say Cross, since I'm completely unaware of Oswalt's leanings.

I want to shoot my tee-vee every time Cross' ugly, smug face infests the screen.

[shrike]

The point is that you pair people up who would ordinarily never speak to each other or someone like them.

Kennedy was on Real Time last month - excellent guest.

[WI = Guitar-Hating Fag]

Yeah - Bill Maher is the definition of "edgy". He's right out there.

If by "edgy" you're inferring he's on the edge of losing his sanity.

[John]

He is real edgy there shrike. He never said anything that wasn't leftist dogma. That is his right. It is a free country. But he was anything but politically incorrect.

And newsflash, attacking religious people is politically correct.

[WTF]

What about the christfags?

[shrike]

They're a-comin' ta git me!

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Wow, three out of four of those groups are religious in nature. And making feminists mad? What an accomplishment. I do that six times before lunch.

[Loki]

And making feminists mad? What an accomplishment. I do that six times before lunch.

I could knock that out on my drive to work.

[Oh]

Yous guys take your entertainers seriously!

[JEP]

All you have to do is look at 'em wrong.

[WTF]

Actually, all you have to do is look at them, period. Male Gaze, you know.

[JEP]

well, that was my meaning

[anon]

Bunch of fucking microagressors. The lot of you.

[Joe M]

All looks are wrong.

[cynical]

He already accomplished that permanently by being born with a Y chromosome.

[Robert]

These people's group self-image has always been of being on the outside. They really think they're still fighting the powers that be. Cf. Dennis Moore.

[robc]

Terms have meanings. Without being a True Scotsman, you can still have limits and tell someone "No, no you arent a libertarian, shut the fuck up."

Just like Christian Scientists are neither christian nor scientists.

[Almanian]

My wife is a Presbyterian Biologist (Chem minor), so she's technically a Christian scientist.

[robc]

I was going to comment on that, as their stupid name makes it hard to refer to people like your wife.

[insert "funny" your wife last night joke here -- I cant come up with a good one right now]

[Tonio]

Not so fast, Rob. What authority do you have to judge who is a Christian and who isn't?

[robc]

None at all.

To paraphrase Joe Walsh "...but sometimes I still do."

I guess that technically isnt a paraphrase but an exact quote.

[Libertymike]

Oh yeah!, feels good.

Everytime I play Life's Been Good to Me in a hotel lobby or in my office or somebody else's house, people feel me channeling Joe.

[R C Dean]

What authority do you have to judge who is a Christian and who isn't?

As much authority as anyone else?

[Tonio]

Well, RC, as an atheist I wouldn't presume to judge who is a Christian, Muslim, Zoroastrian, etc. My rule of thumb is if they claim to be Christian that they are Christian.

I totally recognize that there are many, many xtian sects and a lot of infighting about who is and isn't an actual xtian. Pretty much the same with all the larger faiths.

[Konfounded Kristen]

According to my college roommate, I was a Christian because at some point in the distant past (i.e. my great grandfather), my family was Christian. Basically, she told me I was a Christian by culture, not by belief.

Now she's an uber-liberal sometime-pagan, so initiating the same discussion with her could be interesting.

[John]

Kristen,

Your roommate unintentionally sounded really scary. Doesn't matter what you actually thought, you are one of "those people" by blood. You know who else thought people's identities were determined by their family history?

[Tonio]

In all fairness, John, the Jews I know use the term more as both an ethnic identifier and a religious one. Pet peeve: the self-described "atheist jew" who always takes off for Yom Kippur.

[Konfounded Kristen]

You have to have some empathy, though, John. Born and raised in a dry county in north-central Texas in a very conservative church (Church of Christ). She had ZERO exposure to life outside her bubble until she stepped into the wonderful world of Washington, DC. I get why she was the way she was. And she's changed - she was an open-minded person despite her upbringing. Now that she's all liberaled-out living in Portland, OR, I'd say she's a lot more close-minded.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said "Stop! don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

[Neu Mejican]

I been to the edge, an' there I stood an' looked down. You know I lost a lot of friends there baby, I got no time to mess around.

[robc]

My rule of thumb is if they claim to be Christian that they are Christian.

It is a good rule of thumb. But as with any rule of thumb, there are exceptions. As you are an atheist, I understand why you dont have any exceptions, Im cool with that.

I have 3: Church of Christ, Scientist. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jehovah's Witness. There are probably some others, but those are the big ones.

In general, Im leery of restorationism, but its a mixed bag. Most are, IMO, wacky protestants with some funky beliefs here and there, but some step over the line.

[Tonio]

I'd certainly feel more comfortable commenting on whether someone was a "real" atheist (pet peeve: satanists claiming to be atheists, wtf).

But the point I was making is that sure, you don't think they're Christian, but they probably don't think you are one, either, and that neither group has a better claim.

[yonemoto]

why? Because those three are antitrinitarian? Newsflash: the trinity ain't in the bible.

You're christ-ian if you believe christ was the messiah. You don't have to believe he was the son of god (although that probably helps); you don't have to believe in the magnum mysterium.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

He said, "Like what?" I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?" He said, "Religious." I said, "Me too! Are you christian or buddhist?" He said, "Christian." I said, "Me too! Are you catholic or protestant?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me too! Are you episcopalian or baptist?" He said, "Baptist!" I said,"Wow! Me too! Are you baptist church of god or baptist church of the lord?" He said, "Baptist church of god!" I said, "Me too! Are you original baptist church of god, or are you reformed baptist church of god?" He said,"Reformed Baptist church of god!" I said, "Me too! Are you reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1879, or reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915?" He said, "Reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915!" I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off. -- Emo Phillips

[robc]

Can I nitpick the joke?

Im guessing at some level he didnt want to offend someone, but when he gets down to the baptist level he starts making shit up.

And really, you can put any phrase around Baptist and hit reality, so that he missed is kind of sad. Or maybe intentional.

AFAICT, their isnt a Baptist church of the Lord, but there is a Baptist church of God, but it doesnt appear they have split further.

[sloopyinca]

robc, you should post as Buzz Killington for the rest of the thread.

/sarc

[Joe M]

Is that Buzz Killington, circa 1979, or Buzz Killington, 21st century reboot?

[Tonio]

transubstantiation-believing baptists???

[AuH20]

Have we had this exact conversation, with these exact same comments, before? Really creepy level of deja vu guys.

[Maxxx]

Terms have meanings. Without being a True Scotsman, you can still have limits and tell someone "No, no you arent a libertarian, shut the fuck up."

Larry Elder said just that to Maher.

[o3]

Santorium should watch Maher's Religulous.

I esp like the almost exact copy of osiris's biography as Jesus's including walking on water & raising the dead.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Chesterton would have destroyed Maher back in the day, and Maher would have loved him for it. It's more of a testament to how far Christian apologia has declined that its most visible figure today is a huckster like Joel Osteen.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Don't forget Kirk Cameron!

[Konfounded Kristen]

I don't get how anyone could look at Joel Osteen and say "now there's a man I trust!". He's got used car salesman written all over him.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

What bugs me about guys like Osteen is they're Christian versions of the same corrosive "self-esteem" mindset that's made today's society so dysfunctional.

Anyone's that's actually read the Bible can find numerous places where both Jesus and the disciples preach self-denial--the idea that 1) all your efforts are pointless without God's favor; and 2) that what matters to you on this earth is ultimately far inferior to what awaits you in heaven. It's why Christianity in its early days appealed to so many poor and downtrodden people--that no matter how bad things were on earth in this life, they would be uplifted in the afterlife for eternity, even over those who were their oppressors.

[Brett L]

I thought point 2 was pretty specifically covered in the book of Matthew Chapter 6. Which pretty much says that God rewards those who do good deeds without getting caught (or telling on themselves). Its pretty clear that the reward will be of a heavenly, not earthly nature.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Osteen preaches a form of "prosperity gospel," and it's exactly like the used car salesman approach you describe. It removes the spiritual aspect of Christianity and places its focus instead on earthly delights, the idea that God will reward you with a big house and nice car if you believe properly (and donate large sums of money to the person preaching it), as opposed to simply providing you with a moral compass and inner peace.

[John]

Osteen is a really slimey bastard.

[Libertymike]

My wife thinks he's handsome.

[Pip]

If she married you, she must have a very low bar for the definition of handsome.

[Konfounded Kristen]

Your wife thinks this is handsome? THIS??

http://images.zap2it.com/image.....teen-0.jpg

[Libertymike]

I sent your link to my wife at work.

My guess is that she will say it was a bad picture.

[Brett L]

I remember the first time I heard about him, my buddy's wife who was 1st generation Mexican Catholic decided she was going to start going to his church after seeing him on local access TV (back before he bought The Summit and was still in his warehouse megachurch on the north side of Houston). I seriously thought the guy was some sort of dead-on caricature. Nobody could be like that in real life, right? Then I moved to FL and realized that he was a national TV preacher. Now I just think of this every time I hear his name.

[rac3rx]

I know people who used to work for Lakewood when it was under John Osteen, Joel's Dad. When it was on the North side under Dad, it was just a large local church. Joel apparently had big aspirations that Dad didn't share. Dad just wanted to preach in his church. When Dad died, Joel threw out all the staff and folks associated with John (including his own Mom) and created the national mega church. I've never been, but understand that it is just a giant Stuart Smalley Seminary with little mention of actual Christianity.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

When it was on the North side under Dad, it was just a large local church. Joel apparently had big aspirations that Dad didn't share. Dad just wanted to preach in his church. When Dad died, Joel threw out all the staff and folks associated with John (including his own Mom) and created the national mega church.

Sounds like Joel Osteen is the equivalent of Vince McMahon.

[Fatty Bolger]

I seriously thought the guy was some sort of dead-on caricature. Nobody could be like that in real life, right?

I thought the same thing the first time I saw Robert Tilton on TV. I'm thinking, this has to be a parody, right? I don't know how anybody falls for this crap, but a lot of people do.

[sloopyinca]

The comments truly are depressing. Try this gem on for size:
A long time Book Reader
1 there are NO mainstream republicans anymore. they all became independent voters.
2 obama took 3 yrs but he ended the Iraq war. He had a skirmish with Libya getting rid of an evil dictator in a few months and our part in Libya was minor with no casualties. (compare with Bush II's 10 yr war with Iraq).
So there is less war, not more. Bush II started 2 wars. Most of the GOP candidates want to go to war with Iran and Syria, so be careful who you vote for.

3 There was less torture if any, and more trials for terrorists after obama took office. Republicans didn't want trials, remember?

