A.M. Links: More Than Half Obama's Fundraisers Landed White House Jobs, Gingrich Focuses on Southern Strategy, Obama Pushes $1 Billion Enviro Tax Credit

• "More than half of Obama's 47 biggest fundraisers have been given administration jobs. Nine more have been appointed to presidential boards and committees."

• Obama pushes $1 billion green tax credit.
• Gingrich now running for president of the Confederacy.
• Gail Collins writes about Mitt Romney's dog AGAIN.   
• Why the Kony 2012 campaign is not good for child soldiers.
• Meet the Texas "anarchist" who's dethroning Congress critters.  

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New at Reason.tv: "Sackett v. EPA: How One Couple's Battle Against the Feds Might Protect Your Land"

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

"More than half of Obama's 47 biggest fundraisers have been given administration jobs. Nine more have been appointed to presidential boards and committees."

They're just that good.

[kilroy]

Top Men!

[Indiana Jones]

Who?

[Jek Porkins]

Top. Men.

[invisible furry hand]

More than half? Not 100 percent? If I was one of the minority, I'd be demanding a refund.

[R C Dean]

I have little doubt that they were all offered cushy sinecures, but some of them are so wealthy/powerful where they are they saw no point in taking him up on it.

[wareagle]

the minority is reaping ever bigger rewards for their contributions at their day jobs.

[Team Blue]

It's ok when we do it!

[Pro Libertate]

Wow. Is that atypical? If so, how atypical?

[RoboCain]

Oh, for fucks sake!

http://www.ksat.com/news/defen.....index.html

[OTOH]

Mex.I.Co! Mex.I.Co! Mex.I.Co!

[Bee Tagger]

Phew, All I saw was Mars and I thought Western Pennsylvania had another basketball-related race incident.

[db]

The Mars-Moon games are always tense affairs.

[Alack]

Newt Gingrich is the only candidate with the vision to reduce tensions between the Moon and other prospective colonies.

NEWT 2012

[Pro Libertate]

That's actually the one thing I like about Gingrich. He seems to be more in the "Let the private sector do the work" camp, too, which is where I think our space efforts should live.

If Newcular Titties is going to be president of the new CSA, maybe we'll have a moonbase before you Yankees.

[Maxxx]

Maybe,

But the Yanquis will have a paradise of equality, racial, gender and species.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Doesn't NASA already use private contractors to do its bidding?

[db]

I think "private contractors hired by NASA to perform government defined projects to its inefficient, cost ineffective, and stifling standards" is not the same thing as "private enterprise."

[Fist of Etiquette]

I think "private contractors hired by NASA to perform government defined projects to its inefficient, cost ineffective, and stifling standards" is not the same thing as "private enterprise."

I agree, but the inevitable result of any of Newt's "public-private partnerships" is going to be the former.

[Pro Libertate]

Possibly, but he's at least saying the right things. To some extent, oddly, so does the current administration.

[kinnath]

Newt can have most of the CSA, but I have already claimed dibs on the states covered by the Louisiana Purchase.

[Pip]

I'll give you Minnesota when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!

[Alack]

you Yankees

Hey now, I'm a former citizen of North Carolina and I have the Harris Teeter card to prove it!

[wareagle]

I miss Harris Teeter, though Publix is not bad.

[RBS]

Real southerner's shop at winn/dixie or piggly wiggly. Or IGA.

[Pro Libertate]

Why not Publix? It's based in the South, after all.

[RBS]

I was joking, plus we don't have one in Myrtle Beach.

[Pro Libertate]

We ran across Ingles in North Carolina. My wife and kids pronounced it, "Ingl?s", which made me laugh. Not in Florida, guys.

[Brett L]

I've been teaching myself to say "Miamuh" so I can sound properly cracker.

[Mr. FIFY]

Some HuffPo stoopid on the "USA! USA! = racism" bullshit:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....27451.html

Some of the libs commenting on there would fit in here - e.g., Tony.

[Pip]

^^THIS^^

[Rich]

Why are people so quick to portray this as "racism"? The chanters were obviously celebrating the diversity and friendly competition possible only in the good ol' U.S.A!

[RoboCain]

U.S.A. = white

[Future U.S.A.]

Fuck you, that's why.

[Mr. FIFY]

Blame Team Blue, Rich.

[wareagle]

it's only racism when those flag-waving neanderthal Americans do it. When Mexicans fill up a stadium in LA and root AGAINST the US team in soccer, it's national pride. And for the last time, Hispanics/Latinos are NOT a race. For the most, they are white folks with some exceptions found in Cuba and the Dominican.

[Surly Chef]

They are not a race, but your last sentence is horribly incorrect.

[Joe M]

"USA, USA, USA," they chanted....

"They didn't really have any class," Arredondo said.

Wow.

[RoboCain]

More about Barack Obama's Gay Muslim Transgender Nanny:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....20927.html

http://www.queerty.com/now-it-.....-20120306/

[Suthenboy]

"Evie, also known as Turdi..."

This is some kind of parody, right?

[Rich]

Obama should appoint Evie to a presidential board or committees.

[Fatty Bolger]

Fashion Czar

Transgender Czarina

[RoboCain]

"ICE Provides Free Abortions and Hormone Therapy for Illegal Aliens"

http://moonbattery.com/?p=8984

http://cnsnews.com/news/articl.....urtesy-ice

[RoboCain]

"Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh is being targeted by multiple death threats after President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party ignored his apology for controversial remarks and continued to single him out for rebuke. The assault has become so nakedly partisan and opportunistic that even HBO host Bill Maher--who recently donated $1 million to Obama's Super PAC--has called it a witch hunt with intimidation as its goal."

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-G.....t-limbaugh

[o3]

what apology?

[Legendary Teabagger Vance]

He's also being targeted with death by heart disease and hillbilly heroin.

[Zeb]

Well, good for Bill Maher, then.

[Mr. FIFY]

Death threats for ANYONE for merely speaking words?

That's bullshit behavior. It doesn't matter who the target is, or who makes the threats... that's just fucking lame, cowardly shit.

[Muhammad]

I KEEL YOU!!!

[RoboCain]

"Oxnard Middle School Teacher Pulled From Classroom Amid Rumors She's Working As Hard Core Porn Actress"

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com.....n-actress/

[Silver Fox]

I guess we know what it takes to get some teachers canned, huh.

[db]

Seems like this should be a perfect moonlighting job for an elementary ed. teacher. Her students should never know about it, her students' parents would be hypocrites for complaining about it if they found out by watching her porn. The fact is, as long as the kids aren't being exposed to this, it should be no problem. Adults do sexual stuff, and it is appropriate to keep kids out of it. But making a big deal out of a teacher who's also a porn actress is only going to draw kids' attention to it, and I'm pretty sure that's something undesirable.

[protefeed]

So the public school is against a teacher engaging in free enterprise? Teh Evul Capitoolism?

[wareagle]

+2...now, that's funny in an obvious sort of way. Can't have a member of the educrat class engaging in free market activity.

[Mr. FIFY]

Video clips?

[Sparky]

"School is supposed to be a safe place. Now, you think twice because you never know what is going to happen,"

Because everyone knows porn actresses are prone to sudden violent attacks and murderous bouts of rage.

[Superintendent]

Actually, we're more concerned about the sudden blowjobs.

[student]

concerned about blowjobs, my ass. We're hoping for them.

[Mr. FIFY]

I'm cool with sudden blowjobs, just as long as I'm not in heavy traffic at the time.

[Pip]

I had no idea Sudden gave blow jobs.

[Mr. FIFY]

Oh, just hell. Stepped right into that.

[Legendary Teabagger Vance]

The LA weekly has the link to the teacher's NSFW video at the bottom.

http://blogs.laweekly.com/info.....oxnard.php

She kinda just lays there...

[protefeed]

There's other segments to the video where she's actively giving a BJ.

But, yeah, amateur MILF action.

[Pro Libertate]

Didn't that teacher who got fired for being a bikini chick on a charter boat (probably mangling the story) end up turning to porn?

