The Taliban Doesn't Want to Talk With the U.S., Romney-Dog-Crate-Roof-gate Lingers, Ukraine Waffling on Its IMF Debt: P.M. Links

• Things continue to fall apart in Afghanistan.
  

• Ukraine would like to pay the IMF back $3 billion later. Not now.
• Great moments in headlines: "Santorum Camp Doubles Down On Seamus."
• "Raoul Wallenberg's World War II Heroism a Lesson for World Doing Nothing About Syria"? Sure, send some sneaky Swedes to Syria. 
• Yes. "Has the time come to limit congressional terms?"
• Awesome photos of places without people.
• The entire 2 hours of Google+ drug war debate can be viewed here. 

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Comments

[Rick Santorum]

Fist!

[BI]

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G

[Second in Bizarro H 'n' R]

This is like the worst chat room ever.

[Brett L]

Wait, he put a setter on the roof of his car? That sonuvabitch must pay.

[DesigNate]

As much as I'd love to see term limits on congresscritters, it ain't ever going to happen. There's a better chance of libertarians taking hold of both houses.

[Binky]

The dog, Seamus, suffered a bout of diarrhea during the trip. Romney hosed off the dog and the car at a service station and kept driving.

More to the point, Romney did not purchase condoms for Seamus at that station.

[Zeb]

What the hell was he supposed to do. Put the dog inside the car so it could shit on his kids? I can't stand Romney, but talking about the dog is just dumb. It seems like Romney gets the most flack when he says things I actually sort of agree with (e.g. "I like being able to fire people").

[teh rael o3]

too many people anthropomorphize dogs.

[Zeb]

Do you suppose dogs cynomorphize people?

[Brett L]

Ever'body calm down, I was just playing. Its not like he tied him to the bumper and drove off.

[Zeb]

I figured that was a safe assumption. Just seemed like a good place to insert my comment.

[Seamus]

That sonuvabitch did that, too!

[Kaffeinated Kristen]

Put the screeching rugrats on the roof is what.

[grrizzly]

Agree. I cannot comprehend why this dog story never dies. How else do you bring your dog if you travel with a wife and five kids in a station wagon? Perhaps back then Romney was not even filthy rich to afford a private jet for a family trip.

[Libertymike]

We're talking 1983? You got a good point.

[WS]

The way I see it, a dog like that is going to get the shits somewhere. Better to have it on the outside than the inside. That was good judgment. Bringing a dog like that on a car trip in the first place, not so much.

[rac3rx]

I don't guess it occurred to anyone that the dog got the shits because of its traveling conditions, ingesting whatever is flying by at 70 MPH, or perhaps fear?

The episode speaks to his callous disregard for his pets, which in my estimation is more evidence of him being a generally loathsome human being. If you're taking your pet on a trip, your luggage goes on the roof, and your pets go in the car.

[Almanian]

My dogs who ride in the back of the pickup disagree with you...

[Anonymous Coward]

In this, dogs have the following similarity to humans:

Some have a better constitution for travelling than others.

[protefeed]

I've ridden in a station wagon, cross country, with my two parents and us five kids. It was effing crowded. Throwing a large dog into the mix, especially if it had diarrhea, seems crazy.

Me, I'd have left the dog at home, but shit happens on long road trips with large families.

How is this story about something that happened 25 years ago even an issue?

[Rich]

The west's strategy in Afghanistan has been thrown into *greater* disarray

FTFY

[hazeeran]

Pic reminds me: I was at a Paul rally today; I didn't know it 'till I got home, but I snapped a picture of a "Dogs for Ron Paul" sign.

[Suki]

I don't see how you can attend a Ronulan rally and not know it immediately.

[Rich]

Probably 1 in 100 non-Paulistas understands that sign.

[Almanian SWAT Leader]

We have our collective eyes on both of you, hazereen...if that's your REAL name...

[Dogs for Ron Paul]

New Facebook page dedicated to dogs and dog handlers who support Ron Paul for President and his philosophy of freedom, peace, and prosperity.

Please Like and Share, send pics of your pooch ready for action!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dogs-for-Ron-Paul/334840023203097

Dogs for Ron Paul!

[End Child Unemployment]

I'm not sure about mandating term limits there Lucy. I agree it sucks 70% of congresscritters have been in office since AD 600, but I also firmly believe in a person's right to shoot themselves in the leg if they want to. I mean it's their leg!