[sloopyinca]

-cont-
4 Bush came in with 4 trillion national debt and left with about 11 trillion debt
Obama started with 11 and is at 15 trillion, so he still has 3 trillion to go just to spend as much as Bush and the GOP did. Note that Bush came in with a surplus of money and a barely there recession that started after he took office and lasted a few months while Obama came in with the worst recession/depression since the 1930's with banks collapsing and businesses going under, PLUS massive job losses that Bush II left him. (Reagan put in about 3 trillion dollars national debt, by the way.)

5 Constitutional problems are no greater under Obama unless you count the Bush supreme court appointments allowing super pacs to collect unlimited anonymous money as "free speech". Obama was firmly against that, but he has no say over the supreme court.

Wow. Just...WOW!

[John]

I love the "there was less torture" and "our war was small" and "Obama tried terrorists in tribunals" parts. Words fail.

[CoyoteBlue]

I've made a rule with these 'Obama Lists' to score them based which of the really stupid policies they tout. This one gets points for Libya and "less torture" but fails to mention Cash for Clunkers - the ace in the hole Obama policy.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I've made a rule with these 'Obama Lists' to score them based which of the really stupid policies they tout

From an Obama list on Facebook: "Only active President to win a Nobel Peace Prize."

My response: "Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson would like to have a word with you."

[Zeb]

I think that even ardent Obama supporters have either noticed that Cash for Clunkers was useless at best or forgotten about it.

[R C Dean]

Obama started with 11 and is at 15 trillion, so he still has 3 trillion to go just to spend as much as Bush and the GOP did.

Taking these numbers at face value (I assume they charge Bush with Obama's stimulus, but whatevs. . . )

But wait, we can't take them at face value. The debt hasn't been as low as $4T since the early '90s.

Debt at the end of FY 2002 (since we are giving Presidents a pass on the debt at the end of their first fiscal year) was $6.2T. Debt at the end of FY 2009 was $11.8T, giving Bush a total of $5.6T in new debt over 8 years, or an average of $700BB/year.

Debt at the end of FY 2013 is estimated to be $17.7TT, giving Obama a total of $5.9TT, (more than Bush ran up in 8 years), for an average of nearly $1.5TT/year.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/site.....st07z1.xls

[Zeb]

It is funny how the people making the argument that it is good for the government to spend lots of money also want to blame all of the spending on the last guy. I'm probably forgetting something about taxing the rich or something like that.

[Joe M]

Not to nitpick, but you undercounted Bush by one year. You would need to either begin Bush at FY2001 or Obama at FY2010 for an equal comparison.

[Fatty Bolger]

Huh. I guess that whole Afghanistan surge thing never happened.

[Anomalous]

Maher was at best a legalize hookers and drugs libertarian, and never gave a damn about free markets or limited government.

[Fatty Bolger]

He just wants his own vices legalized, and that's it. He's not a libertarian at all.

[shrike]

Same with Ron Paul. He denies the right to privacy - the first building block of liberty. RP thinks the state may regulate sexual activity (Lawrence vs Texas)

[Tak Kak]

Private property is the building block of liberty.

"Right" to privacy is utter nonsense.

[barfman]

"Right" to privacy is utter nonsense.

*barf*

[Fatty Bolger]

No, dumbass. Paul just recognizes the difference between libertarian ideals and what is allowed by the Constitution.

[sloopyinca]

He just wants his own vices legalized, and that's it. He's not a libertarian at all.

We should introduce him to dunphy, the super-libertarian cop.

[cynical]

He was just a pot-smoking Democrat.

[sarcasmic]

Youth is wasted on the young.

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

[Warty]

She looks a lot like my cousin, who's actually my step-cousin. Hmmm...

[sloopyinca]

I especially like her Zoolander-esque range of facial expressions.

[Brett L]

You know this is how Arkansas got started, right?

[Francisco d Anconia]

I'll be in my bunk.

[Sparky]

KIDDIE PORN!!!!

[Sparky]

Apparently you can't accuse somebody of kiddie porn because of the spam filter.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Oops, missed the age.

N-E-V-E-R-M-I-N-D

[?]

It's the UK Daily Mail. In the UK, 16 is the age of consent for all sexual relationships.

[fish]

Not emaciated enough to be in fashion!

[Anomalous]

The Kardashian girls' half-sister. Best joke I've heard lately: if Robert Kardashian didn't get O.J. off, one of his daughters eventually would have.

[sarcasmic]

Dinosaurs did it doggy style!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....s-sex.html

[Karl Hungus]

Dinosaurs did it doggy style!

I would think the tail would get in the way . . .

[Trespassers W]

Dogs have tails.

[Karl Hungus]

Dogs have tails.

Thin, flexible ones that move out of the way. Look at a pic of a t-rex or a brontosaurus - their tails were extremely thick, especially near the base. These guys were strictly missionary!

[Karl Hungus]

BTW, I've been meaning to ask: is "Trespassers W" in reference to a musical group?

[Fatty Bolger]

I always think of this when I see his name.

[Karl Hungus]

I always think of this when I see his name.

I think of Trespassers William, which is a indie rock/chillout electronica band. You're probably right, though. Either way, some clarification is in order!

[Fatty Bolger]

Apparently that's where they got the band name:

From Wikipedia: Trespassers William's name is from a Winnie-the-Pooh tale, Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting and Nearly Catch a Woozle by A.A. Milne:
"Next to [Piglet's] house was a piece of broken board which had: "TRESPASSERS W" on it. When Christopher Robin asked the Piglet what it meant, he said it was his grandfather's name?short for Trespassers Will, which was short for Trespassers William. And his grandfather had had two names in case he lost one ? Trespassers after an uncle, and William after Trespassers."[2]

[Brachiosaurus]

No tail is gonna block my ten foot schlong.

[sarcasmic]

Lindsay Lohan is morphing into Courtney Love... Ew!

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

[John]

And this is a surprise? And yeah double Ew. It shows what photoshop can do. She looks a bit different there than she did last year in Playboy.

[Joe M]

God, only 25. Amazing how many hard miles she already has.

[Sparky]

At least at that age she still has a few years to turn it around. I doubt she will, but she has time.

[WTF]

Seriously, she looks like she's pushing 40.

[shrike]

Courtney Love may be nasty but Hole is the greatest girl band ever. Granted, its a low bar to hurdle.

[John]

No way. Greatest girl band ever was The Runaways.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Sheesh...Hole? Really?

Superior:
1. The Bangles
2. Bananarama
3. Wilson Phillips

That is all.

[John]

Wilson Phillips? Wow. You must really hate Hole.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Come on, every guy has done that scene from Harold & Kumar....uh, right?

Right guys?

[sarcasmic]

no?

[RoboCain]

What scene?

[Rev. Blue Moon]

This scene

[RoboCain]

Oh.

[sloopyinca]

WTF is wrong with you people?

Enjoy!

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Ah, I am disappoint in myself.

[Gray Ghost]

I was wondering when someone was going to mention The Go-Go's. Kathy Valentine has some of the best bass hooks in pop music.

[shrike]

Bangles, Go-Go's these others all bubble-gum.

Rolling Stone said, "Love delivers punk not only as insinuating as Nirvana's but as corrosive as the Sex Pistols'. More significantly, Live Through This may be the most potent blast of female insurgency ever committed to tape"

Case closed.

[RoboCain]

Fail.

[Sparky]

Well, if Rolling Stone said it...

Hole is probably the worst piece of garbage which could have been good without Courtney Love.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

As if anyone here is going to take Rolling Stone's bandwagon-hopping pablum seriously.

Try again.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

"Rolling Stone said..."

Case stupid.

[Fatty Bolger]

Rolling Stone said

Case closed

AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH..hah hah hah hah... heh...

Shit, you're serious?

[Banjos]

Bananarama? Jesus Titty Fucking Christ. They were just fucking horrendous. Listening to three off key sorority girls singing in unison (not even in harmony) is my idea of hell.

That being said, as much as Love annoys the fuck out of me, Live Through This was a solid album, not brilliant, but solid.

But I still can list girl bands at the top of my head that are/were better than Hole: Go Betty Go, Betty Blowtorch, The Soviettes, The Dollyrots, The Devotchkas, L7, and The Slits.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Even the Go-Gos were better than Hole.

[Quetzalcoatl]

The Violent Femmes

[A girl]

Duran Duran.

[Anomalous]

Barenaked Ladies

[RoboCain]

Hole sucked, and I could list a dozen better girl bands.

[sarcasmic]

L7

[shrike]

"Eat my used tampon, fuckers!"

Best on-stage insult ever for sure.

[Brian D]

Vixen!

[RedDragon6009]

Sleater Kinney

[Alack]

+1

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Yeah if you cut yourself in the tub while thinking of Ani DiFranco, then I guess Sleater Kinney is a valid entry.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

NTTAWWT

[Ted S.]

What do you have against the DeFranco Family?

[John]

The Indigo Girls.

[Anomalous]

Tegan and Sara.

[jacob]

Liz Phair

[Loki]

Does a band have to be all female to be considered a "girl band"? If not I'd even put Flyleaf and Garbage ahead of Hole, at least when it comes to hard rock/ metal bands.

[RoboCain]

Yes, and it also needs more that one member.

[PBR Streetgang]

If you only need multiple females, how's about The Pixies.

[B.P.]

Pixies had/have one female.

[PBR Streetgang]

I must be thinking of whatever that offshoot band was with both Deal girls.

[sloopyinca]

The Breeders, dumbass.

[H man]

Heck I'd put Heart in there.

[B.P.]

Great female-fronted bands: PJ Harvey, Land of Talk, The Bellrays.

[RoboCain]

It looks like some sort of cortisol reaction. Maybe she took steroids for some medical problem?

[Killazonthrun]

Who doesn't look like crap after a night of partying? From a shoot only two weeks ago. Think I would still hit that.

http://www.wwtdd.com/enlargedi.....tid=985602

http://www.wwtdd.com/enlargedi.....tid=985612

[Killazonthrun]

Even better shot.

http://cdn.wwtdd.com/wp-conten.....akes_3.jpg

She does annoy me, but I have to admit I love this particular shoot. Much more than the Playboy one. That is one deviant five thousand an hour slut if I've seen one.

[Zeb]

The lipstick ruins it if you ask me. Makeup looks like crap when yo can tell that it is makeup.

[Killazonthrun]

I'm not into natural looking humanoids. Coffeehouse hippy chicks make me nauseous.

[Francisco d Anconia]

On second thought, skip the bunk.

[Konfounded Kristen]

If she keeps getting nipped-tucked and filled and lifted, she can get legal prescription narcotics that don't count toward her drug testing requirement.

Et voila!