What do they teach in education programs these days, anyway?

[invisible furry hand]

Fellatio 101

[Butts Wagner]

Most importantly, I think this is yet another instance where we need to recognize as a society that teachers are not paid enough for the selfless work they perform. Gosh darn it, this poor woman had to get a second job just to support herself. How can she possibly raise a family on such meager wages?

[Matt Damon]

MATT DAMON!!

[Brandon]

Anybody else go to the link just to see if they recognized her?

[RoboCain]

"Smokers losing child custody cases a growing trend"

http://communities.washingtont.....ing-trend/

[Kwanzaa Cake]

Incredible. And all purportedly based on the fraudulent "science" concerning second-hand smoke and cancer. It's really about cultural disapproval and social control, of course. You will live your life as we say or lose your kids, dammit!

[Neu Mejican]

And all purportedly based on the fraudulent "science" concerning second-hand smoke and cancer.

Cancer is not the issue being raised.

[Mr. FIFY]

Team Blue Nannyism strikes again.

[Neu Mejican]

Whether or not it is nannyism, it ain't due to concerns about cancer.

[swillfredo pareto]

Judge William F. Chinnock, visiting Judge to the Ohio Supreme Court, said in a law review article that a "considered analysis of family law across the United States leads to this inescapable conclusion: a family court that does not issue court orders restraining persons from smoking in the presence of children under the court's care fails those children whom the law has entrusted to its care."

What possible difference does it make that these are children whose parents are getting divorced? Is there anything stopping a judge who thinks like this from abusing his power and interfering in custodial issues for happily-married parents who smoke?

[R C Dean]

Just another example to throw out when we libertarians are mocked for believing there is such a thing as a slippery slope.

[Rhywun]

And we would be mocked for it because I am sure a majority of Americans have no problem with this. Some might pause and wonder about it for a second, but in the end they will be all for it.

[wareagle]

And we would be mocked for it
---------------
so when we say "smokers today, people who eat things the govt does not approve of tomorrow", should we be mocked for that, too? Last I checked, cigarettes are legal. Now, if the govt nannies really wanted to make a stand, declare tobacco illegal. They won't, of course; too much revenue. So we have this sort of shit, designed to appeal to the simple-minded who fail to grasp that when their neighbor's liberties are threatened, theirs can also be attacked.

[Rhywun]

Yes, we do get this sort of shit. And it will be exactly the same when they pull it on our diet - it will piss off some, but the majority will shrug their shoulders and move on, because by then they will have "won" the argument in the court of public opinion that controlling our diet is "for our own good".

[RoboCain]

LACIST!!

http://cnsnews.com/blog/michel.....tive-women

[Brer Rabbit]

Yours truly topped the list with the following description: a "highly f**kable Filipina" and "a regular on Fox News, where her tight body and get-off-my-lawn stare just scream, 'Do me!'"

Nice.

[KDN]

the Nation's Concern Troll

That's brilliant.

[db]

How do you say "concern troll" in Latin? That would be a good position to add to the Board of Directors of the Reason Commenters' Foundation, Inc.

[Joe M]

Michelle Malkin is hot, but she's an apologist for racism and jingoism. Not cool.

[wareagle]

flame and run, eh? Toss out an example of bona fide racism, not the dime store MSNBC type. And aren't you folks always telling us that minority group members cannot, by definition, be racists since they are minorities?

[Joe M]

Uh, there's one huge example: In Defense of Internment

[Joe M]

And what's this "you folks" bullshit? I know you're a rightist, but just because I said something you don't like doesn't mean I'm a multiculturalist commie idiot.

[Mr. FIFY]

It's just that we have more than one multiculturalist commie idiot here, Joe, so hopefully you can understand the confusion.

[RoboCain]

Communism and multiculturalism are contradictory.

[Neu Mejican]

I'm sorry the civility police now have an opening to demonize the entire right based on one radio comment ? because it's the progressive left in this country that has viciously and systematically slimed female conservatives for their beliefs.

Oh irony.

[rather]

A Man's Conscience -Something To Work With; my series on H&R comments I've Ratherstudied? ? ?

[Underpants Gnome]

Your writing style is affected and incomprehensible.

[rather]

I love that review

[RoboCain]

Stay classy, DailyKos

http://www.dailykos.com/story/.....otest-Him-

[Brett L]

What you mean "stay", kemosabe?

[invisible furry hand]

As Breitbart was very gay-friendly and combative, he'd probably enjoy being picketed by crazy homophobes. His grieving wife and children, on the other hand...

[Brett L]

My point was that Kos and his kids have never been anything approaching classy.

[invisible furry hand]

sorry, meant that as a comment on RoboCain - your point was (as usual) clear and concise. Fucking threaded comments, how do they work...

[o3]

he means he needs his kos fix daily

[Mr. FIFY]

Why would any sane person read Kos on a daily basis?

[RoboCain]

I don't, 03 is a retard.

[Matrix]

damn, robo. You're on it this morning

[RoboCain]

"To the nearest whole number, the percentage of the world's energy that comes from wind turbines today is: zero. Despite the regressive subsidy (pushing pensioners into fuel poverty while improving the wine cellars of grand estates), despite tearing rural communities apart, killing jobs, despoiling views, erecting pylons, felling forests, killing bats and eagles, causing industrial accidents, clogging motorways, polluting lakes in Inner Mongolia with the toxic and radioactive tailings from refining neodymium, a ton of which is in the average turbine ? despite all this, the total energy generated each day by wind has yet to reach half a per cent worldwide."

http://www.spectator.co.uk/ess.....ange.thtml

[Eco-nut]

What have you got against our green glorious future, anyways?

[o3]

he means we've always burned petroleum...and always will

[RoboCain]

"A disproportionate share of cases have been brought against Congressional Black Caucus members. African-American lawmakers would like to know why."

http://www.theatlantic.com/pol....._page=true

[Brett L]

I'm going to guess that its less likely for blacks to be born/marry into comfortable white collar criminal families who have generations of experience hiding their corrupt activities. Thus, these reps are learning all the lessons of white collar successful criminals the hard way.

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

The only difference between the Kennedy family and the Manson family is money and a few more years experience in corruption.

[R C Dean]

Perhaps because Black Caucus members are more likely to come from safe, gerrymandered districts, from one-party towns/states, and thus to be long-termers, all of which are associated with ethical violations?

[sloopyinca]

"African-Americans want to know why."

Because identity politics is all that's important to idiols like Charlie Rangel. It's been a source of income that took him from being a local rabble-rouser to having a triple-rent controlled apartment, even though it's illegel, and a sweet ass palace in the Dominican Republic. And he wants to make his criminality look like a white witch hunt instead of lawbreaking.*

*And his devoted media will make sure it comes across that way.

[William Jefferson (D) - LA]

but everyone stashes a bankroll in their freezer. How come a brotha can't get a break?

[NeonCat]

Why do you think they call it cold, hard cash?

[cynical]

Well, I liked it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Obama pushes $1 billion green tax credit.

I've been told tax cuts need to be paid for. Is the same true of tax credits?

[Barack Obama]

Let me be clear.

They will pay for themselves in just a few years.

[Joe M]

Not these. They have the multiplier effect. For those who don't know, the multiplier effect is caused by anything Obama does.

[RoboCain]

"Chevy volts run off electricity. The amount of energy produced by renewable sources in the United States is only 3.6% solar/wind and 6.9% hydro. A typical power plant is around 34% efficient in converting BTW to mechanical energy. A typical internal combustion engine (car) is around 43% efficient at doing the same."

http://conservativeblogscentra.....s-not.html

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Don't forget that the electric motors in the Volt have an efficiency rating as well.

[Brett L]

34% is really, really low for combined cycle power. If it was more efficient to run giant IC engines instead of steam turbines, we'd do that more often.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That number is quoted by the green crowd as well. It has more to do with the aging of our power plant base than anything else.