[Gojira]

I'm with you. It smacks of, "People aren't making the right decision by reelecting these assholes over and over again, so we're going to pass a law to save them from themselves!"

Which is a profoundly leftist way of thinking.

[Lucy Steigerwald]

I disagree! It would save those of us who don't vote/don't vote for winners from the other folks. It's not electing politicians is something which doesn't harm other people.

[Gojira]

It's not electing politicians is something which doesn't harm other people.

No snark, I'm having a hard time figuring this sentence out.

[Citizen Nothing]

(Pssst. Ixnay. Home schooled.)

[Lucy Steigerwald]

Come on. You guys know I freely admit my true typos and spelling fails and such. This is pure delirium.

[Lucy Steigerwald]

I had about an hour and a half of sleep last night, so REALLY fair enough. Let's try this again.

Electing politicians is not a harmless act, it affects other people. Therefore I don't see this as nanny state-ish.

[Brandon]

Gotta go with Lucy here.

[Ice Nine]

I gotta go with her wherever she went last night.

[WanT]

Every 1st term politician has an agenda they want to accomplish or something they want to prove for the voters that elected them. Nowadays, this agenda involves passing more and more laws.

I really question whether having more 1st term lawmakers would really be a good thing.

[Libertymike]

My individual right to my property trumps any other person's "right" to continue to vote for the same person to feed at the public trough and steal my stuff.

[protefeed]

First term politicians are not as proficient at stealing. Term limits are a good thing.

[wareagle]

and when this all began, no one envisioned Congress as a career. It was something you did in service to your country for a short time, then you returned home and went back to work. Kept fresh blood flowing and prevented the systemic rot that comes with perpetual incumbency.

[Brandon]

I would support term limits just to stop shit like last week's Times "Poor incumbents are being opposed!!!" article from happening again.

[End Child Unemployment]

What is it that you most can't the least?

What I most can't the least, my lord, is do never a bad job, but always a good!

Whoa, good answers!

[kinnath]

Another choice is to expand the number of congresscritters so that the average population of each district is roughly what it was when the nation started. That way the average guy or gal on the street has some reasonable expectation of being able to hunt down his/her representative and chew their ass out on a regular basis.

That a repeal the 17th so the state elect senators. The Iowa congress has changed majorities a couple of times over the last two decades. This would have allowed us to purge the senate of Tom Harkin.

[Citizen Nothing]

Most voters are idiots.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm firmly in the camp that we need Constitutional protections against the stupid. Term limits is one of those protections.

[SRH]

Yes.

[End Child Unemployment]

I can see the benefits to this argument. Like first amendment protections - people are (supposedly) not allowed to write laws prohibiting speech, even if they really don't like it. I guess I'm not 100% convinced long terms of service equals increased tyranny.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm 100% convinced that unlimited terms mean increased venality. At the very least.

[End Child Unemployment]

Yeah, but the only way a non-Ron Paul person running for congress could go up on the bribeability scale is if they were from Nigeria. I don't have a better suggestion though.

I kind of like the idea of just selecting 535 regular jackoffs to serve a term in congress by lottery.

[Pro Libertate]

The worst possible person for the job appears to be the one who craves it.

[End Child Unemployment]

Correct. Fortunately Plato advised us of this critical error like 2,400 years ago, and thus humanity has had time to figure out a solution!

Wait, we haven't? Fuck 🙁

[Pro Libertate]

Plato was right, he just lacked the technological foresight to realize it. We need to build insanely advanced AI, and bow to them as our masters. Philosopher robots.

[End Child Unemployment]

We could also fundamentally alter human consciousness through genetic modification, cybernetic enhancements, direct links to a real time data network, consciousness transfer to computer hardware, the motherfucking spice, etc etc. Variations on the same thought though, which is that no political system we can devise can beat human nature. So the solution is changing the human portion of the system.

[Pro Libertate]

We're a mess. Need to start over. Robots or alien overlords.

[End Child Unemployment]

Oh sure, throw the human babies out with the bathwater. Things aren't perfect but human society has made plenty of advances in the last 200 years. Just not when it comes to politics.

[Killazontherun]

You always took the Helios ending when playing Deus Ex, I see.

[Killazontherun]

Dues

[Loki]

We need to build insanely advanced AI, and bow to them as our masters.

I for one welcome our robot overlords!

[UvalDuvalCuckoo]

+1

[Brandon]

I recommend allowing any bribes that anybody wants to give, but enforcing the constitutional limits on government to detract from the motivation to give them.