[John]

I never thought of that. That is a good point.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

ugh

[harlequin]

Well, she could be taking a dirtnap before she's 30. Or on the other hand, be the female version of Keith Richards; he's pretty much the living incarnation of "that which does not kill you, makes you stronger"...

[RoboCain]

Santorum Nail Polish Actually Exists

http://www.thefrisky.com/2012-.....ly-exists/

[Karl Hungus]

Santorum Nail Polish Actually Exists

It comes in brown and brown with white streaks!

[Ska]

No red sparkles?

[R C Dean]

That's the "Santorum Surprise" limited edition.

[Karl Hungus]

If "Santorum" would just practice his Kegels, he'd quit getting these "Surprise" surges.

[RoboCain]

"This is the nation's capital, and we have a higher public safety burden than any other city in this country," Mendelson said.

http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....t-rulings/

[WTF]

This is the nation's capital, and we have a higher public safety burden than any other city in this country," Mendelson said.

Therefore, we must deny law-abiding citizens their second amendment right to protect themselves from violent criminals.

[o3]

As gas prices rise, should US oil industry stop exporting?
US gas prices are soaring and domestic demand is falling. The oil industry says it needs to export to stay in business and avoid layoffs. Others claim that keeps supply low and gas prices high.

By Ron Scherer, Staff writer / February 23, 2012

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2.....-exporting

[John]

Maybe the fed should stop destroying the dollar instead.

[sarcasmic]

Stop destroying the dollar?

How else do you think the national debt will be paid?

[John]

But they are running up debt faster than they are destroying the dollar. That plan only works if you stop borrowing.

[Karl Hungus]

Maybe the fed should stop destroying the dollar instead.

How can it be called "destroying" the dollar when they can just print more anytime you want? Silly goose!

[Almanian]

"Yeah, we're losing money on every unit. BUT WE'LL MAKE UP FOR IT WITH VOLUME!"

[Francisco d Anconia]

I can't be out of money, I still have checks left.

[o3]

treasury prints the money john not the fed & M2 is stable at ~3% growth, slightly above replacement rate.

jeesch ol tired memes at 9am?

[John]

The fed determines the money supply too you half wit. It is called buying securities. And M3 is the money in circulation, not the money sitting in banks waiting to be spent.

[o3]

M3 hasnt been used since 06 john.

it tries moar harder

[John]

Speak English.

[o3]

M2 is S T A B L E

comprende?

[John]

M2 is stable because Obama is destroying the economy. When that stops, it won't be so stable any longer. M2 is not the total measure of money.

Comprehende?

No. Because you are silly and ignorant.

[o3]

so which is it john?

upthread you wrote that the dollar was being destroyed...despite M2 being stable.

later you wrote that the economy is being destroyed...which evidently explains M2 being stable?!

get ur memes straight

[John]

The two are connected you half wit. Think about it for a while and get back to us.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

If it's growing, it's not stable--unless you think an 8% growth rate over 40 years (a la healthcare costs) is also "stable."

[Maxxx]

M2 is S T A B L E

comprende?

M2 is only stable because private credit deflation is matching the increase in base money, which has been sequestered as excess reserves.

This is manifesting as deflation in assets that are credit sensitive, primarily real estate, with a co oresponding increase in the price of commodities. The situation is complicated by globalization continuing to suppress domestic wages.

BTW prices rising in the face of lower demand happens during periods of hyperinflation.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

treasury prints the money john not the fed & M2 is stable at ~3% growth, slightly above replacement rate

If it's "growing" it's not "stable."

[o3]

it studies replacement rate then posts

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It studies exponential functions then posts.

[R C Dean]

treasury prints the money

Actually, no. Those bills in your mom's purse? "Federal Reserve Notes", not "Treasury Notes."

[o3]

it studies the Bureau of Engraving and Printing,U.S. Department of the Treasury

http://www.moneyfactory.gov/us.....gures.html

[R C Warmenista]

It ponders the words on the bills themselves:

http://www.google.com/imgres?h.....29,r:0,s:0

And marvels at the quaint idea that anyone believes printed money really matters that much any more, seeing as it constitutes around 7% of the outstanding dollars.

Or that anyone would confuse who prints the bills, with who issues the currency.

[Almanian]

Yes, because government-directed commerce always turns out so well.

Always.

[o3]

the exports are not govt directed.

try reading the link first.

[shorter o3]

*woosh*

[R C Dean]

US gas prices are soaring and domestic demand is falling. The oil industry says it needs to export to stay in business and avoid layoffs. Others claim that keeps supply low and gas prices high.

Or, perhaps, the rising input costs of oil force gas prices higher, regardless of surplus refinery capacity?

[RoboCain]

"Gay Dallas Judge Won't Perform Marriages"

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/loc.....54903.html

[robc]

I misread that twice before I clicked:

First was "Dallas Judge Wont Perform Gay Marriages".

Second was "Gay Dallas Judge Wont Perform Gay Marriages".

The 2nd reading caused me to click. Then I was just as bored as if it had been the 1st reading.

This is easy...insert all the arguments about the pharmacist not selling birth control .... [here].

Good, now I dont have to read that clusterfuck again.

[fish]

Does a "public servant" have this latitude?

[CrackertyAssCracker]

Ya, anybody can perform a marriage in Texas. So people ask judges/justice-of-the-peace types just because they can.

[RoboCain]

Mama Mia!

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

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Might want to put a NSFW warning on that one. I'm pretty sure the chick in the sheer top with no bra could get some people in trouble.

[Brett L]

I'm glad the Italians have discovered what every hot bartendress in America knows by her 2nd shift.

[RoboCain]

"barista"

[Brett L]

Takes a big stretch to extend it to coffee? I thought the US already had a couple of topless coffee shops. (Cannot google that from work.)

[RoboCain]

It does. Although the ones I know about are more like donut shops.

[edcoast]

Not sure I want her serving me anything (food and drink-wise I mean) after sticking her hands down her pants.

[sloopyinca]

Nothing chocolate-based anyway...

[Brett L]

Its Italy. Demanding hygiene from your food service personnel is a good way to starve.

[John]

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4d.....012_429208

What it takes to start an online store in Greece; stool samples and chest x-rays for a start.

[RoboCain]

And that's sticking it to the evil corporations, apparently.

[robc]

I had to get a chest X-ray (TB) for my residency visa when I moved to Switzerland in 1991. It was acknowleged that it was a stupid requirement even then and I think they finally got rid of it.

The funny thing is, I had 30 days after the start of my residency to get it done, so if it had had TB, I could have infected half the country before the x-ray.

As the most convenient place to get the x-ray done was the Zurich airport, I did it upon arrival. Everyone else in the clinic at the time was "mediterranian". Either southern Europe or Northern Africa. Anglo-Saxon boy stuck out. Or maybe it was my one big moment of culture shock, thinking back on it now. I basically got over it after that.

[Ring]

I had to get a chest x-ray (and medical checkup) to move to the US from the UK for the same reason.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

(Insert bad joke about Greek hygiene)

[Fist of Etiquette]

Eliot Spitzer is holding a fundraiser in New York for Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), who is running for governor in Washington, the New York Post reports.

High concept sitcom idea: Eliot plays himself, but fictional "Wolf News Network" pairs him up on a talk show with a sexy but savvy blond named Tiffany Swallows. The name of the show? Come Again.

[Almanian]

If you are looking for funding for your prject, I am interested, as this is a slam-dunk moneymaker.

[John]

I want to start a weekend political round table on the cable news networks. The siting panel will be Spitzer, Weener, Edwards, Stanford plus a guest chair for whoever is involved in a sex scandal that week.

I want to make a serious political show. They can talk about the issues. Let the irony speak for itself.

[R C Dean]

You should submit that to Kickstarter and see if you can't raise a little free-range capital.

[Almanian]

LAST!!!

For the time being.

[Karl Hungus]

LAST!!!

Snatched!

I'm like that dick on The Price is Right that outbids you by one dollar.

[RoboCain]

Full Retard:

http://www.examiner.com/politi.....e-gun-laws

[sarcasmic]

Wow.

[Sparky]

he latest to come out of this demented Republican legislature is a bill to force guns onto college and university campuses

Wait, so the new law says you MUST carry a gun on campus?

[sarcasmic]

Not prohibiting something is the same as requiring it.

When all you understand is force, liberty is a foreign concept.

[Joe M]

Why did you link to that idiocy? Now I'm going to have indigestion all day.

[mad libertarian guy]

In all fairness, the National Rifle Assn. has several gun safety programs available to its members, which it recommends on its site, but hardly the kind of thing that would appeal to a Jared Loughner before his Tucson massacre or Seung Hui Cho in the Virginia Tech bloodbath.

Jesus Fucking Christ (NSFW)

[Zeb]

That's funny. They must be some pretty good gun safety programs if they can prevent people from being murdering psychopaths. I don't think Loughner's problem was a lack of proper training.

[Loki]

Gotta love how condescending left-tards think that starting a sentence with some variation of "in all fairness" or "with all due respect" before continueing spewing smug intellectually dishonest horseshit counts as "balanced reporting".

[fish]

At least once a week across this nation....the tired old former hippie pens an op-ed....comments follow.

Seriously, you ought to be able to collect a bounty for collecting his wrinkled old hide!

[Rubicon]

Full Retard....well,yes predictable. The comments were far better than the article was; strange how common that is becoming these days.

[Joe M]

Santorum surge "is God's will," says Mrs. Santorum.

Just wait until Jesus votes against him.

[Ruffleburg]

Why does God hate America?

[mad libertarian guy]

+1

[John]

Have you looked around? If any country needs a reality to beat some of the stupid out of them, it is this one.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Paging Reverend Wright...

[Tonio]

I hope someone asks her what she thinks about that after Mr. Santorum goes down by a margin worthy of Mondale or McGovern.

Tears...yummy...sweet.

[John]

That will not happen. He may or may not win. But he will win the South by default. That alone puts him ahead of Mondale and McGovern. And Obama is too incompetent and too despised to win anything but a squeaker no matter who the Republicans run.

[Mike Laursen]

Would Jesus give Santorum a wedgie or just punch him in the face?

[Sparky]

Why choose one?

[Zeb]

Santorum surge "is God's will," says Mrs. Santorum.

If you look at things that way, isn't everything God's will?

[Tonio]

Yes, but by going out of her way to say this it seems to me that she's implying that god has endorsed her husband.

[Zeb]

You cannot petition the Lord with prayer!

[Bobarian]

What she is really saying is 'It must be God's will... why the fuck else would anyone vote for him?'