[Brett L]

Checked again. The lowest average I saw in hydrocarbon power plants was 37%, with most coal running about there. LNG runs 45-55% efficiency. I did see an MIT study that predicted coal plants at 34% efficiency with significant carbon capture. But I think that 43% is a bit high for IC engines as they are driven in standard conditions, and 45% would be a safe estimate of thermal efficiency for electricity generation.

[dunkel]

Rankine cycles...how do they work?

[db]

Simple cycle gas turbines don't do much better. As you say, it's only when you add a HRSG and a steam turbine to get a combined cycle plant that overall efficiencies get up near 50%. Right now the biggest combined cycle plants can't compete in size with baseload supercritical or ultrasupercritical units.

[db]

I just had a nice post on power grid dynamics and plant responsiveness but the fucking squirrels ate it and I am not typing it again on my phone. Fuck you, squirrels.

[Brett L]

Yeah. I went back and re-read. Sub-critical plants seem to carry the baseload and appear to be in the low 30% range for production.

[db]

Actually its the subcritical units that are load following because they lack a lot of environmental controls, typically. Load ramp rates are usually heavily constrained by environmental equipment.

Supercritical, ultrasupercritical, and nuclear units make up the bulk of the baseload fleet. Simple cycle gas units are good for peaking. Subcriticals are good load followers. CCGTs are sort of midway between load following and base load--not as fast as true load followers, and so efficient you want them for baseload, but sometimes constrained of fuel availability.

The retarded thing is wind and solar. Tou have to treat them as baseload because their output is what it is, but they cant be used as load following because...their output is what it is, unpredictably fluctuating.

[Brett L]

Yeah. I typed that exactly backwards. sub-criticals can adjust, combined cycle and such have to run at a certain level at all times.

[cynical]

Maybe they're counting transmission and distribution losses as well?

[Zeb]

Huh. I thought power plants were a lot more efficient than that.

[RoboCain]

"Assemblyman William Monning (D-Carmel) chairs the Assembly Health Committee. Monning wants to ban all food trucks and pushcarts from within 1,500 feet of elementary, middle and high schools from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on school days. Pot stores must be located at least 600 feet from schools."

http://www.ktla.com/news/landi.....5024.story

[MP]

food trucks and ... Pot stores

Ah, synergy.

[William Monning]

Moar ammonia-treated foodz!

[rather]

Forget about Occupy 101, Zombie pandemic class is for the 100%.
Bonus!  It's online 🙂

[RoboCain]

"A young woman who won $1M in a state lottery has sparked outrage after she.... still claims $200 a month in food stamps and despite paying cash for a new home and car said, 'I'm still struggling.'

The 24-year-old added that she is entitled to the welfare handout as she has two homes to run."

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

[Matrix]

I read about that on CNN this morning. Words cannot describe my disgust for that woman or the system that allows it.

[Suthenboy]

Allows it? The system created that monster and millions like her.

[Kwanzaa Cake]

as Henry Hill aptly put it in Goodfellas, in a soliloquy that applies just as well to welfare as it does to the mafia:

For us to live any other way was nuts. Uh, to us, those goody-good people who worked shitty jobs for bum paychecks and took the subway to work every day and worried about their bills were dead. I mean they were suckers. They had no balls. If we wanted something, we just took it. If anyone complained twice they got hit so bad, believe me, they never complained again.

[Joe M]

Yeah, the entitlement society has been sowing this for decades. Time to reap the harvest.

[Needa Nosejob]

'I feel that it's okay because I mean, I have no income and I have bills to pay,' she said. 'I have two houses.'

I feel that it's not OK because I mean, you have $500K.

[Kwanzaa Cake]

Predicatable result after decades of non-stop welfare and the left's ever-growing list of so-called human rights. Why should she have to pay for food? Why should anyone? If Sandra Fluke can attend GTown for $40k/year yet be entitled to free birth control, what is the principle that should require this woman to stop accepting food stamps? If everyone is on the dole why shouldn't she be on the dole too? Only suckers work for a living and provide for themselves. As Obama likes to say, we're all our brothers' keepers. And yet the left will always deny that their handouts have any role in breeding dependency and a sense of entitlement that is rotting the human spirit.

[Translucent Chum]

Ah, my hometown area of Detroit. Anyway, I was outraged at first also, but look at it this way. After taxes, she's going to have about $500k. She still has no job. She's paying on a house she undoubtedly cannot sell being in Michigan. She bought a nicer house to get out of Lincoln Park. So let's say she's down to $300k. She bought a new car. Down to $260k. Raising two kids alone, that money is not going to last.

[R C Dean]

And when it runs out, she can go back on food stamps.

[Kwanzaa Cake]

Will it last forever, no. But she bought a new house for cash and has $260k to live off with no mortgage and no car payment. That's $26k/year free and clear for 10 years, or the equivalent of a pre-tax salary of something in the $45k range, I would think. She is doing more than OK at this point.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

What it demonstrates is that people who don't already know how to take care of their finances aren't going to suddenly become model citizens after getting a windfall.

If I got 500K, I can stretch it out at least 5 years, and more if I make investments. A perpetual welfare case is going to run through it a hell of a lot faster.

[Zeb]

You need $100k per year? Do you have 9 kids or something?

[BakedPenguin]

She spent $200k for a house in Detroit? Was it on the lake?

[Zeb]

She also just paid $500k in taxes. No, she shouldn't be eligible for food stamps, but it's not like she isn't pulling her weight at this point.

[wareagle]

that's missing the point. The woman pocketed a half-mil. Common decency would demand that either she get off the public dole or the system kick her off it. No one told her to go buy a second home, and no one prevents from either looking for a job or moving to a place where the job market is better. If anything, she is the poster child for what a lifetime of living in a liberal enclave produces and she should be held up as an example of what NOT to be.

[Zeb]

I don't disagree.

[Maxxx]

Why all the anger directed at this woman?

She's just maximizing her wellbeing and not breaking the law to do it. In fact, a rational person could conclude that the legal authorities want someone in her situation to do exactly what she's doing.

Contrast this with the hammer that those same legal authorities drop for anti-social activities like cutting hair or baby sitting without a license; or importing lobsters in plastic bags instead of cardboard boxes' among millions of other examples.

Yes the situation is insane, but the anger should be directed at the fucked up state that created it, not the individual that is rationally responding to the state's incentives.

[Kwanzaa Cake]

They cut off her food stamps today. That is what the liberals will count as "fixing" a system that is instilling a sense of "something for nothing" in millions of citizens.

[Maxxx]

I saw that after I posted.

Which begs the question of whether or not she was breaking the law. If not, then whoever cut her off is breaking it.

Is an arbitrary welfare state really an improvement?

[db]

Actually I think this points to a solution for welfare. Do an actuarial calculation on the expected lifetime payout for individual welfare recipients. Offer them a lump sum payment equal to 90%of this payout in exchange for an agreement to never apply for public assistance again. You're on your own, and you own tour success or failure. Some would use the money to start businesses, some to fund their chikdren's education, some for retirement. Others would buylakefront homes and blow the rest on irresponsible spending.

[Kwanzaa Cake]

But that carries so little opportunity for controlling people's lives, so there's no chance of the political class agreeing to it. That and, as you note, it would not work. The liberals don't want to admit that poverty is, to a very large degree, not an economic problem, and watching these folks watse all the money and descend back into poverty and dependency would expose the pointlessness of welfare. Can't have that.

[Brandon]

I would take that in a second.

[Michael]

This story has been cracking me up all day. The best part is that Michigan's rules dealing with this sort of situation stipulate that the aid recipient is responsible for reporting any sort of windfall. Due dilligence, dumbasses. At this point I'm actually pretty amazed that half of Michigan's population doesn't manage to drown whenever it rains. What can they possibly top this with? Head on collision involving the People Mover?

[db]

It's indicative of a system that doesn't really acknowledge the possibility of ever getting off welfare. Why bother checking to see if recipients' eligibility has changed if the underlying assumption is that the dole is for life?

[Matrix]

Justice Department to sue Apple over ebook pricing

[Devil's Advocate]

And a bunch of publishers as well. I revel in delicious, delicious schadenfreude. Fuck you, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Macmillan and HarperCollins.