[cynical]

Might as well make it 5350 and fire the aides and staffers.

[Brandon]

How long has Charles Schumer been in office?

[Brett L]

Yeah, look at how much its cleaned up Florid... well, shit. I would say the FL State Senate proves that inept kleptocratic stupidity is a quality of anyone who gets elected.

[Pro Libertate]

It won't solve any problem by itself. Just one more tool to protect us.

[Socialistic Individual Sparky]

I thought Newt was the only tool that could protect us.

[WanT]

How will it protect us if we finally get a decent/honest person elected and he is forced out after 2 terms and replaced by a statist prick?

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, that's our problem. Too many good, noble people in office.

[WanT]

And term limits will just allow more shit to flow through the pipes without addressing the real issue - putting shit up there in the first place.

[Pro Libertate]

It's not like the only option is term limits. There are many checks on power that we could employ. Some of them, surprisingly enough, are already included in our foundational document.

[wareagle]

term limits makes it harder for shit to stay AND it encourages more people to consider running, people perhaps motivated by good since their tenure will be short.

[WanT]

I guess my view is the minority here, but I really don't think term limits will help. They will make it just as difficult for an honest person to stay as for shit to stay.

When I imagine term limits, I see congressmen trying make a big name for themselves in a short period of time. That'll mean they attach themselves to some cause and pass a bunch of laws. The end result probably being more laws and less freedom.

I also worry about the legislative branch becoming more volatile (congressmen not caring about consequences of a vote because they have nothing [ie reelection] to lose) instead of a more staid political discourse.

[Suki]

Then look only to the Illinois governor's office.

[Pro Libertate]

The best kind of term limit--the one followed by a special kind of government service. Here, Governor, make me a new license plate, please.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I do not like the idea of BIG CONSTITUTION coming in and limiting my choice for representation. Having said that, I think term limits would be a HUGE benefit to society.

[Pro Libertate]

What choice do you have now? What choice did you have back when your legislature elected your senators for you?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I had the choice of voting for the candidate offered to me by the various political parties to the state legislature... who would then in turn... select the...

[voice trails off]

[Pro Libertate]

The point was, of course, to protect all of us from too much majoritarian tyranny. Which, thankfully, is now mostly unrestrained.

[End Child Unemployment]

We have some of the best exchanges on here. It makes putting up with rants about civi(LIES)at(ION) almost worth it. Almost.

[R C Dean]

How many people think limiting the President to two terms is a mistake, an infringement on the voter's sacred right to fuck up as many times as he pleases?

We already have federal term limits in the Constitution. I see no reason not to have more.

Your right to vote is already limited to voting for eligible candidates. This is just one more requirement for eligibility.

[Brett L]

I'm still afraid that the only effect is for congresscritters to steal more, faster.

[Pro Libertate]

I could come up with some other criteria, too.

[Suki]

I am against that term limit and all others.

[James C. Bennett]

We have term limits here in California.
It hasn't helped.
Obviously.

[Kibby]

You're in California. Normal rules do not apply.

[gaijin]

Federalism?

[R C Dean]

Well, look at it this way:

(1) It doesn't really hurt the voter, who is already restricted to voting for eligible candidates, and this restriction is one we have already imposed on our Presidents (else we would be looking forward to Bill Clinton's, what, sixth term right about now).

(2) And it does hurt the politicians!

So its kind of reverse-Pareto optimal, or something.

[Suki]

So, because there are already some wacky rules, more wacky rules are better.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm firmly in the camp that we need Constitutional protections against the stupid. Term limits is one of those protections.

A simple voting test, applied equally across the electorate (Who is your Congressman? Your two Senators? The current President?) could be used to keep some of the imbeciles out of the voting booth.

[Suki]

Emulating the way Democrats prevented Black people from voting is a good idea to you? Not to me.

[Aaron Bonn]

I agree with you too. Shrinking government takes just as much effort as growing it, and keeping it small takes a kind of long-term vigilance that term limits hamstring in significant ways. Government grows faster than it shrinks, and term limits generally work against libertarian interests.

[Pro Libertate]

It's like Whac-A-Mole.

[Libertymike]

How do term liimits generally work against libertarian interests?

[Pro Libertate]

I wasn't agreeing with the term limits observation, just about fending off government incursions.

[Libertymike]

PL, my query was directed at Aaron freaking Bonn.