[Loki]

Anal sex byproduct is "God's will"? Maybe STEVE SMITH should use that line on his next rape victim.

[Loki]

On a related note, I probably shouldn't use memes that I'm not completely familiar with, so I've gotta ask: what's the backstory on the STEVE SMITH meme?

I've only been haunting the H&R comments for a couple of months, and might have missed the thread where that originated.

[Rubicon]

There was a Steve Smith that raped and killed a 6 month old child a while back,then sometime after that ANOTHER left leaning type named Steve Smith (I know,what are the odds of two people having that same name) started commenting here. I think after that things just evolved (devolved?) from there.

[EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy]

Just wait until Jesus votes against him.

Is he eligible?

[RoboCain]

New York's Finest:

http://www.newsday.com/long-is.....-1.3551311

http://gothamist.com/2012/02/2.....caught.php

[rather]

Finally, some good news for Anne Frank.   Does the Easter bunny go to Heaven?

[Lord Humungus]

5 Biggest Whoppers In Obama's Energy Speech
http://news.investors.com/arti.....-myths.htm

[Eduard van Haalen]

Alberta (Canada) govt prohibits private and home schools from teaching that homosexuality is a sin:

"According to [govt spokesperson] McColl, Christian homeschooling families can continue to impart Biblical teachings on homosexuality in their homes, "as long as it's not part of their academic program of studies and instructional materials.""

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ne.....n-class-sa

[John]

So much for that freedom of religion thing. How long before that comes here? Those home schoolers are getting government accreditation aren't they?

[o3]

ur confusing education and religion

[John]

No, you just don't know what freedom is. If you don't have the freedom to teach your kids what you want, you are not free.

It is that simple. People like you really are terrifying. You absolutely think you have the right to control everyone and everything around you.

[o3]

you are free to teach religion...just not on the taxpayers' dime

[sarcasmic]

Since when was homeschooling on the taxpayer dime, moron?

[John]

That is why they want everyone on the dole sarcasmic. Then they can say "if you don't want our control, don't take our money" never mentioning that they forced people to take the money.

[Ring]

Obviously they won't apply that to spending dole money on drugs, cigs or alcohol.

[RoboCain]

LOL

[o3]

in canada u mean

[o3]

yes becuz im moar smarter than everyone else

[teh real o3]

evidently since i know the diff bet the establishment clause & a war on religion...which is a fund-raising tactic

[WTF]

Oooh, please explain.

[cw]

So, is homeschooling funded by the taxpayer? If not, then stop making an ass of yourself.

[sarcasmic]

Dude, it's freedom from religion.

Separation of church and state.

Since we are government, and government is us, there is no distinction between the state and society.

That means separation of church and state means separation of church and society.

By that reasoning religion should be outlawed.

[Alack]

*slow clap*

[o3]

except that its the establishment clause. jeesch

[o3]

and now i'll act like us leftys never argue the separation angle

[Quetzalcoatl]

I wasn't aware that Canada was affected by the establishment clause.

[o3]

seperatin of church from state doesn't mean separatin state from church morans

[WTF]

Holy fuck orrin, you never cease to amaze.

[teh real o3]

spoofer foo

[RoboCain]

What about religious schools?

[Tonio]

For the record John, I think this is overreach, most especially for home schoolers.

[John]

Not really. I am pretty sure home scholers have to have some kind of accreditation in a lot of states. The state gets a lot of say over what they teach anyway.

I don't see how it is any different than the contraception requirement. In that case, the state is saying 'if you are going to provide insurance, this is what you have to provide regardless of if doing so is against your religion'. Here the state is saying 'we have an interest in governing education, and if you are going to teach your kids, you have to teach them that homosexuality is not a sin.'

I think by your reasoning, this is not an overreach. This is what government can do. You might think it is a bad idea. But I don't see why you wouldn't think it is Constitutional.

[Zeb]

The big difference is that this is in Canada, where it probably is constitutional.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I am pretty sure home scholers have to have some kind of accreditation in a lot of states. The state gets a lot of say over what they teach anyway.

Another reason why I like Texas. I have to teach reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics and citizenship... but I can teach those subjects however the hell I see fit.

But I don't see why you wouldn't think it is Constitutional.

...or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

[John]

I agree it is a free exercise problem. But I think the contraception mandate is one too. Tonio doesn't. And I don't see how this is any different. I think if you believe in the contraception mandate, you have to take this as well.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Fair enough. I didn't know enough about Tonio's position to know the point you were making.

[Tonio]

John, I don't see these as the same issues, for reasons I've explained repeatedly and at length. As sorry as I am to disappoint you, I see no consistency issues with my views on these issues.

The bigger point here is that although I'm pretty personally hostile to religion at all levels, that I do indeed respect the rights of the religious (the First rocks).

[John]

The fact that you are hostile to religion means you should make more of an effort to protect if from government intrusion. That is what freedom is for, the freedom for other people to be things you might not like.

And I don't see any difference. In both cases the government heavily regulates something, education and insurance. And in both cases the government uses that regulatory power to mandate that people engaging in that activity (teaching their kids at home or buying insurance) do something that violates their religion. The are perfectly analogous. What is is different about home schooling versus self insuring? If the Catholic Church ran its own insurance company for its employees, it would still have to buy contraceptives for their insured.

[Tonio]

The fact that you are hostile to religion means you should make more of an effort to protect if from government intrusion.

I do, John, I do. Perhaps not enough for you, which I'm fine with.

You'll note that I'm not defining your needs or telling you what you should feel or think.

[John]

By endorsing the contraception ban you have endorsed the principle that the government can mandate people do things against their religion. And you have embraced basically reading the free exercise clause out of the Constitution.

[nicole]

My bf's mom is a lawyer & religious studies scholar, and she's gotten into studying the intersection of law & religion later in her career. As she's done so, we've seen in her another example of the "libertarianism happens to people" phenomenon.

With govt involvement in so many spheres of life, it's just not possible for true religious freedom to exist. 1A can't really help you when government is everywhere and has its hands on everything.

John's (and many others') response to this is to provide more and larger exemptions for religious orgs from generally applicable laws. But if you consider religion on a par with any other sincerely held belief, this is quite unfair. And I think also unsustainable. There's so much law, there needs to be exemptions for everything.

Anyway I guess the point is this is another "why I am an anarchist"/"why the Constitution doesn't actually help us" story.

[John]

And even though I am sure you think it is too far, by the time it gets to this, and I have a feeling it will, it will be too late. By that time the government will have pretty much taken over the public expression and practice of religion.

[Tonio]

Alternately, John, in a generation there will be far fewer religious people in our society, and those who are religious will be far less religious than previous generations.

[John]

So it will be okay to wipe out religious freedom so long as not many people wanted it anyway?

That is weapons grade crazy Tonio. And I have 10000 years of human history and nature that says religion isn't going nowhere. And even if it did, the Constitution still says what it does. I guess if everyone got tired of looking at porn, you would be okay with the government banning it?

[Tonio]

Uh, John, we only have 6,000 years (+/-) of human history. History equals written records and earliest writings are dated to 4,000 BCE.

And yes, religion is going somewhere - away. In the last 500 years we've gone from non-belief being either literal craziness or a prosecutable (burnable) offense to being an acceptable and significant worldview:

An American Religious Identification Survey released in March 2009 indicated that 15% of Americans ? roughly 45 million ? "say they have no religion" (up from 8.2% in 1990)

[Tonio]

No, John, I didn't say that.

What I'm saying is that there will be fewer religious people and thus fewer claims for special rights.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"I personally think this is God's will. I think He has us on a path, and I do think there's a lot more happening than what we're seeing," Karen Santorum told Glenn Beck as she and her husband sat for an interview on his Web-based show, GBTV. "Personally I mean I think Rick's a great guy, and he's really smart and everything. But I think a lot more is happening than what we can actually see."

Great, another presidential contender lacking transparency.

[Karl Hungus]

"Soon, Ricky will be president and then he will stamp out the gays, just like Jesus wants. And then, when all his hard work is done, maybe - just maybe - he will be able to come back to the marriage bed."

[Kibby]

Ugh, thank you for the reminder that Glenn Beck still exists for some inexplicable reason.

[Lord Humungus]

She's Doing Threesomes & He's Doing Lonesome
http://www.yourtango.com/exper.....t-lonesome

"Adam" recently wrote me with this question: "Should I be tolerant when it comes to a girlfriend hanging out with ex lovers? They are not people she dated, but people she has slept with. Recently, she blew me off for a "friend" coming into town, and I found out the "friend" was someone she had a threesome with, and the friend was spending the night at her apartment. She was not upfront or honest about it. She had other recent ex- lovers she wanted to hang out with, too. I broke it off, because I'm not cool with it. I said she should give these people up if she wants to be with me or at least make the effort to explain why I should be comfortable with it. Did I do the right thing?"

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Did he try to see if he could use this info to bargain and get her to have a threesome with himself and another chick before dumping her? If the answer to that question is yes, then he did the right thing. If the answer is no, then he missed a good opportunity.

[Brett L]

Dear Adam,

Man the fuck up. Its good that you fired the bitch, but why the fuck are you whining about it on the internet?

[John]

^^This^^ Either become one of those guys who gets off on his girlfriend fucking around or dump her and never talk about it again.

Dumping her and then asking for affirmation of your decision is about as low as it goes. Lower than the guys who embrace it.

[Sparky]

+1000

[jacob]

Or

Dear Adam,

Can you give me her name and number? How about a pic?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

"Adam" obviously needs to grow some balls

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It sounds like he had enough balls to kick her to the curb--he's just having "sex remorse" right now, that stage where you wonder if your dignity was more important than the fact you were at least getting laid.

[Sparky]

Sounds to me like there was a good reason she was still after her exes for some action.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Sounds to me like there was a good reason she was still after her exes for some action.

Maybe--she could just simply be a slut, too. I imagine that was a big part of her appeal to this guy at first, until he realized that she wasn't discriminating as to who she gave it up to.

[Brett L]

Yep. But its still unmanly to admit that. Women might learn that they can manipulate us with sex... Hmm. Anyhow, shouldn't admit to sex regret in public.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Not going to disagree on the airing of said remorse--he should have limited that to his buddies while they were playing video games or something, not broadcast it all over the internet. It makes him look like a woman to seek out that kind of public self-affirmation for doing what anyone could see is just common sense.

[rather]

Judge Refuses To Officiate Straight Marriages.  She has the legal right to not perform too

[Lost_in_translation]

That's what she said....

[Lord Humungus]

Females on Campaign Trail Go For Sexpot Look
http://www.mediabistro.com/fis.....s.facebook

if that is the sexpot look...