[Brett L]

Wat? Price fixing among publishers? As if the textbook "market" wasn't prima facie evidence.

[Devil's Advocate]

I know, I was shocked... SHOCKED!!

[Rhywun]

Wasn't there some similar brouhaha over record album pricing about a thousand years ago? As in, how come every new album by every artist on every label cost exactly the same? I wonder how that turned out.

[RoboCain]

Jennifer Love Hewitt: "It's a great way to stay in touch with your sexuality. I also love to cook, so I can have a cake in the oven while I do a pole dance."

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

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I have no problem with this

[Chupacabra]

HD Video or it didn't happen.

[db]

One of my GF's friends pole dances for exercise. I'm encouraging this fitness program.

[Brandon]

This is proof that, despite some setbacks, men have won the war of the sexes. Don't tell Jezebel.

[Joe M]

Did you hear? Hewitt's favorite part of her body is, *gasp*, her boobs.

[Sparky]

Also my favorite part of her body.

[Translucent Chum]

+DD.

[Dagny T.]

That whole article reeks of desperation. Stay on Lifetime where you belong, JLoveHew.

[RBS]

I think Cinemax would be a much better fit for her.

[Chupacabra]

Desperation + stipping poles= winning

[Pip]

"cake in the oven"

Hee, hee, hee.

[RoboCain]

Denise Richards is still hot:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....y-gym.html

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

and crazy

[Fist of Etiquette]

Neil Swidey, the Boston Globe reporter who first broke the Seamus story in 2007, wrote recently that he had been avoiding a return to the topic for fear that some day the dog would wind up in the lead of his obituary.

Chevy Chase does it and it's a hit comedy. But it's nice to know this time around we're going to be vetting presidential candidates thoroughly.

[Lord Humungus]

The End of Apple's Roach Motel?
Apple's vast profit margins aren't built to last.
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

All this means that the Apple bonanza?selling $600 devices to carriers and their customers for a $300 markup?will end. Apple will be tempted to seek more of its profits from services. Apple's cloud, like anyone's, will have to pay its own way, which means opening it up to rival devices.

[Matrix]

Google celebrating International Women's Day

The women are too busy celebrating to make me a sammich. I'm not pleased!

[North Korea]

Insight: Public schools sell empty classroom seats abroad

Across the United States, public high schools in struggling small towns are putting their empty classroom seats up for sale.

In Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, and Lake Placid, New York, in Lavaca, Arkansas, and Millinocket, Maine, administrators are aggressively recruiting international students.

They're wooing well-off families in China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Russia and dozens of other countries, seeking teenagers who speak decent English, have a sense of adventure - and are willing to pay as much as $30,000 for a year in an American public school.
http://www.reuters.com/article.....A120120308
_

home skooling & christianist kamps dont interest teh fern-in-erz

[o3]

^me not kim kong

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

home schooling has empty seats?

keep on trying, little trooper.

[o3]

teh foreigners aint interested in home-schooling nor religious schools.

do try to keep up

[Fluffy]

You realize that the reason this is newsworthy is because it's public schools doing what private schools have already been doing?

Namely, ripping off rich Chinese kids?

[SugarFree]

I assure you that he realizes nothing.

[o3]

you realize fluffy that makes it new(s)?

and to realize "nothing", one must be buddist like SF.

it tries moar harder

[SugarFree]

Your erudite composition has convinced me of your staggering intelligence.

[o3]

ur words invite humor

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

I think, Orrin, it's because there aren't empty seats to be had (at least, at that price) in home schools and religious schools.

Thanks for playing, my pigeon-footed friend.

[sarcasmic]

Winner of Holland's Next Top Model is still hot!

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

[Suthenboy]

Pouring honey on her wouldnt make her any sweeter. Yum.

[RoboCain]

What about bacon grease?

[Sparky]

And still a jugger-not.

[db]

Juggernaut, n.: crewmember of a motorboat.

[RoboCain]

It takes a crew to motorboat?

[sarcasmic]

I could motorboat her all by myself.

[Sparky]

No way, there's nothing there to motorboat. It would be more like one of those rubber band windup propellers.

[Lord Humungus]

Middle School Teacher Is Placed On Leave After Students Discover Her Porn Past
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/b.....orn-768912

A California middle school teacher has been placed on leave after administrators learned from students that the educator appears in porn videos available online.

Stacie Halas, a 31-year-old science teacher at Richard B. Haydock Intermediate School in Oxnard, was removed from the classroom Monday, three days after pupils reported spotting her in a series of X-rated clips.

[RoboCain]

Your link is better.

[Lord Humungus]

Ah, beaten by the 'cain again! Ah well, mine has pretty pictures.

[Matrix]

I believe Robo beat you to it.

[protefeed]

Here's one of her (Stacie Halas') porn videos

[invisible furry hand]

"Another Big Sausage Pizza delivery!"

I hope for teh childrenz' sake she's a better teacher than actress

[RoboCain]

At least her bewbs are real.

[Devil's Advocate]

Honestly, most live action porn is incredibly unerotic. This is no exception. I did laugh at the "Big Sausage Pizza Delivery" line, so I guess that's something.

[omnibot]

so it's safe for work?

[Devil's Advocate]

Well no, the "porn" part makes it not safe for work. Just the ho-hum expressions and vocalizations (which is prevalent in most live action porn) make it un-erotic.

[Alack]

Your constant reference to "live-action porn" makes me suspect that you are some sort of hentai-loving deviant.

NTTAWWT

[Devil's Advocate]

I like reading it as opposed to watching it. Anime porn is too uncanny-valley-ish to me. Although I find pictures can be pretty hot.

[Lord Humungus]

hmm... how big is the erotic book market?

[Devil's Advocate]

Pretty big, actually. Although there is lately a contretemps with PayPal over certain types of erotica (as an author yourself you are prolly aware of that, I am sure). But honestly I am not sure how much of a market for that stuff there is. Lots of women like romantic erotica (or erotic romance), though.

[Devil's Advocate]

And also, erotica lends itself very nicely to short stories as well, so you maximize your profits.

(You have no idea how hard it was to refrain from making "bang for your buck" jokes here... >_> )

[Lord Humungus]

yeah, I've beem thinking of churning out some erotica - under a different name - just to see er, where it goes.

At heart, I'm a bit of a prude though 😉

[H man]

Look up the articles on "50 shades of Grey" to get an idea. BDSM for women.

[Devil's Advocate]

That's rewritten Twilight fanfiction. Not my cup of tea at all, but admittedly lots of women do seem to like it.

[db]

I want to donate to her, um, legal defense fund.

[Brett L]

Sexually abusing a student in her care would get her the same penalty, but with a union lawyer fighting to save her from firing.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Why isn't anyone arresting the parents of these kids who are looking at pornography? Child endangerment charge suddenly isn't the catch-all it was designed to be?

[Lord Humungus]

10 disasters America will face if Obama gets a second term
http://blog.american.com/2012/.....cond-term/

In today's Washington Post, I argue that while electing a transformational conservative president may not be in the cards this November, stopping a transformational liberal president still is. The damage of a second Obama term could be potentially irrevocable. I asked a number of conservative thinkers what they feared most from a second term, and compiled this list of the top ten disasters that would befall America if Obama were re-elected this fall:

[o3]

da sky

da sky

[Silver Fox]

"Witch hunt" against climate scientist blocked

Mann, who departed the University of Virginia for Penn State University in 2005, expressed his pleasure at the ruling, telling the Richmond News Leader (March 2, 2012), "I'm pleased that this particular episode is over." He added, "It's sad, though, that so much money and resources had to be wasted on Cuccinelli's witch hunt against me and the University of Virginia, when it could have been invested, for example, in measures to protect Virginia's coast line from the damaging effects of sea level rise it is already seeing."

[Brett L]

That ruling is interesting because it said that the Atty General had no standing to pursue UVa, and made no judgement on the rightness or wrongness of Mann's behavior.