[Pro Libertate]

Okay, I retract.

[Maxxx]

Because the rare libertarian politicians will get termed out and replaced with just another egomaniac.

The idea of term limits is incredibly naive. IE that with them we will get "real people" that see public office as a short term public service, do a few terms then get on with their life.

That hasn't happened in CA and won't at the national level because the Congresscritters will still have to run for office, ie be politicians, on the one hand and 'normal' people are not going to take a 4, 6 or 8 year pause in their lives for 'public service' on the other hand.

[Maxxx]

And on the third hand the idea that these mythical citizen legislators are likely to be small government activists has no evidence to support it. It's more likely that you'll get union goons serving a stint in the legislature and taking care of their friends, than it is that a citizen will go there to make tough decisions.

Like it or not, politician are a professional class and the only way to reduce the size and scope of government is by rewarding politicians for do so.

[kilroy]

I think we should limit the terms in length, not number. Congress gets to meet for 6 weeks each year. The rest of the year you cannot leave your district. Going out of bounds gets you immediately impeached.

[Brian D]

I also don't like the idea of a freshly elected representative going "Okay, I only have 6 (or 12) years in this position, tops, so I'd better get in on all this juicy lobbyist money as fast as I can!"

[shrike]

Megan McCain tells Playboy she loves lots of sex and is "strictly dickly".

http://wonkette.com/467192/meg.....ore-467192

Will Rush call her a slut?

[Rush]

What's her position on government-mandated coverage of her birth control implements/drugs?

[shrike]

Rush, I know you are an uneducated idiot but please try to distinguish sluts from freeloaders.

Sluts are wonderful.

[KPres]

I agree. But that means Limbaugh was complimenting Fluke? Why all the outrage then?

[Zeb]

Why can't we have this shrike more often?

[gaijin]

What's her position on government-mandated coverage of her birth control implements/drugs?

Missionary...with zeal?

[teh rael o3]

megan said on the maddow show that she doesnt know a republican woman, in her generation, that supports this war on women's health care (her words).

[Megan]

Like, yeah!

[Skip]

Wonkette commenters make White Indian and Shrike look like members of Mensa.

[shrike]

You want to debate me? I'll crush you like a fucking bug.

You name the subject.

[KPres]

Shrike, you're an idiot and are constantly getting called out for your misinformation around here.

[shrike]

Bullshit. I am called out for my harsh rhetoric.

Fact is that as a secular capitalist I am 90% in line with the LP. I am strongly pro-recreational drugs and anti-Medicare/caid.

I support a few regulations -that is it. I support Net Freedom - the LP does not.

[wareagle]

which either makes your claim of being a liberal disingenuous or a ruse to elicit response. So...?

[Libertymike]

Yes, but you will not admit that the real no.l reason why retail gasoline prices in the states are rising is due to the vanishing value of the dollar.

[Libertymike]

shriek, US demand for oil has been down, way down. Thus, given the slack in demand, what else accounts for the surge in retail gasoline prices other than the ongoing vitiation of the value of the dollar?

[shrike]

World demand is way up.

China/India dwarf the USA now.

[shrike]

The USD is up 12% in four years using the DXY as a gauge.

The DXY is the gauge capitalists use.

[Amakudari]

The dollar index is against a basket of developed world currencies, and it's overweight the Euro. The renminbi isn't even there. It's like the Dow; it's been nice because of historical correlations but there's no particular reason why it's a good index.

Comparing currencies is problematic in a worldwide downturn because all governments are attempting to devalue to prop up trade. You should consider commodities as well.

[Brandon]

Then how come you can't seem to make a cogent point in thousands of posts on here?

[Libertymike]

Okay, shrike, how about Attack of the Killer Windshield?

[fish]

Lighten up Plankton.....I mean Francis!

[Anonymous Coward]

Megan McCain tells Playboy she loves lots of sex and is "strictly dickly".

DO NOT WANT.

[???]

What the heck happened to Detroit?

[R C Dean]

In a word: corruption.

[Skip]

Look I'm too young to know, but was crating your dog on top of your car a thing people did in the 60s-80s or not? I somehow doubt Mitt Romney got the idea to do it for the first time in recorded history.

[Raston Bot]

They stick their heads out windows often enough... I suppose somebody figured, "Where's the harm?"

[Citizen Nothing]

Look I'm too young to know, but was crating your dog on top of your car a thing people did in the 60s-80s or not?