[John]

Two words, low bar or queen for a day. The chick in the middle is okay. The one on the top looks like some of the old hippie moms that live in my neighborhood.

[Brett L]

Yeah. I had the same thought. Washington must be Hollywood for ugly people if those pics are "sexpot".

[John]

It is not so much Washington as journalism is acting for ugly people.

[RoboCain]

http://jezebel.com/5887762/con.....y-nowadays

[Fluffy]

I can't tell the difference between sexpot and demure any more.

http://www.oneangryman.com/ken.....na-Lee.jpg

Whichever one that is, that's the one I favor.

[Lord Humungus]

The Big Deficit Lie: Every GOP Debt Plan Leaves Us With More Debt
http://www.theatlantic.com/bus.....bt/253501/

But Obama's is just fine... and so is Ron Pauls (but is impossible).

Don't read the comments - for god's sake.

[robc]

So they lied in the headline?

Paul is still in the GOP last time I checked.

[shrike]

No, read the comments. John Thacker is excellent in them. He is one of the better posters I have ever seen on the tubes.

[Mr. FIFY]

When did John Thacker become a Team Blue member?

/sarcasm.

[mad libertarian guy]

Why are Ivy Leaguers under appreciated?

In their book "Freakonomics," Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt explain, among other things, the odd economic behavior that guides many drug dealers. In one gang they described, the typical street-corner guy made less than minimum wage but still worked extremely hard in hopes of some day becoming one of the few wildly rich kingpins. This behavior isn't isolated to illegal activity. There are a number of professions in which workers are paid, in part, with a figurative lottery ticket. The worker accepts a lower-paying job in exchange for a slim but real chance of a large, future payday.

Hollywood, and industry dominated by unions, is DEFINITELY a good model of showing how capitalism works!

[Montani Semper Liberi]

That's an amazing discovery. The potential for amassing great wealth is a motivation for some people.

[o3]

unionz vs exploited drug dealers on the street eh? funny thx

[robc]

The worker accepts a lower-paying job in exchange for a slim but real chance of a large, future payday.

This is also true of nearly everyone who starts a business.

Im trying to figure out why anyone even finds this odd and needs to be discussed.

Also true of salesman working in a low base/high commission business. For every salesman pulling in multiple 6 figure commissions, there are a ton of guys squeaking by at the poverty level.

[mad libertarian guy]

Also true of salesman working in a low base/high commission business. For every salesman pulling in multiple 6 figure commissions, there are a ton of guys squeaking by at the poverty level.

And that's UNFAIR!!! Everyone should get a Living Wage? upon market entry with no experience, regardless of the market conditions, and it should be facilitated by not allowing those who excel in their field to be paid unreasonable amounts of money.

[Diana Moon Glampers]

Sounds good to me!

[o3]

is that screed in the book?

[valkyrie927]

+1

[John]

Or maybe rich kids getting a check from mom and dad every month can afford to take low paying jobs that pay off later.

[Double D]

This leaves out a lot of stuff. I used to do a little...freelance work. A low level scrambler (do they still call it that?) makes more than you think. He gets a crew to look out for him both on and off the job. He gets a certain amount of respect in some circles. He might get access to some smokin hot chicks who would never have looked in his direction. If he has a flashy boss, he might be able to get cast offs that are worth more than what he could buy new. If he's smart with his product, he might be able to get away with doing some extra cutting when he's dealing with scrubs and newbies. That's more money or dope for him. The little guy can make out pretty well, plus have chances to move up to the big time one day.

[John]

Interesting post. And it makes perfect sense. It all depends on what your options are. If you are some upper middle class kid with parents who will buy you a car and pay your way to college, dealing drugs is a pretty bad bargain. But if you don't have that and have a lot less to lose, it is perfectly rational.

[Double D]

It's also less risky than you would think. Sure, the movies and media make a big deal about busts and killings, but that shit is pretty rare if you actually have a disciplined crew. It's the wannabes and dead-ender nutjobs that create all the crazy. A smart crew steers clear of the fools and keeps a low profile.
Of course, I'm saying this as a guy who made some dumb moves early on. It's why I wasn't employed in that field for very long. Still, I didn't killed or even beaten up for my mistakes. Just dismissed.

[John]

The movies make everything look more dangerous than it is. At some point you have to make money. And killing people doesn't make money. And murder investigations tend to draw attention of the police. So I would imagine the violence is a lot less than people think. It is as they say in the movies "bad for business".

The problem with it is that the federal penalties are so draconian, decades in prison. That it is just not worth even a small risk of getting caught. Even if you are brilliant, your luck will run out some time. The cops will catch you out of dumb luck if nothing else.

[Double D]

Not so, John. Set up in the right place (suburbs is best) with the right clientele, and you can quietly run your business forever, with the occasional temporary loss of some nobody on a nickel and dime bust. Townie cops aren't setting up huge sting operations. At least, they didn't used to. I've been far and away from all that for almost two decades now.

[John]

Maybe so. I doubt townies are too hard to fool. The only problem is if one of your suppliers gets nailed and then rats you out.

[Spoonman.]

Wait, you got fired from dealing drugs? I guess that makes perfect sense, but...HAHAHAHA

[Double D]

It's a fucked up story I'm not going to tell. It made me realize quite clearly that I wasn't built for that life. Still, gimme a break. I was only nineteen.

[Lord Humungus]

I have a friend - a 'recovered' heroin addict - who used to deal drugs. Back then, he was making six figures, tax free. He was a little specialized, running his operation through a connected network of 'friends only' dealers - basically all guys he grew up with. He was a smart operator, never got busted or even arrested. Looking at him, you would never think "junky" or "drug dealer" - he was a clean-cut guy who always dressed nice, but never flashy.

Of course the heroin eventually "did him in" and he had to go to rehab. I keep telling him to write a book about his experience, but he's a lazy bastard now.

[Alack]

Of course the heroin eventually "did him in" and he had to go to rehab. I keep telling him to write a book about his experience, but he's a lazy bastard now.

You mean there's an example of someone being less driven while NOT on drugs? Color me flabbergasted!

[Brett L]

So drugs are exactly like a tech startup. That explains so much about the guys I knew in HS that are now in tech companies.

[Lord Humungus]

some strangeness - I wsa able to view the A.M. Links through IE, but not Firefox. Of course I'm running incif and a few other add-ons, but it is odd.

[sarcasmic]

Clear offline storage.

[Lord Humungus]

that did it - thx.

[Trespassers W]

Try uninstalling Firefox. Smiley face.

[rather]

Someone vying to replace Putin, and he looks like Scott Brown with clothes on

[Brett L]

Obama uses algae as substitute for oil.

At $6/gal (maybe less depending on the market for trans-etherfied diesel's main byproduct glycerol) I can make this profitable. So now we know why he's targetting gas prices. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can make money doing this for less than $4.50/gal. No economy of scale, no amount of concentrated sunlight can get current strains of algae to produce enough lipids. Anyone who runs a wastewater plant and has a grant writer on staff that needs a chief engineer for getting one off the ground at $6/gal diesel, plus free glycerol, plus a natural graywater filter that removes 80% of impurities should email me though. I've got the plan all set.

[Navy & Air Force]

At ease, already on it

[R C Dean]

should email me though.

Umm, how, exactly?

[Brett L]

Tell you what, post your email and I'll contact you from an email address that verifies its me.

[Occupy Algae]

[R C Dean]

Hover, my good man. Some of us give an email address when we post.

Not that I run a wastewater plant, of course.

[Brett L]

I get enough spam. And I assumed you didn't really want to correspond about this.

[db]

Muni wastewater or industrial?

[Brett L]

Depends. I was talking muni, but I also have plans for industrial wastewater with reasonable pH (5.5-8.5) that's high in nitrates, sulfates, and/or phosphates.

[db]

Does the industrial have to have all three?

[Lord Humungus]

a nice little dancey number from Veil Veil Vanish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_5CGQy27EE

[sloopyinca]

That Amazing Race producer's death may have a little more to do with personal leisure activities and less to do with poisoning.

[John]

Katheryne Fuller, who was found unconscious in a Ugandan hotel next to the lifeless body of 'Amazing Race' producer Jeff Rice, is recovering in hospital

If that picture is an accurate portrayal of Ms. Fuller's looks, he at least died having one hell of a good time.

[robc]

So it was poisoning, just cocaine poisoning.

Hmmm...traveling around Africa arranging trips for TV shows...sounds like a good cover for your smuggling operation.

[John]

Or an easy way to score for your habit. Bribable cops and all. And maybe he got poisoned by the cocaine. Maybe it was cut with something nasty.

[Brett L]

It was in his stomach in measureable quantities -- I'm thinking he went full Scarface on a ginormous pile.

[John]

Like I said above, looking at the blond in the picture, he went out having a hell of a good time. I guess if you got to go, dying in a hotel in Africa with a hot blond after a week long bender isn't the worst.

[Ice Nine]

Gee, and people wonder why no one wants to ingest lethal doses of cocaine - in Africa of course.

[R C Dean]

The fact that it was in his stomach makes me think that he wasn't ingesting it voluntarily. I mean, who swallows their coke?

[robc]

Smugglers?

[robc]

Although, I guess that is typical inserted the other way.

[tarran]

If the passports are missing from their hotel room, then there was someone else there. Hmmm.....

[db]

I read an article on this where the local authorities stated he had too much cocaine "in his stomach." Maybe it was a translation problem, but that sounds fishy to me.

[sarcasmic]

I'm thinking the same thing.

[Ice Nine]

Virtually every Ugandan speaks English.

[db]

OK, so what's the explanation for cocaine found in the stomach?

[Ice Nine]

Damned if I know. But I would bet the huge bucks that a "translation problem" for an American in an English-speaking country is not among the likely ones.

[db]

OK, we've established that.

[Brett L]

Genital application followed by oral sex? Doing a Scarface and getting a bunch of it in your mouth and swallowing? Being on a weeklong bender and swallowing the drip?

[db]

Just a question: since cocaine is a topical anaesthetic, why would anyone apply it to the genitals? Seems like a good way to have really unsatisfying sex for hours and hours.

[Brett L]

I'm not sure about the unsatisfying part, but hours and hours for sure. Also, uh, microabrasion from friction probably guarantees some reasonable uptake into the bloodstream

[Zeb]

I have heard that if you do lots of cocaine through your nose it drips down your throat and thence to your stomach.

[Maxxx]

Swallowed a balloon of coke to smuggle it and the balloon broke. That's the only reason to have a large amount of coke in your tummy.

[Tonio]

Haven't RTFA, but it's possible he swallowed his stash for transport and that whaever he packed it in (Condom?) burst.