[R C Dean]

sea level rise it is already seeing

I guess he means this:

The warming that has taken place during the last century has caused seas to rise in North Carolina by an average of 0.83 inches per decade

http://www.climatecentral.org/.....nd-future/

They actually go back to 1880 to start their unprecedented sea level increase of 3/4" per year. Which makes me wonder how tight the tie really is to anthro CO2.

But, let's take them at their word, and project that rise out another 100 years. That means the sea level increase over the next 100 years will be the same as the last 100 years, which notably lacked massive impacts on coastal areas.

Why we need huge government programs for something that has been going on for 130 years without causing much, if any, problems, is left unexplained.

[Zeb]

The only government action I see that is needed to deal with sea level rise is to stop subsidizing flood insurance for people in coastal and flood prone areas.

[Tonio]

Fascinating, because the Richmond News-Leader ceased publication over a decade ago, merging with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

[Tonio]

Paging A. Barton Hinkle....Bart, please pick up the white courtesy phone...

[Lord Humungus]

Super Tuesday: How Mitt Romney won and why that worries Obama
http://news.investors.com/arti.....ntorum.htm

So far, and most recently in Ohio, Romney has shown impressive strength among suburbanites, a growing demographic that Republicans have been losing to Democrats in recent presidential elections. While Santorum won sparsely-populated tiny towns across numerous rural Ohio counties, Romney ruled the vote count by 19 and 20 points in and around Cincinnati and Cleveland.

[SugarFree]

Have an ice cold Santorum on me...

Brooklynites can't vote on Super Tuesday, but that doesn't mean they can't enjoy a little Santorum.

A Fourth Avenue watering hole is pouring a delightfully sinful drink named after Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum ? and the dirty Google problem that has haunted him ever since he irked syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage.

"People really like it even though it's named after something gross ? both the person and the Dan Savage meaning," said John Rauschenberg, co-owner of Pacific Standard. "It'll be an election fixture at least until primary season is over."

But the Santorum, a milky mixture of Baileys, orange vodka, bitters and chocolate flakes, seems to be sticking.

[invisible furry hand]

"People really like it even though it's named after something gross"

And sounds kinda gross too

[SugarFree]

Bailey's is pretty much a deal-breaker for me too. I'll have the occasional Irish Car Bomb, but most mixed drinks with it are pretty nasty.

Which, I guess, would be the point here.

[RoboCain]

I like Bailey's as far as mixed shooters go.

[SugarFree]

I bet it would go good with Birthday Cake Vodka.

[Mr. FIFY]

Try this:

UV Cake Vodka (you can use other brands, but IMO this is the best)

Trader Vic's Chocolate Liqueur

a dab of grenadine...

Red Velvet Cake.

Killer drink. And I hate sweet drinks, for the most part.

[sarcasmic]

Bailey's layered with Hot Damn and Buttershots tastes remarkably like carrot cake.

[T]

Mildly on topic: Solerno Blood Orange and Jones Cream Soda tastes exactly like a dreamsicle.

[RoboCain]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot_Cake_(cocktail)

[Sparky]

Bailey's is a must have for any mixed drink that wasn't to approximate the taste of vomit. One night, a co-worker asked me to design a shot that tasted like puke (it's a long story). Here's what I came up with:

Equal parts
Bailey's
Jack Daniels
Jagermeister
Midori

Shake chilled and enjoy (or not).

[Sparky]

drink that wasn't WANTS to approximate the taste of vomit

I have no idea what happened there.

[SugarFree]

The squirrels fucked you over. Squirrels love Bailey's.

[RoboCain]

I would figure them for Frangelico.

http://www.frangelico.com/

[RoboCain]

Although why do all the websites of booze manufacturers have age thingies? It's just so pointlessly silly.

[SugarFree]

Without the fig leaf, you might have to see a statue's penis.

[invisible furry hand]

it gives underage drinkers a cheap thrill to lie to get access

[RoboCain]

Oh

[Zeb]

I don't know why people think that they can keep kids away from booze or drugs or whatever by keeping them as ignorant as possible about such things.

[Mr. FIFY]

Try this mix:

Bacardi 151
Wild Turkey 101
Kahlua

I remember the bartender calling it a "Gorilla Tit", but not much after drinking it.

And that was twenty years ago. I have learned a lot since then... like, don't drink stuff like that.

[db]

Have you ever had a Texas Prairie Fire? It's like throwing up in reverse.

[Sparky]

You talking tequila and tabasco? If so, those things are delicious.

[db]

That's a Prairie Fire. Add lime juice to get Texas Prairie Fire.

[Sparky]

Hmmm, I'll have to give it a ... shot.

[Brandon]

YYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[R C Dean]

I'll drink Bailey's in my coffee, and Mrs. Dean makes a wicked dessert with it, chocolate ice cream, and a touch of hot chili, but that's about it for me.

[invisible furry hand]

I do a quite scrummy cheesecake which can use either Bailey's or Kahlua (the latter is better)

[RoboCain]

recipe?

[invisible furry hand]

Good question... I can't find my recipe folder on my hard drives. Fuck! Er, I'll do a proper search and pop it up in tomorrow's morning links.

[RoboCain]

Thanks!

[kilroy]

This Bailey's cake is great! I recommend you cut down on the sugar in the glaze.

[Devil's Advocate]

I love Baileys and would drink that stuff like water if it wasn't like 10 million calories. I think it is because of the sweetness. I like Kahlua also, which seems to hit the same flavor spot for me as Baileys. I don't like mixed drinks with Baileys (gross), but Kahlua and milk (White Russian) are SO GOOD.

[invisible furry hand]

Used to love white and black Russians, but went off them about a decade ago (mostly stuck to whisky, caipirinhas, mojitos and pinot noir) but started having weird hankerings for the white variety recently.

[rac3rx]

Coole Swan Dairy Creme Liqueur is definitely a superior product. 2 shots with a shot of New Orleans Praline, a shot of vanilla or whipped cream vodka, and a splash of milk or 1/2 & 1/2 will make you never want another White Russian.

[RoboCain]

The flavored vodka thing has officially jumped the shark.

[Warty]

All of you people disgust me. Except for those of you who are girls, I guess, but that's only if you're really easy when you're drinking these disgusting girl-drink concoctions.

[Libertymike]

Rush Limbaugh is far more entertaining than Bill Maher.

He is also smarter.

[sarcasmic]

My pug is smarter than Maher.

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

In the world of partisan commentators, Rush remains the only one, IMO, marginally listenable.

I listen to a lot of radio (on the road a lot, and I like talk radio), and have heard commentators on all sides, and Rush is a few hundred feet ahead of the rest of the pack.

[SugarFree]

"It gets lonely on the road."

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

I decided that I am just going to get a speech-to-text device and a headset, so I can just talk to myself. Too much genius to leave uncaptured.

[Suthenboy]

Rush is the one of the wittiest of the bunch but I tend to be more of a mark levine fan.

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

*yak* Mark Levin is only marginally better than Sean Hannity, who really is the worst. I imagine that a head-to-head between Hannity and Ed Schultz would look like two mongoloids* fighting over a square of a Hershey candy bar.

* - said ironically, so it's all cool.

[sarcasmic]

I like Boortz my self.

[Concerned Citizen]

The best is when Walter Williams fills in for Rush.

[rac3rx]

I like Williams and Mark Steyn.

[Mr. FIFY]

But... but... Walter Williams is an Uncle Tom! Liberals say so! It must be true!

/snark

[T]

Mark Levine needs a better voice. I find that twinge of whiny to be too annoying to tolerate.

[Rhywun]

I find Rush loathsome even when he's right. I just hate that smug, sledgehammer approach from anyone. He IS witty, though, I have to admit.

[o3]

rush is a bomb-thrower who's getting return fire...and to fat to duck

[shrike]

PigBoy couldn't do a format like Real Time w/ Bill Maher where there are 3-4 other people of various views discussing issues. His ignorance would be on full display in a such a comparative environment.

I give Brietbart credit for trying it - he failed as have other conservative talkers. Steven Moore of the Wall St Journal gives it a good go. Frum is ok on Real Time. Ann Coulter has tried.