Well you're really asking two questions there. The first one takes me back to 1934. Admiral Burn had just reached the pole, only hours ahead of the Three Stooges...The next thing I knew there was civil war in Spain...

[Brandon]

I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time...

[Zeb]

From what I have heard, it was a carrier specifically designed to be attached to the top of a car.

[Skip]

Then why doesn't anyone tell these self-righteous animal rights dorks and assorted would-be comedians that they are whining about something thousands if not tens of thousands of people did in an earlier time period?

What are they going to whine about next? That he put asbestos in his house?

[Zeb]

Have you ever tried telling those people anything?

[Cabeza de Vaca]

It was very common in my youth to see dogs riding in back of pick up trucks. I don't really see much of a difference here.

[Libertymike]

Besides, they loved getting the fresh air.

[Brandon]

We had a dog jump out of the back of my dad's truck. She rolled a couple times and came up running. Guess I can't ever run for president.

[Xenocles]

Hell, in my youth I used to ride in the back of my grandfather's pickup - it was capped, but there's no way that would fly today.

[protefeed]

Riding in the back of a pickup is still legal in Hawaii, despite many unsuccessful attempts by statists to pass laws outlawing it.

Leaving a dog untied in the back, IIRC, is illegal though.

[Fluffy]

I think it was like putting your dog and/or your stoned friends in the open cargo area of a pickup truck.

Formerly assumed to be OK; now an outrageously negligent anti-safety act.

[wareagle]

people do that with dogs all the time. Come on, man.

[Zeb]

That's true. How the hell did that happen? It wasn't that long ago that I was a kid riding around in the open back of a pickup.

[Hugh Akston]

"Raoul Wallenberg's World War II Heroism a Lesson for World Doing Nothing About Syria"? Sure, send some sneaky Swedes to Syria.

If Kati Marton or any other Syria interventionists want to pick up a rifle and go over there to save people from the Assad regime, they are welcome to do so.

[Lucy Steigerwald]

And this is why the comparison is so wonky; it's not like Wallenberg picked up any rifles.

[T]

She's free to go smuggle people out Syria anytime she wants. I don't know what she'd do with them, since the tribalism in the Middle East pretty much guarantees they'd end up in refugee ghettos. I am, of course, assuming that no country in Europe or America wants to take them in.

[Suki]

Can they roll cigars and crepes?

[Crapulous]

Mandelbaum!

[Libertymike]

Been drinking again Crapulous?

[Crapulous]

You think you're better than me?

[Libertymike]

No; I'm just concerned about your imbibing, that's all.

[Crapulous]

It's always 4pm somewhere

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Hey Crapulous, is this guy bother *hic* bothering you? Say mister, why are you *hic* messing with Crapulous? Do you wanna' *hic*! Do you wanna' mess with me? Cause I'l bresncjvjggghhhhhh.....

*snores*

[Libertymike]

Sing it Alan and sing it Jimmy!

[Socialistic Individual Sparky]

Pink slime update.

"There is only one word for this product: gross. McDonald's and Burger King won't serve it in their restaurants and it doesn't belong in school cafeterias either."

[Rich]

the ammonia hydroxide-treated beef trimmings ... what the industry and USDA calls "lean finely textured beef"

Just require it to be served in USDA facilities. Hell, they could even mix it into the coffee.

[Suki]

Rush spoke of this last week.

[Xenocles]

They should get rid of this stuff and bring back the horse testicles it replaced.

[Arka]

Oh, relax kids. I've got a gut feeling Uter's around here somewhere. After all, isn't there a little Uter in all of us? In fact, you might even say we just ate Uter, and he's in our stomachs right now! Wait, scratch that one.

[Xenocles]

+1 Well played.

[Brett L]

Dick Lugar ineligible to vote. It appears that he doesn't actually have a residence in his home state of Indiana.

[hazeeran]

Then how is he eligible to represent Indiana? I thought you had to be at least 30, citizen for x years and lived in your state? Haz gumnint skooling failed me?

[Brett L]

"The Marion County Election Board meeting at the City-County Building is under way, having started at 11 a.m. On the agenda is a complaint brought by "certified fraud examiner" Gregory Wright alleging that Sen. Richard Lugar and his wife, Charlene, are ineligible to vote in Marion County because they have not lived at the home address on their registration for more than three decades. They sold it, purchased a home in the D.C. suburbs of Virginia and have lived there since Lugar took office"

Like Hillary representing NY? No, you really don't have to live there, just establish residency for a brief period originally.