[Jerry]

He should be have been producing Amazing Haze.

[Pip]

Slovaks vote to name bridge 'Chuck Norris'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....uck-norris

[Brett L]

They think a pedestrian bridge will appease Chuck Norris? So long Slovakia, we hardly knew ye.

[Robert]

Hey, it's an international bridge over a named river near the capital of one of the countries, and will admit bicyclists as well. Maybe it'll even be covered, and if not, it might allow fishing.

The major truck traffic, meanwhile, will proceed via the Bruce Lee Br.

[jacob]

Bad idea

Nobody crosses Chuck Norris and lives to tell about it

[Brett L]

+internets

[RoboCain]

Add ultrasound to the rape list:

http://feministing.com/2012/02.....l-probing/

[Bee Tagger]

Even when I agree with her, I would never want to be associated with Meghan McCain.

[STEVE SMITH]

PEOPLE RUIN PURITY OF RAPE BY COMPARING IT TO ULTRASOUND. STEVE SMITH RAPE GOOD, MEDICAL IMAGE, NOT SO GOOD.

[Robert]

But could you paint an image on the cave wall of your impression?

[Fatty Bolger]

I don't like the bill, but man is this crap dishonest. Most abortions are done by shoving a vacuum device up the vagina. How is that any less invasive than an ultrasound?

[RoboCain]

"This isn't something that criminologists have devoted much attention to, although I might mention that an emerging area in the field of criminology is known as "green" or "environmental criminology," but there wasn't really much discussion about how climate change might impact crime. Since most of the work I do in criminology focuses on the causes of crime, I decided to take my emerging knowledge of climate change, combine it with my knowledge of the causes of crime, and argue that there's good reason to believe that, if climate change proceeds, it may become one of the major forces?if not the major force?driving crime."

http://thesocietypages.org/specials/agnew/

[Brett L]

What the fuck? I mean, I'm cool with environmental factors playing some role in crime. One of the solid correlations with violent crime drop was the 18-25 male cohort passing through the leaded gas ban. But climate fucking change? Stop huffing the nitrous, your oxygen supply is dangerously low.

[John]

Money. If I am going to go study how squirrels fornicate, I won't get much funding. But if I rename my study "how global warming affects squirrel fornication", I will have no problem getting funding.

AGW is nothing but a money fountain. And everyone involved with it has a vested interest in it being true.

[Konfounded Kristen]

Leanne Rimes is still...err...still an alien?

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix.....68x783.jpg

[John]

And she isn't that old. She can't be more than 30. Talk about hard living.

[Konfounded Kristen]

Wikipedia sez 29

[John]

She was in her early teens when she first hit it big. She had an incredible voice. Had kind of a Patsy Klein quality to her. Sadly the Nashville machine got ahold of her and ensured she wasted her talent on pop music for housewives.

[Brett L]

I think that Coyote Ugly movie permanently damaged her self-image to unrecoverable levels. She's been trying to be the skinny girl who wrote the songs in that movie ever since.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

What the hell is that?

[Sparky]

Clearly a victim of too much motorboatin'.

[Ice Nine]

Really. She is seriously unclear on the concept behind wearing a dress with that neckline.

[ChrisO]

Leann clearly has an eating disorder. Scary.

[Comcast Sucks (Coxswain Hardy)]

Why I Am Peter Gleick
...Denial is a psychological defense against personally unacceptable truths. If an individual can't personally accept the damage we are doing to our planet, fine. But when powerful vested interests seek to leverage psychological denial as a weapon against scientists, against democracy and against the public interest then it is the duty of every rational human being to oppose them. When I use the term 'denialist' I mean to refer to anybody who is using propaganda to shill for corporate interests. I am ready with many others to stand up to the propagandist shills and to say, with a host of other climate protection activists:

I am Peter Gleick....

[Tonio]

Oh, the shadowy, powerful vested interests. Looks like the warmists are going full tinfoil. Soon they're going to be there with the UFO nuts and the troofers. Nice.

[mad libertarian guy]

It's not tinfoil hattery to hate on corporate entities. It only qualifies with government conspiracies. Because hating on corporations is okay, and how the fuck dare you hate on my beloved government.

[cw]

He speaks for democracy and the public interest, huh?

[Peter North]

This is like the worst chat room ever.

[Sparky]

Has been.

[o3]

that's "evah" to u mister

[MNG]

Here's one big reason why I was disappointed with Christie's punt on same sex marriage, he could have been the first GOPer to sign on to it, and in doing so he could have done so in a way that addressed the big faults that many SSM bills passed in blue states have possessed: he could have granted broad conscience exemptions to the states non-discrimination laws.

Instead he doubled down on the stupid, vetoeing the bill but reaffirming the non-discrimination laws by appointing a special omsbudsman to patrol anti-gay discrimination of civil unions.

[Sparky]

You don't take a chance like that when being eyed for a possible VP spot.

[Bee Tagger]

I was just about to throw out that same general theory.

It might be a little too conspiratorial for someone (Christie) who has a slightly higher walk to talk ratio than the normal politician.

[Ice Nine]

It was definitely a Sister Souljah opportunity. But I think he is, amongst other reasons, probably consumed by that Roman Catholic thang.

[John]

Gay marriage is still unpopular in most of the country. You have a sister soulja moment by attacking an unpopular minority not a majority.

[Ice Nine]

You have a Sister Souljah moment by iconoclastically bucking one of your party's sacred cows.

[John]

One of the cows that is not popular with the majority of the rest of the country. And gay marriage ain't that.

[Ice Nine]

No, John, one of the cows that popular with

[Ice Nine]

WTF?

[Ice Nine]

No, John, one of the cows that is popular with your party. Banning gay marriage is extremely popular with Christie's party. Had he supported gay marriage rather than going along with the company line, that would have been a SSM. Look at WP's definition of SSM.

[John]

Gay marriage is a dead loser with the country at large. It has lost every time it has been put to a vote. It didn't win in California for God's sake. That is not the cow you gore.

[Libertymike]

Have you noticed Reason's recent and repeated efforts to sway the narrative? I.e., "the majority of americans want gay marriage" and "most americans favor gay marriage" and "there's no stopping it now"......

[Tonio]

Sparky speaks wisdom.

[The Pointer-Outer]

There ARE more important issues than gay marriage.

[Fatty Bolger]

New global warming threat: Human race may shrink

[R C Warmenista]

Feature, not bug.

[RoboCain]

That's retarded.

[Brett L]

Oh for Christs sake. Bears and deer shrink as they move south in the northern hemisphere (move northern deer to the south and they're scrawny in 2 generations, yet hunters keep trying it), but we don't have fucking midgets exclusively populating the tropics. Fucking fuckity fuck.

[STEVE SMITH]

BEAR, DEER SHRINK BECAUSE NEED DRY ON LOW HEAT. PEOPLE TAKE HIGH HEAT, NOT SHRINK EVEN ROASTED. CAN ALSO TUMBLE HARD WHILE RAPE.

[Tonio]

And Inuit, Oopik, etc are not know for being tall.

[Suthenboy]

A Crock'O'horseshit.

Horse size has been driven by vegetation types, which varies with rainfall, which is dependant on temperature gradients, not overall termperature.

I disagree that the warmists are becoming tin-foil hatters, they always have been. It is just now becoming more apparent that they are.

[John]

Horses in Mongolia and Tibet, where last I looked it was pretty fucking cold, are tiny. Horses in southern Europe, which last I looked was pretty warm, are much larger. WTF?

[Fluffy]

Horses in Mongolia gotta work for a living.

Southern Europe is full of Peg Bundy horses, lying around eating bonbons all day.

[sloopyinca]

New York cop imprisons, straitjackets and forcibly hospitalized and medicated woman that had broken no laws. City now faces lawsuit, but of course no charges have been filed.

Adding insult to injury, the hospital sent her a bill.

[Tonio]

Don't worry, Sloopy, they'll find something to charge her with.

[WTF]

"It appears from the complaint that the police acted responsibly to assist an inebriated woman," said Kate Ahlers, a spokeswoman for the New York City Law Department.

Very helpful, thanks.

[RoboCain]

http://reason.com/blog/2012/02.....-york-city

[Mr. FIFY]

Portent of the near-future, sloop.

Especially if Team Red or Team Blue win the presidency this November.

[Comcast Sucks (Coxswain Hardy)]

Access to Good, Healthy Food Should Be a Basic Human Right

[Sparky]

I think what he meant to say was everyone on Earth should be given free "organic" food.

[STEVE SMITH]

AGREE. EVERYONE ON EARTH BE ORGANIC FOOD FOR ME.

[Double D]

You gotta be shitting me. How about, "access to what is available in your area should be a basic human right, if you can pay the going price set by the seller, as influenced by the market."

[fish]

FAIL in every paragraph!

Quelle surprise.

*Will Allen is the founder and CEO of Growing Power, a farm and community food center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and member of the Clinton Global Initiative. He is only the second farmer ever to be honored with a genius grant from the John D. and Katherine T. McArthur Foundation.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Jesus--those McArthur "genius" grants can't even be taken seriously as a marker of intellectual vigor. Patricia Limerick received one, for god's sake.

[WTF]

"Its low prices are an illusion."

Oh, okay then.

[micky dees]

fastfood = teh healthy!

[harlequin]

Sure. All you gotta do is pick up a rifle and go hunt it.

[mad libertarian guy]

The only way to have diversity on American campuses is to tell minorities they're too stupid to succeed without "help."

As the Supreme Court considers Fisher vs. the University of Texas, it is crucial that the justices continue to allow universities to consider race and ethnicity within a holistic admissions process that aims to create a student body that maximizes learning . . . It would be an enormous step backward to force our admissions offices to retreat to a homogeneity that stifles creative, broad-based education.

[John]

broad-based education.

That means admitting people from the same backgrounds who all think the same thing but look a little different.

[RoboCain]

Right, that's their idea of "multiculturalism".

[WTF]

it is crucial that the justices continue to allow universities to consider race and ethnicity within a holistic admissions process that aims to create a student body that maximizes learning

I love how they just make this assertion with absolutely no support or objective evidence that 'diversity' has any effect at all upon learning.

[RoboCain]

Clearly, we must select people by race in order not to be racist.

[Double D]

These morons want to talk about "othering." Every word out of their stupid mouths insults the intelligence of me, my race, and people who grew up poorer than most. Yet, they never realize that this shows that they have no faith in our intelligence. The mental gymnastics are amazing.
Liberals are some kind of superrace.

[teh real o3]

athletics = diversity

[Title IX]

Really?