Sitting on your ass talking to dumb rednecks 12-3 without a challenge is easy.

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

PigBoy couldn't do a format like Real Time w/ Bill Maher where there are 3-4 other people of various views discussing issues. His ignorance would be on full display in a such a comparative environment.

You mean the format where he ignores everyone's substantive points and goes on smug polemics anyway?

Yeah, real runaway success there.

And Rush had a television show for four years where he had guests and engaged the studio audience (1992-1996). It had fine ratings but Rush didn't like doing the show that late.

So, more lies from you.

[shrike]

Bullshit. I've seen Maher get his ass handed to him a number of times.

What is the point of a one-sided conversation? Whether its a lib like Bill Press or a Sean Hannity?

They both breed stagnant thinking. THAT is the point.

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

I've seen Maher get his ass handed to him a number of times.

So what? That doesn't mean he changed any.

I see no growth from Maher or his audience packed full of trained seals.

What is the point of a one-sided conversation?

I know, right? I wish my professor would just STFU and stop, you know, teaching me stuff.

[John]

Rush signed a $400 million contract a few years ago. He makes more money in one show than the entire staff of America combined ever did.

Scoreboard dipshit. Love him or hate him, the guy knows what he is doing and is the most significant radio personality in history.

You would give your balls, if you had any, to have a leftist equivalent of Rush Limbaugh.

[Mr. FIFY]

And yet, you identify solely with people like Press, shrike.

While ranting against "stagnant thinking".

Irony, writ large.

[Rhywun]

Maher stopped having opposing views on his show right around the time Obama was elected. That and the fact that his audience lost any sense of "class" that it might have once possessed made me tune out for good.

[R C Dean]

You mean the format where he ignores everyone's substantive points and goes on smug polemics anyway?

I thought that was Rush's schtick. Along with every other talker who allows audience participation.

He's just better at it than anyone else.

[cynical]

Oh, that explains that episode of Beavis and Butthead.

[o3]

shrike - kinda like rush's ignominious football commentary...after which he was show the door

[sarcasmic]

I can tell you've never actually listened to his program.

[rac3rx]

Odd since liberal talk radio has proven time and time again to be a commercial flop.

[Brandon]

I've been told that that is because liberals are too smart for talk radio.

[RoboCain]

It's because liberalism sounds too stupid out loud.

[RoboCain]

"The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia ruled in United States v. Weaver yesterday that an employee is prohibited from carrying a gun while working for a felon."

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.c.....ore-114101

[T]

Felonies are transitive, like cooties? Interesting concept.

[Brett L]

Bad case == bad law. The whole thing hinges on whether Pagan MC members could carry a firearm whilst going about the business of their club at the behest of their convicted felon leader. I'm guessing that the traditional business methods of MCs played a part in the ruling.

[T]

So they become independent subcontractors. That's how it works everywhere else, right?

[Tonio]

I haven't RTFA, but if a court has found the Pagans MC to be a RICO that means they can impose all types of penalties. Which is not to defend the RICO statutes or their constitutionality.

[SugarFree]

The Purity Pledge

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) ? The Republican Party in a small, conservative South Carolina county expects its candidates to lower taxes. They also expect them to not watch porn, be faithful to their spouses and not have sex outside of marriage.
...
The 28-point pledge passed last week appeared to be at least in part a response to an extramarital affair had by the county sheriff, who was also accused in a lawsuit of driving his mistress to get an abortion in a county-owned vehicle, leading to an inter-party squabble when the local group's leader called for the sheriff to resign.

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

I am so tired of sex-negative fucking yokels. Of course, this is where Christianity naturally leads.

This viewpoint, of course, makes me a shill for the Republican Party (day 2!)

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

I don't actually have a problem, though, with making people stay faithful in their marriages. If you can't do that, don't get married.

Anyway, the point is moot. The State GOP overruled Laurens County.

[invisible furry hand]

What do you mean by "making people stay faithful"? How are they to be made to stay faithful? Surely you're not suggesting anything beyond social disapproval?

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

Yes, and barring party membership in the event of an adultery scandal.

The GOP could very reasonably state that they get hammered every time one of theirs engages in extramarital activities and they therefore want to strengthen their candidate pool.

[Zeb]

Sure, the local GOP can do what they want. But I think that whether or not a person should be faithful in their marriages is between the people who are married and no one else's business.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I am so tired of sex-negative fucking yokels. Of course, this is where Christianity naturally leads.

Thomas Frank agrees.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That's a severely self-limiting platform for membership. Almost as much as libertarianism.

[Luke]

Anyone else been yelled at on social media for politely questioning the KONY 2012 campaign?

[Bee Tagger]

I would like to, how did you politely question it?

[Luke]

I expressed a general discomfort at how the campaign seemed to be advocating an 'act now, think later' approach to the issue. I tried to be clear that I wasn't questioning the good intentions of Invisible Children, nor the fact that Joseph Kony is a psychopathic despot. I just don't like being told to 'get educated' by watching one 30 minute video.

That makes me a troll, apparently. Sigh.

[SugarFree]

Jezebel, of all places, has a pretty convincing takedown of the campaign.

[Luke]

That is a good article, thanks. I don't dare look at the comments though, and not just because its on Jezebel.

[Nipplemancer]

Holy shit, that's probably the first time I've read Jez without wanting to kill someone.

[SugarFree]

Yeah, I assume that Anonymous hacked them or something.

[Nipplemancer]

I read this before I ever watched the Kony2012 video. It's a pretty good takedown on the whole campaign and points out how poorly thought out the whole thing is.

[RoboCain]

Sounds like they just want to start a war with Uganda for teh children.

[Luke]

Thats another thing that bothers me. The logic being employed (by some people) is basically:

If Bad Person X is (or might be) in Country Y.
Then invade country Y.

For the children, of course.

[Nipplemancer]

That's exactly why I can't support it. These guys are actively lobbying for a military expedition to go in and kill/capture Kony.
Yes, Joseph Kony is a fucked up dude and central Africa would probably be better off without him, but that is entirely up to the people there. If you think he's so bad, go and volunteer for the Ugandan Army. Don't expect me to pay for your ticket nor send troops to help you.

[db]

Kony isn't even in Uganda anymore, a fact that is mentioned only once, and only tangentially, in the 30 minute film.

[R C Dean]

Saw something on the teevee about this while getting dressed. Naturally, it was fawningly positive, but what struck me was the Earnest Youth talking about what they were doing to stop Kony.

They had car washes, and a dance.

[Matt Damon]

A fund-raising dance party, or did they just dance for peace? Or even an interpretative dance about east African geopolitics?

[R C Dean]

Not sure. I'm pretty sure it was an interpetive car wash, though.

And, really, what difference does it make, unless they were raising money to buy guns and ammo for whatever country Kony is currently infesting.

[omnibot]

The founders of a controversial charity targeting a central African warlord are pushing back at critics, offering a defence of their spending practices, their work with a repressive government and what they call a "joke photo" of them posing with firearms.

"Let's focus on what matters, and what we DO agree on: Joseph Kony needs to be stopped," the statement closes. "And when that happens, peace is the limit. This is the beautiful beginning of an ending that is just the beginning. We are defending tomorrow. And it's hopeful."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....le2362732/

[kilroy]

This is the beautiful beginning of an ending that is just the beginning.

That sentence is enough to lose any support they might have had.

[db]

There's a great criticism of it on Foreign Policy today. Scathing in its use of facts.

[db]

link.

[Preemptive]

STFU John, and all other GOP mouthpieces. You are shit.

[RBS]

I thought it was better to be the victim?
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.c.....bbery.html

[sarcasmic]

Kristin Stewart accidentally smiles!

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

[SugarFree]

She smiles through the pain of smiling.

[RoboCain]

She smiles quite often, and we've been over this already.

[sloopyinca]

Hey asshole. I thought we had all agreed to warn each other when we post to a story that has a picture of Sarah Jessica Horseface in it.

[sarcasmic]

I didn't get the memo.