[R C Dean]

The U.S. Constitution requires that a U.S. Senator shall "when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen."

Sounds to me like you have to "inhabit" the state you are representing "when elected."

When elected can be fairly read to mean each time you are elected, you have to meet the "inhabit" requirement.

The real question is, what counts as "inhabit", and who gets to say? Is spending one night during the year in a hotel "inhabiting"?

[hazeeran]

My assumption is the line of what counts as habitation is drawn by the states.

It still seems like Lugar should have moved back each time he won re-election.

[R C Dean]

If you're not eligible to vote, I don't see why you should be eligible to be elected.

[Pro Libertate]

Incontinuity abides.

[hazeeran]

+ uh ... Lugar's age

[protefeed]

If you're not eligible to vote, I don't see why you should be eligible to be elected.

Well, no. You can run for any congressional district in a state where you are a resident -- but if you're not a resident of the district you're running for, you can't vote for yourself.

[shrike]

Cato tells conservative assholes they are full of shit on gas pricing.

So despite the popular perception of President Obama as anti-oil, domestic oil production is increasing for the first time since the Johnson administration. Alas, little of this has to do with the president. Prices increased from $22 in 2002 to just under $100 a barrel average in 2008 and supply has responded. President Obama is no more responsible for production increases than other presidents were responsible for production declines. Unfortunately, presidents get blamed for world market changes that occur during their time in office... but generally, they do not cause them.

http://www.cato.org/publicatio.....-increased

[Koch Bros.]

Rest assured fellow libertarians closet Republicans that this type of non-partisan unbiased reporting will cease once we have control over Cato.

[KPres]

Well, duh! Obama's high gas prices have made drilling profitable again!

[Steven Chu]

You are depressing the hell out of me, shrike. Why did I join the administration if it isn't a sound means for getting the price of gasoline up and out of the reach of the consumers?

[R C Dean]

Without clicking through, does Cato mention the sharp decline in federal permitting under Obama?

[shrike]

There is no such decline.

Bullshit

[Pro Libertate]

And here's the current version of Sarah Maria Santorum. I hope she's more emotionally prepared for her father's pending electoral defeat than last time.

[Citizen Nothing]

I think those pix are proof that she was traumatized by the "Salty Ham Tears" thread.
You monsters.

[Pro Libertate]

I believe I suggested that she'd be a prostitute by now in the Yummy Tears thread that is no more. I suppose I have to admit error. Unless I was right. But she doesn't look particularly whorish to me.

[T]

"We've established what you are. Now we're simply negotiating on the price."

[Pro Libertate]

Churchill? I always liked that quote.

[Ice Nine]

Wonder if Daddy knows she and her mom are chumming with Grace Slick?

[Crapulous]

I'd scar her emotionally.

[Brett L]

Why I root for climate change.

"A new report shows sea levels are rapidly rising and the study predicts the Jersey Shore could be underwater in a matter of decades."

Obviously, Gaia's immune system has activated.

[Ice Nine]

The recent sign of replication was, I'm sure, the threshold event.

[Brett L]

Mammoth steaks coming soon.

"First a plant from the past sprouted new life ? now researchers in Russia and South Korea are moving forward with a plan to resurrect the Ice Age woolly mammoth. Scientists in both countries inked a deal Tuesday to share technology and research that could lead to the birth of a mammoth clone, gestated in a surrogate Indian elephant mother. "

[Pro Libertate]

I bet that'll give you superpowers, too.

[Ska]

+15 AP, +4 Rads, -128 FOOD

[Pro Libertate]

I've eaten mammoth steaks in Skyrim, come to think of it.

[Ska]

Very true. And there is a basic needs mod which adds food, hunger, sleep, and dehydration in case fast traveling to every hold to sell your stockpile of 500 septim potions isn't real enough for you.

[Pro Libertate]

I prefer my reality not quite that real.

[Kibby]

I am so excited about this, you don't even know!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Awesome photos of places without people.

THEN WHO'S TAKING THE PICTURES???

[Pro Libertate]

The tree that didn't make a sound falling in the woods.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ninja trees? So in your world all Oriental things have cameras around their necks. Nice, racist.

[Pro Libertate]

Who is talking about cameras?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The biggest deal here: yours truly.

[Citizen Nothing]

Speaking of which, I've always wondered who the fuck authorized the Lorax to "speak for the trees"? I mean, what, did the trees take a vote? I don't think so.