[teh real o3]

T9 ensures female athletes so...really!

[Title IX]

...does not 'ensure' female athletes, it destroys men's programs to make sure the numbers are equalized, regardless of interest on the part of women. Christ, you're stupid.

[Brett L]

What the fuck? Texas went to the guaranteed admission of people in the top 10% of their class because a court specifically told them that they couldn't give race-based preferential admission at the undergraduate level.

[sloopyinca]

it is crucial that the justices continue to allow universities to consider race and ethnicity within a holistic admissions process that aims to create a student body that maximizes learning .

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but will a ruling against Affirmative Action force schools to adhere to a certain admissions policy?

[R C Dean]

You only get a "student body that maximizes learning" by admitting the smartest applicants.

So, they seem to be arguing that they won't admit the smartest applicants unless they use affirmative action to displace some students (who are smarter) for other students (who have the right parents).

WTF, dudes?

[Suthenboy]

Dumbing down the proles helps keep the proles in line. What is confusing about that?

[fish]

within a holistic admissions process....

Instant DQ.

[robc]

26 years ago, while a HS junior, flipping thru a book on top colleges with lots of stats, I noticed that my first choice school had one of the highest, if not the highest, minority populations in the book. And one of the lowest, if not the lowest, black population.

Dont know how it has changed, but IIRC, Georgia Tech (my alma mater, and that fist choice school) was over 25% minority, mostly asian, but had a higher hispanic percentage than black.

And yet (I think this is still true today) graduates more black engineers than any other school.

How does that apply to this? No idea, just a csb moment.

[robc]

It has changed a little.

As of 2009, undergrads broke down as:
Asian 21.8%
Black 6.5%
Hispanic 5.4%
Native Am 0.3%
Multi/Other 3.3%

Thats about 1/3 of the student body.

[Libertymike]

I love the Bees!

[P Brooks]

Surprise! Robert Reich is still crazy.

The move is supposed to be "revenue neutral" ? meaning the Administration is also proposing to close assorted corporate tax loopholes to offset the lost revenues. One such loophole allows corporations to park their earnings overseas where taxes are lower.

Why isn't the White House just proposing to close the loopholes without reducing overall corporate tax rates? That would generate more tax revenue that could be used for, say, public schools.

It's not as if corporations are hurting. Quite the contrary. American companies are booking higher profits than ever. They're sitting on $2 trillion of cash they don't know what to do with.

Those corporations don't know what to do with their profits, but a certain diminutive economist does. Because we have been "starving" the government education megalopoly for decades.

[Tony]

You can have your moral hangups vis a vis anti-tax zealotry or you can have practical concern for the fiscal situation, but you cannot have both.

[Double D]

Allow me to explain. Just like a person who fudges his taxes or uses tax shelters, a corporation is only going to let Uncle Sam take so much before taking some kind of money protecting action. Like moving their HQ to another country.
Corporations are based in the U.S. because something makes the location attractive to them, not just because the founders may have been born here. They may make trade offs for various reasons, which means they may stay even though it costs a little more. However, trade offs only take you so far. Eventually, like some expats, a company will look for greener pastures if it is able. That's bad for America's bottom line.
And trying to hold corporations hostage is no better. That discourages investment and stifles the growth of new business.

[shorter Tony]

MOAR TAXES!!!111!! HURR DURR

[Mr. FIFY]

Tax rates =/= morality, Tony.

[R C Dean]

You can have your moral hangups vis a vis anti-tax zealotry income redistribution or you can have practical concern for the fiscal situation, but you cannot have both.

[Mike M.]

You can have your moral hangups vis a vis anti-tax zealotry or you can have practical concern for the fiscal situation, but you cannot have both.

Pretty fucking rich stuff coming from the schmuck who was screaming his ass off about the possibility that the payroll tax cut might not get extended.

You can be one of America's biggest advocates of making the tax base narrower and narrower or you can claim to be concerned about our fiscal situation, but you can't do both.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Right, Tony--which is why Apple makes all of its products in China.

[sloopyinca]

Didn't someone tell me Rebecca Lobo must be smart because she was a Rhodes Scholar nominee, and I said it's not a true predictor of intelligence?

Well, Robert Reich was a Rhodes Scholar. I'll use this as my closing argument.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It's not that Reich isn't smart--he's extremely intelligent. It's that he's a partisan didact for socialism, and can't view economics or basic math outside that extremely narrow prism.

[sloopyinca]

Failure to recognize options and refusal to admit error are both signs of stupidity in my book, ergo Reich is a fucking retard.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I'd say that's more a function of stubbornness than stupidity. But I realize the line between the two is fairly thin.

[Fatty Bolger]

American companies are booking higher profits than ever. They're sitting on $2 trillion of cash they don't know what to do with.

Sigh. If only corporations could learn to waste money like the government.

[Comcast Sucks (Coxswain Hardy)]

Obama campaign co-chair tied to subprime mortgage crisis

[P Brooks]

Link:

Boy, that 900 character limit sure has improved things!

[RoboCain]

I don't like it, and it hasn't done anything to stop people from the same thing a dozen times in a row.

[mad libertarian guy]

Agreed.

I have already had to edit down, twitter style, several legitimate posts because they passed this ridiculous 900 character limit, which I'm pretty confident is also counting inserted html as well.

[cynical]

Seems like a 60 second timeout wouldn't be all that hard to implement.

[P Brooks]

Have you heard? AIG is doing great. They just reported a whopping profit based on a tax benefit.

Yay!

[rather]

An interesting ethics case on abortion

[Zeb]

So, I've been thinking about the contraception mandate thing a lot. Trying to square my gut reaction that churches shouldn't get special exceptions to laws that apply to everyone with letting people practice their religion as they see fit.
It seems to me that the appropriate way to deal with a law that prevents free exercise of religion is not to carve out special exceptions for religions who object. That is inherently problematic because it means that some judge or other government agent gets to decide what counts as sincere religious belief.

[Zeb]

The only appropriate remedy is to strike the whole law down (or the parts which violate religious freedom if severable). A law is either constitutional or not. And if it violates anyone's rights then it should not apply to anyone. Special religious exceptions are, in my opinion, contrary to the spirit of the first amendment. Unless they are going to allow anyone who claims a religious objection to be exempt (no matter what the specifics of the claim are), it is a case of favoring one religion over another, which seems like a pretty clear violation of religious freedom and perhaps of the establishment clause.

[robc]

Its good to see you oppose state sponsored marriage.

[R C Dean]

You got it, Zeb. Whenever complying with a law violates religious precepts, you are in a bind. You either violate the free exercise clause by making it illegal to practice your religion, or you violate the establishment clause by giving special privileges to religion.

The courts have usually tried to split the baby by saying laws of "general application" don't/can't violate the free exercise clause. And that probably worked, in a rough way, until the government got into the business of micromanaging every single tiny aspect of our lives.

[Ken Shultz]

And that probably worked, in a rough way, until the government got into the business of micromanaging every single tiny aspect of our lives.

Well, we can't just let people make choices for themselves. That would be chaos! Everybody has to do the same thing. It's easier, that way, for the government to manage them.

[John]

That worked until the government got in the business of mandating that people do things. If a law is a simple prohibition, a religion can to some degree opt out. But if everyone has to do it, there is no escape.

[Ken Shultz]

The Obama Administration is just hostile to the idea of people making choices for themselves.

It's okay to be religious, but if your religion prevents you from doing something the Obama Administration wants you to do, then that's not okay.

It works that way for non-religious stuff with Obama, too. He's a jackass.

[John]

I am about finished with Schima's book on the French Revolution Citizens. I am astounded by how much the French Republicans sound like modern progressives in their thinking. The people are the state. The people can't harm themselves, therefore the state cannot harm the people. And anything that is against the state is against the people and by extension the nation.

[Ken Shultz]

It was probably easier to think that way when democracy was brand spankin' new.

That was before we knew that replacing the royal jackasses running the state with popularly elected jackasses doesn't really solve our problems.

Although there are still people today who, for whatever reason, think that replacing one elected jackass with another will somehow solve our problems.

...which isn't to say that Obama isn't a jackass, or that he can't be replaced with a slightly better jackass. But the idea that the state accurately reflects the will of the people--because we replace the people at the top periodically--is still a popular delusion.

[Robert]

http://users.bestweb.net/~robg.....gious.html

[P Brooks]

You can have your moral hangups vis a vis anti-tax zealotry or you can have practical concern for the fiscal situation, but you cannot have both.

"Practical concern" like looking at what the government does on a real world cost-benefit basis and see gargantuan waste and inefficiency? What possible reason would anybody who doesn't have a hand in the cookie jar have to believe more spending on schools will magically improve the quality of education?

[sarcasmic]

What possible reason would anybody who doesn't have a hand in the cookie jar have to believe more spending on schools will magically improve the quality of education?

Dude, it's about intentions.

If the intent is to improve the quality of education, and you object because the result is no improvement in the quality of education, then obviously you object to the intent to improve the quality of education.

Why else would you not want to spend more of other peoples' money?

[Ken Shultz]

What possible reason would anybody who doesn't have a hand in the cookie jar have to believe more spending on schools will magically improve the quality of education?

That's easy. Just assume that the ultimate problem with society is the greed of the wealthy, and, suddenly, forcing wealthy people to spend their money on society's problems looks like the solution to everything.

[Mr. FIFY]

Apparently, we'll never get to see the John Edwards sex tape:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....r=Politics

Oh, well... at least he'll never be elected president.

[John, 1960]

Racial integration and school desegregation is a loser. It loses everywhere it is put up for a vote.

[John]

Actually segregation was very unpopular and was enforced by a violent minority. It would have lost had it ever been put to a fair vote.

But don't let history stand in the way of being an ignorant jackass making stupid analogies.

[sarcasmic]

I wonder how many blacks had no interest in forced integration.

They should have just lifted the laws requiring segregation and left it at that.

Then people could integrate if they chose to do so.

[John]

A lot of blacks were happy were they were and found themselves bused to white schools they didn't want to go to.

And if you had a fair vote, blacks certainly wouldn't have voted for Jim Crow. And a lot of whites wouldn't have either. They didn't resort to violence and intimidation to maintain it because it was popular.

[sarcasmic]

They didn't resort to violence and intimidation to maintain it because it was popular.

Right. Simply ending laws that forced segregation may have been enough.
If anything it would have identified the racist pricks by allowing them to continue voluntary segregation.

Freedom of association. How does it work?

[Double D]

Yeah. Anyone with eyes can see that gay marriage is coming. The ship has sailed. It's all over but the shouting.
I almost feel sorry for the socons, except they're mostly assholes.