[Bee Tagger]

Olbermann out un-apologizes Limbaugh:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....30715.html

[Fist of Etiquette]

After watching Cupp attacking Planned Parenthood, he tweeted in 2011 that Cupp was "a perfect demonstration of the necessity of the work Planned Parenthood does." He said he meant that her parents could have used Planned Parenthood's counseling and family planning services, and denied that he was intimating that he thought she should have been aborted.

"Was it a nice thing to say? No," he said. "Was it sexist? Hardly."

"Was it intelligent discourse? Not really. Was it tweeted in an echo chamber? Absolutely. Am I being disingenuous in this explanation? That's pretty obvious."

[RoboCain]

LOL

And the comments are priceless.

[Fluffy]

Spanx Inventor Makes Forbes Billionaire List.

And I Would Hit That.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/.....53404412/1

[shrike]

I saw that. She married a Jewish rapper and owner of a fractional jet service company who might have made the list on his own.

Rich liberal "rent seekers" - the new term for capitalists who lean liberal (on here anyway).

[SIV]

Sheer marketing genius. Her original product was nothing but lycra spandex pantyhose with the feet cut out. The pantyhose sold in drug and department stores for around $5. Blakely's product, made out of the same material spun on the same hosiery mills, sold for $50+.

[Raston Bot]

Does she advertise on 30 Rock b/c every other episode has Liz Lemon mentioning Spanx? The joke is getting old.

[John]

There is probably at least one guy out there maybe more who dumped her. Imagine having to deal with that life changing mistake. I think suicide by cop might be the only option.

[R C Dean]

John, as Dean Senior explained to me:

"The only problem with marrying money is that you wind up having to earn it."

No thanks.

[John]

Your father was talking about women who are given money by their parents. Doesn't apply to marrying a women who is poor and then makes money.

[Fluffy]

Better picture:

http://www.startupnation.com/i....._IMG01.jpg

This plus money.

[John]

Not just money, a billion.

[rac3rx]

Just remember...she invented SPANX...which could mean when all of that meat is untrussed, you might lose an eye in the release of that flabby thigh.

[John]

Rac3rx,

I can think of a billion reasons why that wouldn't bother me.

[invisible furry hand]

might never happen - if she could invent SPANX, she could invent crotchless SPANX

[Joe M]

Also, fried chicken.

[tarran]

I'm running into that myself. Just reconnected with a girl who had a huuuge crush on me in college. I really liked her too, but I had a girlfriend back home that I was being loyal to, so I did nothing.

Now she's starting a business that should make her a multi-millionaire, and I am in the midst of a finances-nuking divorce with my self-destructive ex-wife. The girlfriend back home would go on to dump me when her parents told her the fun times were over and that she should start looking for a nice marriagable Jewish boy and she and I haven't spoken in 20 years.

It's at I-gave-up-a-chance-to-help-found-facebook-to-work-on-the-Edwards-presidential-campaign levels of what-was-I-thinking. :/

[Fist of Etiquette]

"It's not just a matter of 'Hey, they've been there a long time, let's get rid of them,'" Linbeck says. "It's more like they've been there a long time and they're disconnected from the voters in their district, and they would win without some other force coming in. Well, we're that other force."

Their criteria is straightforward. For CFPA to take action they look at four factors: The district must be solidly red or blue ("we're not looking to swing power from one party to the other," Linbeck says); the challenger must be credible and capable of standing on his own; the current incumbent must be entrenched?no freshmen; and their own private polling has to show that there's actually a chance their candidate could win.

Billionaires buying term limits. I blame Citizens United.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I like it.

Their slogan should be:

"Because Fuck You, that's why."

[Suthenboy]

^
This

[Fluffy]

Cantor and Obama to Geld the SEC

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/.....sses-grow/

How is this possible? All of these are good ideas.

[Brett L]

Blind hog, acorn.

[Suthenboy]

Nah. It is electioneering by Obama. If reelected I am sure he fully intends to gut small businesses in some other fashion, probably with the EPA.

[shrike]

typical wingnut-speak.

Obama put in 17 different small business tax cuts and credits.

The best one - full one-yr depreciation, was hugely successful.

[John]

Sure it was. That is why unemployment is back down below 8%.

[Suthenboy]

Bullshit. The shit he does is all for appearance. It sounds good but the effects are either zero, or the opposite of the stated ones.

[shrike]

Accelerated Depreciation on CapEx is just for appearance?

Wow - you are a wingnut who knows nothing about business investment.

[Suthenboy]

I know a fucking marxist when I see one.

[Fatty Bolger]

Yes, this would be excellent.

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

This has to be

A TRAP!

[Matrix]

FBI director will not say if rule to assassinate American citizens only applies to those outside the US.

American Citizens, Y U No just let the government kill anyone they wish?

[Fatty Bolger]

Ron Paul, The Invisible Man

[Fist of Etiquette]

But the White House ? with its steady schedule of energy-focused events ? is clearly positioning itself to tout its energy agenda at the election.

Thus locking in the votes they were guaranteed to get anyway.

[Suthenboy]

A person I know who has been a die-hard liberal for 50 years told me monday she is going to vote republican....meaning against Obama.

The day he signed the DAA she was in tears. "This is not American. How can he do that?" was all she said.

How indeed...how indeed.....

[Raston Bot]

A lady in my office just said she's boycotting "cotchy." Cotchy apparently is a company that makes toilet paper and dixie cups and Cotchy's owner said something about getting Obama fired... she wasn't completely sure but she's going to fwd the boycott email.

Time to job hunt. These fucking idiots are too much.

[RoboCain]

LOL

[John]

Jay Nordlinger noted the other day that Romney being a teetotaler probably hurts him more with voters than Gingrich's serial divorces. I think he is right. And I am not sure that is a bad thing.

[Commentariat GOP Shill]

I know very few people who are comfortable with teetotalers. I know people who are uncomfortable with drinking because of alcoholic family members and bad memories, but people who voluntarily undertake teetotaling with nothing but high-horse rationales give me the shivers.

[Suthenboy]

I think it was RCDean who said

"You know what is worse than salt, sugar, fat, tobacco, dope or alcohol?

Sanctimony."

I used that line on someone who was bitching about smokers ( I am one ) and it had exactly the effect I wanted. Kudos to Dean.

[R C Dean]

I don't recall saying that, but I'll take credit for it.

[Suthenboy]

Someone here said it....I thought it was you. If not, my apologies to who did for not crediting correctly. If it was you, Kudos.

My target shut their mouth immediately, turned red as a beet, squirmed around in his chair for a few seconds and then slithered away without a word.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I know people who are uncomfortable with drinking because of alcoholic family members and bad memories, but people who voluntarily undertake teetotaling with nothing but high-horse rationales give me the shivers.

The former is basically why Mormons established it as the latter.

[Raston Bot]

Did he flesh that out further between male and female voters?

[John]

No. More of just a random observation. But a good one i think.

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else was a teetotaler?

[John]

http://news.investors.com/arti.....-cspan.htm

How many Senate staffers does it take to hold a sign for Barbara Boxer.

[SugarFree]

That is some premium snark.

[John]

And at such a deserving target. Few things lower than congressional toadies.

[Suthenboy]

...and few congressional toadies lower than boxer.

[RoboCain]

Good thing they weren't changing a light bulb.

[CrackertyAssCracker]

Yes Ma'am.

[Rhywun]

She prefers senator. "I worked so hard for that," she explained.

Aieeee I hate that shit. This is America - you wanna pull that class/title bullshit, go somewhere where people give a damn about it.

[P Brooks]

Last night, I was gouging a friend about how his idol in the White House is using *his* tax money to help rich people feel good about themselves by increasing the subsidies on the VOLT (while he gets to drive around in a twenty-plus-year-old Honda). It was fun.

[P Brooks]

Obama put in 17 different small business tax cuts and credits.

Yay! More social engineering via the tax code.

[RoboCain]

Exactly.

[R C Dean]

Distorting the capital markets always leads to sustainable growth.