[Restoras]

Entmoot?

[Eduard van Haalen]

+ 1 green thumbs up

[Brett L]

The same force that authorized PETA to speak for the Orcas of course.

[Zeb]

Probably some kind of farcical aquatic ceremony.

[T]

Some watery tart threw a scimitar at PETA? Sounds entertaining.

[Libertymike]

Particulerly if the watery tart was taut.

[Joe M]

Timers, GPS, remote energy, etc.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I don't know who's taking them, but I love the beautiful decay depicted in them.

[Auric Demonocles]

Predator drones.

[db]

Drones, dumbass.

[db]

REFRESH, dumbass.

[Rich]

Instead of term limits per se, how about limiting the number of votes on legislation that a congresscreature can make? When the votes are used up, the time as a "representative" is over.

[Brett L]

Ooh. Excellent.

[Fist of Etiquette]

They can get votes back by repealing laws.

[Marshall Gill]

I think we need a fourth branch who's only power is to repeal laws. Wouldn't it be wonderful how they would have to repeal a bunch of laws just before election time so they were not labeled "do nothing"?

[Restoras]

How about we limit the numbr of days Congress can be in session? Less chance for mischief?

[Pro Libertate]

I say we just limit the whole fucking government, like originally planned. This other thing doesn't work.

[arbo]

this. It is so far beyond a simple clusterfuck.

Each page of legislation requires one vote, of course.

[Joe M]

How about a 1:1 ratio on yeas and nays?

[Xenocles]

No votes don't count.

[Bee Tagger]

I bet the best we'll get is a terrible Eddie Murphy movie with this idea.

[crapshoot]

Lower the constituent to congressman ratio. There really should be at least one congressman to 100,000 people. Remember that the original delegation to the states in the Constitution was about 1:15,000

[Brett L]

The Send Them Your Money campaign against the RIAA/MPAA.

"Take a picture or scan an image of your money. Send digital copies to the MPAA & RIAA in whatever quantity you feel you can afford. Don't go overboard. If you can only afford 20 copies then that's good enough. If enough people contribute we should be able to fully satisify even their most outrageous demands"

[Ska]

Does a closeup of my nutsack count for anything?

[FlyoverCountry]

Could it be mistaken for Iraq?

[Kibby]

No...those are definitely balls.

[R C Dean]

Alright, that's funny.

[Joe M]

The judge resolved the matter by ordering the student to pass the money he had in one hand to his other and ruling that the price of the smell of food is the sound of money.

That's awesome.

[Slut Bunwalla]

It's going to be hilarious when everyone participating gets arrested for counterfeiting money.

[?]

I thought that link would be to pictures of places where people usually are, but were fluke-empty for a moment. That's cool.

So is this story, bro:

One night I was waiting for a "walk" at an intersection right off Times Square (never learned the street #s there), and I realized there were no other pedestrians in sight, no cars at any lights I could see, and no one in any storefront windows?like that thing in Vanilla Sky. Except Vanilla Sky wasn't out yet, so when I told people about it I said it was like that thing in that one Genesis record? y'know, the good one?, and no one knew what the hell I was talking about?or believed that I wound up apparently alone at Times Square for a few seconds...until a bum walked by and instead of asking for money spat at my feet and called me "white trash," because at the time I pretty much looked like I was in Mudhoney.

[R C Dean]

Pix or it didn't happen.

[Redland Jack]

'And Then There Were Three'? 'Wind and Wuthering'?
Man, I can't really recall what a lot of the covers look like.
Even though 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' is in my top 5 favorite albums, I'm pretty sure that can't be the one...
Hmm...

[Trespassers W]

He is indeed talking about The Lamb. Not its album cover, its lyrics.

There's something solid forming in the air,
The wall of death is lowered in Times Square.
No-one seems to care,
They carry on as if nothing was there.
The wind is blowing harder now,
Blowing dust into my eyes.
The dust settles on my skin,
Making a crust I cannot move in
And I'm hovering like a fly, waiting for the windshield on the freeway.

[Redland Jack]

Ah. That makes sense. Thanks for clearing it up, as it was bugging me.
Why was I fixated on the album covers? How embarrassing!

[Steve Wright]

Reminds me of the time I came home to find everything in my apartment replaced by its exact duplicate.

[Libertymike]

Even your extra-medium T-shirts?

[?]

And also, fuck the squirrels 900 times.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

The problem with fucking squirrels is they always hide your nuts.