[John]

I don't have a problem gay marriage. But I don't think the ship has sailed at all. In fact I am pretty pessimistic about the future of gay rights. In most of the world, there is no right to be gay. Only in certain parts of Western Europe and America is this so. And the parts that hate gays are having a lot more children than the parts that don't. Gay marriage is very unpopular among Hispanics. It is very unpopular among immigrants. As the country becomes less white and more brown, I think it will become more and more hostile to gays.

Understand, I am not saying that as a good thing. I think it is a bad thing. But I really think the next ten years will be the high water mark for gay rights. The world doesn't always get better or more free.

[Double D]

You are making the supposition that immigrants dont eventually integrate. The values of the first generation immigrants have usually been subsumed by local values by the third generation (at the latest). This has been true for Italians, Poles, Jews, etc. There are some different with the current waves. Mexicans and Middle Easterners may run into the same problems as blacks who tried to assimilate, due to skin color. However, I imagine that they will ultimately integrate just fine.

[John]

Sure they will integrate. But we integrate too. It is a two way street. They come to us and we come to them. This country is different because of the waves of immigration. They changed it.

And feelings towards gays is not something people just give up like eating pizza. For whatever reason, it is pretty ingrained in human culture. I hope you are right. But I am not positive about the future.

[Double D]

Just remember, a generation ago, this conversation would have been unthinkable.
The millenials, for all their faults, will be the major drivers of a better future for the gays.
To be honest, I'm kind of ambivalent. Intellectually, I am all for equality, wherever it may lead. Viscerally, and in accordance with the values of my (sub) culture, I find the whole thing fuckin gross.

[Ken Shultz]

I find the whole thing fuckin gross.

I feel like that about American Idol.

[Tonio]

And that's fine, DD. Don't care whether you like me, as long as you respect my rights.

[Double D]

Your attitude is exactly right.

[Ken Shultz]

There are various cultures around the world where being gay is considered okay. In some cultures, you're sort of expected to be gay in your teens--and then grow out of it.

In the U.S., I suspect LGBT will have a harder task over time in defending whatever rights they win because unlike racial and religious minorities, being LGBT isn't something that's necessarily obvious. So, the size and visibility of the LGBT community will always depend on the willingness of people to come out.

Racial minorities don't have to willingly choose to be open about their race--it's readily apparent. They can't avoid being part of whatever minority.

With LGBT, it isn't like that.

[John]

There are a few cultures like that. But not many.

[Robert]

And by "open" in this case, to correspond closely to race identif'n, you'd have to mean "blatant", as in faggy or butchy. And unfortunately that's what arouses the most adverse rxn. It's not like wearing a yarmulke or a red dot; it's behavioral, and that's what bothers people similarly to the behavior of schizophrenics, drunks, etc.

[Ken Shultz]

Point was that being a racial minority can't generally be hidden. People in racial minorities are compelled, in a way, to stand up for their rights because there's no hiding who they are.

LGBT rights depend on a critical mass of LGBT being willing to make themselves obvious--not hiding who they are. They could escape discrimination by hiding who they are--they have that option.

But if more LGBT in the future decide to stay hidden rather than come out, they may have a harder time, over time, keeping whatever rights they win...

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, i.e., for everybody, but remaining vigilant may be harder for some minorities than others. If they have to constantly fight for acceptance so the LGBT of the future will feel comfortable about coming out and defending their rights, then that's an enormous disadvantage.

[Robert]

Too bad this isn't about freedom of ass'n, but rather forcibly changing terms of existing contracts. A legislator from NJ said on the radio week before last that civil union "doesn't work", because although the provisions of state gov't treat it as equal to marriage, private insurance cos. don't.

[Mr. FIFY]

Wow, Tony didn't bother to call anyone a bigot in this thread. Must be having an off-day.

[The Pointer-Outer]

The day is young.

[Tony]

You're both bigots.

[P Brooks]

obviously you object to the intent to improve the quality of education.

Unmasked, I am!

[Konfounded Kristen]

Anyone watch that show Doomsday Preppers? On Nat Geo.

Anyway, there was a family that was stockpiling food and bartering-type goods, but not weapons. They had no defensive preparations whatsoever. They said their community was close-knit and they didn't need guns.

So, when the shit hits the fan, let's all head to this lady's house!

http://youtu.be/91RNXkwTQco

[John]

LOL. No I missed that. But I will check it out. They really think the shit is going to hit the fan and there will be no need for defense. Wow. Sorry, but Darwin says you are too stupid to live. I am shooting you and taking your stuff.

[Konfounded Kristen]

Exactly. I've already made my preparations - find out where this lady lives and take her shit. Done!

[sarcasmic]

I tried to watch it but it couldn't hold my attention.

I can only tolerate so much stupidity before I lose interest.

[Konfounded Kristen]

I was really entertained by it. The man and I got into a debate about one lady stockpiling all kinds of gourmet shit. He thought she done good, I thought it was terribly inefficient.

[Double D]

You win the argument. Quantity, overall effective nutrition, and defensibility of the supplies is what matters. The brand is meaningless in a survival situation.

[Robert]

It's a trap!

[H man]

I find it fascinating. I really can't say why.
The events they're prepping for is so unlikely. The one thing I notice is that none of them have anything like a steam engine. The one invention that took humanity from poverty to wealth. And maybe a printing press or a animal pulled plow. I mean if you really think our modern society is coming to an end.

[P Brooks]

Anyone watch that show Doomsday Preppers?

I watched the one with the idiot girl who thinks the Oil Taps are going to be magically shut off OVERNIGHT, which will necessitate legging it to some secret hideout in the Texas scrubland. At least she was learning to shoot.

Where do they find people this dumb?

Oh, right; any public school (in the teachers' lounge).

[Teebo Jones]

Heck yeah dude, lets hit it on up man!

http://www.Going-Anon.tk

[ImmorTEAl sTEAlth]

(while playing smooth BattleStar Glenn&youtube; and now Rush, na, not againg HeavenlysWORD slicing imperial islamics, TEAs time, something more... close to you)...:
the beautyfull Metallica - Star Wars - Imperial March, at TEA Old Repvblic melody little musical old devises sites... you think anctient war history patrons are "just" coincidences?, GOPdor?, TEAdoras, TEA WhiteHouse of Minas TEArith?...TEA Wizard GWANDalf?, TEAleaves ridding to battle?, rinoliphant$?, auuuuthority warg$... "not"sure Hama TEAleaf "cause of death"?...

[ImmorTEAl sTEAlth]

Don't you see the old plans (terror islamic states suicider kind of terrorists, since ussr'us darkperiods era, in fact, nazis developed'm and "error/tryed" over living people many of these Moregov... "programm$
Coincidence?, ayer$ of C$aurgov?, alinski education no God at schools already sodomic pre-sharia law excuse?, bhorK can't deny basic 1st education on madrasas, other half faight?: chicken, what on fallen already while bhorK is not even touched with a rose on drivebymediarrea beltway$, chavez money suitcasess, global "imbeci... oops, invi$ible armies"?, c$arumen-fa$t&furiousaur;$-(those) NUT$ of acorn, parapolitiKal parafamily, sofla-miamidade (terror exclusion zones seeking terror logi$TICK, have a castrocoyote (acorn lourdezmartinez,single's name "mental view of my mind and even reamins "saying I'm mentally illed argueing, since 2004

[cw]

Another victim of public schools?

[Konfounded Kristen]

Oh my.

[blocking TEA again bhorK$]

Mental illness?, C$arumen?, fast&furiouC;$aur$, rinoliphant$, acorn nut$?, castronets?: sofla-miamidade managing, mayorales, commi$$ioner$...
Why nut$?, well... only a (crazyKreppycrappy$poookky anamontes mentallylled castroagent like tedpalpatinekennedy antiwar de$k$: bhorK,fiu combo: POLICE PSYCO-RECLUIT-TRAINR BOSSES AND MANAGERS OF MIND THINGS ON MIAMIDADE, PROOVED CATROAGENTS STILL ON CHARGE PSYCOPOWER SOURCE: "ETERNAL PROMISSED CONVEINCED OF IMBECI, OOPS, INVI$IBILITY AND IMPUNITY, THEY RANK OVER THIS O$$ADY",

[blocking TEA again bhorK$]

psst castropolice imbeciles... death penalty for your hightreasson, mmm mmm mmm, yeah, sure, "crazy talk", I never said and did things like this, harder to do...
A CASTROCOYOTE HAVING ME HOMELLES WHILE steve, the one followed when my sister was liberated of "legal by kfrundell,lourdesmartinez,ctnnoel,offcrdominic,judgepedrasa-kiddnapping of my sister while ga burns had my laborrights and cut any unemployment benefit (till today), and castrocoyotelourdesmartinez have my postalmail rights, police knowing I'm a proved TEA pioneer, helped to destroy acornorK$, and replaced the electoral activism (bhorK dreams) with TEA Creation/propaganda (I'm a war on terror propagandist since TEA 1st Iraqwar, pre-ayatoland pre-blockade?whatever need on military, they have killed half of Iraq war allieds by iranian army road devices, attacked allied transports, plots on America soil...

[blocking TEA again bhorK$]

ayatoland prefferes bhorK over Bush for a reason...
yes bhorK, steve "helps me by giving me some food (leacked by his dogs... martinez used to put viagra, smallammount of poisons, extasis, powered glass... police just let him escape yoelvis, now carlosrichards "managing boss, chief"...(forced me to sublabor under police "quality conTROLL" of $20/DAY, 3 ayers... paralegal felonies, police gunpoint me after (many times) police preds (those rapping under auuuthority permission in prissions/house/wherever, anyone who can rape a man is self declaring can rape a lilgirl/kid/women,etc... you need sodomic auuthority for this, decades now, sofla-countries, "normal", cartels win over these situ ations, cartel sodomic pre-sharia law... bhorK is already starting crazy things, they are organized long ago...
but... TEA votes are... a powerfull weapon...

[el Commentariosa]

nice to see the character limit working out

[mad libertarian guy]

Instead of a handful of obnoxious posts, we get dozens of the in a row, and all the while having to contemplate every fucking character we type for fear of passing the 900 characters.

This limit was not well thought, methinks.

Fucking awesome.

[MorrowRosanna]

my buddy's sister-in-law makes $74 an hour on the computer. She has been without work for 6 months but last month her pay was $8970 just working on the computer for a few hours. Read more on this site... makecash16.com

[MorrowRosanna]

a best friend's step-aunt makes $77/hr on the laptop. She has been without work for 5 months but last month her paycheck was $16807 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Read more here makecash16. ?om