[sloopyinca]

As I look at my calendar (and espn.com more often), I get excited. That's because March Madness is almost upon us. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, the greatest gambling event in the world is rapidly descending upon us.
And in the grand spirit of the event, and out of sheer love for my fellow libertarians, I have dedicated chunks of minutes to setting up The Reason Hit & Run Superpimp Super Fantastic March Madness Bracket-Filling-Out Contest.

[sloopyinca]

The name may be a work in progress, and may come across as a bit Japanese, but I can assure you this will have all the excitement of Lin-sanity without the baggage of progressive pants-wetting at the name.

As always with the fantasy leagues I put together for reasonoids, it's free, it's anonymous if you want it to be, and it's fucking fun whether you know shit about it or not. Hell, people have been known to find their soulmate playing idiotic fantasy games, so there's hope for some of you after all.

Anyway, get your asses in gear and get registered. It's two brackets per e-mail address, but I may be convinced to move that to 3 if there's an outcry. It's progressive scoring. And it's all ours!

password: reason

[SugarFree]

If I win, do I have to marry you? I not into that Moromon shit, yo.

[omnibot]

no, you marry him if you lose.

[SugarFree]

Banjos won the NFL fantasy league, and look what ended up happening to her.

[Banjos]

Don't be so quick to lose out on an excellent opportunity. Being one of sloop's concubines could be the shit. He cooks breakfast for me every morning, dinner every night, always opens doors for me, and is an excellent cuddler.

[Britt]

Well fuck I want to marry him. I'd totally go gay for two cooked meals a day.

[Loki]

If you want the name to be full Japanese Anime, I suggest adding the words "hyper" "force" "team" "go" or something about Ninjas to the title.

Something like "The Reason Hit & Run Team-Go Superpimp Super Hyper Fantastic Ninja-Force March Madness Bracket-Filling-Out Contest".

And if there's some way to make a funny acronym (maybe something only H&R regulars would get) using the "random word Japanese anime name" style that would be even better. It would take someone far more creative than me to pull that off though.

[omnibot]

Canseco banned from Mexico
http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/b.....2/35140662
Also, his twitter feed is a hoot.

[Raston Bot]

Ezra Klein trusts Cato.

That's because Cato is, well, "the foremost advocate for small-government principles in American life." It advocates those principles when Democrats are in power, and when Republicans are in power. When I read Cato's take on a policy question, I can trust that it is informed by more than partisan convenience. The same can't be said for other think tanks in town.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....klein.html

[T]

As Brett L said above: blind hog, acorn.

[John]

No just a lying sack of shit. If the Kochs were not trying to assert control over CATO, douche bag would have nothing good to say.

[R C Dean]

He's just Koch-blocking.

[omnibot]

I have a followup question on the gay lovemaking chat from yesterday.
Who decides who gets to "pitch" first?

[SugarFree]

The director.

[Suthenboy]

Why, in the name of god, would anyone be curious about that?

[Lord Humungus]

He doesn't want to break protocol?

[Tonio]

OK, I wasn't on that thread yesterday, but here's how that works: Unlike hetero couples where anatomy pretty much determines this, gay people label themselves as tops ("pitchers"), bottoms ("catchers") or versatile (pitch and catch). This is often the first question asked when you're trying to hook up with or date someone.

[John Thacker]

Meanwhile, Sens. DeMint and Lee have introduced a bill that eliminates all energy tax breaks (including a lot of oil and gas credits), putting that money into lowering the overall corporate tax rate.

It will fail, of course, thanks to both moderate Republicans and Democrats. Environmentalists won't support it because they know that in the total absence of subsidies, we'd still be using fossil fuels.

[Raston Bot]

That's great ammo for the in-law's dinner table. Thank you.

[P Brooks]

Few things lower than congressional toadies.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Those brilliant young people are sacrificing the opportunity to make far more money in the private sector simply because they want to make your life better. Their dedication to America is an inspiration to us all.

[R C Dean]

I don't know which would be worse: a political class motivated entirely by self-interest, or a political class motivated entirely by "altruism".

[John]

The latter. See C.S. Lewis. Nothing worse than a tyrant who is a tyrant for your good rather than his.

[cynical]

Which city government annoys you more, Daley's Chicago, or Bloomberg's New York?

[Suthenboy]

"....sacrificing the opportunity to make far more money in the private sector simply because they want to make your life better."

Ahhhhhh so that is why they all become multi-bazillionaires after taking office.

[Tonio]

I think he's talking about congressional staffers.

[P Brooks]

or a political class motivated entirely by "altruism".

This one.

[Suthenboy]

I'll second that. Systems can be put in place to entice bad people to do good things in the name of self-interest. Our system resembles one. The altruistic are fucking unmanageable and irredeemable.

[P Brooks]

Banjos won the NFL fantasy league, and look what ended up happening to her.

Be careful what you wish for.

[Lord Humungus]

Interesting read on LBJ, the generals at the Pentagon, and the Vietnam war:

The Day It Became the Longest War
http://hnn.us/node/34024

It must have been that Johnson had lacked something. Maybe it was foresight or boldness. Maybe it was the sophistication and understanding it took to deal with complex international issues. Or, since he was clearly a bully, maybe what he lacked was courage. We will never know. But had General Wheeler and the others received a fair hearing, and had their recommendations received serious study, the United States may well have saved the lives of most of its more than 55,000 sons who died in a war that its major architect, Robert Strange McNamara, now considers to have been a tragic mistake.

[John]

I sent that to my dad. What a piece of work Johnson was.

[Suthenboy]

'Tragic'. Now there is a word to describe 55,000 murdered Americans. How about 'unfortunate'? Or 'regrettable'?

[db]

HNN? The Humungus News Network?

[Lord Humungus]

my power is vast and wide.

(that's what she said)

[Fluffy]

The downside of being wrong about the risks involved in a decision to mine the harbor and blockade the North Vietnamese coastline was global thermonuclear war.

Johnson was a fool, but I don't blame him for being pissed. Basically they came into his office and said, "Unless you roll the dice on a strategy that will bring us as close to global war as we were during the Cuban Missile Crisis, we're going to lose this war we just started."

They basically told him, "The only way to win here is to bet the world on ace high."

The reason Johnson was a fool is because he couldn't see that the only way out of the decision-tree trap the generals put him in here was to say, "Fuck it, let's leave, then. Warm up the helicopters."

[Suthenboy]

We shouldnt have gone in the first place. Taking the place of the french was the equivalent of watching someone lose a shell game to a street hustler and when they are broke jumping up waving money and thinking you will win.

[Loki]

I doubt very seriously that the Soviets or the Chinese would have really been willing to go into a thermonuclear war doomsday scenario over little piss-ant Vietnam. Basically, if we weren't willing to drop nukes on the N Koreans and risk a proportional retaliation from the Soviets and Chinese over some tiny Asian penninsula, it's doubtful they would have risked the same over Vietnam. They would have left their "ally" hung out to dry. Of course, there was no way to know that at the time (and even now that's just a supposition on my part).

Ultimately LBJ and McNamara fucked up. If they weren't willing to go "all in" they should have just folded and called it a day. What a couple of fucking morons they were.

[John]

^^This^^ And note Nixon did exactly what the generals were recommending in 1965 and there was no war.

[Pain]

I swear every time I think LBJ can't go any lower in my opinion I read something that somehow drags him even further down. What a utterly reprehensible human being.

Not to Godwin the thread, but that reads like the various descriptions of Hitler ignoring his own Generals. LBJ even has a crazy Downfall style rant.

[Debo Jamo]

Obama is such a dork! In every sense of the word lol.

http://www.Done-Anon.tk

[Holdin']

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ-WHOOOOOOOOSSHH-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

http://www.drone-anon.com

[H man]

So what ambassadorship is Bill Maher angling for?

[RBS]

Hmm, Afghanistan?

[Pain]

I swear every time I think LBJ can't go any lower in my opinion I read something that somehow drags him even further down. What a utterly reprehensible human being.

Not to Godwin the thread, but that reads like the various descriptions of Hitler ignoring his own Generals. LBJ even has a crazy Downfall style rant.