[Brett L]

Shit. My bracket is already falling apart. Damn you K state.

[Libertymike]

Ah, the ever expanding NCAA March Madness mania.

Whither the regular season?

[The Real Barry O]

I'm trippin ballz.
I'm gonna sing Fuck You with CeeLo

[mad libertarian guy]

Progressives advocate for libertarian policy ideas in their fight to save Detroit.

Clarke said he intends to work with other members of Detroit's delegation in Congress and expects broad support from Democrats. He pointed to support for his Detroit Jobs Trust Fund Act, introduced last year, among Democrats and some Republicans, including Rep. Candice Miller. The bill would allow Detroit to retain federal income tax paid by its residents, and had drawn 31 cosponsors as of December.

Somehow I doubt that progressives will see that they are proposing libertarian solutions, and will willing take full credit for their wonderful idea.

In tax policy, if libertarians could have their way NO ONE would be sending their money to DC so it can be skimmed by various federal and state bureaucracies before being sent back to the localities.

[mad libertarian guy]

Linky to above

[Fist of Etiquette]

Mitt Romney virtually threw a puppy out his car window at 90 mph in front of his horrified boys. I don't know what more there is to say.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Instead of virtually, let's go with litter-ally.

[veemee sashimi]

New Mitt Romney Campaign Video

[Crapulous]

Does anyone think Syracuse can hang on here?

[Pro Libertate]

I don't have them in the final, but I have them going a long way. They better get straightened up.

[Libertymike]

Normally, I always root for the private entity over the public one, being me and all.

However, here's hoping Harvard doesn't score 40 against the Tar Heels and Duke loses by 666.

[wareagle]

you sound like my oldest.

[Libertymike]

Harvard is hahvad; after the way it treated its mens la crosse team, I turned against Duke.

[Brandon]

They got it. They still have 3 times the payroll of UNC-Asheville.

[Crapulous]

The refs agree.

[Brandon]

Screw you and your libellous implications! My bracket is more important than fair officiating.

[Xenocles]

My kids' bracket is not doing well at all.

[Don Mynack]

So, we are basically just going to garrison the passes around Afghanistan, just like the Brits did 200 years ago. Sounds better than what we are doing now...

[Crapulous]

Syracuse gave the game ball to the ref.

[Libertymike]

Did you think that they were going to give it to Bernie Fine? After all, hasn't he gotten his share of.....

[Joe M]

The evening shift guys will be crushed:

Republican presidential debate planned for Portland is canceled

That was the last one scheduled, so we're just free-floating now.

[veemee sashimi]

Students launch campaign to ban 'r-word'

[Killazontherun]

How special.

[rsi]

I thought you meant Republican.

[Almanian]

Fucking retards

[np]

Regarding Congressional term limits. IF we have that then we should also non-permanent bills.

It would work like this: every bill/act/federal law only remains so long as there is support for it. When a person leaves office, their "vote" or support gets deducted from the bill. Their replacement would decide on voting for it (adding their support to it) or not.

[rsi]

Interesting.

I'm thinking get rid of the seniority system.

If people elect their local halfwit enough times it gets a committee chair.

That does affect me

[Eduard van Haalen]

Two Cheers for Double Standards, by Stanley Fish:

The idea is that in the public sphere...you should not privilege your own views to the extent that they justify treating those with opposing views unequally and unfairly. (Fairness is the great liberal virtue.)...

If we think about the Rush Limbaugh dust-up from the non-liberal ? that is, non-formal ? perspective, the similarity between what he did and what Schultz and Maher did disappears. Schultz and Maher are the good guys; they are on the side of truth and justice. Limbaugh is the bad guy; he is on the side of every nefarious force that threatens our democracy. Why should he get an even break?

There is no answer to that question once you step outside of the liberal calculus in which all persons, no matter what their moral status as you see it, are weighed in an equal balance.

[Eduard van Haalen]

I know the objections to what I have said here. It amounts to an apology for identity politics. It elevates tribal obligations over the universal obligations we owe to each other as citizens. It licenses differential and discriminatory treatment on the basis of contested points of view. It substitutes for the rule "don't do it to them if you don't want it done to you" the rule "be sure to do it to them first and more effectively." It implies finally that might makes right. I can live with that.

[Eduard van Haalen]

(all quotes are from Fish, not me)

[cynical]

Sure, he can live with that until the other guys have substantially more might.